This week, we welcome two-time Academy Award nominee Tomm Moore to the show. That’s right, we’re classin’ up the joint. Tomm’s two films were both nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Those films were the astonishingly beautiful The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea.

If you haven’t seen these films yet, go fix that oversight immediately. Seriously, we’ll wait. The Secret of Kells is even on Netflix right now.

Tomm took a slightly unconventional journey in his career and started his own studio – Cartoon Saloon – right out of the gate. He also chose to dedicate himself and his studio to traditional hand-drawn animation, and the results have been absolutely stunning. Song of the Sea, especially, is one of the most beautiful animated films I’ve ever seen. In almost any other year, it would’ve snatched up the Academy Award with no problem. It just had the misfortune of being made in the same year as juggernaut Big Hero 6 and the stunning The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.

In this episode, we talk to Tomm about his career, heightened expectations that come with awards, commercial animation, the future of independent studios and traditional 2D animation, and the differences between European and American audiences.

You can listen on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, TuneIn, Stitcher, and YouTube; you can follow the RSS feed; or you can listen right here!

Connect:

• Tomm Moore is on Twitter here.
• Jamie is on Twitter and Instagram as @theroarbots.