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saw this last night, loved it to death. the animation and backgrounds are beautiful, of course, but i loved the story and characters, too. simple and two-dimensional in the manner of most children's films, but i have no problem with that. i related both to our hero and his woodland friend, got caught up in the quest story and even a little, uh, emotional from time to time. plus the cat! instant addition to the short list of my favorite animated films, something i'd like to buy and have around the house along with sleeping beauty, spirited away, fantastic planet, etc.
tartakovsky's influence is all over the secret of kells (along with that of other nickelodeon animators), i can't deny that, but not in a way that made it feel derivative to me. the animators here took some familiar styles and ran with them, an artistic approach i respect. and as much as i liked the look of samurai jack, i always appreciated it from a distance. i never fell for it the way i fell for TSoK.
really interesting to hear the writer/director (and lead animation designer) talk about his inspirations and strategies in the bonus features. lot of cool art history parallels and borrowings. plus i guess he'd been working on it for something like 10 years, since before he graduated college, very much a life's work. plenty of time to develop deep connections in the material.