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CARTOON 2022 Cartoon Forum

REPORT: Cartoon Forum 2022

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- We present details of six intriguing projects pitched at this year’s Cartoon Forum, which ran in Toulouse from 19-22 September

REPORT: Cartoon Forum 2022
The Magic Mission in Mexico team pitching their project (© Cartoon)

During this year’s Cartoon Forum (19-22 September), 80 animated series projects were presented from a total of 19 European countries, for a total budget of €367.2 million, representing 473 hours of animation. The countries that brought the highest number of projects were France (37), Spain (8), Ireland (6), Germany (6), Italy (5) and Poland (3), respectively. Here, we present six interesting projects – all of them very well received by the industry representatives attending the gathering. 

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Magic Mission in Mexico – Hefang Wei (France/Belgium/Luxembourg)
Adapted from Patricia Mortagne’s Louise et la Légende du serpent à plumes and produced by Kazak Productions, this comedy adventure 9+1 pilotx26 series is aimed at children aged 6-9. The creative team said that the show will see “humans meeting Mexican gods,” and its visual style will be “warm” and “colourful.” We follow Luisa, who has moved to Mexico and befriended  Arturo, his grandmother “La Abuela” and Diego “the Luchador,” a clumsy wrestler. The girl also befriends Quetzacoatl, a feathered serpent who mysteriously disappears. With the help of his friends, Luisa must find the creature and set it free, before the other gods unleash their divine anger.  Budgeted at €4.5 million, the series’ TV special has been already sold to 15 territories including Italy, Switzerland, the US, Hungary, Slovenia, Chile and Spain. Miam! is in charge of world sales. Development is scheduled to end in summer 2023, with production starting in autumn 2024 and delivery in 2025. Belgium’s Lunanime and Luxembourg’s Melusine are co-producing.

Chill Out, Zeus! - Bin-Han To (Austria/Germany)
A co-production between Austria’s arx anima and Germany’s die film, this 2D/3D 52x11 series revolves the adventures of teenage gods Athena, Aphrodite, Heracles and Hermes, living on Mount Olympus, together with their parents Zeus and Hera. The creative team pitching the project said it will be “educational, but not too much,” and mostly “fun and entertaining.”

Among the artists involved are director and showrunner Bin-Han To and designer Peter Oedekoven. The project’s total budget is €7.7 million of which only €1.3 million are yet to be financed. Financing should be completed by the end of 2023, with production taking place from 2024-2025 and delivery expected in 2026. The attached broadcaster is ARD, and the target audience are children aged 6-9.

Fucking Cat – Christophe Gautry (France)
Prompting great laughter with a raft of puns and jokes (including a hilarious bit where the creative team was attacked by a black kitty) the pitching session of this 30x3 adult/young adult-orientated series delivered a clear sense of the playful spirit of this project. The story revolves around a man who owns a cat and is the constant victim of its mischievous behaviour. The show, based on the comic book series Putain de chat by Lapuss, is an Autour de Minuit presentation.

Bertie’s Brainwaves – Directors TBC (Spain/UK)
A co-production between Spain’s In Efecto and Northern Irish outfit Flickerpix and based on the Dirty Bertie books series which sold 1.8 million copies worldwide, the 52x11 2D/3D show revolves around the titular ten-year-old kid. Bertie has an overactive imagination, so powerful that the things he imagines blast out of his brain and become real, throwing himself and his best friends, Donna and Eugene, into crazy adventures. The show’s ideal target are children aged 6-9. The project’s delivery is expected in autumn 2024. Australia’s ABC has already committed to the project, which is budgeted at €5.5 million and received support from the BFI and Northern Ireland Screen.

Ki & Hi – Director TBC (France)
Produced by Drawsome Studio and targeted at children aged 6-9, this 52x13 2D comedy series “paints with humour all the nuances of a relationship between siblings,” including torment, fights, jealousy and togetherness. The show is based on the best-selling manga of the same name by YouTuber Kevin Tran. The project’s talent room includes graphic designer Fanny Antigny alongside screenwriters Thomas Krajewski (Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese) and Marie Laneret (The Smurfs). Ki & Hi is planned to enter production in Q2 2023, with delivery by Q4 2025. The budget is €7.5 million.

Tardy - The Water Bear from Outer Space – Daniele Di Domenico (Italy)
Presented as “the smallest story ever told” – and rightfully so – this 52x11 shows targeted at kids aged 5-7 follows the adventure of Tardy, a young tardigrade who lives in outer space and embarks on a quest in search of his terrestrial ancestors. On board a meteorite the size of a grain of sand, he arrives on Earth in “The World of Below,” which is where the story begins. During the pitch, Di Domenico described Tardy as a fish out of water character, but also “selfless and generous.” Produced by Cesena-based outfit Kairostudio and budgeted at €5.75 million, the project is slated to enter production next year.

You can discover all of the other showcased projects here

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