Cartoon Saloon is an Irish animation film, short film and television studio based in Kilkenny which provides film TV and short film services. The studio is best known for its animated feature films The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, The Breadwinner and Wolfwalkers. Their works have received five Academy Award nominations, their first four feature length works all received nominations for Best Animated Feature and one for Best Animated Short Film (Late Afternoon). The company also developed the cartoon series Skunk Fu!, Puffin Rock, Dorg Van Dango and Vikingskool. As of 2020, the studio employs 300 animators.

History

Cartoon Saloon was established in Kilkenny during 1999 by Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey, and Paul Young. The three were all alumni of the Ballyfermot College of Further Education’s animation degree course. Cartoon Saloon began working on a trailer for its first feature film, The Secret of Kells, that same year. However, the film did not enter full production until 2005; the company animated corporate work such as advertisements as they searched for funding. Meanwhile the studio of 12 animators relied on commercial and corporate work including web-site design and CD ROM production with Paul Young focusing on illustration whilst Tomm Moore undertook the animation. Both The Secret of Kells and the studio’s second feature Song of the Sea were inspired by The Thief and the Cobbler and Mulan while the founders were in university. Tomm Moore, the director of both films, said "Some friends in college and I were inspired by Richard Williams' unfinished masterpiece The Thief and the Cobbler and the Disney movie Mulan, which took indigenous traditional art as the starting point for a beautiful style of 2D animation. I felt that something similar could be done with Irish art." A 2001 meeting with Les Armateurs proved instrumental in the effort to secure funding for The Secret of Kells, and the company helped in the production of the final film. The success and Oscar nomination of the film in 2009 led to major offers for Cartoon Saloon, but the studio chose to remain independent. This led to a difficult time financially for the company for a few years with the partners having to take out personal loans to keep the studio afloat. As of 2021, Cartoon Saloon is in production of its TV series, Vikingskool and Nora Twomey's second feature for Netflix, My Father's Dragon.

Services

The studio provides animation, illustration and design services for clients ranging from Disney to BBC to Cartoon Network. Cartoon Saloon also provided the graphics for the successful Emperor of the Irish exhibition at Trinity College Dublin, in 2014.

Filmography

Feature films

Released

Upcoming

Cancelled

Short films

Television series

Produced

Upcoming

Rejected

Cooperative works

Lighthouse Studios

Lighthouse Studios was founded in 2017 by this studio and Mercury Filmworks.

Other

Awards and nominations

The Secret of Kells

Song of the Sea

The Breadwinner

Wolfwalkers

My Father's Dragon

Late Afternoon

Puffin Rock