Trailer
Plot summary
In ninth-century Ireland, Brendan, a boy of twelve, lives at the Abbey of Kells, and his uncle Cellach is the abbot there. Cellach keeps the boy from leaving the monastery, which stands beside a mysterious forest, and he is raising a high wall around it to hold off Viking raids. Brendan hears the monks talk of the island of Iona and of Aidan, a famous illustrator of books. Aidan arrives at Kells with his cat Pangur Bán and the unfinished Book of Iona, which he saved when the Vikings destroyed his monastery. He takes a room in the scriptorium and asks Brendan to bring him gall nuts from the forest. Brendan uses a secret passage to slip outside, and wolves attack him there until Aisling, a shapeshifting fairy, appears.
Cast
- Michael McGrathas Adult Brendan (voice)
- Alli McCannas Additional Voices and Walla (voice)
- Clair Funchionas Additional Voices and Walla (voice)
- Conor O'Halloranas Additional Voices and Walla (voice) (as Conor O Halloran)
Show all 19 cast
- Gaelle Hersentas Additional Voices and Walla (voice)
- Marie Thorhaugeas Additional Voices and Walla (voice)
- Jonas Hoffmannas Additional Voices and Walla (voice)
- Fabian Erlinghäuseras Additional Voices and Walla (voice)
- Kairen Walochas Additional Voices and Walla (voice)
- James O'Halloranas Additional Voices and Walla (voice)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Secret of Kells (2009)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Director Tomm Moore admitted in a now deleted tweet that he regrets the stereotypical design of Brother Assoua, saying he should have gone with a less "cartoony" approach and got a person of color to design him instead.
- Development began in 1999 when Tomm Moore and several friends, inspired by Richard Williams's The Thief and the Cobbler, Disney's Mulan, Gustav Klimt's paintings, John Bauer's illustrations and the works of Hayao Miyazaki, decided to do something similar to Studio Ghibli's films but with Irish art.
- The film was originally titled Rebel: Turning Darkness into Light, renamed Brendan and the Secret of Kells in 2004 and finally The Secret of Kells; Aisling was not initially planned, was absent from the concept trailer and was created a couple of years afterwards.
- The film started out as a 50 minute TV special, as stated on Cartoon Saloon's original website, but it eventually grew into an animated film instead.
- The film received widespread critical acclaim and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but lost to Pixar's Up.
- Playing Brother Aidan, a wizard-esque master illuminator, was noted to be Mick Lally's last film before his death on 31 August 2010.
