'My Father's Dragon' Trailer: Cartoon Saloon Is The Best Western Animation Studio

By Alberto Cox Délano | Film | September 29, 2022 |

By Alberto Cox Délano | Film | September 29, 2022 |

Cartoon Saloon — the independent Irish animation studio founded by Paul Young, Nora Twomey, and Tomm Moore — should eventually be counted as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO, or some similar category, because what they have been doing ever since the release of The Secret of Kells is just as much a style as it is a wholly distinctive technique: Their movies appear at first deceptively minimalist in their storylines and and animation style. But it takes only that single first-time watching to realize they are intricate, multi-layered and poetic depictions of the interactions between childhood and the adulthood, both in their storylines and animation style. And to do that in this film industry is nothing short of a cultural miracle (consier the comically long number of European film boards that have been behind their earlier movies).

Their newest film, directed by Nora Twomey (who previously helmed The Breadwinner) is My Father’s Dragon, based on the books series by Ruth Stiles Gannett, which unfortunately was never a part of my childhood (happens to many of children’s classics in the English-language). As with other stories by Cartoon Saloon, it starts with a child who sets out on a voyage into the fantastic as they’re encroached by the adult world. This one sees Elmer (voiced by Jacob Tremblay) being taken to an island where he will strike a friendship with Boris (Gaten Matarazzo), the dragon that protects it. It just so happens that the dragon might be more on the cuddly side. It’s probably going to be much deeper, much darker, and much more insightful than what I’m describing, so just hit that play button and be enthralled by roughly 2880 frames that would be museum pieces anywhere.

It premieres on November 11 on Netflix, so if you have the 4K-tier account, make sure you… ahem, do the necessary film preservation. Though it will for sure nab Cartoon Saloon its sixth Oscar nomination for best Animated Feature (they have another for the short film Late Afternoon), and sixth likely loss at the hands of Disney’s PR machine. Don’t worry, their day will come.