With the (temporary?) shuttering of Studio Ghibli, the Animation Muse had to go somewhere, and since Pixar seems content to dig up Woody & Co. for Toy Story 4, why not stop by the Cartoon Saloon? Director Tomm Moore follows The Secret of Kells with a visually sumptuous take on the Irish notion of a selkie — sometimes human, sometimes a seal, and often susceptible to emotional entanglement. If there's a slight excess of cute in the character depictions, there's a joyous abundance of wonder in the backgrounds, and a generous dollop of honest human sadness to boot. (This is Ireland, after all.) Though time is of the essence in the story — a boy must shepherd his sister back to her proper home before she perishes — there is an unhurried, yarnspinning quality to the storytelling that lets things sink in and shine through. Put simply, a tale worth telling set in a world worth looking at. (2015) — Matthew Lickona
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