WolfWalkers Review (2020) – A beautifully animated film about friendship, change, and magic!
Continuing on with our theme of growth, healing, spring etc.! We’ve decided to review an animated film from one of the most underrated animation studios, Cartoon Saloon. The movie is called Wolfwalkers! It is unfortunately, only available through the Apple TV streaming service.
Cartoon Saloon is an Irish studio that has a fantastic track record of producing high quality animation, compelling stories, and memorable characters. However, our absolute favorite film they’ve produced is 2020’s Wolfwalkers. The film is set in 17th century Ireland; a time when English colonization was at a bloody high. There is some great complexity in the story and allusions to historical events that, combined with the fantastic story writing, make for an experience that will be enjoyed by anyone of any age group!
Brief trigger warning, for religious trauma, minor violence, and toxic parenting. Overall this film is gentle with these things, but they are present so it is worth mentioning!
We will do everything we can to not give too many spoilers in this review but there are likely to be some, so please take that into consideration and read cautiously.
Let’s get into it!
The film begins with some gorgeous scenery and various forest creatures emerging from their woodland homes.
We then see a group of men working hard to chop down trees from the tree line of the forest. As the men hack and chop the trees, they are startled by sounds coming from the woods. Taking a closer look, they find that the woods are full of wolves! The wolves start to pour out of the forest biting and snarling!
Terrified the men start to run! A couple of the men escape! But one man finds himself surrounded.
Suddenly! The wolves halt in their tracks. Their eyes glow yellow as they listen and look into the forest toward a far-off howl. A beautiful red-haired woman, holding an adorable red-haired child, both with the same color of glowing yellow eyes emerge from the forest.
The wolves quickly move to stand by their side. The wood cutter had sustained an injury from the incident and the woman and child approach him. Raising their hands and howling, a brilliant yellow magic emanating from their hands. Placing their hands on the man’s wound the magic heals him.
The woman points the man towards the nearby town, to which he quickly scrambles back to, and just as mysteriously as they appeared they disappear back into the forest.
We then get a glimpse of those same animals from the very beginning trying to adjust to their new hacked up forest environment. The humans in the area are literally ravaging the land to make way for their way of life.
The story follows Robyn Goodfellowe (Honor Kneafsey), an English girl in the newly colonized town of Kilkenny, Ireland. She aspires to be a hunter like her father (Sean Bean). Her father has been tasked by the town’s ruler, the “Lord Protector” (Simon McBurney), to hunt the wolves in the forest so that the woodcutters can safely clear the woods to make room for farmland.
We personally despise the “Lord Protector” he is a completely evil asshole and does not protect anyone from a damn thing. The world needs protecting from Mr. “Lord Protector.” But we digress!
Robyn’s discontent within the town and her yearning to go on hunting adventures with her father leaves her frustrated. Children are forbidden by the Lord Protector from leaving the town. Restless she decides to follow her father out the city gates on one of his hunting missions into the woods anyway!
Avoiding her father but watching him closely so as not to be caught, she finds some wolf tracks on the ground. She follows them with her pet falcon, Merlyn, to find the town’s shepherds and woodcutters once again being surrounded by wolves! Terrified, Robyn finally comes face to face with one of the wolves she’s been so keen on hunting! She manages to lose her balance and accidentally shoots Merlyn with a bolt from her crossbow!
Devastated, she starts running to Merlyn’s aid as the wolves once again perk up at the sound of a howl from the woods, their eyes glowing in response. The wolves leave the shepherds and woodcutters, retreating to the woods, but a single set of eyes approaches Robyn and Merlyn from the dark forest. The young red-haired girl, walking on all fours and growling emerges into view. Before Robyn can make it to Merlin, the wolf-like girl sniffs and snatches him away into the forest.
After being caught and a scolding from her father Robyn is ordered to go back to the town. While on her way, she finds a way to dodge the guards and run back into the forest desperate to find Merlyn!
To her surprise she finds Merlyn quickly! Not only that, he appears to be fully healed and flying around! Curious Robyn continues through the woods, she springs one of her father’s traps and gets snared by a rope. Hanging upside down, a brown wolf approaches her cautiously, but playfully, jumping and biting at the rope. In Robyn’s panic, she hits the brown wolf multiple times before finally being mistakenly bitten. The wolf manages to bite through the rope and tentatively licks the bite wound before running off with Merlyn willingly following.
Robyn follows the wolf and Merlyn to a large den where the wolves live! The brown wolf approaches a throne in the middle of the den where the red-haired woman and little girl sit with their eyes closed. The little brown wolf jumps into the air, turning into an ethereal yellow glow in the shape of a wolf, before diving into the little girl’s body. Her eyes open as Robyn gasps.
After some playful threats about how Robyn stinks, the red-haired girl performs her healing spell on the bite wound and shoos Robyn out, saying the wolves are going to eat her. She prompts her wolves to playfully chase Robyn out of the den. As Robyn runs, the red-haired girl and her wolves chase Robyn and we finally get an explanation of what wolf walkers are and get a proper introduction to our other big character, Mebh (Eva Whittaker)!
“I’m no girl! I’m a Wolfwalker!”
“When I sleeps, I’m a wolf. When I’m awake, I’m me, Mebh! Mebh Óg MacTíre!”
Mebh is our favorite character! She is such a spirited little girl that knows who she is! She is fierce and true to herself. Robyn is a sweetheart but we personally felt like Mebh stole the show for us.
The story progresses with the two becoming fast friends! Things get very hairy for Robyn…quite literally! Mebh and Robyn overcome obstacles together and grow together. We are wrapping it up here because we don’t want to give any more away!
The animation in this film is absolutely gorgeous as we move from forested areas to bustling old world cities. A very fun detail to note is that geometry seems to play a big role in the visuals. The forest and the wolves seem flowing, circular, and smooth. The town, by contrast, seems, quite literally, square!
In fact, everything that could be associated with what we call civilization is squared off, with lots of straight lines and symmetry. The trees, the animals, and everything else that can be found in the forest all appear very fluid and wavy.
Wolves are often portrayed as bad guys or even outright villains in media. It was a true breath of fresh air to see a film where they are portrayed as the beautiful creatures that they are. Many people seem to forget that without wolves, we would never have domesticated humanities best friend, dogs! Considering the fact that humans and wolves co-evolved together, we deeply feel that wolves are not given the respect that they deserve!
They don’t get the credit or respect they are more than worthy of for their contributions to their respective environments and to humanity as a species. We would not have gotten where we are today, as a species, without them.
We potatoes absolutely adore this film! The animation, the story, the music, the characters; everything is fantastic! If any of these things pique your interest, give this film a shot! You’ll be sure to have an enchanting time! We watched the film using a free trial of Apple TV and to be honest, it was worth it just for that!
We give Wolfwalkers 5 Irish Stouts out of 5!
WolfWalkers Drinking Game
Take a sip anytime:
1. Someone says "Wolf"
2. Someone turns into a wolf
3. Anyone mentions killing wolves
4. Anyone says “WolfWalker”
5. Robyn disobeys
6. You hear a howl
7. Robyn's dad is sweet
8. Anyone says “mammy, ”daddy” or “father”
9. Anyone goes into the woods
10. Anyone says “Lord Protector”
11. Magic is used
12. Mebh growls
What did you think?? Did you like the movie? Did you hate it!? Do you have suggestions for films we should consider?! Let us know here in the comments and always remember to be safe and drink responsibly!