An in-depth look behind the scenes at a beautiful film. ( )

Cartoon Saloon’s latest feature, Wolfwalkers, is one of my favourite animated movies of recent years and is undoubtedly the culmination of their Irish folklore trilogy, so I was super excited to see that they wanted to give the film its due attention with a full “art of” book. Touring us through the various aspects of the film, author Charles Solomon explores everything from the initial inspiration for the film (Irish folklore, obviously) to the unsung heroes of the film’s back end production (final lines, colours, etc) as well as every aspect in between. The film has its own innate magic that is clearly the result of incredibly hard and innovative work from the entire team, so it was a treat to discover the production design details, concept artwork, and individual stories behind the film. Solomon’s text reveals his depth of knowledge in the field of animation (it’s far more complex than we viewers have any real idea), and while it may not always be easily entertaining to read, the section divisions emphasise major themes of note that are unique to Wolfwalkers and cover expected technical details admirably. Expectedly, the visual material that went into the film is absolutely luscious, so it takes the place of honour and easily dominates the entire layout of the book from cover to cover - giving us a taste of the rough storyboards, colour visualisation, and the evolution of the characters. As we revel (once again) in the dichotomous setting of Kilkenny and the wild Irish forest alongside Mebh and Robyn, we’re brought back to the film itself and can’t wait to be fellow wolves again. ( )

This book goes behind the scenes of Cartoon Saloon’s third animated feature, WolfWalkers, set in Kilkenny during the time of Oliver Cromwell—or at least, the time of someone who resembles him a good deal and is referred to as “the Lord Protector”. It’s a beautifully made film, and this book shows you a myriad of sketches, watercolour studies, and finished frames drawn by a variety of people. The book shows just how much work goes into a feature-length film.

The film was in the late stages of production when the pandemic hit, so it was interesting to read about how they had to adjust their working styles to get the film done. Fortunately all of the music had already been recorded!

If you like to read about art, animation, or movies, or if you’ve seen this movie, this book is right for you! I would recommend watching the movie first, because obviously there are spoilers. ( )