Song of the Sea (2014 film)

Song of the Sea
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTomm Moore
Screenplay byWill Collins
Story byTomm Moore
Produced by
  • Tomm Moore
  • Ross Murray
  • Paul Young
  • Stephan Roelants
  • Serge Ume
  • Marc Ume
  • Isabelle Truc
  • Clement Calvet
  • Jeremie Fajner
  • Frederik Villumsen
  • Claus Toksvig Kjaer
Starring
Edited by
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 6 September 2014 (2014-09-06) (TIFF)
  • 10 December 2014 (2014-12-10) (France/Belgium/Luxembourg)
  • 19 December 2014 (2014-12-19) (United States)
  • 19 February 2015 (2015-02-19) (Denmark)
  • 10 July 2015 (2015-07-10) (Ireland)
Running time
94 minutes[3]
Countries
  • Ireland
  • Belgium
  • Denmark
  • France
  • Luxembourg[1]
LanguagesEnglish
Irish
French
BudgetUS$7.5 million
Box officeUS$9.3 million[4]

Song of the Sea (Irish: Amhrán na Mara) is a 2014 animated fantasy film directed and co-produced by Tomm Moore, co-produced by Ross Murray, Paul Young, Stephen Roelants, Serge and Marc Ume, Isabelle Truc, Clement Calvet, Jeremie Fajner, Frederik Villumsen, and Claus Toksvig Kjaer, and written by Will Collins based on Moore's original story.[5]

It is the second feature film by Cartoon Saloon in an international co-production with The Big Farm of Belgium, Nørlum of Denmark, Superprod of France, and Melusine Productions of Luxembourg,[1][6] The film is the second instalment of Moore's "Irish Folklore Trilogy", following his previous film The Secret of Kells (2009) and preceding the film Wolfwalkers (2020).[7] It is also the only one to be set in relatively contemporary times, specifically the 1980s, as the other aforementioned films take place during the early Middle Ages and the 17th century respectively.

Song of the Sea follows the story of a 10-year-old Irish boy named Ben (David Rawle) who discovers that his mute sister Saoirse - whom he blames for the apparent death of his mother - is a selkie, who has to free faerie creatures from the Celtic goddess Macha.

Like other Cartoon Saloon films, the animation is a combination of traditional hand-drawn and computer-generated types, with a domination of the stylistically naïf form of the first being dominant. This follows the style set in The Secret of Kells, with it mainly appearing with a flat or 2-dimensional aspect, but also incorporating some 3-dimensional image modelling. Aptly, the imagery of the animation is composed in the form of water-colours, especially in the backgrounds and in the narrative flash-back scenes.

The film began production soon after the release of The Secret of Kells, premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on 6 September in the "TIFF Kids" programme.[8] The film had a limited release in certain countries, but won the Satellite Award for Best Animated or Mixed Media Feature and European Film Award for Best Animated Feature Film, as well as the nominations for Best Animated Feature at the 87th Academy Awards and 42nd Annie Awards.[9][10][11]

The Irish-language version has been produced by Macalla with funding from TG4 and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, with selected cinemas in Ireland screening it from 10 July 2015.[12][13] Brendan Gleeson and Fionnula Flanagan reprised their respective roles in this version. The DVD with the Irish audio can be bought in Cartoon Saloon's online store.[14]

  1. ^ a b "Song of the sea". Archived from the original on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  2. ^ "Sangen fra havet". Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  3. ^ "SONG OF THE SEA (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. 3 June 2015. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  4. ^ "Song of the Sea (2014) – Financial Information". The Numbers. Nash Information Services. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  5. ^ Debruge, Peter (21 September 2014). "Film Review: 'Song of the Sea'". Variety. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  6. ^ Monji, Jana (20 November 2014). "AFI FEST 2014: HAUNTING STORIES FROM ABROAD". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on 16 November 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  7. ^ "Wolfwalkers". tiff.net. Toronto International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference AWNTIFF was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Murphy, Niall (15 January 2015). "Awards Season: Irish film Song of the Sea nominated for Oscar". Scannain. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  10. ^ Murphy, Niall (15 January 2015). "Irish film Song of the Sea nominated for Oscar". Scannain. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  11. ^ ""Big Hero 6" winning Best Animated Feature Film – Oscars on YouTube". YouTube. 9 March 2015. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  12. ^ Murphy, Niall (4 June 2015). "Scannán as Gaelige: Amhrán na Mara/Song of the Sea to be released in Irish". Beochan. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  13. ^ "Oscars 2015: Song of the Sea / Amhrán na Mara". TG4. Archived from the original on 16 August 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  14. ^ "Song of the Sea DVD". Cartoon Saloon. Archived from the original on 16 August 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.