2022 Directed by Nora Twomey
Struggling to cope after a move to the city with his mother, Elmer runs away in search of Wild Island and a young dragon who waits to be rescued. Elmer’s adventures introduce him to ferocious beasts, a mysterious island and the friendship of a lifetime.
Bonnie Curtis Julie Lynn Gerry Shirren Tomm Moore Alan Moloney Meg LeFauve Ruth Coady Paul Young John C. Morgan
Nicole Storck Geoff King Mathilde Vachet Svend Andreas Rothmann Bonde Giovanna Ferrari Andrzej Radka Allan Michaut Narissa Schander Lynn Biederer Paulo Passaro
9/10
Netflix please stop not marketing your animation movies and then wonder why viewership is low. I barely even knew this existed and wouldn't have watched it without me being in the animation community in Twitter getting all the news.
Cartoon Saloon is very good at this. The Kilkenny-based studio behind “The Secret of Kells” and “Song of the Sea” has emerged as a powerhouse in recent years. Its evocatively rendered 2D films drawing on ancient Celtic imagery — and the traditional storytelling charm that comes with it — sets its work apart from so much of the craven slop that passes for family entertainment in the age of “Lightyear” and “The League of Super-Pets.” If cinema is a crumbling church, the films of Cartoon Saloon are its lovingly crafted stained glass windows.
That much was already made evident by 2020’s astonishing “Wolfwalkers” (my review of which, I was amused to discover, begins with virtually the same first paragraphs as…
can always count on cartoon saloon to deliver beautiful animation with a beautiful message to go with it! kinda does feel like it’s aimed more for children than their other films but was still definitely worth catching on the big screen
MY FATHER’S DRAGON is another emotionally resonate coming of age fable from Cartoon Saloon. Powerful themes on dealing with life’s more complicated & challenging problems from a child’s point of view. Beautiful animation that feels more polished from the studio than ever before. Jacob Tremblay & Gaten Matarazzo are a perfect match as they combine their best qualities to create an endearing friendship that will break your heart.
I didn't know it, but Dusty Bun Dragon is all I ever wanted.
Animated Movies Ranked
7.5/10
Almost had me in tears in the first 15 minutes and then it morphs into the saccharine fantastical adventure we’ve seen a hundred times before. Still has plenty of heart, but I had higher expectations considering it’s a Cartoon Saloon film.
There are few things that baffle me more than animation striving for photo-realism. A medium that allows for the constructs of reality to be pushed in a way they cannot be elsewhere, yet it is widely considered an admirable trait for them to adhere closely to a realist aesthetic. It isn't exactly that 'My Father's Dragon' actively tries to distance itself from visual authenticity, yet at the same time, it embraces its artifice and wears it proudly. It is a fantasy, little more than that, and yet, that is what makes it so great. Simple, trivial even, yet its commitment to its own simplicity allows it to relish in its own world. To explore what it has created, its characters,…
Minus 2 stars because they missed the golden opportunity to title it My Daddy's Dragon
Doesn’t seem like I loved this quite as much as some of peers (I thought it was a little too conventional, and it felt very “child-oriented” compared to more universally-appealing animated films), but the artistry of the animation is admittedly admirable - as is the case with every Cartoon Saloon project - and I’m a big fan of a lot of the voice work as well, especially from Jacob Tremblay. Not quite another Wolfwalkers, but entertaining enough.
