#Wolfwalkers

[jezabatlovesbats]

How the heck have I gone this long without watching this movie yet?!

I love the style so much actually

[niarixecl]

I connected some dots

[irina-oganer]

Воробушки и волки, нарисованные в Magma. Пока я рисовала волков Райнера и Бертольда, кто-то слева от меня рисовал неприличные вещи 😆

[mellxncollie]

Wolfwalkers (2020) dir. Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart

[ashviirn]

Meet me by the old oak and we’ll run free ✨🍂🐺

[mercurymoths]

*cartoon saloon-ifys your linked universe*

More fun messing around with the chain in the cartoon saloon style!

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[jelly-fish-wishes]

Here is a comm I recently finished!

This one was difficult, but fun! I do wish to draw more Wolfwalkers art in the future!

[francisofgotham1]

Exactly. This also pairs well with the Irish tale of the “Werewolves of Ossory.” Essentially, a Catholic priest was traveling near Kilkenny when a talking wolf came out of the woods, asking for his help. While initially startled, the priest follows the wolf into the forest as he learns that he is a Wolfwalker.

After a while, they arrive at a clearing, where they see an old she-wolf on the ground, extremely weak. This is the wolfman’s wife, and they ask the priest to perform last rites, as she doesn’t have much strength left. After being reassured that she is a human (the husband pulls back the skin to reveal her human form), the priest complies and gives her communion. Afterwards, the husband sends him on his way, but not before revealing prophecies about Ireland and the English presence.

Probably a bit astounded by the whole affair, the priest arrives in Meath and tells the bishop about the whole thing, who then orders him to travel to Rome and talk to the Pope. Our author, the Gerald of Wales, then reveals that this encounter aligns with St Augustine’s “The City of God”, which lists individuals that can change their outward appearance (like werewolves) are doing so under God’s blessing.

Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell - a Wolfwalkers analysis

To follow up on my review of Wolfwalkers, I would like to discuss the villain in depth. This analysis will contain spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the movie and don’t want to be spoiled, click or scroll away now. You have been warned.

The first thing one needs to understand about Oliver Cromwell is that he is a historical domain character. Cromwell was an English statesman, born in 1599, who held the official title of Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1653 until his death in 1658. Some creative license is taken in Wolfwalkers, as while Cromwell did take over much of Ireland, including Kilkenny, by force of arms in 1650, when the film is set, it would be another three years before he attained the title and duties of Lord Protector. Cromwell was Anglican, and had been raised to hate Catholics (a bitter grudge held over from when Protestants were severely persecuted under the Catholic queen Bloody Mary). This led him to act with extreme brutality toward the mostly Catholic Irish, and to this day, the Irish see Cromwell as nothing but a monster. The remaining countries in Britain give him mixed reviews, though he’s generally perceived as a pretty good guy in England.

Cromwell being so hated in Ireland led to his character being given something of a historical villain upgrade in Wolfwalkers–depending on who you ask, of course. Undoubtedly, some Irish would say he wasn’t portrayed as evil enough. His character design is fairly true to life, though it does evoke images of Pocahontas’ main villain John Ratcliffe. His personality is reminiscent of Judge Claude Frollo from Disney’s adaptation of the Hunchback of Notre Dame. He sees his path as the only righteous one. It’s been done before, but with Cromwell, it’s taken to a new extreme. Cromwell deifies himself. It’s kind of brilliant, actually.

In the film, Cromwell’s name is never given. He goes strictly by Lord Protector. His insistence on being addressed only by his title reflects his real life actions, where he began to insist on being addressed as “his highness,” and signed his letters “Oliver P,” in the fashion of kings who would sign their names as “George R,” or the like, with ‘P’ standing for ‘Protector’ the way ‘R’ stood for ‘Rex.’ Cromwell habitually ends his orders and decrees with, “That is the Lord’s will.” Between this habit and his exclusive title, he begins to seem a bit blasphemous. And that appears to be the intention. When he proclaims “the Lord’s will,” he’s not talking about the will of the Lord God, Creator of heaven and earth. He’s talking about the will of the Lord Protector; himself. He equates Lord Protector of the Commonwealths with Lord God, Almighty Protector, and elevates himself to that status. This results in a very cold, cruel, distant man who is baffled by the idea that a man would rather mourn for his seemingly dead daughter than follow his orders to the letter. Which is, honestly, very standard behavior for any man who thinks himself a god.

So does Cromwell give any indication of acknowledging a God higher than himself? Yes; all of twice in the movie. He’s seen praying once, but this too could be interpreted as talking to himself, as he again says only “Lord” and not “Lord God,” and he ends his prayer insisting that what he wants to do must be “the Lord’s will.” His prayer was likely to assure himself that he was still a humble man, so he could go out and continue to deify himself without guilt. At the climax of the movie, when Bill, who was bitten by Moll while she was trying to defend Mebh, takes on his new wolf form for the first time, Cromwell becomes genuinely terrified by the enormous wolf in front of him and cries out for the Lord God Almighty to protect him. It is the only time in the entire movie when Cromwell actually turns to a higher power than himself for help–and after everything else he’s done up to this point, it’s too late to curry any favor with God.

The climax ends with Cromwell’s death, as he allows himself to fall off a cliff rather than be turned into a Wolfwalker by Bill’s bite. The false god plunges to his demise, purportedly surrendering his soul to the God of heaven. This is more historical license, as the real Cromwell died of natural causes eight years after the movie is set.

Some viewers of the film have interpreted Cromwell vs. the Wolfwalkers as Christianity vs. paganism, conveniently forgetting that the Goodfellowes are Christians and gave no indication of converting at the end of the film. A look into Wolfwalker lore reveals the legend behind them; they were either blessed or cursed by St. Patrick (and one’s opinion on which it was depends on one’s opinion of wolves in general), who made a bargain with them. He did not want to force their conversion (this is true to the character of the real St. Patrick, who believed faith in God must be a personal choice and not coerced), but allowed them to roam free, albeit as wolves while they slept. Since Wolfwalkers are created not by choice, but by the bite of another Wolfwalker, it is well established that Wolfwalkers can be any religion. In the case of this film, exactly half of the Wolfwalkers are Protestants living in Catholic Ireland, with no indication that they’re going to change faiths, because they see no conflict between their faith and turning into wolves whenever they sleep. The presumably Catholic side character Sean Og even says that St. Patrick made peace with the pagans who became the original Wolfwalkers, and himself sees no problem with a Christian living as a wolf at night. He encourages Robyn’s friendship with Mebh, and cheers her on when she helps Moll escape. Cromwell alone sees conflict in the idea of a Christian Wolfwalker because he hates wolves and he hates anything that doesn’t basically worship him. Cromwell is the god of his realm, and if he says there will be no wolves or Wolfwalkers, then so be it. He will destroy every one of them, down to the last child. This is a story of a man who has deified himself going up against people who understand the difference between true faith and forced compliance. I think it’s safe to say St. Patrick would probably be on the Wolfwalkers’ side.

[auveiss]

Wolfwalkers Roz 🐺🤖

What rewatching Wolfwalkers + still fixating on TWR do to a artist lol X'D. If anyone ask how Roz get bitten, im gonna answer with ✨⭐️🌟𝓂𝒶𝑔𝒾𝒸✨⭐️🌟 and it is what it is lol

Just realizing that Lupita also voice Raksha in that Mowgli movie make this even more fitting! 💕 It's just waaaaaaa literally if Roz is a animal fr, the white coloring and everything on Raksha tho hhhh

Art Tag | Ko-fi | Artstation | Bluesky | Twitter | Youtube

[cainposts]

Every so often i think of cartoon saloon like. damn

Its like irish ghibli

[gatoburr0]

Sorry I ship their parents together they (Robyn and Mebh) are like sisters to me.

[niarixecl]

Wolfwalkers (Dragonwalkers) Oubing AU

My designs for this AU I'm making!!!! I'm so normal about Wolfwalkers

[kaycartoons]

Happy autumn everyone! Seriously though fall is one of my favorite aesthetics in animation.

[volleypearlfan]

A movie for every year I've been alive

[jupizoro]

best girls

[buttercup-barf]

Those are some morbid songs these kids are singing.