Interview: My Father’s Dragon director Nora Twomey on bringing a classic to the screen

With just a handful of features to its name – but multiple award nominations to go with them – Irish animation house Cartoon Saloon has a huge following and any film with their name on it is hotly anticipated. Their fifth movie, My Father’s Dragon, released this week on Netflix, is no different.

Based on the 1948 children’s novel of the same name, it starts in the depression-hit 1930s with young Elmer (voiced by Jacob Tremblay) struggling to cope with a move to the city. He eventually runs away in search of Wild Island, where he’s told that a young dragon is waiting to be rescued and, as well as finding that dragon, who rejoices in the name of Boris (the voice of Gaten Matarazzo), he encounters even more magical beasts, a sinking island and discovers the friendship of a lifetime.

In the interview below, director and company co-founder Nora Twomey talks about the five years it took to make the film and how the original book had resonated with her “as a child, as an adult and as a filmmaker.” She also describes how she sought guidance from the book’s author, Ruth Stiles Gannett, on developing the story into a film and looks forward to possible future projects – “wherever my heart takes me.”

My Father’s Dragon is released on Netflix on Friday, 11 November.

Read our review of the film. 

About the Author

Freda Cooper

Editor

Freda is a Senior Writer at The People's Movies. A lifelong movie fan and a film critic for over ten years, Freda’s natural habitat is the darkened rooms frequented by fellow cineastes. She can also be found asking questions of some of the biggest names in the business – from Cate Blanchett to Daniel Craig or Mike Leigh to Pete Docter – or crafting reviews for a number of sites and publications, including The People’s Movies. And listeners to BBC Local Radio can catch her views on the latest releases. She always – and probably always will – cite The Third Man as her favourite film of all time. Her top ten? That’s a moveable feast …..

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