Kilkenny's Cartoon Saloon set to feature in Star Wars:Visions Volume 2

Star Wars: Visions is coming back and will feature a new short from Kilkenny animation studio, Cartoon Saloon.

Disney+ and Lucasfilm announced that the second volume of the animated anthology series will premiere on May 4, a.k.a. Star Wars Day, exclusively on Disney+.

Volume 2, building on the Emmy Award-nominated first run of Star Wars: Visions in 2021, will feature nine new shorts from nine studios from around the globe; the shorts promise to feature unique animation styles from a variety of countries and cultures, depicting each filmmaker’s specific vision of the Star Wars galaxy. 

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“Screecher’s Reach” is directed by Paul Young, co-founder of Cartoon Saloon, an IFTA winner and Oscar®, Emmy® and BAFTA nominee. He produced the animated features My Father’s Dragon, WolfWalkers, The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, and The Breadwinner as well as award-winning TV series including Puffin Rock, Dorg Van Dango, and Viking Skool.

The shorts promise to feature unique animation styles from a variety of countries and cultures, depicting each filmmaker’s specific vision of the Star Wars galaxy. 

The shorts included in Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 were created by the following international animation studios: El Guiri (Spain), Cartoon Saloon (Ireland), Punkrobot (Chile), Aardman (United Kingdom), Studio Mir (South Korea) Studio La Cachette (France), 88 Pictures (India), D'art Shtajio (Japan), and Triggerfish (South Africa). D’Art Shtajio’s short was created in collaboration with Lucasfilm Ltd. (United States).

“The reaction to the first volume of Star Wars: Visions blew us away. We were delighted that this project inspired and resonated with so many people,” says James Waugh, Star Wars: Visions executive producer and senior vice president, Franchise Content & Strategy, at Lucasfilm.

“We always saw Star Wars: Visions as a framework for celebratory expressions of the franchise from some of the best creators working today. Animation is in a global renaissance, and we’re constantly staggered by the amount of creativity pushing the medium forward. With Volume 1, the imaginative minds of Japan’s anime industry were on full display. With Volume 2, we expanded our canvas to take audiences on a global tour of some of the most talented creators from around the world. We’re so proud to be able to reveal the line-up of studios we’ve assembled. Every short is incredible, full of heart, scope, imagination, and the values that make stories distinctly Star Wars — all while opening up bold new ways of seeing what a Star Wars story can be.”

Waugh serves as executive producer on Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 along with Jacqui Lopez and Josh Rimes.