If it walks like a wolf…:a review of Wolfwalkers

Wolfwalkers

Directed by Tomm Moore & Ross Stewart

Produced by Paul Young, Nora Twomey, Tomm Moore, Stéphan Roelants

Voices:

Honor Kneafsey as Robyn Goodfellowe, a young apprentice hunter and Bill’s daughter.

Eva Whittaker as Mebh Óg MacTíre, an adventurous wolfwalker and Moll’s daughter.

Sean Bean as Bill Goodfellowe, a hunter and Robyn’s father.

Tommy Tiernan as Seán Óg, a woodcutter who believes in the existence of the wolfwalkers after they heal him.

Maria Doyle Kennedy as Moll MacTíre, a wolfwalker, the leader of the wolf pack and Mebh’s mother.

Simon McBurney as Oliver Cromwell, “The Lord Protector”

Jon Kenny as Ned Stringy

John Morton as Stumpy

Paul Young as Sheep Farmer

Nora Twomey as Bridget, the head housekeeper of the Lord Protector’s scullery.

Oliver McGrath as Padraig, a young bully in the town of Kilkenny.

Niamh Moyles as Fishmonger

Wolfwalkers, I’m very sorry to say, is the final installment of a trilogy of absolutely brilliant Celtic-themed animated movies produced over the past 13 years by Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart. The first was the breathtaking The Secret of Kells in 2009, and 2014’s heartbreakingly beautiful A Song of The Sea. Wolfwalkers is the capstone, a wonderful tale of a young English girl in occupied Eire. Robyn is the young daughter of Bill Goodfellowe, a Calvinist intent on subduing both the Irish and their environs, which is still mostly forest. Intent on following in her father’s footsteps and impressing him, Robyn sets out to kill a wolf. She meets a strange girl apparently of her own age and with wild red hair, Mebh (pronounced Maeve) who turns out to be a magical being known as a wolfwalker—part human, part wolf. The first meeting is awkward, since Robyn was planning to kill Mebh or one of her relatives, but they eventually become fast friends.

The Lord Protector of Ireland, Oliver Cromwell, learns of wolfwalkers and declares them to be “unclean things.’ Robyn’s father is ordered to massacre the wolfwalker clan. Thus the stage is set.

Like its two predecessors, Wolfwalkers is a superb mix of wonder and beauty. The tale is simple, the art a wondrous mix of utilitarian urbanscape and absolutely gorgeous magical forest. The characters are very human, even the ones that aren’t.

If you love great animation, and are fascinated by Gaelic/Celtic lore, put these three movies at the top of your must-see list. You won’t be sorry.

Now on AppleTV+