Song of the Sea
GKIDS | Release Date: December 19, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
85
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
24
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
EmpireWill LawrenceJul 6, 2015
Visually, this is an exquisitely composed film, and it teems with curiosities and compassion. If on occasion the story seems to wander, it arrives at an enchanting destination. Read full review
100
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniFeb 6, 2015
A transcendent work from Ireland's Cartoon Saloon studio that's almost wasted on kids. Read full review
100
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJan 29, 2015
Enchants on every level: story, voice work, drawing and music. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranJan 8, 2015
Song of the Sea is a wonder to behold. This visually stunning animation masterwork, steeped in Irish myth, folklore and legend, so adroitly mixes the magical and the everyday that to watch it is to be wholly immersed in an enchanted world. Read full review
100
New York PostHaley GoldbergDec 17, 2014
I was reminded, at times, of the painstakingly detailed beauty of “The Triplets of Belleville,” but Moore has a more ethereal, rounded aesthetic all his own. They don’t make movies like this anymore — except when, lucky us, they do. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianMarc MohanFeb 27, 2015
If Song of the Sea had had the promotional muscle of Disney or Dreamworks behind it, it may have won this year's Oscar for Best Animated Feature instead of merely being nominated. It certainly would have deserved it. Read full review
91
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanFeb 7, 2015
Moore makes no attempt at visual reality. The colors and drawings employ the flat design of a handsomely decorated book, and the children have the huge eyes, disproportionately large heads and small bodies you sometimes see in Japanese animation. Read full review
91
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJan 9, 2015
The plot may be a bit too busy, but a great wash of transcendent imagery floods the screen. If I had to recommend the best children’s film out there for all ages, this one, and “The Tale of Princess Kaguya,” would easily top the charts. Read full review
90
Arizona RepublicSuzanne Condie LambertJan 29, 2015
Song of the Sea is a lyrical treat for those willing to sit still and let it wash over them. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJan 8, 2015
Song of the Sea was made primarily, though not exclusively, for young children. Its unhurried pace will serve as an antidote to, or even an inoculation against, the mad rush of most contemporary animation. This is a film made by the other crowd, people who care about helping children to care about the medium of film for the rest of their lives. Read full review
90
VarietyPeter DebrugeNov 23, 2014
Song of the Sea is differentiated not only by its rich visual design — grayer and more subdued than “The Secret of Kells,” yet still a marvel to behold — but also by its ethereal musical dimension, another collaboration between composer Bruno Coulais and Irish folk band Kila. Read full review
88
Movie NationRoger MooreFeb 24, 2015
Every scene is magical, every image a work of art in Song of the Sea. Read full review
80
The GuardianLeslie FelperinOct 25, 2015
Folky music and Studio Ghibli-level flights of eerie fancy are obvious pleasures, but even more subtle and entrancing is the way Moore and his team use echoed shapes to suggest hidden patterns in nature and parallels between the real and the mythical. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisDec 18, 2014
Song of the Sea moves delicately but purposefully from pain to contentment and from anger to love. On land and underwater, the siblings’ adventures unfold in hand-drawn, painterly frames of misty pastels, sometimes encircled by cobwebby borders that give them the look of pictures in a locket. Read full review
80
The DissolveNoel MurrayDec 17, 2014
Song Of The Sea is a triumph of design and animation, populating lavishly detailed, patterned backdrops with characters so simplified that they could’ve been cut-and-pasted from a newspaper comic strip. Read full review
80
Village VoiceSherilyn ConnellyDec 16, 2014
The picture is beautifully rendered in pencils and watercolors, with some CG, giving it an appropriately timeless storybook look, even though it's set in a mostly modern world of buses and 3-D glasses. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijNov 23, 2014
The narrative’s general rites-of-passage layout is of course extremely familiar, though, especially for foreign audiences, many of the stories-within-stories and characters that dot this particular journey will feel new as well as delightful. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisFeb 18, 2015
In a genre dominated by computer-generated compositions and design, its old-school simplicity is sweetly anachronistic, while its hand-drawn elegance is often something to behold. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTom RussoFeb 26, 2015
Director Tomm Moore (the 2009 Oscar contender “The Secret of Kells”) crafts a traditionally rendered feature whose doe-eyed characters faintly echo Miyazaki yet offer a beauty all their own. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesMary HoulihanFeb 19, 2015
A surprisingly touching ending brings to fruition the idea that “all of us are connected.” Moore manages this life-affirming touch without being preachy and by simply melding unusual old folktales into a new story filled with visually stunning images sure to captivate children of all ages. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMichael OrdonaJan 29, 2015
With its unique concerns, unerring sense of calm balance, and haunting Celtic-referencing score, “Song” is a worthy entry into the Oscar conversation. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerDec 19, 2014
Voice cast member Lisa Hannigan, an Irish songstress who sings here in a Celtic-ethereal style, features on a soundtrack that is mystic, eerie and freeing. Yeats is whispered: ‘Come away, human child/To the water and the wild.’ Inviting? Very much so. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineCarson LundDec 18, 2014
Even as it entertains increasingly far-fetched detours, the film's folkloric narrative offers an ideal vehicle for this pictorial play. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsDec 19, 2014
Visually splendid, but generically flat-footed, Song of the Sea is an animated fantasy that comes close to greatness, but is rarely as clever as it is comforting. Read full review
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