Wolfwalkers
(Status: in development)
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Synopsis
In a time of superstition and magic, when wolves are seen as demonic and natural, an evil to be tamed, a young apprentice hunter, Robyn, comes to Ireland with her father to wipe out the last pack. But when Robyn saves a wild native girl, Mebh, their friendship leads her to discover the world of the Wolfwalkers and transforms her into the very thing her father is tasked to destroy.
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Wolfwalkers
Directors: Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart
Authors: Will Collins, Tomm Moore, and Ross Stewart
Producer: Paul Young (Cartoon Saloon, Ireland)
Target audience: Family
Technique: 2D digital
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Tomm Moore, the world renowned director behind the two globally acclaimed Oscar nominated 2D animated feature films, The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea, revealed his latest film project Wolfwalkers during Cartoon Movie 2017.
The trailer of the third film of the Irish folklore presented at Cartoon Movie 2017 is as beautiful as his previous two films and makes us inflate our expectations to the film. We are happy to share the interview with Tomm Moore, the leading director of European animation.
Interview with Tomm Moore
Hideki Nagaishi (HN): Where did the initial idea of the animated film project come from?
Tomm Moore (TM): It was because the previous film is based on folklore from the west of Ireland. Ross Stewart and I started to talk about folklore from Kilkenny in Ireland, where we came from.
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HN: How are you developing the characters, story, and visuals of the film universe?
TM: It’s really organic. We’re drawing a lot and working with writers. We draw storyboards and try different ideas in that way.
HN: At the moment, which character in the story is your favorite?
TM: I think everybody will love Mebh, a little girl with red hair because she is a really wild and fun character with a lot of energy.
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HN: Do you have any particular message or theme that you would like to deliver to the audience of the film?
TM: Yes I suppose ultimately the film is about seeing beyond the assumed boundaries of society and its expectations of us. That we can transform ourselves according to our true nature and find our “tribe” as it were without having to mold ourselves to fit our society.
HN: This is about the production process of the film. Do you have a new challenge that you are trying with this film?
TM: First of all, we want to have a much more artistic animation. We tried to use hand-drawn animation to do something that CG can’t do. So the idea is that we use the way we draw the characters to show emotions, not just acting in the way we draw them. We are really inspired by The Tale of the Princess Kaguya and how loose the animation was for that movie.
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HN: Could you please tell us what stage your project is at now? And what kind of support, such as co-production partner or distributor, are you looking for?
TM: Currently we are storyboarding and designing everything while also discussing with several potential partners how to raise the finance. We are confident we will find a coproduction structure and financing very soon.
