Character Design: The Echoes of Characters in Song of the Sea

Tom Moore's Song of The Sea is one of the most beautifully poetic 2D Animated Features to come out in a decade. Drawing heavy influence from Celtic folklore and the films of Studio Ghibli, Cartoon Saloon has crafted something really special here, more than worthy of the Best Animated Feature nomination it received at 2015's Academy Awards.

One of the most endearing and memorable aspects of the film in my opinion is the way in which character designs are echoed throughout our main character Ben's journey across the Irish countryside to return home to the sea. To understand this one must first gain an understanding of the main reading of the film, which is that a lot of the events are from our child character Ben's subjective point of view in dealing with the loss of his mother and his strained relationship with his grandmother.

Granny: Smaller beady eyes, but retains the brow and cheeks resembling an owl.

Macha: Almost the same as the Granny but with larger eyes with a yellowish tint.

Elements of the design or certain characters is reflected in the designs of other characters in Song Of The Sea, most notably the grandmother, who shares a resemblance with Macha, who acts as an antagonist in the story. Macha's design acts as a sort of bridge between the design of the Grandmother and the owls which feature in the story. Both characters retain the same silhouette, basic posture and the facial structure of both character's are almost identical save a few key differences most notably the eyes, which on the grandmother are small and beady while the eyes on the Owl-like Macha are much larger with a yellowish tint, paralleling the owls she commands to pursue Ben and his sister on their way back to the sea.  This similarity serves a thematic purpose in that both characters act as antagonists, whose goals are contrary to our main character's.

Ferry Dan: Wider, more curved beard, but retains the same facial structure.

The Great Seanachai: Longer beard and floppy moustache.

On the flip side, The Great Seanachai parallels a more friendly character, Ferry Dan, both versions of which act as a sort of bridge for our main character from the mainland to the sea, one literally, one on a more thematic level. Both characters retain similar features, such as their long white beards, but The Great Seanachai comes across, almost as a childlike exaggeration of the character of Ferry Dan with an extremely long beard that Ben uses to guide his way home. Ferry Dan doesn't get all that much play in the story, acting more as a piece of foreshadowing for The Great Seanachai and his purpose thematically, but coupled with the Macha and the Granny as well as the parallels that can be drawn between the design of the father and Mac Lir, one can discern that Song of The Sea tells an allegorical story from a deeply subjective and abstract point of view, and the character designs, through their reincorporation of elements help communicate this to the viewer to give them a deeper understanding of the story.