Riverdance: The Animated Adventure is a 2021 animated adventure film inspired by the dance show Riverdance. The film was made by Cinesite for River Productions and Aniventure.

Riverdance: The Animated Adventure was released in the United Kingdom on 28 May 2021, by Sky Cinema,^[1] and was made available to stream on Netflix on 14 January 2022 in the United States.^[2]

An Irish boy named Keegan is chosen to be the DJ at the St. Patrick’s Day party by his local music store owner. He has many tracks, including the one specifically for the Riverdance, a special dance to celebrate the life. His grandfather - a Riverdance lover himself - tells him of the Huntsman and the Megaloceros Giganteus. They light up their lighthouse, but Keegan’s grandfather passes away. At his funeral, a Spanish girl named Moya sings. A performance of the Riverdance commences, and Keegan is given his sailor’s hat. The next day, his music owner recounts the time she had a bad day, and his grandfather got her some sweets. They go to the Sugar Shack. Keegan then goes outside the village, but some frogs steal his gummy fish, then he rides a black sheep to outrun a herd of white ones. He meets up with Moya, who makes him go down river. She later starts dancing on water, but when Keegan tries it, he falls in. The next day, they meet up with a female and male Megaloceros Giganteus. They enter a hurling match, and Keegan befriends the king, Patrick. Keegan finds an old lighthouse full of glowing patterns, but he meets the Huntsman, who tries to take him under his wing, but Keegan refuses, and the group travels to the sea. Keegan reunites with his grandfather; Moya previously reveals that she saw her grandmother in this world, and by closing their eyes, people’s ancestors will appear. The Huntsman shoots a deer’s antlers off, and the others give chase. Huntsman offers Patrick’s life and antlers in exchange for Keegan. Patrick agrees, and the Huntsman shoots him dead. After his funeral, the water stops flowing. Keegan and the animals get rid of the Huntsman temporarily, saving the Riverdance. Keegan reunites with Moya and the male Megaloceros Giganteus becomes the new king; Keegan and Moya decide to return home. Back in the field, they encounter the sheep again. They flee the sheep and return home, where Moya tells Keegan that they had only gone a couple hours. Keegan turns on the lighthouse, attends the St. Patrick’s Day party as the DJ, gives Moya a chance at the flamenco again and the Megaloceros Giganteus lived in harmony again.^[3]

• Pierce Brosnan as Patrick the Deer and Grandad
• Sam Hardy as Keegan
• Hannah Herman Cortes as Moya
• Lilly Singh as Penny
• Jermaine Fowler as Benny
• Pauline McLynn as Grandma
• John Kavanagh as the Gatekeeper
• Aisling Bea as Margot
• Brendan Gleeson as the Huntsman

In 2016, it was announced that Cinesite Studios was aiming to produce nine animated movies across a five year period, one of which included a film about Riverdance.^[4] Cinesite then announced in 2018 that it had secured funding to begin working on a number of films, including Riverdance.^[5]

Production of the film began in February 2020, with an estimated budget of €35 million.^[6]

After the film received funding, Pierce Brosnan, Aisling Bea, Brendan Gleeson,^[7] Pauline McLynn, John Kavanagh and Lilly Singh were announced as joining the cast.^[8] It has Dave Rosenbaum and Eamonn Butler as directors,^[9] with Brosnan to voice both 'Patrick' and 'Grandad'.^[10] According to Deadline Hollywood, Gleeson and Kavanagh are to voice the villains in the film,^[11][12] though Kavanagh was ultimately cast as a benign character.

The film features music by Irish composer, Bill Whelan.^[13] Whelan also served as composer for the original tour of Riverdance in the mid-1990s.^[6] Whelan also composed two original songs for the film's end credits; "Light Me Up", co-written with Irish singer Lyra, and a remix of the trademark Riverdance track. A version of "Lift the Wings" featuring Hannah Herman Cortes, singing in character as Moya, was also recorded.

The film was released exclusively on Sky Cinema in May 2021 and to streaming platform Netflix on 14 January 2022.^[14]

Kevin Courtney of The Irish Times said the actors spoke with good Irish accents. But he worried that the movie only shows Irish people living in perfect villages and dancing all the time. He said the movie is sometimes like a Fáilte Ireland tourism advertisement.^[15]

Dierdre Molumby of Entertainment said this movie is "exhaustingly bad".^[16]

• Riverdance: The Animated Adventure at IMDb