Animated Pirate Adventure Pirate Mo and the Legend of the Red Ruby Sets Sail With Viva Kids

Pirate Mo and the Legend of the Red Ruby, an animated family adventure directed by Florian Westermann, has been acquired by independent distributor Viva Kids, which has added it to its upcoming release calendar. Specific release dates have not been announced.

The 80-minute film is adapted from Kirsten Boie’s children’s book Seeräubermoses, with a script by Richie Conroy. Westermann previously co-directed The Amazing Maurice. Viva Kids picked up the title alongside two other animated films, Treasure Trekkers and Space Cadet.

The story begins aboard a ragtag ship, where a child named Moses, called Mo, grows up among a crew of seadogs and the ship’s pet goat. Raised by the kindly Captain Claas, Mo is in fact a girl who arrived among the sailors as an infant, wrapped in mysterious rags. As she grows into a brave and boisterous young pirate, she struggles with her father’s life of piracy and searches for answers about her birth.

Captured by the wicked pirate Peg Leg Olle, Mo meets a resourceful cabin boy named Hannes and his pet bird. Together with Claas, his crew and their animal companions, she sets out to stop Olle and fulfil a childhood prophecy by finding the Blood Red Ruby, which is said to hold the power to restore peace and harmony to the land.

The film is produced by Emely Christians and Sonja Matthes at Ulysses Films, in co-production with Letterbox Filmproduktion, arx anima and Arxlight, across Germany, Austria and Spain. Sales agency The Playmaker Munich sold the film to multiple international buyers at the Cannes Film Market. A German-language teaser has also been released, with Dunja Bernatzky, Fanny Stapf and Otto Jaus credited in the cast.