As today is Saint Patrick’s Day, I thought the 2009 animated feature The Secret of Kells would be an appropriate movie to watch and review. After all, it has some similarities to the holiday. Both are rooted in Irish tradition, both involve a great deal of the color green, and both involve the mixing of Christian tradition with Celtic lore: St. Patrick and leprechaun symbolism for the holiday, and a woodland fairy in the film, which is about the creation of the illuminated manuscript the Book of Kells.
It’s a purely fictional tale (as if you couldn’t guess by the fairy), but the Book of Kells is a real item, an illustrated edition of the four Gospels of the New Testament. Directors Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey decided to create a film which used animation design based on the illuminated pages of the book, giving the film a look that is rather unlike any other animated feature I’ve seen. Continue reading
