Riverdance: The Animated Adventure

Last updated
Riverdance: The Animated Adventure
Riverdance, The Animated Adventure film poster.jpeg
Film poster
Directed by
  • Dave Rosenbaum
  • Eamonn Butler
Written by
  • Dave Rosenbaum
  • Tyler Werrin
Based on Riverdance
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyOlaf Skjenna (layout)
Adel Abada (lighting)
Edited byKevin Pavlovic
Music by Bill Whelan
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 28 May 2021 (2021-05-28)(United Kingdom and Ireland)
  • 14 January 2022 (2022-01-14)(United States)
Running time
86 minutes
Countries
  • Ireland
  • United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Riverdance: The Animated Adventure is a 2021 animated adventure film inspired by the dance show Riverdance . The film was made by Cinesite for River Productions and Aniventure.

Contents

Riverdance: The Animated Adventure was released in the United Kingdom on 28 May 2021, by Sky Cinema, [1] and was made available to stream on Netflix on 14 January 2022 in the United States. [2]

Plot

The animated film follows a young Irish boy named Keegan, who’s been at a heart loss after his grandfather - a well-known dancer - had passed away. He and his Spanish friend Moya go on a journey to a magical world to learn about Riverdance as well as the dangers of the evil Huntsman. [3]

Cast

Production and release

In 2016, it was announced that Cinesite Studios was aiming to produce nine animated movies across a five year period, one of which included a film about Riverdance . [4] Cinesite then announced in 2018 that it had secured funding to begin working on a number of films, including Riverdance. [5]

Production of the film began in February 2020, with an estimated budget of €35 million. [6]

After the film received funding, Pierce Brosnan, Aisling Bea, Brendan Gleeson, [7] Pauline McLynn, John Kavanagh and Lilly Singh were announced as joining the cast. [8] It has Dave Rosenbaum and Eamonn Butler as directors, [9] with Brosnan to voice both 'Patrick' and 'Grandad'. [10] According to Deadline Hollywood , Gleeson and Kavanagh are to voice the villains in the film, [11] [12] though Kavanagh was ultimately cast as a benign character.

The film features music by Irish composer, Bill Whelan. [13] Whelan also served as composer for the original tour of Riverdance in the mid-1990s. [6] Whelan also composed two original songs for the film's end credits; "Light Me Up", co-written with Irish singer Lyra, and a remix of the trademark Riverdance track. A version of "Lift the Wings" featuring Hannah Herman Cortes, singing in character as Moya, was also recorded.

The film was released exclusively on Sky Cinema in May 2021 and to streaming platform Netflix on 14 January 2022. [14]

Critical reception

Kevin Courtney of The Irish Times said the actors spoke with good Irish accents. But he worried that the movie only shows Irish people living in perfect villages and dancing all the time. He said the movie is sometimes like a Fáilte Ireland tourism advertisement. [15]

Dierdre Molumby of Entertainment said this movie is "exhaustingly bad". [16]

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William Michael Joseph Whelan is an Irish composer and musician. He is best known for composing a piece for the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. The result, "Riverdance", was a seven-minute piece of original music accompanying a new take on traditional Irish stepdance that became a full-length stage production and spawned a worldwide craze for Irish traditional music and dance. The corresponding soundtrack album earned him a Grammy. "Riverdance" was released as a single in 1994, credited to "Bill Whelan and Anúna featuring the RTÉ Concert Orchestra". It reached number one in Ireland for 18 weeks and number nine in the UK. The album of the same title reached number 31 in the album charts in 1995.

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References

  1. ↑ "Riverdance: The Animated Adventure, a Sky Original is coming exclusively to Sky Cinema and NOW on 28 May 2021". Sky. 11 May 2021.
  2. ↑ "New on Netflix: The Best Movies and TV Shows Coming in January 2022". Sky. 11 May 2021.
  3. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (December 17, 2021). "'Hitpig': Peter Dinklage, Lilly Singh, Rainn Wilson, RuPaul, Hannah Gadsby & Dany Boon To Voice Animated Movie". Vanity Fair.
  4. ↑ Barraclough, Leo (8 February 2016). "Cinesite to Produce Nine Animated Movies in Montreal in Five Years". Variety.
  5. ↑ Tartagline, Nancy (January 29, 2018). "Cinesite Studios Secures $70M Finance Package For VFX, Animation Growth". Deadline Hollywood.
  6. 1 2 Barter, Pavel (September 13, 2020). "Pierce Brosnan, Aisling Bea and Brendan Gleeson to make reel impact in Riverdance cartoon". The Times .
  7. ↑ Etan Vlessing (September 11, 2020). "Pierce Brosnan, Lilly Singh, Brendan Gleeson to Voice 'Riverdance: The Animated Adventure' Feature (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  8. ↑ "'Riverdance: The Animated Adventure' Voice Cast Announced". Animation World Network. September 14, 2020.
  9. ↑ Beresford, Jack (September 14, 2020). "Pierce Brosnan, Aisling Bea and Brendan Gleeson cast in 'Riverdance' animated film". Irish Post.
  10. ↑ "Brosnan, Gleeson to voice Riverdance: The Animated Adventure". RTE. September 11, 2020.
  11. ↑ Cannon, Eoghan (September 11, 2020). "Pierce Brosnan, Brendan Gleeson, Aisling Bea and more to star in Riverdance animation". Entertainment.ie.
  12. ↑ "New trailer released for Riverdance: The Animated Adventure". Irish Central. 12 May 2021.
  13. ↑ Barter, Pavel. "Cinesite animated feature reels Riverdance into cinemas". The Times .
  14. ↑ "Riverdance: The Animated Adventure". IMDb .
  15. ↑ Kevin Courtney (May 24, 2021). "Riverdance the movie: Pierce Brosnan and Brendan Gleeson hoof it up on a screen near you". Irish Times. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  16. ↑ Dierdre Molumby. "'Riverdance: The Animated Adventure' is a baffling, terrible children's movie". Entertainment. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
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