Sightlines · reception
How The Secret of Kells was received
2009 · Tomm Moore · The Secret of Kells on Sightlines
The arc
A tiny Irish indie that most people had never heard of until it crashed the 2010 Oscars with a shock Best Animated Feature nomination — before it even had a proper US release. Now it's revered as the film that launched Cartoon Saloon and the first chapter of the beloved 'Irish folklore trilogy' with Song of the Sea and Wolfwalkers.
What’s debated
The perennial Letterboxd debate: is the story too slight for the staggering visuals, or is 'every frame a painting' precisely the point of a film about illuminated manuscripts?
Its footprint
Pangur Bán the white cat — lifted from a real 9th-century Irish monk's poem — became the film's breakout mascot, and Aisling's haunting song is a staple of 'animation songs that wreck me' lists; the flat, spiral-filled illuminated-manuscript frames are endlessly screenshot as proof of what 2D can still do.
Where it stands
A canon climber and animation-lovers' password: the 'you must have seen this' entry point to Cartoon Saloon, sitting comfortably in Letterboxd's hand-drawn pantheon next to Ghibli.
Did you know? Its Oscar nomination was one of the great modern upsets — it snagged the fifth Best Animated Feature slot over heavy favorites like Ponyo before the film had even opened theatrically in the US, effectively putting distributor GKIDS on the map.
Named by the director
- Kirikou and the Sorceress (1998) — Moore has repeatedly cited Ocelot's folk-art-styled film as proof a feature rooted in a native visual tradition could work.
- Mulan (1998) — Moore said seeing Disney draw on Chinese art made him want to do the same with Irish art.
- Hercules (1997) — Alongside Mulan, Moore named it as a spark — Disney using Greek vase design inspired his use of Celtic illumination.
- The Thief and the Cobbler (1993) — Moore cited Richard Williams' Persian-miniature-styled epic as a model for building a film's look from a traditional art form.