You can watch Wolfwalkers for free today

[Víctor Paredes]

Hello. I hope this is not too late, but I just read that you can watch Wolfwalkers for free today here:
https://americancinematheque.com/wolfwalkers/

[chucky]

SO amazing Victor.
Still sinking in.

[slowtiger]

Thx for the link.

I had a hard time understanding the characters, especially the kids.

[chucky]

Thx for the link.

I had a hard time understanding the characters, especially the kids.

DO you mean the accents? They were pretty mild.
There was a subtitle option.

[slowtiger]

I'm german, most accents are too thick for me. Of course I could follow the story good enough. (The voices in Secret of Kells were much easier for me.)

Story aside, I wasn't that happy with some of the design decisions. It's a much better movie than most, of course. Anyone cares for my opinion?

[chucky]

You should try living with a Glaswegian or a Conversing with a really thick New Zealand accent... sometimes it's fine but then...might as well talk to falling rocks.

I thought it was refreshing thematically and visually.
I didn't need to see some of the really bold construction lines, they broke the fourth wall a bit for me, but I did love the sketchiness and graphic sensibilities.
Most of all it was really refreshing to see a story about people other than 'aristocracy'.
The world needs fewer suburban princesses.

[slowtiger]

I liked the construction lines, but that wasn't used consistantly. The very first scenes (before the title) seemed much too clean for me. So some characters looked hand-drawn, some others more like vector - I would've tried to unify the look. Also some scenes were totally smooth (on 1's), others remarkably japanese (on 3's or 4's). And I missed a bit of texture on all the fills of the characters. The speckles of light on the characters in the forest weren't really convincing, since they didn't move nor deform it made the characters appear translucent.

I liked the crowd scenes very much. But somehow the director's choice of angles was too restrictive: his rectangular world collided with the storytelling. I found myself wondering if kids could make sense of what was going on in several scenes, since even I was distracted and needed a moment to recognize what was happening in shots.n (There's that bit from a blog several years ago that comedies tend to have walls parallel or rectangular to camera view, whereas dramatic stuff uses all angles.)

Some of the backgrounds were disappointingly flat. The forest was a bit mushy, there was not much help in terms of contrast and lighting to establish real depth in the wide shots. Quite often I wished for more contrast between characters and BG.

But as usual it's much easier to criticize than to create something that good myself ...

[Greenlaw]

Wolfwalkers is amazing! My family has watched it twice now.

If you haven't seen it yet, I highly, HIGHLY recommend it.

A couple of weeks ago, the directors Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart did a presentation and Q&A session at my work place (via video chat of course.) That was a real treat. They talked about the inspiration for the story, the local history of Kilkenny, the designs of Wolfwalkers, and the rules for how the characters are drawn for the different worlds. Fascinating presentation!

My wife Alisa fell in love with the designs, and she can't stop looking at the art book.

[Maestral]

First things first - Many thanks for the link, Victor.

I would gladly join in recommending watching the movie. Especially to those who have seen the previous ones coming from Cartoon Saloon.

It could easily be just a matter of taste or personal preferences. I still remember how much some people were surprised with the stylization in The Secret of Kells and the overall take on art direction. Having in mind the other works and recognizable 'handwriting' in those, the art direction of Wolfwalkers is bold, brave and above all refreshing. To me, this is not just a mere stepping away from a cliche but a well-nurtured and matured direction enriched with some good ol' storytelling.

There were some interviews and presentations available on web, prior to watching the movie, but I really could not be bothered with that tiny voice's remarks trying to interrupt me while pointing to some technical aspects. It's been a while since I was able to 'just watch' something and I can't thank you guys enough for that.

Personally, I'd like to see even more stylistic diversity in nowadays production (due to the available options, in any aspect) and the approach to the visuals in CS's production again made me waiting for their another piece as of another birthday present opening or similar. In short, I'm getting younger and younger following their work (or older? x)

[Daxel]

Oh I missed it! But the trailer looks amazing! Congrats

[SimplSam]

The American Cinematheque WOLFWALKERS Q & A with Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart, hosted by Guillermo del Toro is now available of YouTube:

[fbacker]

Hello. I hope this is not too late, but I just read that you can watch Wolfwalkers for free today here:
https://americancinematheque.com/wolfwalkers/

This is amazing.

[Víctor Paredes]

I liked the construction lines, but that wasn't used consistantly. The very first scenes (before the title) seemed much too clean for me. So some characters looked hand-drawn, some others more like vector - I would've tried to unify the look. Also some scenes were totally smooth (on 1's), others remarkably japanese (on 3's or 4's). And I missed a bit of texture on all the fills of the characters. The speckles of light on the characters in the forest weren't really convincing, since they didn't move nor deform it made the characters appear translucent.

Here's a short video with Tomm Moore explaining the inspiration, reason and what they were trying to achieve there:

[slowtiger]

I don't remember his accent being so strong when I saw him, years ago, on stage at the premiere of "Secret of Kells" at the Berlinale! One fine thing which stood out: he called all of his team on stage, about 30 or 40 people who made the trip with him, regardless of job title!

[chucky]

Yep, that totally followed , it was pretty clear when watching it , looked great and made sense.... Oh and I loved the movie as a whole.
However, there were times when there might be some quite bold ovals in the construction ( of the wolves bodies for example) that just went past sketch into artifice.
That took me out of the moment and (maybe because the fact that I draw too) it was like seeing the gaffer tape on a set.