I preferred The Secret of Kells

I hated Kells since it was more basic, less depth, and most of all pretty much a movie about the death of Ireland's region and culture. It was about the church repressing and destroying a belief system and replacing it with something the felt was more civilized. I got sick watching Kells knowing how many deaths have occurred between idiots killing each other over something that was forced on them. The Celts did not write things down, so with the invasion of the churches, christianity basically rewrote Ireland's history. I may be biased, but that is just because I was almost beaten as a very small child in Ireland for not being a Catholic or going to church. This on the other hand felt like the true Ireland, love the fact the giant legend was there along with so many others.

I love fun little action films like The SEcret of Kells. Song of the SEa was maybe a bit familiar but it was nevertheless pretty cool. UNfortunately, I think it was made more for older kids, younger kids might fall asleep or find it hard to follow the storyline. I even found it hard to follow myself and it had a saccharine and cloying ending basically because it didn't make much sense to me. Maybe if I watch it again or get familiar with the irish culture and mythology or something, then I'd get a better feel of what the film's about.

They're both pretty dissimilar movies in my opinion.

I've seen Secret of Kells twice, and the one thing that always held me back from completely loving it is always the question of "What exactly about the Book of Kells is SO important that we should be listening to Brandon over his father, who is trying to protect the village from the very real threat of the incoming Vikings? (Who DO end up attacking and killing innocent people because the wall wasn't finished yet) I like the kid and all, but in the grand scheme of things, finishing the book didn't carry the same sense of urgency as the father's subplot. At least with Song of the Sea, there is a better sense of urgency and a more satisfying conclusion/wrap-up when it comes to the main plot, plus everything I've come to love with Tom Moore's work so far, so in that regard that's an improvement over Kells IMO.

Both films are leagues above most animated films that come out, though, so really this is like comparing two different kinds of gourmet steak dinners. Both are gonna be pretty damn good either way 

I, too, prefer The Secret of Kells to Song of the Sea. However, I don't think that Kells is deeper than Sea. As you noted, Sea is about Ben learning to appreciate his sister, but there is a lot more than that going on:
1) Ben's reactions to his sister are the authentic reactions of a ten-year-old who is mad at losing his mother, jealous that his sister gets all of his father's attention, and resentful of having to watch an unmalicious but mischief-prone child.
2) Ben's father is a widower (to his knowledge), who is horrified by the death of his wife, and who ignores his son and worries too much over the daughter who almost died at the same time (and was perhaps indirectly responsible for her mother's death).
3) Grandma is a worry wort who can't stop fearing for her son and his children after the death of their mother.
4) Conor and his mother have parallels in Irish legend. The owl witch is a proxy for the grandmother. Both characters want to suppress their sons' grief. Both go about doing that in meddlesome and (to say the least), unhelpful ways.
5) The scene where Saoirse frees Macha's emotions signifies that burying emotions is harmful to the person who tries it. Macha harms herself and others. When she gets her emotions back and subsequently helps Ben and Saoirse, the movie makes clear that no matter how troublesome or painful they may be, humans (or witches) need emotion in order to live moral and full lives.
6) At the end of the movie when Bronach sets Saoirse free to stay with Ben and Conor, both begin to accept that though it is sad they lost a wife/mother, they are blessed by their gain of a daughter/sister, and their grief for Bronach begins to subside.
7) Ben goes on a hero's journey to save his sister. He also deserves co-credit for saving the fairies; in the end, he is just as responsible as Saoirse for rescuing all of Irelan's mythological people/creatures In the end, he is a hero, just like Cuchulain or the brave men of his mother's legends. Bronach, too, will become part of Irish legend as Ben memorializes her in song and story.
8) In its use of Irish mythology as a jumping off point for a movie with themes that are relevant to people today, Sea makes clear that the old Irish legends are still important and allow contemporary people to understand themselves.

All that being said, I still prefer Kells. Kells includes many of the same themes, of course, but I do have a preference for Kells' beautiful animation style, and a bit more fondness for its characters. I also love the message that you mention about the importance of knowledge. Be that as it may, however, I find both Kells and Sea to be equal in complexity.

there is another movie about selkies i remember seeing which was pretty decent too, it was called "The Secret Of Roan Inish" if you want to check it out






so many movies, so little time

Nah i found TSoK slighly boring. Song of the Sea definitely had more depth in its story, especially emotionally