Cartoon Saloon, established in 1999 by Paul Young, Tomm Moore, and Nora Twomey, is a world-renowned animation studio with five Academy Award® and two Golden Globe® nominations, as well as many award wins including BAFTA® and Emmy®. Located in Kilkenny, Ireland, the studio produces brave and beautiful shorts, feature films, and TV series.

The studio’s powerful stories and mesmerizing visuals have captured the hearts of young and old alike. With their striking original artwork and captivating scenes, the connection we feel with these emotive tales is undeniable.

Cartoon Saloon’s celebrated Irish Folklore Trilogy, which was co-produced with various European partners, is a series that particularly resonates with us as we commence a new collaborative relationship. Exploring universal themes and emotions, the Academy Award–nominated fairy tales take viewers through visually lush and immersive worlds

Magic, fantasy, and Celtic mythology come to life in the studio’s captivating Irish Folklore Trilogy.

Favouring the traditional craft of hand-drawn animation, the films’ swirling, intricate patterns of ancient Irish art breathe life into the stories they tell. This approach sets the studio’s work apart in the animation world, which has gone almost entirely digital. It’s these shared philosophies that made this collaboration feel like a natural step for us. We are thrilled to have Tomm Moore, who has directed several of the studio’s most successful films, contribute unique illustrated elements exclusively for our collaborative covers.

This collaboration between Paperblanks and Cartoon Saloon was eagerly embraced by both teams as an opportunity to honour the beauty of storytelling. Our shared love for cultural heritage and creativity revealed a natural partnership with a desire to celebrate the joy of meaningful stories.

The trilogy’s first film, The Secret of Kells, is a beautifully rendered tale of a master illuminator and his young apprentice. It is followed by the breathtakingly gorgeous Song of the Sea, the adventure of a mythical seal-child and her brother on a quest to save the spirit world. Their latest triumph, WolfWalkers, is the story of a young huntress and her friendship with a free-spirited wolf-girl. 

We set about bringing the trilogy to life on our covers as a brand-new challenge, one born out of admiration and excitement to create something truly special together.

Developing this release was a delight for our talented Graphics team, who revelled in harnessing the excitement and immersive beauty of the Irish Folklore Trilogy and translating this to a Paperblanks cover design.

“There is no doubt that the Irish Folklore Trilogy film series has touched many hearts through its powerful stories and mesmerizing animations – and we at Paperblanks are no exception. We aimed to carry into our journals and accessories the sweetness, excitement, and awe that we experienced watching these movies, always grateful for the creative spirits who blended the unique Irish legends with the emotional stories, scene after scene of beautiful colours and captivating narrative. Narrowing down the designs for the final products was a fun challenge to have and we hope the fans will enjoy them as much as we loved working on them, being transported into the wonderful imaginary world that Cartoon Saloon created.” – Adina Costiuc, Paperblanks Associate Art Director

The opportunity to bring the unique magic and fantasy of Cartoon Saloon’s work to life on our covers has been a new and thrilling experience. With the studio continuing to develop beautiful stories rooted in rich cultural moments and the craft of storytelling, we are excited to see where future collaborations could take us, and we hope this release will be one of many partnerships together.

Reproduced here is artwork from Song of the Sea (2014) (co-produced with Melusine (Luxembourg), Superprod (France), Digital Graphics (Belgium), and Norlum (Denmark)). For the second installment in the Irish Folklore Trilogy, Moore wished to craft a modern fairy tale that borrowed characters and themes from the ancient tradition of the “seanachai” – traditional storytellers. The film draws on a number of Celtic mythologies and folk tales that are interwoven throughout the narrative.

Reproduced here is artwork from WolfWalkers (2020) (directed with Ross Stewart and co-produced with Melusine (Luxembourg)), the third and final installment in Moore’s Irish Folklore Trilogy, following his previous films The Secret of Kells (2008) and Song of the Sea (2014).

The enchanted world of WolfWalkers aims to explore the balance between man and nature, wildness, and order. Moore was also inspired by the ancient Gaelic word for wolf, mac tíre, meaning “son of the land,” which beautifully illustrates the kinship that ancient Ireland had with the environment.