Kilkenny's Cartoon Saloon launch Ukrainian version of Puffin Rock And The New Friends

A new Ukrainian dubbed version of the animated feature, Puffin Rock and The New Friends will be premiered by Cartoon Saloon at Lighthouse Cinema in Dublin on Sunday February 11 at 10am.

Members of the Ukrainian community in Ireland have voiced the new Ukrainian version, most of them children currently  living here. The director and young members of the Ukrainian cast will be available for photos and interviews:

Produced by the Academy Award-nominated Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon and Northern Ireland’s Dog Ears, Puffin Rock and the New Friends Ukrainian version will be made available for educational and non commercial use across Ireland and Europe.

Kilkenny roundabout being adapted to facilitate transportation of wind turbine blades

The Screen Ireland supported film provided a unique opportunity to collaborate and connect with the Ukrainian community in Ireland and across Europe. The Ukrainian version of Puffin Rock and The New Friends is entirely voiced by Ukrainian nationals that have relocated to Ireland. The film will now be made available to Ukrainian communities all over Ireland to show privately.  The Kilkenny Leader Programme will work with Ukrainian SICAP workers and communities to distribute the film all over Ireland.

Cartoon Saloon would welcome the opportunity for a platform either national or international to show, the Ukrainian version of Puffin Rock.

"Puffin Rock is a wonderful place to live, but what if it just doesn't feel like your home? During the production of the film this was a guiding statement for us, for how Isabelle may be feeling as a new puffin coming to live on a new Island, far far away from her home. 

"We always tried to talk about her character in the simplest ways, for us she is an eight-year-old child moving to a new school or an eight-year-old child whose parents have to work away from home. We tried to focus on universal themes and experiences for our audience.

"But sadly in the world we live in, she is also an eight-year-old child forced to leave all they have known, not because of climate change but because her home has been destroyed by war.

"It was quite late in production when our Executive Producer Gerry Shirren, suggested the idea of making a Ukrainian version of the film. We absolutely knew it was something we wanted to do.

"There were many new and exciting challenges on this project, not only was this the first time that Cartoon Saloon would take the lead creating a foreign language version of their films, a job that usually outsourced to the respective country. It would also be looking to fill all the roles from the newly arrived Ukrainian community," said director Jeremy Purcell.

A casting call was shared with the Irish-based Ukrainian community through social media, Ukrainian groups and to Irish organisations with connections with this community in the August of 2023. This call was open to all Ukrainians in Ireland who were interested regardless of experience.

The casting call was a great success; over 150 self-recorded auditions were submitted.

Casting and Voice Direction consultant, Alyona Osmanova, and Director, Jeremy Purcell, reviewed each tape.

They were both very impressed with the level of talent that applied, it ranged from experienced actors to newcomers.

They eventually whittled it down to 52 in person auditions.

The in person auditions were held across two weekends in Cartoon Saloon’s Barrack Street Studio. Hopefuls travelled from Kerry, Cork, Clare, Galway and Dublin to attend the auditions.

At the auditions, Head of Post Production, Alan Slattery, tried his best to replicate the dubbing record experience which can be quite a technical experience.

"In many respects our Ukrainian cast would have the more difficult job of not only acting and bringing their characters to life  but also ensuring they keep in time with the existing scenes and animation. Not only did our cast need to be brilliant actors they also needed to take direction and adjust to line changes quickly," he said.

The in person auditions were a brilliant experience for the studio team and the auditionees but the tough job of choosing the final cast was still ahead.

One of the biggest challenges for the casting team was to figure out who could fill the shoes of the original Puffin Rock Narrator, Chris O’Dowd.

"Chris is such an integral part of what makes Puffin Rock so special for audiences so it’s hard shoes to fill. But that challenge presented us with an opportunity to try something new and we decided to go with a female narrator, Alla Bineeva," added Jeremy Purcell.

Puffin Rock and the New Friends was Alla's first experience in animation acting but she is an experienced theatre and film actress living in Kerry.

The team had the difficult job of filling the 17 other roles before records could start.

Anna Svidruk from Dublin was chosen to play Oona and Polina Vorobei from Cork was chosen to play Isabelle.

Voice Director, Lorraine Lordan said that the cast travelled from all around the country for the record sessions.

"They were more intensive than we initially expected but we were blown away by the enthusiasm, commitment and hard work of our cast and their parents, grandparents and/or brothers who travelled with them. The final performances are a testament to everyone involved. And I think Puffin Rock and the New Friends is every bit as moving in Ukrainian as it is in English," she said.

Alyona Osmanova, an actor and producer from Kiev, provided voice direction services to the project alongside the film’s Assistant Director and Puffin Rock veteran Lorraine Lordan.

The screenplay for the film by Sara Daddy was translated by Olena Velyka, a Ukrainian national who previously took part in Screen Skills Pathways programme and worked on the Preschool series Silly Sundays. 

The translation was recorded in Gorilla Post Production in Dublin with sound engineer Mark Kennedy.