Mebh and the Wolf Pups

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Five-time Oscar-nominated Irish studio Cartoon Saloon returned to Cartoon Forum this year with an exciting new project: a TV animated series adaptation of Wolfwalkers, one of its animated feature films that received an Academy Award nomination.

The team behind Mebh and the Wolf Pups, including Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey, the founders of Cartoon Saloon and directors of the Oscar-nominated animated feature films, introduced the new series to industry professionals attending from across Europe.

We had the opportunity to interview Jeremy Purcell, director of Mebh and the Wolf Pups, Cian McGarrigle, the series’ scriptwriter, and Jason Tammemagi, producer of the project, about the story behind this exciting new series.

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Interview with Jeremy Purcell, Cian McGarrigle, and Jason Tammemagi

Hideki Nagaishi (HN): Could you please let us know what part of this animation series you think will be the most appealing or attractive to the prospective audience?

Jeremy Purcell: Mebh is a special character. She is full of energy and dives into things head first, but doesn’t always make the right decision straight away. When we think about her as we are working on the show, we really want her to be an everyday kid. Kids are not perfect and Mebh is absolutely that and for me, this is what is most attractive to the audience. They see themselves on screen. A 5-year-old kid out and about with her friends having a great time. It just happens that her friends are a bunch of wolf pups. And who wouldn’t want to play with 4 puppies all day?

HN: Where did the idea for a TV animated series adaptation of Wolfwalkers come from? I would love to hear the story behind the beginning of the project.

Jason Tammemagi: Tomm Moore, director of Wolfwalkers along with Ross Stewart, was always very resistant to the idea of revisiting one of his movies in any way. But Mebh had been such a popular character and especially among younger kids so, at some point, we had to listen to that. We were having development meetings and talking through concepts and the idea of revisiting Mebh came up because of all that positive feedback. At first, I don’t think we even took it too seriously but, as time went on, the idea wouldn’t go away and so we said, let’s see what this could look like. And so at that time, Cian (the writer) and I started looking at how it might work and we soon realised we had a show. So we worked closely with Tomm to develop it further and make sure it is true to his original vision but now for a new audience, and it took on a life of its own.

HN: Wolfwalkers is an epic adventure film targeting family audiences. Could you please let us know how and why you decided to target pre-school audiences with this project?

Jason Tammemagi: Tomm wants to protect the movie as a start to finish story. So he didn’t want to make a sequel or even a prequel. Even though, technically, this show is a prequel to the movie, it was important that it stands alone, not just lead into the movie as one part of a larger story. Because Wolfwalkers is complete as it is. But with Mebh being a character who works so well with younger kids, full of that chaos and fun and cheekiness, we realised we could create a show with Mebh at the centre that exists on its own, that is for a whole new audience. It felt right to introduce Mebh to a new generation. And hopefully later, they’ll discover the movie when they’re a bit older.

HN: Could you please tell us about the relationship between the story and characters of the animated feature film Wolfwalkers and those of this series?

Jeremy Purcell: Mebh is the main character that comes from the feature film into the TV series and we talked a lot with Tomm about her character and what’s important to keep for the preschool audience. For example, we absolutely don’t want to lose her wildness. And looking for us we have a lot of crossover in the artists working on the TV series that had worked on the movie, so it’s a plus to the team to have their insights in maintaining the character of Mebh.

HN: What messages or experiences would you most like to deliver to the audience through this animation series, and why?

Cian McGarrigle: I hope that kids watching will get the message that they should embrace their own energy, wildness and sense of fun. Even though she’s a wolfwalker Mebh still goes through all the same things that every kid goes through. She’s not always right but she does her very best and is always loyal to her family, which in this case is a pack of Wolf Pups!

HN: Could you please tell us what inspiration you have drawn from the animated feature film Wolfwalkers while developing the series story?

Cian McGarrigle: Staying true to the spirit of Wolfwalkers was very important to us as we developed the series. It’s aimed at a pre-school audience so tonally it’s lighter but the core of Mebh’s character is very much the same.

HN: In addition to the previous question, how do you reflect those inspirations in the story of this series, and what do you pay particular attention to when doing so?

Cian McGarrigle: Audiences fell in love with Mebh’s wildness in the film and we’ve worked hard to keep that wildness in the series. Mebh is never daunted by a task, there’s nothing she won’t try and there’s nothing she’s afraid of. She’s got her Wolf Pups by her side always and in Mebh’s mind there’s nothing they can’t do when they put their heads (and paws) together!

HN: What is new in this series, and how are you developing those elements while paying attention to particular aspects of the storytelling?

Cian McGarrigle: In the film the wolves acted as a pack but in the series the Wolf Pups each have their own unique design and strong personality. Mebh spends all her time with them and the Pups are never shy about voicing their opinions when things go wrong on their adventures! Also, we’ve introduced a host of new characters that Mebh interacts with all across the woodlands she calls home.

HN: I would like to ask you about the visual creation of this series. Could you please tell us what kind of visual direction or visual characteristics you aim to achieve, and why?

Jeremy Purcell: As much as possible we want to respect the original art direction of the movie. It is a beautiful piece of work. But from early on Tomm gave us freedom to explore and create our own artistic interpretation of the Wolf Walkers world that is made for a preschool audience. The biggest difference is that we actually get to explore more of the ravine area from the movie, so we are designing up new locations not seen before. So we get to bring a bigger, more expansive world to the audience which is very exciting.

HN: What aspect of this animated series project has been especially exciting or challenging for you so far?

Jeremy Purcell: Working with a personality in a character like Mebh, is exciting and challenging at the same time. Allowing her to make wrong decisions and see the error of her ways and learn in the stories is a lot of fun. And it is absolutely a challenge finding what makes the show special to Mebh and how Mebh would approach the stories in her own unique way.