TOMM Moore hasn’t had the worst 2015. The year started with his superb animated feature Song of the Sea getting Oscar-nominated and just a couple of weeks ago it picked up the 'best animated film’ award at the European Film Awards in Berlin.
Song of the Sea features some high-profile voice talent, including Brendan Gleeson, Fionnula Flanagan, Pat Shortt, Jon Kenny and the singer Lisa Hannigan.
The story was inspired by the 'selkies’ of Irish folklore, who live as seals in the sea but become humans on land. It follows Ben and his little sister Saoirse – the last seal-child – as they embark on a journey across a fading world of ancient legend and magic in an attempt to return to their home by the sea.
After getting its cinema release over the summer, Song of the Sea is now out on DVD and Blu-ray, having enjoyed huge momentum ever since it got the Academy Award nomination. It lost out on Oscar night, though, to Big Hero 6.
Moore was born in Newry – the singer Kieran Goss is his uncle – but is now based in Kilkenny, home to his animation studio Cartoon Saloon. The film director/illustrator was also Oscar-nominated for his previous feature The Secret of Kells (2009).
He says after the amazing experience of getting the first nomination, he was sure that Song of the Sea wouldn’t get the nod too.
“The Kells nomination came out of nowhere and we hadn’t campaigned or anything, but for this we did put a bit of effort into it,” he says. “I joined the Academy in 2011 so I had an idea this time of what we were up against – The Lego Movie and Book of Life and a few other things. I just thought, 'There’s no room for us and I don’t think we have a chance of getting nominated’.
“So we were surprised and delighted to get a nomination and it’s been a mad year since and we’ve been on a fantastic roll and won an IFTA and awards in India and Japan.”
He was particularly surprised to win at the European Film Awards this month, when his film was up against the hotly-tipped Shaun the Sheep Movie.
“That was great craic and I was just happy to be there. We were really at the end of our run with this film, so we were sure that Shaun the Sheep would win,” he says.
“And I think everyone felt that, because the presenter – a German comedian – had prepared a whole routine about Shaun the Sheep and then we won it. He had no seal material ready,” he laughs.
Song of the Sea is a worthy winner of all its awards and plaudits. It’s a captivating tale, it’s beautifully animated and features excellent music by composer Bruno Coulais and the band Kíla.
And Moore was delighted to get to work with such a formidable cast.
“I had all those actors in mind when I was designing the characters, so everyone we asked said yes. That must have been a benefit of The Secret of Kells getting an Oscar nomination. People sort of thought 'OK, these guys are legit’.
“Brendan Gleeson had just finished Calvary, so he still had the beard and he came in really looking the part.”
He says the last person to get cast was Co Meath singer-songwriter Lisa Hannigan, who voices Bronagh, Ben and Saoirse’s mother, and also sings.
“We thought we needed an actor who could sing. We knew that Lisa was right for the singing voice but it was a little bit of a gamble because she didn’t have any professional acting experience, but she was brilliant and it worked out fine.”
Moore worked with Will Collins on the screenplay and came up with the idea when he found out about seals being culled while on a holiday in Co Kerry. A local woman told him that such a grim thing wouldn’t have happened in years gone by as many believed that the seals could have the souls of people lost at sea.
He then read stories about selkies and allegories people used for the grief of losing someone at sea and his story took shape.
“I read a book called The People of the Sea, which is about selkies, so that’s when I really got into the story. We were in the middle of working on The Secret of Kells when I had the idea, so it’s 10 years ago now, which is mad. The timeframe for animation is mad, but in independent animation it’s even longer.
“I called the mum Bronagh after my mum and the wee boy is named after my son Ben.”
He says his films are aimed at a family audience. So what age of children does he think Song of the Sea would be suitable for?
“It’s interesting, because I showed it to my brother-in-law and his five-year-old and the five-year-old sat and watched it and was happy enough. I’d have thought the starting age for it was maybe seven or eight, but I suppose it depends on the kid.”
The next two films Moore is involved with are WolfWalkers, based in Kilkenny, and The Breadwinner, based in Afghanistan and adapted from the Deborah Ellis book.
“Angelina Jolie is involved in The Breadwinner, so that’s the biggest name we’ve had,” he says.
He thinks that Pixar’s film Inside Out could get the 'best animated feature’ award at next year’s Oscars and says it might even get a 'best picture’ nomination.
As a man who started college in 1995, the year the Pixar classic Toy Story came out, he admits that he’s surprised that he got his career in hand-drawn animation going at all.
“When Toy Story came out the whole industry moved towards CGI and everyone was talking about hand-drawn animation being dead. By the time I graduated in 1999, the hand-drawn studios in Ireland were closed.
“But we’ve managed to buck the trend and I think it’s been to our advantage, because there are so few hand-drawn films on the market and our films really stand out. Pixar have millions and millions to play with, so if you try and copy them it’ll just look like a cheap copy. We have our own identity.”
He recommends the Brazilian animated film Boy & the World as one to look out for next year. And which animation would he rate as a Christmas classic?
“I think The Snowman (1982) really stands the test of time. That’s definitely a Christmas favourite in our house.”
:: Song of the Sea is out now on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD on StudioCanal.
