Kells

I found Secret of Kells on Netflix. It was only 90 minutes, so low-hanging fruit indeed. A really wonderful, enchanting story. The plot summary from Wikipedia lays out the plot:

The story is set in the ninth century and gives a fictionalized account of the creation of the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript and known today as one of Ireland’s greatest national treasures. Obsessed with building a mighty wall to keep marauding Viking raiders from destroying the Abbey of Kells, Abbot Cellach expects his young nephew Brendan to follow in his footsteps. Brendan has apprenticed in the scriptorium of the monastery and has heard the story of Aidan of Iona, a master illuminator who is working on the Book of Iona. Later, Aidan himself comes to the monastery, accompanied by his cat Pangur Bán. Brother Aidan has escaped from the Vikings who have destroyed his own monastery, and had brought the unfinished Book of Iona with him. Taking Brendan under his wing, Aidan asks Brendan to venture into the forest to look for gall nuts to make ink, though the boy is fearful as he was forbidden to go into the forest by his uncle. Brendan eventually decides to venture into the forest, where he meets a forest spirit named Aisling. She is suspicious of Brendan at first, but soon befriends him after helping him find the gall nuts. Though Cellach learns of his adventure and forbids him from leaving the abbey’s confines, Brendan secretly defies it as Aidan teaches him illumination while Aisling introduces him to a wider world.

of course Wikipedia goes on from there to summarize the entire story, which is spoilertastic, so don’t read the rest until you’ve seen it. Hopefully the excerpt above is sufficient to motivate you to seeking this one out, though.

I particularly liked the Harold and the Purple Crayon sequence! 🙂

The Secret of Kells

Don had a short post linking to a tantalizing new animated film called Secret of Kells which seems to only be released in Irish theaters at present, but would be a prime candidate for torrenting (assuming Pirate Bay can get back online; I don’t torrent enough nowadays to be able to sustain a BakaBT account like Steven does).

The animation has an exotic brushstroke painting feel to it, and there’s a gaggle of reviews online that are praising the storyline, with plenty of references to Miyazaki. I’m a little hesitant, since everyone universally praised Ponyo as the awesomest thing ever, but was a disappointment to me. Still, if this appears in local theaters then its a natural target for me and my 8yr old.