Heard about The Secret of Kells?

Up? Yes, seen it and loved it.

The Princess and the Frog? Heard about it; don’t feel like seeing it.

Fantastic Mr. Fox? Wes Anderson – must see. Soon.

Coraline? My hot favorite for Best Animated Feature Film Oscar – over Up! Brilliant film and it’s a pity it is releasing in India almost an year after it released – don’t miss this film.

The last (and 5th entry) for the nominees under Animated Feature Film was The Secret of Kells! Secret of what? I haven’t even heard of this film. Till I finally managed see it recently.

Frankly, it went way above my head, as a concept – medieval set-up, magical book, biblical reference et al – it was watchable, but didn’t really add up in the end. But, what really engrossed me is the hyper-imaginative animation – much like how beautiful it was in Coraline.

If Coraline had a brooding, Tim Burton-sensibility in it’s animation that was instantly enchanting, Kells had incredibly creative, but far more simpler strokes and cuts. Some of the ideas in animation are visually breathtaking and I’d recommend the film at least for a deep analysis of the imagination that has gone into drawing the film!

And oh…as a cat lover, I adored the broad strokes of an animated cat character in the film (that thankfully doesn’t talk), named Pangur Ban – it is brilliant! And so is this ethereal song, where a fairy girl (Aisling) changes Pangur Ban into a ghostly thing so that it helps her in releasing the film’s central character, Brendan. Enjoy the song and the visuals!