The Secret of Kells (2009)

Directors:

Tomm Moore
Nora Twomey (co-director)

Writers:

Tomm Moore (original story)
Fabrice Ziolkowski (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 February 2009 (Belgium)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Fantasy

Plot:

The animated story of the boy behind the famed Book of Kells.

Plot Keywords:

Book | Monastery | Boy | Forest | Abbot

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 7 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Evan McGuire	...	Brendan (voice)
Christen Mooney	...	Aisling (voice)
Brendan Gleeson	...	Abbot Cellach (voice)
Mick Lally	...	Aidan (voice)
Liam Hourican	...	Brother Tang / Leonardo (voice) (as Liam Hourrican)
Paul Tylak	...	Brother Assoua (voice) (as Paul Tylac)
Michael McGrath	...	Adult Brendan (voice)
Paul Young	...	Brother Square (voice)
Nora Twomey	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Marie Thorhauge	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Jonas Till Hoffmann	...	Additional Voices (voice) (as Jonas Hoffmann)
Fabian Erlinghauser	...	Additional Voices (voice) (as Fabian Erlinghäuser)
Kairen Waloch	...	Additional Voices (voice)

Directed by
Tomm Moore
Nora Twomey		(co-director)

Writing credits
Tomm Moore		(original story)
Fabrice Ziolkowski		(screenplay)

Produced by
Didier Brunner	....	producer
James Flynn	....	executive producer
Rahma Ghili	....	assistant producer
Tomm Moore	....	producer
Ivan Rouvreure	....	executive producer
Viviane Vanfleteren	....	producer
Paul Young	....	producer

Original Music by
Bruno Coulais

Film Editing by
Fabienne Alvarez-Giro

Art Direction by
Ross Stewart

Production Management
Katia Besimensky	....	head of production
Marcelo Fernandes De Moura	....	production supervisor: Lightstar Studios
Hans-Christian Jehg	....	integrated production system
Camille Leganza	....	executive in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Rémi Chayé	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Aurélie Bernard	....	background designer
Rémi Chayé	....	storyboard artist
Koen De Koninck	....	trainee
Tomm Moore	....	character designer
Barry Reynolds	....	final character designer
Barry Reynolds	....	head character designer

Sound Department
Sebastien Cortequisse	....	sound editor
Fabien Devillers	....	sound re-recording mixer
Alexandre Fleurant	....	sound designer
Alexandre Fleurant	....	sound effects editor
Dariusz Kowalczyk	....	sound re-recording mixer
Sebastien Marquilly	....	sound designer
Sebastien Marquilly	....	supervising sound editor
Piste Rouge	....	sound: studio
Bruno Seznec	....	sound supervisor

Special Effects by
Jeremy Purcell	....	head of special effects

Visual Effects by
Eric Dupont	....	cg artist
Eric Dupont	....	digital compositor
Morgan Fontana	....	digital compositing assistant
Olivier Gruslin	....	digital compositing assistant
Jonas Till Hoffmann	....	title designer
Nicolas Koubi	....	flash asset builder
Céline Legrand	....	digital compositor
Benoit Pirenne	....	digital compositing assistant
Iwan Peter Scheer	....	cg artist
Gilles Tricoire	....	digital compositor
Marc Umé	....	visual effects supervisor
Serge Umé	....	visual effects artist
Damien Welsch	....	cg artist
Damien Welsch	....	digital compositor
Benjamin Zurstrassen	....	digital compositing assistant
Denis Tassenoy	....	digital compositor (uncredited)

Animation Department
Niklas Kragh Andersen	....	layout artist
László Balajthy	....	animator (2008)
Katia Bartholomé	....	ink and paint junior team
Darko Belevski	....	animation supervisor
Joris Bergmans	....	animation intern
Xavier Boeur	....	ink and paint junior team
David Bols	....	animator
Alfredo Cassano	....	flash animator
Alfredo Cassano	....	traditional animator
Tom Caulfield	....	animator
Julien Chandelle	....	ink and paint junior team
Jean Cullen De Moura	....	head of clean-up
Nicolas Debray	....	layout artist
Fabian Erlinghauser	....	animation supervisor
Maxime Flagothier	....	ink and paint junior team
Morgan Fontana	....	ink and paint junior team
Lindsay Franchimont	....	ink and paint junior team
Antoine Goethals	....	ink and paint junior team
Olivier Gruslin	....	ink and paint junior team
Marie-Laure Guisset	....	animation supervisor
Virginie Hanrigou	....	layout artist
Stéphanie Haulet	....	ink and paint junior team
Mathieu Henry	....	ink and paint junior team
Alan Holly	....	animator
Elie Klimis	....	animator (2009)
Céline Legrand	....	ink and paint assistant
Nathalie Loppe	....	ink and paint senior team
Véronique Maessen	....	ink and paint senior team
Jeason Malevez	....	ink and paint junior team
Pascal Maoloni	....	key animator
Cecilia Marum	....	ink and paint senior team
Catherine Maréchal	....	ink and paint senior team
Zsolt Maticska	....	animator
Adrien Merigeau	....	background designer
Jean Morel	....	character layout artist
Gábor Pichler	....	animator
Nicolas Pieczynski	....	ink and paint senior team
Benoit Pirenne	....	ink and paint junior team
Benoît Plunus	....	ink and paint senior team
Tod Polson	....	color script
Pierre Prégardien	....	ink and paint junior team
Andrzej Radka	....	animator
Barry Reynolds	....	key animator
Barry Reynolds	....	key posing supervisor
Iwan Peter Scheer	....	ink and paint senior team
Patrick Schoenmaker	....	layout artist
Alessandra Sorrentino	....	animator
Alessandra Sorrentino	....	flash animator
János Szabó	....	animator
Eric Thiry	....	ink and paint senior team
Nora Twomey	....	head of animation
Lajos Tóth	....	animator
Marc Umé	....	ink and paint supervisor
Serge Umé	....	ink and paint supervisor
Jean Baptiste Vendamme	....	character designer
Pascal Vermeersch	....	key animator
Wilson Henrique Vesco	....	key clean-up artist
Damien Welsch	....	ink and paint assistant
Benjamin Zurstrassen	....	ink and paint junior team

Editorial Department
Joseph Fitzpatrick	....	editorial advisor
Alan Slattery	....	transfer & encoding
Els Verhaeghe	....	assistant post-production (uncredited)

Music Department
Dee Armstrong	....	musician: violin
Jean-Philippe Audin	....	musician: cello
Emmanuel Deletang	....	music supervisor
Paul Lavergne	....	executive music producer
Rossa Ó'Snodaigh	....	musician (as Kíla)

Other crew
Nicolas Bolland	....	software developer assistant
Didier Brunner	....	presenter
Paddy Dunne	....	technical assistant
Ann-Marie Fitzgerald	....	production accountant
James Hickey	....	legal advisor: Cartoon Saloon
Cliodhna Lyons	....	technical assistant
Audrey O'Brien	....	production coordinator
Benoît Plunus	....	software developer assistant
Marc Umé	....	software engineer
Marc Umé	....	technical director
Viviane Vanfleteren	....	presenter
Paul Young	....	presenter

Thanks
Clara Breslin	....	special thanks
David Freedman	....	special thanks
Aiden Harte	....	special thanks
Nessa King	....	special thanks
Jonathan Loughran	....	very special thanks
Teresa McGrane	....	special thanks
Barry O'Donaghue	....	special thanks
Emmanuel Roland	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Les Armateurs
• Vivi Film
• Cartoon Saloon
• France 2 Cinéma
• Euroimages Fund of the Council of Europe (made with the support of the)
• EU Media Plus Program (as Media Plus Programme 121 Audiovisual) (made with the support of the)
• Media Programme of the European Community (developed with the support of)
• Canal+ (as Canal +) (with the participation of)
• CinéCinéma (as Ciné Cinéma) (with the participation of)
• Conseil Général de la Charente (with the participation of)
• Conseil Régional de Poitou Charentes (with the participation of)
• Piste Rouge (with the participation of)
• Bórd Scannán na hÉireann (as Bórd Scannán na hÉireann/Irish Film Board) (with the participation of)
• Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (made with the support of the)
• Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds (with the support of)
• Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel de la Communauté Française de Belgique (with the support of)
• Télédistributeurs Wallons (with the support of)
• Promimage (as La Région Wallone-Promimage) (with the support of)
• Wallimage (as La Région Wallone-Wallimage) (with the support of)
• Tax Shelter ING Invest de Tax Shelter Productions (with the participation of)
• Belgacom TV (as Belgacom) (with the participation of)
• Kinepolis Multi (with the participation of)
• Irish Film Board (funding)

Distributors

• Kinepolis Film Distribution (KFD) (2009) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Gébéka Films (2009) (France) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista International (2009) (Ireland) (theatrical)
• Gkids (2010) (USA) (theatrical)
• RCV Film Distribution (2009) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Ascot Elite Home Entertainment (2012) (Germany) (DVD)
• Bridge Entertainment Group (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Cinemax (2012) (Hungary) (TV)
• Madman Entertainment (2010) (Australia) (all media)
• Media International Pictures (2010) (United Arab Emirates) (all media)
• Mongrel Media (2010) (Canada) (DVD)
• Métropole Films Distribution (2010) (Canada) (all media) (Quebec)
• New Video (2010) (USA) (video) (as Flatiron Film Company)
• Optimum Releasing (2010) (UK) (all media)
• Pandastorm Pictures (2012) (Germany) (all media)

Special Effects

• Digital Graphics (digital ink and paint)

Other Companies

• Bórd Scannán na hÉireann  funding
• Canal Plus Image International  funding
• Celluloid Dreams  funding
• Eurimages  funding
• FTD Video  funding
• Gébéka Films  funding
• Hobsoft  integrated production system
• Lightstar Studios  overseas animation studio
• Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ)  funding

Also Known As:

Runtime:

Argentina:75 min

Country:

France | Belgium | Ireland

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | Dolby SR

Certification:

UK:PG | USA:Not Rated | Ireland:PG | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG | Malaysia:U

Filming Locations:

Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, Ireland

Company:

Les Armateurs

Trivia:

Aisling, the fairy girl, is named after a 17th-century genre of Irish poetry. Aisling is Irish for "dream vision." In an Aisling poem, the poet would describe receiving a vision of the spirit of Ireland, who appeared to him in the form of a beautiful young woman. The female spirit of Ireland would inspire the poet to write about his homeland, and serve as his guide in creating the poem (much as Aisling serves as Brendan's guide in the film).

Quotes:

Brendan:You can't find out everything from books, you know.
Aidan:I think I read that once.

Movie Connections:

References The Princess and the Cobbler (1993)

Soundtrack:

Epicy

Gorgeous to watch, but the story is not quite there

I love animated films, so I was interested in seeing The Secret of Kells. Overall I really liked it. However, I do not think it is perfect, the story has a lovely idea and starts off very well, however there are parts that could have been less detached and done with more development, and it could have done with less of a politically correct note(I wouldn't have minded if it was there, it just got a tad heavy-handed). Also, I think the film sags in the pace in the middle. That said, it is a very worthwhile watch. The Secret of Kells does look simply gorgeous. The backgrounds are stunning, and the character designs are unique, but I loved the picturesque watercolour-like colours most of all. Another strong asset was the music, I loved the sweet, lyrical Celtic lilt to it. There is also a stirring prologue and while the story may be detached as I've said there isn't a complete lack of emotional attatchment, you do care for the characters and there are some touching and haunting moments and the film teaches some good lessons. The characters are likable with good personalities and the voice work especially from Brendan Gleeson is excellent. Overall, while lacking a tad in the story, it is a visually and musically rewarding animated film. 7/10 Bethany Cox