Kindred Spirits: Cartoon Saloon’s latest project to take inspiration from Irish-Choctaw solidarity

On a March day at the Agency building of Skullyville, modern-day Oklahoma in 1847, a meeting occurred which would shape an enduring bond between two peoples separated by thousands of miles of ocean.

Choctaw settlers gathered to hear about the plight of the Irish people who were being ravaged by the worst year of the Famine that would go on to cause the deaths of over one million and force a million more to emigrate.

The Choctaw themselves were barely a decade on from the height of their removal from ancestral lands in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana to the Indian Territory, a forced displacement and ethnic cleansing campaign which saw between two and four thousand of the tribe die on the 500 mile journey, also known as the Trail of Tears.

Despite having lost so much, the Skullyville Choctaw donated $170 (around $5,000 today), to Irish famine relief and this act of incredible generosity lends inspiration to multi-Oscar nominated studio Cartoon Saloon’s latest project.

The feature film, Kindred Spirits, is set in 1847 and tells the story of Mara, a lone child in New York, and Tushka, a Choctaw Nation son far from his tribe. 

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The pair journey across America in search of people to call family and a place to call home with the trailer steeped in the lush spiritual and magical visuals that have become synonymous with the Kilkenny studio. 

Tomm Moore, director of The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea and Wolfwalkers is at the helm of Kindred Spirits and although the adaptation of Native American folklore is a departure from previous work, engagement and enthusiasm for the project from the American side has been all positive so far.

“I went out to Oklahoma a couple of times,” Moore outlines. “I went to a powwow with the Chief there, I met with the Chief in Mississippi and the Chief in Louisiana; so that’s the three federally recognised Choctaw tribes.”

“They all seemed happy to be part of it, they wanted the project to do well and represent well,” he adds.

Cartoon Saloon has reached the pinnacle of global 2D animation as fans have fallen in love with its unique and rich artstyle, something which will lend itself to the realm of Choctaw mysticism, but given the sensitivity of portraying spiritual motifs, much engagement and care is being undertaken.

The Irish-Choctaw theme of the film is reflected in its production team with writer Shelley Dennis and artist Gary Waylon White Deer on board to help guide development while feedback is being received to ensure that beliefs are treated appropriately.

“That’s something we’re working closely with the Choctaw Nation on because there’s a certain amount that isn’t really cool to show, so we have to figure that out,” Moore describes.

“People are giving us feedback on the script and as I said even some of the things that we would call folklore, we’re talking about what we can and can’t show to be respectful of what they believe.”

Image: Tomm Moore, director of The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea and Wolfwalkers is returning to helm Kindred Spirits

Though the Choctaw were the first tribe to be forcibly removed from their native lands in 1831 with the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, several more followed the Trail of Tears with Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole and Chickasaw peoples coming after.

Around 60,000 in total were displaced with up to 16,000 of these dying on the route due to causes including exposure to winter blizzards and cholera outbreaks. 

Just as the Choctaw weren’t the sole tribe to suffer removal, they weren’t the only ones to donate to Irish famine relief with the Cherokee Nation giving $200 and the diversity of the Irish and Native American connection is also found in the production of Kindred Spirits.

“We’ve widened our scope; we have an Ojibwe artist working with us and a Cherokee artist working with us, trying to incorporate Native American visual language into the look of it,” Moore outlines.

The premise of a poor immigrant and a member of a persecuted native minority navigating the struggles of a hostile society have obvious parallels with modern discourse and even though the story is set in the mid-nineteenth century, Moore hopes that audiences of today will connect with the film.

“You have to hope that it would be something that would give people pause and make them think about if our ancestors were able to see the common humanity between themselves and Native Americans, or Native Americans were able to see common humanity in the Irish across the ocean, we should be able to, in today’s climate, see the humanity in the people that are trying to make their way now,” he says.

After his loose trilogy of Irish-centred films concluded with Wolfwalkers in 2021, Moore has been open about his desire to focus on stories about the diaspora around the world. 

There are myriad directions this could be taken, but given Cartoon Saloon’s strengthening relationships with Japanese animators through initiatives like the Global Anime Challenge, it seems likely that the Far East might provide inspiration in the future.

“It’s wide open,” according to Moore. “There’s fascinating connections with Mexico, there’s fascinating connections with Australia and New Zealand, there’s fascinating connections with Japan, so there’s a lot of places to explore.”

“I’m not quite sure what I'll do after this one but I’d say Japan is probably the next most likely. I know Nora [Twomey] has a project that explores the connection between Ireland and Japan and we have so many connections with Japanese studios,” he continues.

For now however, all focus is on crafting Kindred Spirits alongside co-producers, Folivari, with work commencing on storyboards in July to aim for a late 2028 release.

Historian Anelise Hanson Shrout wrote of the Choctaw donation in the Journal of the New Republic that “many would have been destitute or ill. Most would have experienced enormous financial, emotional and demographic damage as a result of removal. It is difficult to imagine a people less well-positioned to act philanthropically."

With a near 180-year-old act of kindness still echoing through time to lend to the theme of the film, Moore hopes that Kindred Spirits will live up to the connection between the Irish and Native American people and also provide some all too rare representation.

“I hope we do right by them,” Moore concludes. “That’s why we’re involved with the Choctaw people now, to make sure that we do right by them, so I hope they’ll be proud of the final result.”

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