Cartoon Saloon: A Dream of Irish Animation

by Cláudio Alves

In the past decade, Cartoon Saloon has managed to become one of the most important studios of western animation. It all started back in 2009 when the Belgian-French-Irish co-production The Secret of Kells premiered at the Gérardmer Film Festival. That medieval fantasy went on to conquer a surprising, though amply deserved, Academy Award nomination, as have all the studios' subsequent features – 2014's Song of the Sea, 2017's The Breadwinner, and this year's Wolfwalkers.

With that last picture upon us, it feels like an appropriate time to recall the short history of this splendid studio...

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Pt 2 - Looking at Netflix's contenders in all Oscar categories

by Juan Carlos Ojano

As explained in Part One we're looking at Netflix's deep slate this year and pinpointing how they might be competitive in each of the 23 Oscar categories (it used to be 24 categories but Sound Editing and Sound Mixing have now become one category). In part two, which follows after the jump, we're discussing the "big eight" marquee categories, plus animated feature...

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Streaming Review: Over the Moon

By Abe Friedtanzer

Many religions and cultures find meaning in inanimate objects and physical locations, teaching mythical stories about their significance. As children grow up, they may assume a more metaphorical and symbolic understanding of what they heard from their parents and grandparents, no longer convinced that something magic could indeed be real. That can erode the sense of wonder that they once felt and cause them to believe in something less fervently because they believe it couldn’t possibly be true.

Not giving up that childlike hope may be unrealistic, but it does serve as the premise for some of the most heartwarming animated films.

In Over the Moon, streaming on Netflix on October 23rd, we’re introduced to Fei Fei, who, as a young girl, helps her parents make and sell mooncakes, eagerly running all over the city describing their delicious taste. She is always sure to emphasize their connection to the moon itself and to Chang’e, the moon goddess...

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April Foolish Predix Pt 1: The Toons!

by Nathaniel R

Last year's animation race proved, just as we predicted, that the Academy's animated branch will only put up with a couple of sequels in any given year. For 2020 that wasn't going to be an issue as the scheduling wasn't sequel heavy. But then COVID-19 happened and the release schedules of everything got pushed back -- the latest calendar move is Disney/Pixar's Soul power-walking to Thanksgiving week where it will replace Disney's Raya and the Dragon, now pushed to 2021...

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12 Days till Oscar - What will win Best Animated Feature?

by Nathaniel R

With just 12 days till Oscar most of the big ticket races are feeling quite locked up apart from arguably Best Documentary Feature and Best Animated Feature. The latter is particularly volatile...

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