YMMV / Wolfwalkers

• Alternative Character Interpretation: The graphic novel reveals that the Wolfwalkers were originally a tribe who refused to convert to Christianity when Saint Patrick came to Ireland and would howl like wolves when he preached, and Saint Patrick responded by making it so that they would roam as wolves by night. Since Saint Patrick's character isn't expanded upon at all, it's hard to say what exactly his motivation was for doing so. Was it intended to be a punishment for refusing to convert (as it was in the original stories of the Werewolves of Ossory)? Was it intended to be a gift of sorts, with the tribe's howling making Saint Patrick assume they wanted to be wolves? Or was it for another reason entirely? Even In-Universe no one is sure what his reasons were, since the narration states that some say he cursed them while others say he blessed them.
• Applicability:
  • Many LGBTQ viewers identify with Robyn struggling against social expectations placed on her and coming to terms with her new identity as a Wolfwalker while hiding it from her family and society.
  • The movie's historical portrayal of colonialism and the subsequent destruction of the environment and subjugation of Indigenous cultures hit very close to home, especially since the film was released in a year when racial unrest and the continuing climate crisis were at the forefront of international news.
  • Robyn's failure to convey her perspective on how to deal with the wolves of Kilkenny leads to her taking direct action and speaks to current young activists fighting to get their voices heard and bringing about change of their own.
• Awesome Art:
  • This may just be Cartoon Saloon's best-looking film yet. The hand-drawn artistry makes the film a storybook come to life. It brings in its usual Celtic look, filled with small yet beautiful details, breathtaking colors, and use of geometric shapes to expand on the world, though in here it's taken up to eleven. One of its more subtle details is how the characters are drawn in a rigid and clean, woodblock look when near the town, but with clear sketch lines and a less polished style when they're free in the forest, to give them a more natural and organic look.
  • Also of note is "Wolf Vision", in which we view the film through the eyes of Robyn while in her wolf form, truly making you feel like you're a wolf. The Wolf Vision scenes were initially rendered with a virtual reality engine, but rather than just keeping it that way, the staff chose to print out the 3D model frame by frame and reanimate all of it on paper with charcoal and pencil. This results in an impressive blend of 2D and 3D animation techniques.
  • Special mention should go to the cinematography, as well, with aspect ratio changes, split screens, and camera movements that lend an incredible dynamism and intensity rivaling or even surpassing live-action and CGI. Cartoon Saloon really pushed the medium of hand-drawn animation to new heights.
• Awesome Music:
  • Composer Bruno Coulais and Irish band Kíla once again provide a wonderful soundtrack, with Coulais doing fantastic music cues and themes and Kíla creating specific tunes to capture the character of Moll, Mebh, and Robyn.
  • Many agree the musical high point is the film's rendition of "Running With The Wolves", by AURORA, played when Mebh is teaching Robyn how to be a wolf. The original song was more electronic, but this version is backed with medieval Irish instruments. Can be heard here.
  • "I'm a WolfWalker" a combined piece primarily playing when a wounded Moll dematerializes into a spirit wolf and Robyn reveals herself to be a Wolfwalker to her father, is hauntingly gorgeous.
  • "Follow Me" is a heart string-pulling piece that builds into an stirring violin and flute duet as Mebh and Robyn combine their powers to heal Mebh's mother, resulting in an epic display of Celtic magic both on screen and in the audience's ears.
• Cliché Storm: One of the film's biggest criticism is that it recycles many plot points that have been done many times, especially in Disney Renaissance films. In fact, the film's plot is often compared to the plot of Avatar, another movie criticized for being formulaic. However, as the film has got a positive reception from critics and audiences overall, so Tropes Are Tools.
• Common Knowledge: The ending of the film has led many to believe that Bill and Moll have become a couple, since the two are shown riding a horse carriage together, with Bill putting a flower in Moll's hair (however, he also puts a flower in Robyn's hair earlier in the film and Robyn puts that flower in Mebh's hair later on to signify their bond, making it more of an general affectionate gesture than a romantic gesture specifically). However, the film never says anything, keeping it open. That said, according to co-director Ross Stewart, they remain single and the two don't get together.
• Draco in Leather Pants: The lord protector is based off Oliver Cromwell, the English dictator who began and leaded the conquering of Ireland ‘because god said so’. Some viewers did not know that he was based off a real person and saw him as a Well-Intentioned Extremist who is simply trying to protect the village and not cause a riot.
• Even Better Sequel: Has an even higher Rotten Tomatoes rating from audiences than Song of the Sea (99% compared to Song of the Sea’s 92%).
• Fandom-Enraging Misconception: Despite what many would like to tell you, Bill and Moll do not get together at the end and Robyn and Mebh never become step-sisters. Suggesting otherwise is an easy way to get attacked by a pack of wolves and wolfwalkers. Even Word of God — who states the ending is open to interpretation — has Jossed the theory.
• Fanon: It's common in fanart to show Robyn eventually gaining markings under her eyes similar to the ones Mebh and Moll have, after a Time Skip where she becomes more used to being a Wolfwalker. Fanartists tend to portray the markings as natural, even though Mebh's concept art states that they're actually tattoos.
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • People who liked Princess Mononoke tend to speak favorably of this film as well. Both stories use a feral girl associated with wolves (San/Mebh) befriending an outsider (Ashitaka/Robyn) to tell a story about the unbalanced relationship between nature and humanity's advancement. It helps that director Tomm Moore has often cited Studio Ghibli's works as inspiration for his own movies.
  • With Luca since both films have to deal with two shapeshifters of the same gender dealing with a society that aren't privy to them and have garnered an LGBT fanbase.
• Funny Moments: See here.
• Heartwarming Moments: See here.
• Les Yay:
  • Shortly after the film released, Robyn/Mebh quickly became a fan favorite ship. Not helped by Robyn's arc of embracing her freedom as a wild Wolfwalker, in contrast to the controlling and strict society at the time, their clashing personalities and the numerous loving looks & moments◊ the two share with each other◊.
  • One mondegreen from "Running With The Wolves" has helped fuel this interpretation. The actual lyric is "I'm running with the." The way it just cuts off at the word "the" is slightly odd, which has led it to be easily misheard as "I'm running with her." The scene as a whole also has several parallels with (if not outright homages to) another famous montage of a developing animal relationship.
• LGBT Fanbase: The film has gained a noticeable amount of LGBT fans (particularly lesbian fans) due to the development of Robyn and Mebh's friendship having plenty of Les Yay undertones, the story's overall theme of breaking free from conforming to societal expectations, and Robyn's plotline of coming to terms with her new identity as a Wolfwalker while worrying what will happen if her father finds out. Robyn even "comes out" as a Wolfwalker to her father during an emotionally intense scene. Director Tomm Moore has admitted that the LGBT themes were largely accidental, but he's still happy that lesbian fans are able to see themselves in the film.
• Narm:
  • Robyn's repeated shouts of "no!" and ineffectual pleas towards the Lord Protector in a rarely-heard Northern English accent can quickly wear on a viewer's patience, coming off more as annoying than faulting the adults for not listening to her.
  • In the movie, there are a few cases where clips of voice lines will be repeated in intense scenes (like when Bill says "get away from here" when trying to handcuff Mebh, and the same line is repeated again when Bill tries to fend off the wolves after he shoots Moll), and it can put viewers out of the action.
• Popular with Furries: The film's premise has people becoming wolves as a major plot point, so this is pretty much inevitable.
• Portmanteau Couple Name: "Mebyn" for Robyn/Mebh.
• Signature Scene:
  • Robyn enjoying her first night as a wolf with Mebh, set to an acoustic rendition of AURORA's "Running With The Wolves", is definitely the most memorable scene in the film.
  • The last shot of the trailer◊, where Robyn and Mebh press their heads together while looking into each other eyes as wolves, quickly became one of the most talked about stills of the film and cited as evidence of Les Yay.
• Trans Audience Interpretation:
  • With the information that Robyn was initially going to be a boy during the film's early development, some fans have taken the idea of turning Robyn into a transgender girl, adding a new layer to Bill's fear of his daughter being rejected and imprisoned for who she is due to the puritanical beliefs of the time period.
  • One line from Mebh, "I'm no girl, I'm a Wolfwalker!", similarly inspired fans to interpret Mebh as non-binary.
• Ugly Cute:
  • Mebh may be a Wild Child who tends to make rather threatening faces at times, but many still find her adorable.
  • The normal wolves are a bunch of lean, snaggled-toothed killing machines but when not attacking anything, they are goofy◊, playful dopes who often sport enormous smiles.
• Values Dissonance: Mebh calls her mother "Mammy"; since she's Irish, this is just how she pronounces "mommy"/"mummy", and in Ireland it's normal to refer to one's mother as "Mammy" or "Mam". However, the word "mammy" has a more negative history in North America, since it refers to a specific stereotype of black women. This is likely why the graphic novel adaptation, which was adapted by American Samuel Sattin and published by an American company, has Mebh call her mother "Ma" instead.
  • American audiences may find the Lord Protector a bit harder to take seriously when his helmet makes him look more like an umpire at a baseball game than a 17th century general.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: While the entire film was hand-drawn and animated with the help of ToonBoom, the "Wolf Vision" sequences were pre-visualized in a virtual reality environment. Cartoon Saloon could have settled with working in the engine and flying the camera through it, but they took the model as reference to recreate it by hand, frame by frame, on charcoal! The result is a spectacular first-person experience not often seen in 2D animation.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: While it's a family movie with some funny and lighthearted moments and its violence is usually bloodless, it still doesn't shy away from the fact that it takes place during a particularly brutal period in Irish history. Robyn's father Bill attempts to kill her twice when she's in her wolf form since he doesn't recognize her, Bill himself has to deal with his fear of potentially losing his daughter to either wolves or the Knight Templar Lord Protector, and Mebh worries about her missing mother Moll and witnesses Moll getting shot mere moments after reuniting with her, which comes out of nowhere in a major Gut Punch. Oh, and a few onscreen maulings or two.
• The Woobie: This is a story of two young girls finding a forbidden friendship during a violent time in European history. When their opposing worlds come into conflict, it is inevitable that they get put through some serious emotional turmoil.
  • Robyn wants to be a hunter like her father, but this goes against the puritanical social conventions of the time, which dictate that she should stay at home or toil in the scullery instead. She is also bullied by local children for being English. When she proposes a solution to ridding Kilkenny of its wolf problem without killing them, she gets scolded by her father for disobeying the Lord Protector's orders and her stories dismissed as tall tales. When she becomes a Wolfwalker, her father doesn't hesitate to try and kill her in her wolf form, and in her human body, she's threatened with the stocks for speaking out against the Lord Protector. Following Mebh's mother's wishes, she forces her best friend away and then betrays her to keep her safe. Even after she successfully reunites Mebh with her mother, this is immediately dashed to pieces when her own father shoots Mebh's mother mere moments later. She finally has no choice but to reveal to him that she's become a Wolfwalker and can no longer live in human society, choosing to go after Mebh and the wolves despite his pleading her to stay.
  • If Robyn is put through the emotional wringer, Mebh is put through the whole emotional laundromat. The story starts with she and her mother being the last of their kind, with human settlement encroaching on their woods. Her mother goes off to find a new home as a wolf, leaving Mebh alone with only her unconscious human body and the wolf pack as comfort. She may not admit it, but she is desperate for human company and is deeply worried for her mother. After being stood up by Robyn for the second time, she ventures into town, only for her friend to tell her to leave instead of helping to find Mebh's mother like she promised. Then she sees her mother being put on display with the townspeople calling for her death. Then Robyn betrays her and puts her in a cage with the town bullies. She breaks out, but she can't free her mother. When Robyn helps Moll escape and the two reunite, that one happy moment gets violently torn away from her when her mother gets shot, forcing her to desperately try to heal her mortally-wounded mother while faced with the destruction of everything she knows and loves. She is in tears and her voice chokes throughout the entire third act when it's made clear that her healing abilities aren't strong enough to save her mother; it's a miracle she didn't shut down completely. She may be a Wolfwalker, but she's also a little girl who's afraid of losing the only family she has left.

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