Curator Watchlist
A gorgeously hand-drawn fantasy adventure with real emotional warmth, ecological urgency, and a strong mythic identity. It’s especially rewarding if you value animation as an art form, folklore-driven storytelling, and family films that treat nature and rebellion with sincerity.
Where to watch: Buy
Mon · 1h 42m
Director: Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart
Starring: Honor Kneafsey, Eva Whittaker, Sean Bean
In a time of superstition and magic, when wolves are seen as demonic and nature an evil to be tamed, a young apprentice hunter comes to Ireland with her father to wipe out the last pack. But when she saves a wild native girl, their friendship leads her to discover the world of the Wolfwalkers and transform her into the very thing her father is tasked to destroy.
Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart
Honor Kneafsey, Eva Whittaker, Sean Bean
A gorgeously hand-drawn fantasy adventure with real emotional warmth, ecological urgency, and a strong mythic identity. It’s especially rewarding if you value animation as an art form, folklore-driven storytelling, and family films that treat nature and rebellion with sincerity.
Wolfwalkers is a rare animated film that feels both classic and freshly alive. Its hand-drawn style, layered backgrounds, and expressive movement create a world that seems to breathe on its own, turning the forest into something magical, political, and deeply human at once.
The story is simple on the surface, but it carries real weight: colonial control, fear of the wild, and the cost of obedience are all woven into a coming-of-age tale that never feels preachy. The friendship at its center gives the movie warmth, while the wolf mythology gives it a sense of wonder and danger.
It’s an especially strong choice for viewers who want animation with artistic ambition and emotional sincerity. Even when the plotting is familiar, the visual invention and atmosphere make it feel distinctive from start to finish.
Karsten (4★) · 3196 likes
Undeniably and unsurprisingly one of the most gorgeously animated films of the year. On a semi-unrelated note: It is weird that THIS was the film that really made me think about how horrific a film industry dominated by streaming services looks like. Like you can really only experience this beautiful movie if you own an Apple device of some kind. Or an Apple Id or whatever you get what I mean. Very awesome how films got so accessible and so inaccessible so fast! Not a mind-blowing thought by any means. But pretty odd the more you think about it, no? Idk Great movie, though!
Patrick Willems (4★) · 2239 likes
Every time I can see those hand-drawn pencil lines I do the Antonio Banderas lean back gif
CinemaVoid 🏴☠️ (4.5★) · 1669 likes
In a time when shitty live action remakes of Disney classics rule the box office, doing hand-drawn animation is an act of rebellion.
davidehrlich (4★) · 1417 likes
Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon may not be able to match the impact or consistency of Japan’s Studio Ghibli (who can?), but the Kilkenny-based outfit has gradually emerged as one of the world’s last and most valuable bulwarks against the crude and craven soullessness that has defined the post-“Shrek” era of mainstream animated movies. Rooted in Celtic mythology and drawn to look like a moving stained glass window, 2009’s Oscar-nominated “The Secret of Kells” stood apart from its computer-generated 3D
Lucy (4★) · 1156 likes
AFI 2020: film #10 “there’s two of us now” absolutely delightful. some of the plot points can easily be guessed just like most family films, but the animation is gorgeous and the loving warmth radiates off every frame like the sun
A natural companion piece from the same animation tradition, with similarly ornate visuals, folklore roots, and a reverent sense of myth.
Shares the same lyrical, hand-crafted animation style and a tender blend of family emotion, legend, and melancholy wonder.
For viewers drawn to transformation, spirit-world magic, and a child navigating a strange, beautifully realized realm.
A powerful nature-versus-industrialization fantasy with moral complexity and a fierce respect for the wild.
An animated folktale with strong mythic energy, striking visual identity, and a child-centered perspective.
A heartfelt story about fear, empathy, and choosing compassion over violence, with broad family appeal.
A darker, old-school fantasy adventure that may appeal to viewers who like perilous, mythic quests.
Dreamy, melancholy fantasy with a strong fairy-tale atmosphere and a sincere emotional core.
Another visually distinctive animated film about courage, survival, and resistance under oppressive power.
For its exquisite hand-drawn artistry and its poetic, nature-infused emotional sensibility.
An accessible fantasy adventure about empathy toward a feared creature and breaking inherited prejudice.
Epic, painterly animation with serious stakes, strong visual storytelling, and a sweeping emotional register.
friendship, nature vs civilization, folklore, colonialism, coming of age, transformation, family conflict, freedom
hand-drawn animation, Celtic folklore, fantasy adventure, ecological themes, coming-of-age, mythic tone, family-friendly, lush visuals, anti-colonial, adventure