The Secret of Kells is the most glorious animated film, combining rich elements of Irish history, mythology, culture and heritage.
Its exquisite and non-realist artwork takes inspiration from the famous 9th century illuminated manuscript Book of Kells. Although the tone of the film is magical and firmly positive (for its young audience and for those of us weary of being endlessly confronted by the indulgence of less than edifying aspects of human existence) it is not afraid to shy away from the darker elements of ancient evils, dangerous wolves and bloody and destructive Viking raids, human mortality while at the same time containing all these elements within strict boundaries.
A central (non-speaking) character is a white cat, Pangur Bán, from the famous Irish poem, “Pangur Bán” penned by an anonymous monk in the 9th century, comparing his scholarly activities to those of his white cat. There are several translations of this poem, notably by Robin Flower – my favourite version because of its simplicity and also by poet Seamus Heaney. The poem paraphrased into modern Irish is read out over the end credits, without fanfare or signposting by Irish actor, Mick Lally.
The music also contributes to the wonderful atmosphere of this film, particularly a magical sequence where the fairy Aisling transforms Pangur Bán
Tomm Moore, who co-directed the film with Nora Twomey, describes in a comprehensive interview how the film was conceived and put together. This passage draws attention to the sheer scope and variety of the international collaboration on the film:
Walking the Dog studio in Belgium did about 20 minutes of 2D and a lot of the 3D animation and compositing. Digital Graphics did ink and paint, compositing and some 3D. Blue Spirit in Angouleme, France did additional backgrounds and Flash animation (for background characters only) as well as a majority of the compositing. We did 40 minutes of 2D animation in the legendary Kecskemet film studios in Hungary, where the Hungarian folktales that had inspired me to try for a folk-art style had been made. We also had Lightstar Studios in Brazil handle our clean up and inbetweens from the Irish and Belgian studios. The editing and sound design was done in Paris in Piste Rouge and the music was written by Bruno Coulais in Paris, but arranged and recorded by Kila in Ireland.
It was an epic adventure to co-ordinate between all those studios and I owe a lot to our great production team and supervisors for keeping it together. The challenges of streamlining the work from the various studios were sometimes daunting. We had a great asset management solution in Hobsoft, which was developed by two Danish guys to manage European co-productions. I also enjoyed engaging with so many new cultures.
I am now looking forward to catching up with the rest of Tomm Moore and his associates’ work.
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