Rated PG | Runtime 103 min | AppleTV+
Wolfwalkers is an animated adventure based on Celtic folklore. Writer, director, and producer Tomm Moore’s previous films, The Secret of Kells* and Song of the Sea*, also focus on Celtic myth.
The story takes place in the town of Kilkenny, a walled-in village surrounded by wolf-infested woods. The Lord Protector wants to wipe out the wolves and the threat they pose to the local people and livestock. And this is where our young protagonist, Robyn, comes in. Robyn’s father is the best wolf hunter in the realm. And he is commissioned by the Lord Protector to come to Kilkenny from England to vanquish the wolves.
Robyn wants to help her father hunt the wolves. But children cannot go beyond the village walls. Because of the Lord Protector’s strict rule, Robyn is a scullery maid instead. But of course, she finds herself hunting wolves. And soon after encounters Mebh and realizes that wolfwalkers may be real after all.
Because there are many ethical questions from which to derive a moral – Wolfwalkers has the potential to be a neoclassic fable. Do the woods belong to the people of Kilkenny or the wolves? And even though wolves are pack animals, do they have more autonomy than the people of Kilkenny? But the story lacks depth. And it can’t seem to decide if it’s more fable or coming-of-age fantasy tale.
The odd pacing of the film exacerbates this indecisiveness. I’m not sure the film can hold the attention of today’s children. Despite this, there is some good to be found in Wolfwalkers. The animation style is like an illustrated book come-to-life. And it is refreshing in the current analogous computer animation age.
