Song of the Sea

Tomm Moore's Song of the Sea is the second feature in his Irish-folklore trilogy at Cartoon Saloon, the Kilkenny-based animation studio he co-founded in 1999 with Paul Young and Nora Twomey. It followed The Secret of Kells (2009) and preceded Wolfwalkers (2020); together the three films earned the studio Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature on every Cartoon Saloon Irish-mythology release in the 2010s.

The film won the European Film Award for Best Animated Feature in 2014 and was nominated for the Oscar at the 87th Academy Awards in 2015, where it lost to Disney's Big Hero 6. It also won the IFTA (Irish Film and Television Award) for Best Animated Film and was nominated for the Annie Award for Best Animated Feature.

The animation is hand-drawn 2D in a flat, deliberately decorative style influenced by Celtic illuminated manuscripts and the work of Eyvind Earle on Disney's Sleeping Beauty. The score is by the French composer Bruno Coulais, who had also scored Coraline and The Secret of Kells, with songs performed by the Irish trad-folk group Kíla. The voice cast includes Brendan Gleeson, Fionnula Flanagan and Lisa Hannigan; Hannigan provides much of the film's sung material. Cartoon Saloon has since become one of the most internationally celebrated independent animation houses in the world.