Animation Studio Research: Cartoon Saloon

Studio History

Cartoon Saloon is a small Academy Award-nominated 2D animation studio based in Kilkenny, Ireland. Although it is a small studio they also have a studio in North Hollywood. The studio was formed in 1999 by Tomm Moore, Paul Young and Nora Twomey, who all met at Ballyfermot Senior College Dublin, and has since gone on to be nominated and win many awards.

From award-winning shorts such as From Darkness and Cúilín Dualach (Backwards Boy) to TV series like Skunk Fu! and, most recently, Puffin Rock, the studio has produced a number of stunningly beautiful, captivating and truly original animations. On top of this, the studio is also responsible for the universally successful The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea, with Song of the Sea being nominated for an OSCAR in 2015.

Key People
Tomm Moore is a co-founder and the creative director at Cartoon Saloon. Over the 16 years of the studio, Tomm has worked in many different roles such as, director, art director, storyboarder, animator and illustrator across a wide range of projects from TV series to feature films, commercials to service work and many short films, his most notable of works being The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea, both of which he directed.

Paul Young is the second co-founder and CEO of Cartoon Saloon. Not only is he the CEO, he is also the producer of Tomm Moore's The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea, as well the executive producer of Skunk Fu!. He is also currently producing the second series of Puffin Rock. 

Nora Twomey is the last co-founder of Cartoon Saloon and she is also the CEO of the company and a creative director. She has directed many of the studio's TV commercials and was director of the the award-winning shorts From Darkness and Cúilín Dualach, as well as bing the co-director of The Secret of Kells. On top of this, Nora was also head of story on Song of the Sea. Although Nora went to Ballyfermot Senior College with Tomm and Paul, she also won an internship at Disney that took place in Paris. She is currently working on her newest development The Breadwinner. 

Productions
The Secret of Kells, one of the studio's most notable works, was the first feature film that the studio produced and was one of Tomm Moore's first works. The film is created using 2D digital animation that took 10 years to complete, The film depicts very detailed, beautiful scenery to tell a story that is a mix between Irish folklore and imagination.

Still from The Secret of Kells

Skunk Fu! is another notable work created by Cartoon Saloon. The children's TV series was a global success and was aired in over 120 countries and was sold to big-name companies such as the BBC and Cartoon Network. 

Still from Skunk Fu!

More recently, Cartoon Saloon has released its preschool TV series Puffin Rock, which has also been very successful and has been aired on Nick Jr and Netflix. The season is currently in production with Paul Young working as director. 

Still from Puffin Rock

On top of this, Song of the Sea has also been released recently and has been a global success and was even nominated for an OSCAR this year. The film was a sequel to The Secret of Kells and explores the spiritual realm that was touched upon in the previous film. Like The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea was created in a very similar style. However, in this film they used a mixture of 2D animation and composited watercolour backgrounds.

Still from Song of the Sea

Why I want to work for Cartoon Saloon

One of the main reasons I want to work for Cartoon Saloon is because I am interested in 2D animation and I find the artistic style of the studio incredibly appealing. Not only this, but the attention to story and linking real stories (such a Irish folklore) with imagination also appeals to me greatly, because I love telling stories through my own work and I love how you get lost in what they are telling you through their animations. Another reason this studio appeals to me is because of the software they use. After Effects and Photoshop and Flash play a huge role in the making of their films and although I'm unfamiliar with Flash, I am very comfortable using After Effects and Photoshop, having experience in the software that they use makes me feel more comfortable about wanting to be there. I also would like to work for Cartoon Saloon because the idea of working on a feature film, and working here would give me that opportunity. On top of all this, I just find their work very beautiful and I'd like to be a part of what they do. 

Future Production

Currently Cartoon Saloon are working on Nora Twomey's latest production The Breadwinner, which is set to be released in 2017. They are also working on a second season of Puffin Rock. On top of this, Tomm Moore is also working on his next feature film Wolfwalkers, however, this is still in its draft script but he hopes to get the script finalised this year. 

Contact

Whilst researching the co-founders of the studio I also searched them on twitter and started to follow them all, as well as the studio, and Tomm Moore started to follow me back after I tweeted about him for three days in a row (pestering is key). I also emailed the studio to inquire about internships and to ask what they look for in an animator.

https://docs.google.com/a/students.leeds-art.ac.uk/presentation/d/13WXvMy4zii9blcjhbXDktH4SMuuHSAqXwaYHfGFbMsQ/edit?usp=sharing

(There's a link to my presentation!)