Moe Honan is one of the leading lights in Ireland’s animation industry. Having cut her teeth in the film business in Galway in the 1990s, she went on to set up Moetion Films, collaborating with companies across Europe and worldwide to create awardwinning work that appeals to all ages. The chair of Animation Ireland, Moe tells JUDY MURPHY about the importance of creativity and co-operation.

Animated films have long been an intrinsic part of childhood and many of us will remember TV entertainment provided by cartoons from the likes of Walt Disney and Warner Bros.

Disney still reigns supreme but other companies, including many in Ireland, are carving out a reputation for this film form, which is now more popular than ever as it caters for all generations, across a range of platforms.

“Animation is universal and it’s for all ages, from the youngest to the oldest, says Moe Honan, a woman with a passion for storytelling who runs the awardwinning Galway-based Moetion films.

Moe, whose company won two awards at the industry’s biennial Irish Animation Awards, held in Galway two weeks’ ago, is Chair of the industry body, Animation Ireland.

The awards for The Magic Reindeer: Saving Santa’s Sleigh are the latest accolades for Moetion which Moe set up in 2013 and which is based in Mervue Business Park.

The company’s 2015 debut, Two by Two – Ooops! The Ark has Gone was screened in thousands of cinemas across Europe and won Producer of the Year Award at Cartoon Movie 2016. The sequel Two by Two – Overboard! was released internationally in 2020/21, when it topped the UK box office.

And Moetion’s latest success is courtesy of a series which follows the adventures of Niko the reindeer as he bids to join Santa’s flying troupe.

The third film in the hit franchise, The Magic Reindeer: Saving Santa’s Sleigh was released last November to great reviews.

Like many of her peers, Moe started working in the film industry in Galway in the mid-1990s.

“My background in English literature and language, and I followed that with media training,” says the independent producer who is originally from Clare.

“Many moons ago, on foot of Michael D’s efforts to create a proper space for the film and TV industry, I got involved,” she explains of the work done by President Higgins during his tenure as minister for Arts Culture and the Gaeltacht. Before that, Moe had worked briefly in Galway Bay FM.

In her early days in film, she freelanced with different production companies, cutting her teeth across a range of genres.

Her love of storytelling led her “to eventually settle into animation”, setting up the wonderfully titled Moetion Films. Twelve years on, Moe is as enthusiastic as ever about the genre.

Animation, one of the most collaborative of all kinds of filmmaking,  “is like a jigsaw”, Moe says. It needs many different talents, such as writers, actors, animators, editors, composers and sound designers.

But for Moe, every film all starts with the story and the characters’ voices, an appreciation she gained from her days in radio. A trained voice coach for animation, she provides that service for Moetion as well as for other companies.

“Animation is like creating a radio play. You start with the writers. They create the voices and the language for the characters, and that’s what inspires the animators to create credible bodies.”

If the voices aren’t strong, that will affect the credibility of the overall production, she adds.

Moetion has a core team of five and it hires extra crew for its various productions, working on these with companies in Europe and further afield.

“We get involved in co-productions for financial and creative reasons,” explains Moe, adding that Irish animation companies can apply for funding from various streams, including Screen Ireland, RTÉ and TG4, while tax exemptions are available under the government’s Section 481 Tax Film Credit scheme.

International collaboration increases budgets, as co-producers in Europe receive similar funding from their state agencies and national broadcasters, as well as from distributors. And the EU’s Creative Europe programme also helps finance film collaborations.

Pictured: Moe Honan at the premiere of The Magic Reindeer: Saving Santa’s Sleigh, at the Cork Film Festival last year.