Trivia Tropes
- Acting for Two: Brothers Tang and Leonardo are both voiced by Liam Hourican.
- Breakthrough Hit: The Oscar nomination and critical praise helped make this film one for Cartoon Saloon.
- The Cast Show Off: Mick Lally was fluent in Irish and as Aidan, he speaks some of it in the film.
- Celebrity Voice Actor: Brendan Gleeson (Abbot Ceallach) and Mick Lally (Aidan) are the name actors in the cast.
- Completely Different Title: The Irish dub is titled Rún Cheanannais Mhóir (Secret of Great Kells).
- Creator Backlash: While director Tomm Moore does not hate the film, he admits in a (now deleted) tweet
that he regrets the stereotypical design of Brother Assoua and that they should've gone with a less "cartoony" approach and gotten a POC (Person Of Color) to design him instead. - Descended Creator: Paul Young, the CEO of Cartoon Saloon, served as one of the film's producers as well as the voice of Brother Square.
- Extremely Lengthy Creation: Production of the film took 10 years, from 1999 to 2009. This was due to Cartoon Saloon's inexperience with making a feature film (their later films wouldn't take as long) and a lack of funding that wouldn't come until the success of side-projects like their work on commercials and Skunk Fu!.
- Fake Irish: American actor Michael McGrath plays the older Brendan.
- Harpo Does Something Funny: Sort of, the director's commentary states that Christen Mooney (the voice of Aisling) was told to sing Pangur Bán's song however she wanted. She decided the pitch, speed, etc., of each verse.
- International Coproduction: The film was produced by Cartoon Saloon in Ireland, Vivi Film in Belgium, and Les Armatures and France 2 Cinéma in France.
- Swan Song: Brother Aidan was Mick Lally's last role before his death.
- What Could Have Been: Being Cartoon Saloon's first film, the film has undergone many changes during its ten year long production time.
- The director's commentary mentions that the original draft had Brendan and Aisling as Love Interests. They obviously decided that the brother/sister relationship worked better.
- Brenden was originally meant to be a teenager rather than a Kid Hero. According to Tomm Moore on the film's artbook, he through a hundred designs before they settled on his final design (many of which can be seen here◊ and here◊). He was also originally named "Ben" in concept art before the crew switched to Brenden around 2004 (the name would be saved for the male protagonist of Song of the Sea).
- Aisling wasn't initially planned for the film and is absent from the concept trailer. She wouldn't be created and added to the film until a couple of years after the concept trailer's creation (around 2002) thanks to producer Didier Brunner, who suggested the addition of a female character in his notes.
- The art style in Concept Art and the conceptual trailer is noticeably very different and a lot more realistic than the final film. The art style was changed due to Tomm Moore and the crew wanting to better capture the look of The Book of Kells, the book that inspired the film.
- The film originally started out as a 50 minute TV special and is stated as such on Cartoon Saloon's original website, but it eventually grew to be too ambitious for television and was reworked into an animated film instead. This likely explains the film's short 72 minute length.
- Early concept art of Aisling◊note depicted her with black hair and more wolf-like features, such as fur and a wolf's tail.
- Working Title: The film was originally titled Rebel: Turning Darkness into Light before being renamed to Brenden and the Secret of Kells in 2004, and then The Secret of Kells when it was released. Interestingly, some countries (like France and Belgium) ended up using the second title instead of the finalized title.
- Write Who You Know: Aisling is based on what Tomm Moore's younger sister Catherine was like as a child; namely, she has her Big Ol' Eyebrows, fondness for climbing trees and talent for singing.
Translations from Irish to English
Aisling's song
You must go where I cannot,
Pangur Bán, Pangur Bán,
Níl sa saol seo,
ach ceo,
Is ní bhéimid beo,
ach seal beag gearr
Translates as:
You must go where I cannot,
Pangur Bán, Pangur Bán,
There is nothing in this life,
but mist,
And we only live,
but a short short while
End credits poem
Mise agus Pangur Bán,
Beirt ar bhreá linn bearta dán,
Mise ag dréam le deacair theacht,
Pangur sleamhain ag súil le creach,
Clú nó cáill ní iarraim fhéin,
Ag iompú dúch go solas glé,
Beag le Pangur friotail fáidh,
B'fhearr leis luch nó leabhar a fáil,
(Speaking) Pangur, bhfeiceann tú ansin sa gcúinne? (laughter)
Roughly translates as
Me and Pangur Bán,
Two who love parcels of poetry,
Me searching that which comes difficult,
Slippery Pangur hoping for prey
Fame or fortune I seek not,
Turning ink to a shining light
Little does Pangur care for a prophet's words,
He'd prefer to get a mouse than a book
(Speaking) Pangur, see that in the corner? (laughter)
