Before I begin with this post, I wanted to tell you all that I have a very important message at the end. It's something that I am trying to make a decision about something, and I think the more people that visit my blog often might make the decision for me, but I will talk about that later.
I was talking to a good friend a few years ago about Studio Ghibli. I am not a big fan of Anime' per se, but I do really like stuff from Studio Ghibli in Japan. Films like Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke are so good, and I think I enjoy them more than anything Disney has put out recently. I'm not saying that to start a debate, I just think they are more creative and artistic, but I'm not here to talk about Studio Ghibli, and this blog post is six months overdue.
While talking to that good friend, he gave me a movie recommendation, which was an Irish Folklore and Mythology film called The Secret of Kells. It was made by a studio in Ireland called Cartoon Saloon. When I watched The Secret of Kells, I fell in love with it, not just because the story is super interesting, but because the animation was incredibly beautiful. They had only done that film and a couple of short animated films, but since then, they have released four more feature length films, Song of the Sea, The Breadwinner, Wolfwalkers and My Father's Dragon.
Cartoon Saloon has three films based on Irish Folklore, but two are not. Song of the Sea is an Irish folktale about a Selki. A Selki is like a werewolf, but they turn into seals instead of wolfs. They are peaceful creatures. The film is about a family whose mother passes away when she is in childbirth with a girl, the little sister to a boy and daughter to their father, but the father gets really depressed about his wife passing away, and their crochety old lady grandmother takes the children away from their father, the little girl turns into a Selki, and she and her older brother, who is kind of mean to her because he thinks it's her fault their mother passed away, but she takes him on a journey to get home, and it's full of great people and creatures, even some bad creatures, and it is animated beautifully. I don't know how many times I will use the word "beautiful" in this post, but it's one of the best words to describe them all.
The next one to talk about is The Breadwinner. This one is not based on Irish Folklore, and is a very serious film. It's about a family living in Afghanistan with the Taliban running the government. There is an evil young man who wants to prove he's a tough man who bullies the marketplace in town. The father of a family sells little trinkets, but one day, the young man in the Taliban yells at him for looking at him, and the next day, The father is taken away by the young man and Taliban. The problem beyond that is the family members are all girls and women, except their baby boy. The teenage daughter decides to cut her hair and dress in her father's clothing, kind of like Mulan, so that she can go out and work and earn the money so the family doesn't starve. However, she makes a good friend, whom she meets in the marketplace, but they overhear the Taliban soldiers talking about the prison everyone they have kidnapped has been placed in, and they make up a plan to go to the prison and rescue her father and other victims of the Taliban. It heavy, and the only film out of the five that is rated PG-13. It's incredibly animated, but there isn't anything offensive in the film, it's just the thematic elements that earn the rating. It isn't a movie you turn on for the kids on a long car ride somewhere, but it is worth watching.
We have come to Wolfwalkers, the third Irish Folklore film, about a girl who is the daughter of a hunter, and she wants to hunt wolves like her father, but we learn quick that she makes friends with a girl who happens to be a Wolfwalker, a person who is a human during the day, and a wolf by night, and the hunter's daughter turns out to be a Wolfwalker herself. It's so great. This one is on Apple+. It had a short theatrical run, which is where I saw it first, but it only ran for two weeks, then went to Apple+. What I hate is that you can't purchase this film on DVD or Blu-Ray unless you order the Irish Folklore trilogy boxset they have that is around $70. It has The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea and Wolfwalkers in it, and it's has great art included with the three films, but since Wolfwalkers is an Apple+ movie, they refuse to put it out so that you can only see it as a subcription film for Apple, unless you fork over the cash for the boxset.
I forgot to tell you what The Secret of Kells is about. It's about a town who is very fortified and trying to prepare for war between them and Vikings. Young Brendan is a monk in training, and he learns about a special book that is both ancient and unfinished that is about the world outside of the town's walls. When Brendan goes out beyond the walls where he is forbidden to go, he meets a fairy girl that teaches him about the forest and world outside the city walls. Brendan is also tasked from the holy man that is the keeper of the special book some berries that aren't for eating, but creating green ink, so that they can work on writing more in the book. It's got a great message about how important books are and the importance of knowing things outside of where you live.
That leaves the newest one last, and personally my least favorite of the five, My Father's Dragon. This one is a little hard to explain. I will do my best. It's about a kid and his mom who are on their own and moving into a new, smaller home because the father passed away, but his father told the son that he has a dragon, which of course is just a story that he made up, but magic happens, and the boy finds the dragon in his father's stories. It's premise is good, but it's just not as creative or interesting as the rest. Still, it has great animation and looks nice, and it's worth a watch, and this one is on Netflix.
Anyway, that's my look into Cartoon Saloon. I really love their films and shorts, and they are something that should be shown to everyone since they are still a little less known since they are in Ireland. I also forgot to mention, Cartoon Saloon has a brand-new Star Wars short film that is part of Star Wars: Visions. It's in season 2, and it the second episode, Screecher's Reach. It's a short, but it starts off kind of cute where there are some kids that go to a haunted cave to go see a ghost, but there is something in that cave, and it's pretty terrifying. It's not the best for kids to see that one on the account of it being scary. I think that Cartoon Saloon will hit it big time in the future where they have more films out, but the five that exist are really great. So, that ends my comments about Cartoon Saloon.
Now, the serious thing. I started this blog three years ago about a month into the Covid-19 pandemic, and I have tried to do my best to post interesting things to recommend, or to write positive messages. When I started I had lots and lots of people who subscribed to it, but I don't know if I'm not writing interesting things anymore, or if I bother people when I post on Facebook, letting people know when I have a new blog post. I don't want to be annoying. I am thinking if I can't get my readers back, I might not post anything for a while. I have more ideas for posts, and I have a few posts that I started that are in my drafts folder. I also have a really fun idea for a new comedy blog, but it will require the help of everyone to make it fun. I will talk more about that if my numbers go back. I don't want to stop, because I do have a few of you out there that are frequent visitors, and I don't want to stop because I know they like my stuff.
Anyway, that's how I feel about that. I just want it to be worth my time and energy. I really do love and appreciate all of you out there, and I have had a lot of really great moments from the past three years of my blog. I hope you are safe and happy. Anyway, I hope to be back with another post.
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