May 25, 2021

Deer Dance to Irish folk Music in the trailer for Riverdance: The Animated Adventure

More than five years after the project was first announced, the trailer for Riverdance: The Animated Adventure has arrived complete with dancing deer, wiggling fish, and laughing frogs.

Inspired by the wildly popular theatrical production Riverdance, the cg feature builds a family-friendly adventure story around Bill Whelan's famous score, which is rooted in Irish folk music. Watch the trailer below:

Riverdance is the first release from London-based animation production company Aniventure, which co-produced the film with Ireland's River Productions. Aniventure unveiled a slate of three features in September, announcing that it aims “to deliver very high production values at a budget level that allows the finished films to be economically viable irrespective of the distribution channel chosen.” The company has signed with Hollywood's Creative Artists Agency.

The animation was produced at Cinesite's Montreal studio. Aniventure has a first-look service deal with the company, which is headquartered in the U.K.

The film is directed by Dave Rosenbaum (production executive and story supervisor, Despicable Me 3) and Eamonn Butler (animation supervisor, Avengers: Endgame). The cast includes Pierce Brosnan, Lilly Singh, Brendan Gleeson, John Kavanagh, Jermaine Fowler, Pauline McLynn, and Aisling Bea.

Riverdance comes out on May 28 in the U.K. and Ireland, on pay-tv channel Sky Cinema and its sister streaming platform Now. Comcast-owned Sky, a major European media and entertainment company, is rapidly stepping up its investment in original content. It says it will release 30 original films this year, up from two in 2020.

There is as yet no word of a North American release for Riverdance.