Song of the Sea is the second part of an Irish Folklore Trilogy from director Tomm Moore (the first being The Secret of Kells, and the last Wolfwalkers). I’ve seen The Secret of Kells and like it I found the animation in Song of the Sea to be gorgeous, and the folklore fascinating, but the actual story somewhat lacking. There is just some part of these films that I cannot connect to. I don’t know why.

Set in the early 1980s Song of the Sea follows a young boy, Ben (David Rawle), and his younger sister Saoirse (Lucy O’Connell). They live in a lighthouse on a small island off the coast of Ireland. Their mother died while giving birth so Saoirse and their Dad (Brendan Gleeson) still mourns for her. Deeply. So much so that he struggles to be a parent for his two children.

One night, on her birthday, Saoirse runs into the sea and swims with some seals. Though the family doesn’t know it, she is a selkie (a mythological creature that can shapeshift between human and seal). Her Granny (Fionnula Flanagan) finds Saoirse in the sea and thinks she’s about to drown. She nags Dad into letting her take the children to her place on the mainland.

Naturally, the two kids decide they must return home and sneak away in the night. But Saoirse is fully turning into a selkie and as such she needs her coat to survive. Her coat that her father took from her and threw into the sea.

The two have a mighty adventure getting home, running into fairies, the Great Seanachaí (an ancient storyteller with hair as long as the world), and a mean old owl witch.

The story is fine. It is a classic adventure. It is told well, but again there is something about it I don’t connect to. I don’t know if it is these kids, or maybe I have trouble with the mythology here. It definitely isn’t explained thoroughly, you are just sort of left to understand who these creatures are. But I’ve enjoyed other fantasy stories with deep myths. So I don’t know.

The animation is spectacular. It uses a mix of hand-drawn and computer-generated art. The backgrounds are super detailed but also look like sets on a stage. Nothing is realistic looking but drawn in a unique and imaginative way. Each frame is astonishingly beautiful.

I absolutely recommend it. I know many will connect to the story in a way that I don’t. Even though I didn’t it is still a lovely bit of animation.