"Wolfwalkers" is the third film of Cartoon Saloon's "Irish Fantasy" trilogy. It got a bit of anticipation too, after an early teaser trailer appeared for it years before it released. It would also be their first collaboration with a streaming service, siding with Apple TV+ for financial support (a subsequent unrelated film is also already being prepped for Netflix). This was some cause for concern, given that Apple's service was new: would they play things like Netflix did, blocking films from theatrical or home video releases, ambitiously competing against all forms of film delivery? Or would they do things like HBO, earning extra money on the side from fans who wouldn't or couldn't commit to a subscription? Perhaps thanks to GKIDS also being on the production committee, a theatrical release did come around, and hopefully a Bluray will follow. Near the end of 2020, the year of the pandemic, it was one of the very few movies I saw on the big screen that year. In a short intro video, the director admitted the movie was intended for the big screen, a subtle lament in the way the industry was headed, and the financial necessity for them to comply with it.As for the movie itself: "Wolfwalkers" should seem familiar and therefore less ambitious, but it's also more well-rounded than some of its predecessors. It's not as much an achievement as "The Secret of Kells" was, but for director Tomm Moore, it's the better film of his library.Sharing the same setup as his previous movies, the main character is an adventurous child with a loving but overprotective father. Robyn Goodfellowe is the daughter to a hunter, recently having moved to a medival Irish town being occupied and developed by Christian armies from England. As the town expands, they cut down more trees at the edge of the woods, but are met with ravenous wolves defending their home. Mr. Goodfellowe's job is to exterminate the wolves to allow the land to be tamed. Robyn is proud of her father, and longs to join him with crossbow in hand and pet falcon at her side, rather than work in the kitchen as the culture expects of her (and despite her father's fears that she'll get hurt outside the town walls).But the pack of wolves aren't ordinary beasts. They're led by a pair of Wolfwalkers, a mother and a daughter (named Mebh), creatures well respected by the Pagan traditionists in the town. Human by day, the two magically turn into wolves when they sleep, able to run, hunt, and communicate with other wolves. After trying to peacefully scare away the humans, the ultimately decided to run away to safer pastures. The mother went out as a wolf to find such a place, leaving her sleeping human body with her daughter, who leads in her place. But mysteriously, the mother has been gone for many days, and the pack is reluctant to leave her body behind.Of course, the two worlds collide when Robyn and Mebh meet in the woods. And due to a chain of events, Mebh's Wolfwalker powers are spread to Robyn ("Werewolves" are a clear inspiration here), giving her both the opportunity to experience freedoms she never had, and the fears of being hunted by every human around her. 
Cartoon Saloon's previous movies struggled with defining magic in the story's world, presumably inspired by real Irish folklore. It always seemed arbitrary and out of place, used solely to advance the story or add an extra scene. In "Wolfwalkers," the magic element is simple and straightforward, and didn't distract me in the slightest. This alone makes the film a huge improvement.Beyond that, the story isn't necessarily as ambitious in scope, but feels better written. It's more fun, thanks largley to the spunky leading girls and their charming cartoon mannerisms. There's some extra depth snuck in regarding Paganism vs Christianity, and how Robyn and her father (among the few British settlers in the town) are ostrasized by native Irish children for their accents and clothes. That's a lot of extra garnish for the main theme regarding race and acceptance (native wolves vs human settlers), with a cold villain that's a cross between the antagonists of Disney's "Pocahontas" and Dreamworks' "The Road to El Dorado." The final act is all the more thrilling and suspensful for this complex background of emotions during the fight for characters to survive. The biggest downgrade from the studio's previous movies might be in the visuals. "Wolfwalkers" is still beautiful, but not as thoughtfully designed as the previous movies. Despite plenty of wide shots of detailed backgrounds and explicit lack of perspective in them, it feels like the movie was designed to... look like a movie, perhaps easier to produce, but less striking. One deliberate design choice for characters and animals is to not erase the rough-shape pencil outlines, particularly where there's hair or fur. I like and understand the choice, but it was one of the choices that made the film seem like it had a reduced budget compared to previous productions. It's still good though; the wolves are adorable but ferocious, moving in unison like a wave of water through the trees, and there's thoughtful use of color and design to separate the two worlds. Watch closely for a fun Easter Egg or two referencing their previous movies. The voice acting is as good as it usually is (Sean Bean is the most recognizable actor, playing Robyn's father), but thick accents might make it difficult to make out specific words. The music is a better than the already excellent norm, ethereal and fantastical, with an appropriate use of the song "Running with the Wolves" (by Aurora) in the middle of the movie (released years before the movie, the timing makes me wonder if it single-handedly inspired "Wolfwalkers"). A better plot, resonant themes and an emotional final act make "Wolfwalkers" an excellent animated movie, even though the visual design is starting to grow a little stale by this point. The things it does right are an important foundation that had previously felt shaky to me, so I feel more confident and excited to see the studio continue to grow their library of work. For the first time, the movie also opened with a proper animated logo for the studio too, so I'm sure they also feel a grown level of pride and confidence.