My Father's Dragon (2022 film)

Last updated
My Father's Dragon
My Father's Dragon poster.jpg
Official release poster
Directed by Nora Twomey
Screenplay by Meg LeFauve
Story by
  • Meg LeFauve
  • John Morgan
Based on My Father's Dragon
by Ruth Stiles Gannett
Produced by
Starring
Narrated by Mary Kay Place
Edited by
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by Netflix
Release dates
  • October 8, 2022 (2022-10-08)(LFF)
  • November 4, 2022 (2022-11-04)(Ireland, United States, United Kingdom)
  • November 11, 2022 (2022-11-11)(Netflix)
Running time
99 minutes [1]
Countries
  • Ireland
  • United States
LanguageEnglish

My Father's Dragon is a 2022 animated fantasy adventure comedy film directed by Nora Twomey with a screenplay by Meg LeFauve who co-wrote the story with John Morgan. [2] It is based on the 1948 children's novel of the same name by Ruth Stiles Gannett. [2] The film is also dedicated to Morgan who had since died. It stars the voices of Jacob Tremblay, Gaten Matarazzo, Golshifteh Farahani, Dianne Wiest, Rita Moreno, Chris O'Dowd, Judy Greer, Alan Cumming, Yara Shahidi, Jackie Earle Haley, Whoopi Goldberg, and Ian McShane.

Contents

Co-produced by Netflix Animation, Mockingbird Pictures and Cartoon Saloon, the film was originally set for a 2021 premiere on Netflix, [3] [4] but was pushed to a Netflix release on November 11, 2022, [5] after a limited theatrical release in Ireland, the United States, and the United Kingdom on November 4. The film received positive reviews from critics. It became Cartoon Saloon's first film to not achieve a Best Animated Feature nomination at the Academy Awards.

Plot

An unseen older woman tells the story of her father, Elmer Elevator, when he was a kid. He and his mother Dela owned a candy shop in a small town, but were forced to close down and move away after the people of the town moved away. They move to faraway Nevergreen city where they plan to open a new shop, but they eventually lose all the money they saved up while getting by.

Elmer soon befriends a cat and eventually gets the idea to panhandle the money needed for the store, only for his mother to tell him it is now a lost cause. Angered, Elmer runs to the docks to be alone. The Cat comes to him and speaks to him, much to his shock. She tells him that on an island, Wild Island, beyond the city lies a dragon that can probably help him. Elmer takes the task and is transported to the island on a bubbly whale named Soda. Once they make it to Wild Island, Soda explains that a gorilla named Saiwa is using the dragon to keep the island from sinking, but it remains ineffective.

Elmer frees the dragon, a goofball named Boris, who explains that his kind has been saving the island as long as anyone can remember, and after he succeeds, he will be an "After Dragon". However, they discover that Boris cannot fly due to breaking his wing when Elmer saved him, and he reveals that he is afraid of both water and fire. The two make an agreement that Boris will help Elmer raise enough cash to buy a new store and will let the dragon go free once finished, and they go on an adventure in search of a tortoise named Aratuah to find out how Boris can keep the island from sinking for the next century. Along the way, they encounter some of the islands inhabitants, like Cornelius the crocodile, the tiger siblings Sasha and George and a mother rhino named Iris all while trying to evade Saiwa and his monkey army.

They soon make it to Aratuah's shell, but Elmer finds out that he died, and leave as the island continues to sink. While resting on a flower, they are found by Saiwa and his forces and Saiwa reveals he knew about Aratuah's death, which angers his macaque 2nd-in-command Kwan, who proceeds to use a giant mushroom as a raft to leave the island. While flying with Boris, Elmer has an epiphany; it is the roots below the island that pull it down. He convinces Boris to fly with all his might and break the roots. Boris breaks two of the roots, but has his own epiphany of how to save the island alone (without Elmer).

Elmer falls into the water, but is saved by Saiwa, who is evacuating the island with the other animals. He confronts Elmer for wanting to use Boris, and not truly being a friend. He then reveals that once he found out about Aratuah's death and saw how foolish and frightened Boris was, he knew everyone would drown in fear before the ocean swallowed the island. So, he used Boris to carry out the only solution he knew: forcing the dragon to lift the island up, over and over.

Wanting to fix things, Elmer goes back to the island to Boris, and helps him find the courage to jump into the summit's fire and inhale it. This restores the roots, which were actually holding the island up, but had weakened after a century. Boris finally becomes an "After Dragon", and tells the animals how to teach future dragons the right way to save the island. He takes Elmer home, passing by a surprised Kwan residing over on tangerine trees. Elmer reunites with his mother and the film ends with him embracing his new life in the city with his daughter narrating the end of the story.

Voice cast

Additional voices by Debi Derryberry, Skip Stellrecht, Hope Levy, Terence Mathews, Annabel Lew, Andrew Morgado, Jim Pirri, Jon Olson, Cat Ring, Fred Tatasciore, Michelle Ruff, Eric Tiede, Georgia Simon, Frank Todaro, Kelly Stables, and Nora Twomey. [6]

Production

In June 2016, it was reported that Cartoon Saloon was developing an adaptation of My Father's Dragon , with Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey co-directing it. [7] In November 2018, Netflix announced that it had come on board the project. Twomey was now the sole director. [8]

In April 2022, the cast was revealed along with a first image from the film, [9] and Mychael and Jeff Danna as the composers of the film score. [10]

As in Cartoon Saloon's previous feature films starting with Song of the Sea, the studio continued their use of TVPaint Animation for the hand drawn brush and pencil strokes in the character animation, but for the first time it used Toon Boom Harmony for effects and digital ink-and-paint. Moho software was also used for rigged animation of props and background elements, and also to handle background crowd animation. [11] [12] [13]

Release

My Father's Dragon had its world premiere at the 66th BFI London Film Festival on October 8, 2022. [14] The North American premiere was at the Animation Is Film Festival on October 22, 2022. [15]

In November 2018, Netflix previously announced that the film would be released in 2021. [8] However, in January 2021, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos revealed that the film's release could be moved to "2022 or later", to meet Netflix's criteria of releasing six animated features per year. [16] The film was shown in select theatres for a limited time in Ireland, the United States, and the United Kingdom on November 4, 2022. [17] It was released on Netflix on November 11, 2022. [5]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 87% of 70 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.3/10.The website's consensus reads: "My Father's Dragon will soar particularly high with very young viewers, but this animated adventure has something to offer audiences of all ages." [18] and on Metacritic the film has a score of 74 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [19]

Accolades

AwardDate of ceremonyCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef.
Animation is Film FestivalOctober 22, 2022Special Jury Prize AwardMy Father's DragonWon [20] [21]
Hollywood Music in Media Awards November 16, 2022 Best Original Song in an Animated Film Mychael Danna, Jeff Danna, Frank Danna, Nora Twomey, Meg LeFauve ("Lift Your Wings")Nominated [22]
Annie Awards February 25, 2023 Best Animated Feature – Independent My Father's DragonNominated [23]
Outstanding Achievement for Directing in a Feature Production Nora Twomey Nominated

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Bluth</span> American filmmaker and animator (born 1937)

Donald Virgil Bluth is an American filmmaker and animator. He is best known for directing the animated films The Secret of NIMH (1982), An American Tail (1986), The Land Before Time (1988), All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989), Anastasia (1997), and Titan A.E. (2000), for his involvement in the LaserDisc game Dragon's Lair (1983), and for competing with former employer Walt Disney Productions during the years leading up to the films that became the Disney Renaissance. He is the older brother of illustrator Toby Bluth.

<i>My Fathers Dragon</i> Book by Ruth Stiles Gannett

My Father's Dragon is a 1948 children's novel by Ruth Stiles Gannett, with illustrations by her stepmother Ruth Chrisman Gannett. The novel is about a young boy, Elmer, who runs away to Wild Island to rescue a baby dragon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golshifteh Farahani</span> Iranian and French actress (born 1983)

Rahavard Farahani, known professionally as Golshifteh Farahani, is an Iranian and French actress. She is known for her performances in M for Mother (2006), Body of Lies (2008), About Elly (2009), The Patience Stone (2012), Paterson (2016), Girls of the Sun (2018), Extraction (2020) and its sequel Extraction 2 (2023), and Invasion (2021–present). She was nominated for the Most Promising Actress Award for The Patience Stone at the 2014 César Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Danna</span> Canadian film composer

Jeff Danna is a Canadian film composer. He has composed or co-composed scores for a wide range of films and television, including The Boondock Saints (1999), Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), Silent Hill (2006), The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), The Good Dinosaur (2015), Storks (2016), The Breadwinner (2017), The Addams Family (2019), Onward (2020), Guillermo Del Toro’s Tales of Arcadia (2019-2021), Nora Twomey’s My Father’s Dragon (2022) and Julia (2022).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Mintz-Plasse</span> American actor (born 1989)

Christopher Charles Mintz-Plasse is an American actor. Primarily known for his work in comedy films, he has performed roles such as Fogell (McLovin) in Superbad (2007), Augie Farcques in Role Models (2008), and Chris D'Amico in Kick-Ass (2010) and its sequel Kick-Ass 2 (2013).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cartoon Saloon</span> Irish animation studio

Cartoon Saloon is an Irish animation film, short film and television studio based in Kilkenny which provides film TV and short film services. The studio is best known for its animated feature films The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, The Breadwinner and Wolfwalkers. Their works have received five Academy Award nominations, their first four feature length works all received nominations for Best Animated Feature and one for Best Animated Short Film. The company also developed the cartoon series Skunk Fu!, Puffin Rock, Dorg Van Dango and Viking Skool. As of 2020, the studio employs 300 animators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomm Moore</span> Irish film director

Thomas "Tomm" Moore is an Irish filmmaker, animator, illustrator and comics artist. He co-founded Cartoon Saloon with Nora Twomey and Paul Young, an animation studio and production company based in Kilkenny, Ireland. His first three feature films, The Secret of Kells (2009), co-directed with Nora Twomey, Song of the Sea (2014) and Wolfwalkers (2020), co-directed with Ross Stewart, have received critical acclaim and were all nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nora Twomey</span> Irish animator, director, screenwriter, producer and voice actress

Nora Twomey is an Irish animator, director, screenwriter, producer and voice actress. She is best known as the co-founder of Cartoon Saloon, alongside Tomm Moore and Paul Young, an animation studio and production company, based in Kilkenny City, Ireland. She is best known for co-directing The Secret of Kells and directing The Breadwinner. Her work on both films earned Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature.

<i>How to Train Your Dragon</i> DreamWorks Animation media franchise

How to Train Your Dragon is an American media franchise from DreamWorks Animation and loosely based on the eponymous series of children's books by British author Cressida Cowell. It consists of three animated feature films: How to Train Your Dragon (2010), How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014), and The Hidden World (2019), five short films: Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon (2010), Book of Dragons (2010), Gift of the Night Fury (2011), Dawn of the Dragon Racers (2014), and Homecoming (2019), and a live-action reboot from Universal Pictures in development and scheduled for release on June 13, 2025.

Dragons, commonly referred to as DreamWorks Dragons, is an American animated television series based on the 2010 film How to Train Your Dragon. The series serves as a bridge between the first film and its 2014 sequel.

<i>The Breadwinner</i> (film) 2017 film by Nora Twomey

The Breadwinner is a 2017 animated drama film from Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon directed by Nora Twomey. Based on the best-selling novel by Deborah Ellis, the film was an international co-production among Canada, the Republic of Ireland and Luxembourg, and received a limited release on 17 November 2017.

The Annie Award for Best Animated Feature – Independent is an Annie Award introduced in 2015, awarded annually.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaten Matarazzo</span> American actor

Gaetano John Matarazzo III is an American actor. He began his career on the Broadway stage as Benjamin in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (2011–12) and as Gavroche in Les Misérables (2014–15). Matarazzo gained recognition for playing Dustin Henderson in the Netflix science-fiction-horror drama series Stranger Things (2016–present). He also hosted the Netflix show Prank Encounters (2019–2021). In 2022, he co-starred in the coming-of-age comedy film Honor Society and voiced Boris the Dragon on the animated fantasy comedy film My Father's Dragon.

TVPaint Animation is a 2D paint and digital animation software package developed by TVPaint Developpement SARL based in Lorraine, France. Originally released for Amiga in 1991, version 3.0 (1994) introduced support for other platforms. In 1999, the last Amiga version 3.59 was released as free download. TVPaint Animation currently runs on Mac, Windows, Linux, and Android operating systems.

<i>Looney Tunes Cartoons</i> American animated television series

Looney Tunes Cartoons is an American animated television series developed by Pete Browngardt and produced by Warner Bros. Animation, based on the characters from Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. The series made its worldwide debut at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 10, 2019, and premiered on HBO Max on May 27, 2020.

This is a list of events in animation in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Netflix Animation</span> American animation studio

Netflix Animation is an American animation studio and a subsidiary of Netflix, Inc. It was founded in March 2018. The studio primarily produces and develops animated programs and feature films.

Paul Young is an Irish animator, illustrator, cartoonist, producer, and director. He is the CEO of Cartoon Saloon, a four-times Academy Award nominated and BAFTA nominated Irish animation studio. He co-founded the studio in 1999 with Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey. In 2015 he was a finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. He has been a board member of Animation Ireland.

This is a list of events in animation in 2022.

<i>My Little Pony: Make Your Mark</i> Animated streaming television series

My Little Pony: Make Your Mark is an animated television series tied to the fifth incarnation of Hasbro's My Little Pony toyline.

References

  1. ↑ "My Father's Dragon". Animation is Film Festival. Archived from the original on November 10, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Netflix orders a new animated feature 'My Father's Dragon' from Cartoon Saloon". Animation Xpress. November 9, 2018. Archived from the original on October 20, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  3. ↑ Ramos, Dino-Day (November 6, 2018). "Netflix Unveils 'The Willoughbys', 'Maya and the Three', & More In Animated Slate". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on March 17, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  4. ↑ Anderton, Ethan (November 6, 2018). "Netflix Orders Up Six New Animated Movies & TV Shows, Including 'The Willoughbys' and 'My Father's Dragon'". Slash Film. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  5. 1 2 Diamond Sarto, Debbie (September 28, 2022). "Netflix Drops 'My Father's Dragon' Trailer". Animation World Network . Archived from the original on October 8, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  6. ↑ Rooney, David (October 8, 2022). "My Father's Dragon". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on November 14, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  7. ↑ Macnab, Geoffrey (June 17, 2016). "'The Secret Of Kells' duo, Mockingbird Pictures to tackle 'My Father's Dragon'". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on August 11, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  8. 1 2 Lang, Brett (November 6, 2018). "Netflix Unveils Six Animated Films, Shows (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety .
  9. ↑ Grater, Tom (April 20, 2022). "Jacob Tremblay, Gaten Matarazzo, Golshifteh Farahani & More To Voice Netflix Animation 'My Father's Dragon'". Deadline . Archived from the original on October 25, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Mychael Danna & Jeff Danna to Score Nora Twomey's 'My Father's Dragon'". Film Music Reporter. April 27, 2022. Archived from the original on October 17, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  11. ↑ Desowitz, Bill (2022-10-28). "A Gentler 'My Father's Dragon' Doesn't Mean Cartoon Saloon Is Going Soft". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 2023-01-10. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  12. ↑ Kelkar, Rohit [@_rohitkelkar_] (January 5, 2023). "Happy to start the new year with the complete showreel of my work on "My Father's Dragon"! You can watch it full-screen on my website as well. Link in bio :) Animated on @TVPaint_Anim https://t.co/1zmAXvk18R" (Tweet). Retrieved January 14, 2023– via Twitter.
  13. ↑ Paredes, Víctor [@paredesbubu] (November 17, 2022). "Some of the scenes we rigged and animated with the Moho Animation Team for My Father's Dragon (part 2) #mohoanimation #myfathersdragon https://t.co/SUAmBdNJu6" (Tweet). Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 14, 2023– via Twitter.
  14. ↑ "66th BFI London Film Festival announces BFI opening attractions". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  15. ↑ Lang, Jamie (September 23, 2022). "Animation Is Film Opens Its Largest Celebration To Date". Cartoon Brew . Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  16. ↑ De Wit, Alex (January 14, 2021). "Netflix Unveils 2021 Animated Film Slate, Including Sony Pictures Animation's 'Wish Dragon' And Two Aardman Specials". Cartoon Brew . Archived from the original on April 29, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  17. ↑ "Where to watch My Father's Dragon". Cartoon Saloon. November 3, 2022. Archived from the original on November 3, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  18. ↑ "My Father's Dragon". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango. Archived from the original on November 22, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  19. ↑ "My Father's Dragon Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Archived from the original on December 30, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  20. ↑ Desowitz, Bill (October 27, 2022). "'Little Nicolas' and 'My Father's Dragon' Take Top Honors at Animation Is Film 2022". IndieWire . Archived from the original on November 10, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  21. ↑ "My Father's Dragon". Animation Is Film Festival. October 27, 2022. Archived from the original on November 10, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  22. ↑ Grein, Paul (November 3, 2022). "Rihanna, Lady Gaga & More Nominated for 2022 Hollywood Music in Media Awards: Full List". Billboard . Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  23. ↑ Giardina, Carolyn (February 26, 2023). "'Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio' Wins Five Trophies Including the Top Prize at the 50th Annie Awards". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on February 26, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.