2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25
In 2009, the Irish studio CartoonSaloon completed the creation of a full-length color animation called "The Mystery of Kells Abbey" (alternative title - "The Secret of Kells"). This is a truly amazing and beautiful project, the events of which cover the history of Ireland in the 9th century. The plot has two main lines that go side by side and are constantly intertwined with each other. On the one hand, this is the story of the adventures of a little monk boy named Brendan, and on the other hand, the story of how the Book of Kells (a real-life manuscript) was saved and completed.
Working on the cartoon, the directors used two techniques at once - drawing and computer animation. The debut of the project fell on various festivals, where he received a resounding success. In the same year, they even wanted to nominate it for an Oscar, but the worldwide release was mostly limited.
About the release
The Secret of debutKells took place at the end of January 2009 at the French Film Festival in Gerardmer. In the same year, it was shown at other prestigious international festivals - Berlin, Warsaw, Istanbul, Belgian and others.
A year later, the cartoon continued to collect rave reviews from viewers and receive various prizes. It was included in the top 20, and then in the top 5 full-length animated films, contenders for the Oscar. Unfortunately, the project never reached the award itself.
Despite the fact that the official date of the creation of the cartoon "The Secret of Kells" is 2009, the rights for distribution in our country were received only 2 years later, in 2011. A year earlier, in 2010, it was shown in American and English cinemas.
Storyline
Ireland, 9th century. In the local hinterland, hidden from prying eyes, there is an ancient abbey called Kells. Its head is the authoritarian Rector, who is also involved in the education and training of young monks. One of his pupils is an orphan boy named Brendan.
Despite his young age (12 years old), Brendan shows great ability to learn, likes to work on an equal basis with everyone and has a nice character.
Every day the monks try to fortify the walls of their abbey to protect themselves from Viking raids. One day Brother Aidan arrives in Kells, a famous master illustrator who is also the curator of an unusual illustrated manuscript. Aidan decides to make Brendan his ownstudent. Talking about what the art of illustration is, he awakens in the young monk a passionate interest in creativity and a unique talent.
The Book of Kells - what is it?
The Book of Kells takes center stage in the cartoon's plot. But what is it? This manuscript is a real miracle and a truly grandiose achievement of the illustrators of that time. According to historical data, the Irish (then they were still Celtic) monks created the Book of Kells somewhere in the year 800. The manuscript is lavishly decorated with various miniatures and fine ornaments, making it one of the most lavishly illustrated written works that have come down to us since the Middle Ages.
According to many researchers, the Book of Kells is also one of the most significant works of Irish art of that time. It contains 4 gospels written in Latin. The introduction and explanatory pages feature a variety of colorful patterns and miniatures that are breathtakingly beautiful.
Today, the library of the Irish Trinity College, located in Dublin, has become the place of storage of the Book of Kells.
Cartoon characters
Practically all the characters in The Secret of Kells are fictional and have no historical references. An exception can be considered the main character, whose prototype many consider St. Brendan of Clontfer, famous contemporary of St. Columba. There is also an assumption that the real Kellsthe abbot of that period was actually called Kellach.
List of characters:
- Monk boy Brendan (and his older version).
- A forest fairy named Ashley.
- Brother Aidan.
- Abbé Kellach.
- Monks of Tang, Assua, Square.
Awards and nominations
2008 - Producers Tom Moore (director) and Paul Young received an award from the Directors Guild of Ireland.
2009 - the cartoon was presented at the international festivals in Annes and Dublin, where it won the audience award. In the same year, "The Mystery of Kells Abbey" was presented at the Zagreb World Animation Festival, where directors Moore and Toomey received a special mention.
2010 - Best Animated Feature at the Boulder International Film Festival.
Historical reference and interesting facts
Like any other work of art, The Mystery of Kells cartoon boasts various references and interesting details.
Here are some of them:
- The real abbey is located near Kells in County Mitt (40 km from the city of Dublin). Its foundation took place in the year 514 of St. Columbus.
- Many of the drawings shown in the cartoon repeat images from the pages of the real Book of Kells. For example, the scene in which the protagonist enters the forest shows unique tree shapes similar toforms of arches and pillars found in the manuscript.
- In the 8th century in Ireland, there lived a monk who wrote a poem especially for his cat. The animal's name was Pangur Ban, and it was this name that the creators of the cartoon "The Mystery of the Abbey of Kells" decided to give the fictional cat character Brother Aidan.
- Fairy Ashley got her name from the word Aisling (literal meaning - "imagination"). This is a reference to a genre of poetry called "Ashling" found in Irish literature. "Ashling" are visions of a beautiful woman.
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