A young girl confronts something mysterious and unexpected in the wolfpack she and her father are hunting down in Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart’s beautiful new animated feature, coming to U.S. theatres and Apple TV+.
In 1650 Kilkenny, Ireland, a young girl named Robyn Goodfellowe comes to town with her father to hunt down and destroy the last pack of wolves in the surrounding forest. In the new trailer for Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart’s eagerly awaited animated feature, Wolfwalkers, rumors of humans transforming into wolves at night appear to be true, with tremendous consequences for our young hunting apprentice who begins to realize something magical, and dangerous, is happening to her.
Wolfwalkers, set for release by GKIDS in U.S. theatres November 13 and digitally around the world on Apple TV+ December 11, is the latest in a string of uniquely designed, beautifully animated and thoroughly engaging feature films from Irish studio Cartoon Saloon, each nominated for an Academy Award; Nora Twomey’s The Breadwinner (2017), and Moore’s Song of the Sea (2014) and The Secret of Kells (2010). “Three for Three,” as they say in baseball, mean’s you’re batting 1000. Pretty dang impressive. Though seemingly way far off in the future, Twomey’s My Father’s Dragon is set for a 2021 release on Netflix, and like with Wolfwalkers, we’ll be tapping our feet impatiently until they arrive.
Wolfwalkers, directed by Moore (Song of the Sea, The Secret of Kells) and Stewart (The Secret of Kells), is set in a time of superstition and magic, and tells the story of a young apprentice hunter, Robyne, who journeys to Ireland with her father to wipe out the last wolf pack. While exploring the forbidden lands outside the city walls, Robyn befriends a free-spirited girl, Mebh, a member of a mysterious tribe rumored to have the ability to transform into wolves by night. As they search for Mebh’s missing mother, Robyn uncovers a secret that draws her further into the enchanted world of the Wolfwalkers and risks turning into the very thing her father is tasked to destroy.
The film stars Honor Kneafsey, Eva Whitaker, Sean Bean, Simon McBurney, Tommy Tiernan, Jon Kenny, John Morton, and Maria Doyle Kennedy. It’s produced by Paul Young, Twomey, Moore and Stéphan Roelants, from a screenplay by Will Collins. The film is co-produced by the award-winning animation studios Cartoon Saloon (Oscar and Golden Globe nominee, The Breadwinner) and Melusine Productions (Oscar nominee Ernest & Celestine).
Source: Apple TV+
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
