My Father’s Dragon: First look at Cartoon Saloon’s Netflix film
David Farnor | On 20, Apr 2022
Netflix unveiled the first image and cast of My Father’s Dragon, the new film from Cartoon Saloon.
The 2D animated family feature film was announced by Netflix back in 2018. It is directed by Nora Twomey, who co-directed The Breadwinner and The Secret of Kells, and written by Meg LeFauve (Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur), with a story by Meg LeFauve and John Morgan, who are also executive producers. Based on the Newbery Honored children’s novels by Ruth Stiles Gannett, My Father’s Dragon tells the story of young run-away Elmer Elevator, who searches for a captive Dragon on Wild Island and finds much more than he could ever have anticipated. Struggling to cope after a move to the city with his mother, Elmer flees 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.
The star-studded cast includes Jacob Tremblay, Gaten Matarazzo, Golshifteh Farahani, Dianne Wiest, Rita Moreno, Chris O’Dowd, Judy Greer, Alan Cumming, Yara Shahidi, Jackie Earle Haley, Mary Kay Place, Leighton Meester, Spence Moore II, Adam Brody, Charlyne Yi, Maggie Lincoln, Jack Smith, Whoopi Goldberg and Ian McShane.
Producer Tomm Moore told us a few more details about the project in 2020, in an interview about Cartoon Saloon’s Wolfwalkers. “It’s massive!” he said. “It’s like three times bigger than Wolfwalkers and Wolfwalkers is huge. It’s like crowds of people and forest jungles full of animals. And I mean, like, the original book is just a jumping off point. What Nora and Meg have created is epic. It’s exciting to see.”
Speaking of things that are exciting to see, here’s the first still rom the film:
My Father’s Dragon will be “three times bigger” than Wolfwalkers
13th December 2020
My Father’s Dragon, Cartoon Saloon’s animated film for Netflix, will be “three times bigger” than Wolfwalkers, producer Tomm Moore has revealed.
Moore, who co-founded the Irish animation studio and has directed The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea, co-directed Wolfwalkers, which was released on Apple TV+ this weekend. Talking to us in an interview about the spetacular lupine adventure, he teased that My Father’s Dragon will be even bigger.
The 2D animated family feature film was announced by Netflix back in 2018. It is directed by Nora Twomey, who co-directed The Breadwinner and The Secret of Kells with Moore, and written by Meg LeFauve (Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur), with a story by Meg LeFauve and John Morgan, who are also executive producers. Based on the Newbery Honored children’s novels by Ruth Stiles Gannett, My Father’s Dragon tells the story of young run-away Elmer Elevator, who searches for a captive Dragon on Wild Island and finds much more than he could ever have anticipated.
“It’s massive!” Moore told us of the project. “It’s like three times bigger than Wolfwalkers and Wolfwalkers is huge. It’s like crowds of people and forest jungles full of animals. And I mean, like, the original book is just a jumping off point. What Nora and Meg have created is epic. It’s exciting to see – and I’m glad I don’t have to do it!”
A lot of the team from Wolfwalkers have moved on to that, Moore added: “I can see them bringing everything they learned on Wolfwalkers to it, so I’m excited for that.”
It’s not the only project in the works for Cartoon Saloon at Netflix, with a team also working on Puffin Rock, a movie based on the series that’s already available on Netflix.
“It’s a little rock where all the puffins lives and it’s getting overcrowded because it’s full of refugee puffins, because the water is rising and there are storms and stuff everywhere,” he explained. “It’s kind of a story that maybe, you know, today’s preschoolers are gonna have to get used to, so it’s a really important movie too.”
You can read our full interview with Tomm Moore and co-director Ross Stewart here – or read our five-star review of Wolfwalkers here.
Wolfwalkers is available on Apple TV+, as part of a £4.99 monthly subscription, with a seven-day free trial. For more information on Apple TV+ and how to get it, click here.