Wolfwalkers (2020) Review
SnarkAI Score: 85/100
“You know where to find me, iffin you're looking for me!”
TL;DR: tldr: Cartoon Saloon's gorgeous Irish folklore tale pairs Watership Down-style animation with innovative "Wolfvision" that required inventing entirely new 3D animation techniques. The deliberate contrast between sharp woodcut town lines and fluid forest scenes isn't a flaw - it's thematic genius reflecting industrialization vs. nature. Set in 1650 Kilkenny with actual good Irish accents (shocking for animation), it follows an English hunter's daughter who becomes a Wolfwalker after being bitten by a magical wolf-girl. Features a cheerful man in stocks who steals his scene, a Lord Protector who commits suicide rather than transform, and scenery that shifts like tapestries to reflect emotion. Well worth a watch.
Wolfwalkers has a very cool animation style. It is reminiscent of Watership Down or The Animals of Farthing Wood, but with an almost unfinished edge in the forest scenes compared to the sharp, woodcut-like lines of the town. Certain scenes feel like tapestries. The way the scenery shifts behind characters to reflect emotion is lovely.
The depiction of magic, called "Wolfvision," is beautiful and required the invention of an entirely new method of 3D animation.
You can also tell it is not American-made because the accents are both good and accurate.
Set in 1650 in Kilkenny, Ireland, the story follows an English hunter, Bill Goodfellowe, who is called to the town by the Lord Protector to kill a wolf pack that is causing trouble. He brings his daughter, Robyn. The film includes nods to famous mystical names. The falcon is called Merlyn, for example.
Merlyn is accidentally shot by Robyn, and a mysterious girl named Mebh takes him into the forest to heal him. Robyn is accidentally bitten by a wolf caught in a trap she frees, who turns out to be Mebh herself. Mebh is a Wolfwalker. She becomes a spirit wolf when she sleeps. The bite transforms Robyn, making her a Wolfwalker too. Together they search for Mebh's mother, Moll, whose wolf form has been trapped in a cage by the Lord Protector.
After a general scuffle, Bill, Robyn, Moll, and Mebh all end up on the same side, battling the army and the Lord Protector. The Lord Protector tries to kill Robyn, but Bill, in his wolf form, protects her and bites the Lord Protector. Refusing to live as a Wolfwalker, the Lord Protector takes his own life. Bill and Robyn then agree to join Moll's pack.
There is a great comedic moment with a cheerful man in the stocks who says, "Bye, you know where to find me, iffin you're looking for me!"
The film centers on the tension between industrialization and nature, the danger and beauty of the wild versus the safety and uniformity of the town.
Well worth a watch.