Wolfwalkers Review

Wolfwalkers is the latest critically acclaimed film from the Irish studio, Cartoon Saloon. It has ended up being released on Apple TV+ internationally and Apple has got themselves a gem of a film.

Bill Goodfellowe (Sean Bean) is a hunter who is tasked by the Lord Protector of England (Simon McBurney) to hunt the wolves pestering Kilkenny in 1650. Bill’s daughter, Robyn (Honor Kneafsey) wants to join her father in the woods, even though the Lord Protector has decreed that no one is allowed out beyond the city’s wall. Despite this, Robyn still goes out in the woods and meets Mebh (Eva Whittaker), a strange red-haired girl with an extraordinary power.

Cartoon Saloon has garnered a reputation for being Ireland’s answer to Studio Ghibli. Both studios are known for making critically acclaimed animated features that aim to tell weighty stories with big themes. Wolfwalkers follows that trend and the creators of the film seem like they were influenced by the works of Hayao Miyazaki.

Miyazaki is a legend in the world of animation and many of his films were fantasy stories that focus on young female characters and often have environmental or anti-war themes. He is a great example to follow. Wolfwalkers had plenty of Miyazaki’s ideas in it. Wolfwalkers has two female protagonists who don’t conform to social norms, an unexpected friendship and showed the importance of nature. Wolfwalkers had a lot going on in it and there’s a lot to unpack.

On a surface level Wolfwalkers works as a fantasy story about two girls’ friendship, one of the girls getting powers, and protecting the forest from men who don’t understand what’s really going on. The film could be compared to some of its big Hollywood rivals. Like Pixar’s Brave, Wolfwalkers focuses on a female character who wants adventure and had skills with ranged weapons. Also like Brave, Wolfwalkers was based on Celtic folklore and had stories centered on people who turn into animals. Wolfwalkers has elements of the first How to Train Your Dragon film because the people feared the local wildlife, had a young character trying to hunt them, and find out the truth that the animals need not be feared.

Wolfwalkers shared an idea with George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. In those novels Bran takes control of his direwolf when he’s asleep, in Wolfwalkers Robyn and Mebh turn into wolves when they are asleep. For Robyn it was scary at first, but it became a liberating experience.

The simple appeal extends to the art style and general tone. The art style of the film looked like someone animated a children’s book. There was a wonderful simplicity to the character designs that allowed for fluid movements. When characters were in the woods Kilkenny in the background looked like it came from a medieval drawing. Some of the comedic supporting characters were given a more cartoony look.

The tone early in the film was light. There was humour near the beginning, like with Tommy Tiernan’s character, when Robyn met Mebh because the Irish girl annoying an upside-down Robyn, and when Robyn and Mebh worked together for the first time. There was whimsy and wonder when Robyn goes into the woods as a wolf for the first time and tests out her new ability.

The deeper themes of the film were environmentalism and Irish history. The environmental theme was straight forward – humans lived in the city and the wolves in the forest. But humans were encroaching on the forest and forced the wolves to find a new home. It’s a theme that could be transplanted to the modern-day. There was a contrast between the city and forest. Kilkenny was grey, dab and to Robyn repressive, whilst the forest was bright, colourful and freeing.

The Irish history comes from the role of The Lord Protector. Even though his name was never stated The Lord Protector was meant to be Oliver Cromwell. The Lord Protector in Wolfwalkers believed he was on a divine mission to tame the land. Wolfwalkers works a child-friendly allegory to Cromwell’s actions in Ireland because Cromwell was a Puritan zealot and he led a campaign in Ireland that was the last bastion of Royalist and Catholic resistance. Cromwell committed atrocities in Ireland as he ‘tamed’ the rebel land.

Wolfwalkers was a delightful film for children and adults. It’s art-style and themes help Wolfwalkers stand out from its Hollywood rivals.