We held an exclusive sold-out event with our partners, Cartoon Saloon, where their co-founder and director, Tomm Moore, joined us in a special book signing! On a rainy night in Dublin, a community bound by creativity and a love of Irish folklore came together to celebrate the work of Tomm Moore.
As guests arrived at the Gutter Bookshop, they were greeted with a Paperblanks x Cartoon Saloon bookmark and given the choice between designs inspired by The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, and WolfWalkers. It was a lovely memento for a special evening.
Our Paperblanks Marketing Manager, Larissa, hosted the night and led a conversation with Tomm, asking everything from how he started Cartoon Saloon to what inspired the Irish Folklore Trilogy. Tomm shared that The Book of Kells was a project nearly 10 years in the making and that even before it was finished, he was already thinking about Song of the Sea. When it came time for the third film, it was picked up by Apple TV as an exclusive, and it naturally became WolfWalkers, set in his hometown of Kilkenny.
The trilogy came together organically. Tomm spoke about how each film built stylistically on the last. The Secret of Kells focused on studies of old Irish manuscripts for its animation, Song of the Sea was influenced by watercolours, and WolfWalkers leaned into harsher wood and block print styles that really came through in the design.
He also said he sees a bit of himself in all of his movies, especially in the characters of Brendan and Ben. Tomm revealed that some of his characters are actually based on real people! Robyn, the protagonist of WolfWalkers, is based on his wife when she was younger. He also mentioned that he added himself into Song of the Sea, but we won’t spoil where; you’ll have to find that one yourself!
The night wrapped up with a giveaway of three prizes to three lucky attendees. First place took home an exclusive WolfWalkers print from Cartoon Saloon, while second and third places won items from our Irish Folklore Trilogy collection. To end the evening, everyone had the chance to get their journals or graphic novels signed by Tomm, who chatted with attendees and even drew a little doodle from one of his films for each person. Everyone left thrilled with their personal artwork.
Thank you to everyone at the Gutter Bookshop for their support and for hosting the event, and of course to our wonderful partners, Cartoon Saloon and Tomm Moore. It was a magical night that inspired creativity. Thank you, Dublin, for joining us!
