TIFF 2020: How Hand-Crafted Animation Turned ‘Wolfwalkers’ into an Irish Folklore Tour de Force

With “Wolfwalkers,” Cartoon Saloon has achieved a hand-animated tour de force in completing its Irish folklore trilogy, led by Oscar-nominated director Tomm Moore and art director-turned director Ross Stewart.

The mystical adventure about two young girls saving the hunted wolf population of Kilkenny (home of Cartoon Saloon) in the mid-17th century offers a compelling story about female empowerment and animal rights, told with a bold visual aesthetic.

The Oscar contender from Apple makes its North American premiere at TIFF this Saturday followed by a theatrical run by GKids and streaming on Apple TV+ later this year.“Wolves are important to Irish folklore,” Moore said.

“They are associated with the countryside and with human transformation.

As teenagers, both Scott and I were familiar with a story of the wolf people of Ossory.

We borrowed [some of that mythology] but took our own artistic license.

The wolf was seen as a person and a partner,

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