The Loch Ness Kelpie

**The Loch Ness Kelpie** (in Gaelic: **Each Uisge Loch Nis**) is an animated short that is adapted from a folkloric tale about the mythical creature the Kelpie from Scotland. It is an episode part of the anthology series "*Animated Tales of the World*."

## Summary

Set in the lake of Scotland, a father decides to go fishing while his wife takes care of a newborn son. While fishing in the lake, a mysterious creature suddenly emerges from the lake. The father asks the equine creature to help him bring a ride back him, but the creature suddenly capture the father and brings him to its lake instead as the creature drags the father to the bottom of the lake, causing him to drown. The baby's mother prepares to find her husband who disappeared from home. While at the lake, the baby's mother sees mysterious footprints behind her husband's bag of fish as the mother mourns for the loss of her husband by seeing the remains of her husband (which is his cap) on the lake. The mother tells her son Ewan that the mysterious creature, known as the Kelpie, has captured and taken his father and she warns him not to come to this lake. The reason why Ewan cannot go there is because of the Kelpie, the creature that caused his father to die by drowning in the depths of the lake.

A few years later, Ewan tells his mother to know if he is prohibited to go to the lake for fishing as he is tired of having rabbit stew. Ewan's mother tells him that the reason why Ewan is not allowed to go is because of the Kelpie that killed his father. Ewan's mother tells Catriona, his sister, to get some berries to heal Ewan's wound from the hook. Ewan's mother heals her son's wound with the berries from the sacred rowan. Upon preparing for supper, Ewan's mother asks Catriona to get some potatoes for the rabbit stew. Ewan decides to make another fishing pole by using a tree branch while Catriona tells him that he's supposed to be capturing rabbits for stew while Ewan decides to capture something else besides rabbits. Catriona warns her about going to the lake, but Ewan ignores his sister's warnings about the lake of the mysterious Kelpie.

Ewan suddenly arrives at the lake while his sister tells his mother that he has gone fishing with a branch from the rowan tree. Ewan's mother decides to help her son with berries from the tree. While at the lake, Ewan encounters the Kelpie who walks towards him as he tells him that he is clever. The Kelpie tells him to drop his fishing pole and tells him to ride on his back to take him home (which is actually the home of the Kelpie at the bottom of the lake). Ewan's mother suddenly arrives, warning her son not to go near the Kelpie, because anyone who rides on the Kelpie will drown in the lake, just like his father. She then throws some berries to save Ewan before he rides on the Kelpie's back.

Ewan then finds out that the Kelpie almost lured him to the bottom of the lake as the Kelpie tells him to replace his saddle so that he would continue luring people to the bottom of the lake. Ewan tries to escape, but the Kelpie traps him while his mother gets more berries to save him from the Kelpie. Ewan suddenly uses his fishing pole to remove the Kelpie's bridle. After this, the Kelpie transforms into a water dragon who tells him to return his bridle to him. Ewan refuses to return his bridle, as he puts it on to see a flashback where his father rode the Kelpie in his horse form and the Kelpie dragged him to the bottom of the lake as the Kelpie realises that Ewan has his bridle.

Ewan decides to return to his mother as the Kelpie decides to go after him with his bridle. Upon returning to his home, the Kelpie confronts him as he tells him to return his bridle back in order to become a horse again. Ewan's mother tells him to throw the bridle over the rowan tree. As a result, this removes all of the Kelpie's magic and this sends the Kelpie back to the lake. Ewan asks his mother to know if he could still be think about the Kelpie, but his mother explains that the Kelpie has lost his powers. As a result, the Kelpie will swim back and forth around the lake forever and will no longer haunt people near the lake. The Kelpie is left to swim back and forth in the lake forever.

## Voice Cast

* John Sessions - The Kelpie

* Joseph McFadden - Mr. Calum (The Father)

* Patricia Kerrigan - Mrs. Calum (The Mother)

* Danny Dixon - Ewan

* Jodie Dixon - Catriona