Oscar Nominated ‘The Secret of Kells’ Off To Hollywood as Two Irish Animations Up for Major US Award
The Academy Award® nominated THE SECRET OF KELLS is off to Hollywood this weekend for the prestigious 37th Annual Annie Awards where it has been nominated for the Best Animated Feature award ahead of the Oscars next month. It's not alone as the Irish short animation THE ROOSTER, THE CROCODILE AND THE NIGHT SKY has also received a nomination for the Best Animated Short Subject award. The Annie Awards are the highest honour in the international animation industry and this year they will be presented by William Shatner in Los Angeles on Saturday 6th February.THE SECRET OF KELLS directed by Tomm Moore will be competing against Up, The Princess & The Frog, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Coraline and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs for the accolade of Best Animated Feature which has been previously been won by the successful The Incredibles and Shrek.
It has been a great year for the Irish feature as not only has it picked up an Oscar nomination but it has collected a large number of international awards including the Audience Awards at the Edinburgh, Kecskemet and Annecy film festivals. The animation industry in Ireland has shown consistent growth in recent years. Total output for the sector was worth €38.9 million in 2008 and the estimated output for 2009 is €43 million
Produced by European Producers of the Year, Cartoon Saloon, The Secret of Kells received funding from the IFB, BAI, France 2 Cinema, Eurimages, Media programme, Canal+ Cine Cinema, Conseil General de la Charente, Piste Rouge, Flanders Audiovisual Fund, Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel de la Communauté Française de Belgique et des Télédistributeurs Wallons, Promimage and Wallimage.
Barley Film's THE ROOSTER, THE CROCODILE AND THE NIGHT SKY written and directed by Padraig Fagan has been nominated in the Best Animated Short Subject category. The short animation has screened at numerous international film festivals over the last year including the Cartoons on the Bay film festival, the Chicago Irish Film Festival and the Anima Mundi Festival in Brazil to name a few.
The short is a tale of passion, loss, surreal comedy and explosive violence. It is animated in a cut-out style combining a variety of elements such as cardboard, tinfoil, paint on glass animation and super-8 film footage to create a dreamy, hand-made aesthetic.
The film was produced by Barry O'Donoghue for Barley Films as part of the Frameworks short film scheme funded by the Irish Film Board, RTÉ and the Arts Council. Barley Films have previously produced the award winning shorts Agriculture Report and The Red Ball and the studio is currently developing its first animated feature film Little Caribou.
These two nominations are the latest success for the Irish animation industry which has seen The Secret of Kells and Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty nominated for Academy Awards, Old Fangs officially selected for the Sundance Film Festival and A Film From My Parish - 6 Farms and The Polish Language officially selected for Clermont Ferrand in the last two months.