March 01, 2010 12:45PM EST

Secret of Kells: Oscar Nominee

Note: This piece originally ran before the theatrical release. The Secret of Kells is now available on DVD.



The casts of the Oscar-nominated animated feature films this year read like an A-list after-party: George Clooney and Meryl Streep (Fantastic Mr. Fox), Oprah Winfrey and Terrence Howard (The Princess and the Frog), Dakota Fanning (Coraline), and Christopher Plummer (Up). They all had the backing of major studios, huge production budgets and credits that run longer than many novels. All except one, that is.

The Secret of Kells, an independent film from 33-year-old Irish director Tomm Moore, tells the story of Brendan, a young medieval monk in training who discovers his talent for illustration when an ancient text is brought to his abbey. To save the book from invading Vikings, he must go on a dangerous mission, with the help of a clever cat and a mysterious fairy.



We spoke with the director on a visit from Kilkenny, Ireland, to promote the movie, which recently screened at the New York International Children’s Film Festival. The Secret of Kells will open this Friday at IFC Center. Moore will be back in town after the Awards ceremony for Q&A sessions following select screenings.

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TribecaFilm.com: Why did you decide the Book of Kells would make a good subject for an animated film?
Tomm Moore: I had studied classical animation in college [in Dublin] and was inspired by Chinese and Japanese visual arts, like Samurai Jack [an animated series]. I thought the same visual art tradition is in Celtic design and I could adopt it for animation. All the history and legends and stories of Ireland, like the Book of Kells, I thought could be translated well.

How did you go about getting it made?
TM: I set up a studio [Cartoon Saloon] straight out of college, in 1999, with Paul Young. I had been thinking about developing Kells into a film for a while, and in 2005 we teamed up with French and Belgium companies that had produced The Triplets of Belleville. It went into production in 2005 and we finished it in August 2008.

As a director, what was your role?
TM: A director of animation does different things depending on the film. Wes Anderson (Fantastic Mr. Fox) was more of a traditional director. I worked more as a designer and storyboarder. I did a lot of the animation myself.



You chose to draw the figures heavily stylized, as they would look in medieval art. Why?
TM: It was mainly hand-drawn, very ornate and in 2D, and I wanted it to look unique for a reason. It’s a story about art, so I wanted to draw attention to that aspect though the animation. And many of the symbols that appear in the film are from ancient myths, like Crom Cruach.

What is Crom Cruach? Whatever it was, it was awfully scary.
TM: Crom Cruach is a pagan god of the underworld. It symbolizes Brendan’s fear; it’s kind of Darth Vadar-like, in other words. Since Brendan is going on a hero’s journey, it’s an imaginary fear he has to face. And the movie actually used to be scarier. We edited it down to 75 minutes.



Who is your audience?
TM: Age-wise, it’s anything 8 and up. But in terms of the story, I didn’t want it to be completely rooted in Ireland. I hope that that the universal nature of the story—it’s about a journey, about courage and hope—makes the film accessible. It about Art, and how art is important, even in difficult times. And maybe it will make people want to find out more about things like the Book of Kells afterwards.

Is there anything you learned when making this film that you didn’t know before?
TM: That period in Irish history [around the 9-10th century], things were much more open than most people think. There were inks from all over the world. There were monks from all over the world, which I show in the film. Ireland was actually a lot more worldly then.

Finally, what is it like to be nominated for an award?
TM: It’s my first feature and my first nomination, so that’s pretty exciting. I just hope I can get out of this snow in time for the ceremony.

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The Secret of Kells is now available on DVD.