The project is set to kick-off at Telegael’s Galway studios in Baile na hAbhann on Monday, September 19th.
‘Morten’ tells the tale of a 10-year-old boy whose fantasies about captaining his own ship take him on a mysterious ship, after encountering a magician Senór Cucaracha, voiced by Tommy Tiernan.
Morten’s guardian Mean Spinster Anna is voiced by Pauline McLynn (Angela’s Ashes), while Brendan Gleeson (Calvary) portrays his father Captain Viks.
Additional talents composing the Irish cast include Ciarán Hinds, Jason Byrne, Mario Rosenstock, Michael McElhatton and Neil Delamere. The film introduces young Irish talents Cian O’Dowd and Susie Power as Morten and his friend Elisabeth.
Telegael has received multiple Emmys for its work and produces live action and animated content for the international television market and for worldwide cinema release. Over 100 people are employed by Galway-based studio, which also recently produced animations ‘Norm of the North’ and ‘Blinky Bill’ and feature film ‘Out of Innocence’.
Paul Cummins, Telegael CEO said:
“We are delighted to commence production on Morten which will be the first ever stop-motion animated feature film produced in Ireland. In recent years, Ireland's indigenous animation industry has gone from strength to strength with Irish studios gaining unprecedented international recognition both commercially and creatively. We are pleased that the establishment of Telegael’s special purpose stop-motion studio in the Connemara Gaeltacht has added another dimension to Ireland's burgeoning animation industry.
Telegael has invested substantial resources in developing and nurturing the techniques, skills and expertise associated with this specialist form of animation. The studio has developed an indigenous skills base by placing young Irish talent, particularly graduates from third level colleges such as IADT, UL and GMIT, side-by-side with experienced heads of department thereby providing unique, industry-related work experience.”
Morten is scheduled for completion in late 2017 and is a coproduction between Telegael (Ireland), Nukufilm (Estonia) and Grid-VFX (Belgium) in association with Calon of Wales. The project attracted significant interest from European and US distributors at Cartoon Movie 2016 in Lyon.