Song of the Sea

Song of the Sea (Irish: Amhrán na Mara) is a 2014 animated fantasy film directed and co-produced by Tomm Moore, co-produced by Ross Murray, Paul Young, Stephen Roelants, Serge and Marc Ume, Isabelle Truc, Clement Calvet, Jeremie Fajner, Frederik Villumsen, and Claus Toksvig Kjaer, and written by Will Collins from Moore's story. An international co-production between the Republic of Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, France and Luxembourg, it is the second feature film by Cartoon Saloon. The film is the second installment in Moore's "Irish Folklore Trilogy", following his previous film The Secret of Kells (2009) and preceding the film Wolfwalkers (2020). It is also the only one to be set in contemporary times, as the former two movies take place during the Middle Ages and the 17th century respectively.

Song of the Sea follows the story of a 10-year-old Irish boy named Ben (David Rawle) who discovers that his mute sister Saoirse, whom he blames for the apparent death of his mother, is a selkie who has to free faerie creatures from the Celtic goddess Macha.

Like other Saloon films, the film was hand-drawn. The film began production soon after the release of The Secret of Kells, premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on 6 September in the "TIFF Kids" programme. The film had a limited release in certain countries, but received critical acclaim and won the Satellite Award for Best Animated or Mixed Media Feature and European Film Award for Best Animated Feature Film, as well as was nominated for the Best Animated Feature at the 87th Academy Awards and 42nd Annie Awards.

The Irish-language version has been produced by Macalla with funding from TG4 and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, with selected cinemas in Ireland screening it from 10 July 2015. Brendan Gleeson and Fionnula Flanagan reprised their respective roles in this version. The DVD with the Irish audio can be bought in Cartoon Saloon's online store.

Characters

 * Ben