“Mister Crocodile,” “Corgi, A Royal Family” and “Piggy Builders” are among 84 TV series animated projects set to unspool at the 2021 Cartoon Forum which takes place in Toulouse, southern France, over Sept. 20-23 in an entirely in-person format.
21 countries from Europe will introduce animated projects at pitching sessions and industry networking, the backbone of Cartoon Forum’s activities. The 84 projects were selected from 141 submissions.
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Targeting children and produced by France’s The Magical Society, “Mister Crocodile” is penned by Simon Nicholson and Joann Sfar and based on Sfar’s graphic novel. The series depicts the friendship between a girl and a crocodile, who asks to be her pet.
One of the most anticipated titles at the Forum, “Corgi, A Royal Family” is produced by France’s Studio Redfrog and Belgium’s nWave Studios, the company behind Ben Stassen’s “A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures,” “The House of Magic,” “Fly Me to the Moon” and “The Son of Bigfoot.” NWave Studios was acquired in 2018 by MZM.
Directed by Jérémie Guneau, the series follows the adventures of Rex, the favorite corgi dog favorite of Queen Elizabeth II, who has returned to Buckingham Palace with Wanda, his lady love from the pound.
Like all nWave fare, “Corgi, a Royal Family” is resolute family fare. But that’s becoming something of a rarity at Cartoon Forum where it accounts for just four projects, compared to 11 last year. That might indicate an early-phase production trend towards single screen audiences –for children, pre-schoolers– at the expense of family viewing of TV.
“Piggy Builders,” from France’s Xilam, for instance, targets pre-schoolers showing what really happened to the three little pigs after their famous misadventure with the wolf.
Pre-school shows now make up a third of the 2021 Cartoon Forum line-up, in line with 2020 figures. Adult audience projects have edged up to 14 projects, 17% up on 2021.
Credit: Cartoon Forum
Further projects, and possible standouts, include “Lambs” and “Little Charlie.” Pre-school “Little Charlie” is co-produced by Alexandra Schatz Filmproduktion (Germany) and Submarine (Netherlands). Based on the bestselling book series “Karlchen” by Rotraut Susanne Berner, it turns on a young rabbit living with his parents and his little sister Clara on the outskirts of a town.
Germany’s Studio Film Bilder produces “Lambs,” another pre-school show from Gottfried Mentor who’s seen success before with the same subject, his short, “Lambs,” winning multiple prizes.
Almost half of Cartoon Forum’s projects target 6-11s, up from 43% of 2020’s total.
France rules in terms of project presence, its 33 productions weighing in as more than the next four countries’ combined: Ireland (11), Germany (8), Spain (6), and Belgium (5). Portugal has five projects, while the Czech Republic and Denmark account for four titles each, according to the organization’s stats.
The average budget of series has also edged down to $4.7 million.
Credit: Cartoon Forum
Near 20 selected projects adapt comic books or books. Examples include “My Dog, God and the Pokethings” (from TNZPV Productions), “Freaked Out” (Autour de Minuit), “Living with Dad” (Dupuis Edition et Audiovisuel) and “Fio Lina and the Maestro” (Serienwerk).
Just over half the series – 56% – use 2D animation, though 3D series are up to 28% of showcase titles from 20% in 2020.
Four projects were selected via the Cartoon Springboard platform – “Anselmo Wannabe,” “Hygge,” “What it Takes” and “Space Ham”– a Cartoon event devoted to student projects, reflecting the organization’s aim of discovering young animated talent and facilitating its access to professional animation work.
Europe’s foremost dedicated animated TV series event, Cartoon Forum forms part of a broader network of platforms created by the E.U.-backed Cartoon. These include Cartoon Movie, Cartoon 360 and Cartoon Masters, which has Business, Digital and Springboard off-shoots.
Credit: Cartoon Forum
SELECTED PROJECTS AT 2021’s CARTOON FORUM
PRE-SCHOOL
“Acorn Elves,” BareBear production (Czech Republic)
“Adam Heart Adventures!,” Kavaleer Productions (Ireland)
“BIRIKI,” Sparkle Zeppelin Sparkle Animation (Portugal)
“Blue Wolfie,” Label Anim, (France)
“Chooks,” Caribara Production (France)
“Dinofables,” Krutart (Czech Republic), To Blink Animation (Serbia), Domestic Film (Romania)
“Freddy Buttons Wacky Mysteries,” Treehouse Republic, Tumbledown Media (Ireland )
“Gardener Gavin,” Fabrique Fantastique (Belgium)
“Hygge,” Dreamin Dolphin film (Germany), Ouros, Parka Pictures (Denmark)
“Icky & Poo,” Animoon (Poland)
“Ivory Towers,” Sixteen South Animation and Media Ireland (Ireland)
“Ivy’s Bookshop,” Ink and Light (Ireland), Muste Ja Valo (Finland)
“Kima & Amik,” Lotura Films (Spain)
“Lambs,” Studio Film Bilder, (Germany)
“Little Charlie,” Alexandra Schatz Filmproduktion (Germany), Submarine (Netherlands)
“Nadia,” Red Monk Studio (Italy)
“Pebble Hill,” La Boîte,… Productions (Belgium), Nadasdy Film (Switzerland), Les Films du “Nord,” (France)
“Piggy Builders,” Xilam Animation (France)
“Rhina Rhino,” THE BIG B animation (Germany)
“Showtime,” Toon2Tango (Germany), Mondo TV (Italy)
“Suzon,” Mondo TV France (France)
“The Wawies,” Imagic TV (Spain)
“Tiny Toot,” Toolbox Film (Denmark)
“Welcome to Mamoko,” Pigeon (Poland)
“Woodlings,” Vilstrup Film + Projects (Denmark)
CHILDREN
“A’AI Myths and Legends of Polynesia,” Les Films du Tambour de Soie, MAGIC C, Pacific TV Production (France)
“ABYSS Special Case Unit,” Les armateurs (France),
“Anselmo Wannabe,” IBRIDO Studio (Italy)
“Audrey’ Shelter,” Watch Next Media (France)
“Big Tuna,” Daily Madness Productions (Ireland)
“Bugs’n Bandits,” Wolkenlenker (Germany)
“Butterfly Academy,” Ulysses Filmproduktion Germany Carpediem Film & TV (Canada)
“Cap N’ Cat,” Cardel (Ireland)
“Cryptix,” Pink Kong Studios (Ireland)
“Fio Lina and the Maestro,” Serienwerk, Motion Works (Germany), Catpics (Switzerland)
“Griott & Mungo,” La Station Animation (France)
“Hadido and the Red Flower,” HECAT studio (France)
“Hello, Oscar!” Atom Art (Latvia)
“It’s Your Body,” Dandeloo (France)
“Kroissan Wants to be Famous,” Cosmic Productions (France)
“Living with Dad,” Dupuis Edition et Audiovisuel (France), Belvision (Belgique)
“Me and My Compost,” Vivement Lundi! (France)
“Meddlers,” Jam Media (Ireland, UK)
“Mister Crocodile,” The Magical Society (France)
“My Dog, God and the Pokethings,” TNZPV Productions (France)
“My Little Heroes,” Peekaboo Animation (Spain)
“Norman Has No Superpower,” BIG COMPANY (France)
“Rek & Nola,” Studio 100 Animation (France)
“Robot and the Martians,” Badi Badi (Poland)
“Sacha and the Christmas Creatures,” XBO FILMS (France)
“Space Ham,” MiniCosmos (Denmark)
“Tales of Terror,” Dream Logic (Ireland)
“Team Nuggets,” Sparre Production, GODO Films (Denmark)
“The Adventures of Princess P,” Ukbar Filmes Portugal)
“The Chimeras Keepers,” Monello Productions (France)
“The Incredible Adventures of a Creative Family,” Panebarco (Italy)
“The Last of the Pebbles,” Tant Mieux Prod (France)
“The McFire Family,” Cyber Group Studios (France)
“The Saskatoons,” Sardinha em Lata (Portugal), Pikkukala (Spain)
“The Scavengers;” Little Moon Animation (Ireland)
“The VHS Gang,” GLOW (Spain)
“Tommy Pepper,” Lunanime (Belgium), Melusine Productions (Luxembourg)
“Under The School,” Ellipsanime Productions, Timpel Pictures (France)
“Veggierado,” Hausboot (Czech Republic)
“What’s It All About?” Take it Easy Produções Audiovisuais Lda (Portugal)
“Wild Life City,” Cube Creative Productions (France)
FAMILY
“Corgi, A Royal Family,” Studio Redfrog (France), nWave (Belgium)
“Muscaria,” Galmar Films (Belgium)
“Troll Karl and Lillan,” Visible Realms (Finland), Knudsen Pictures (Germany), Den siste skilling (Norway)
“Virtual Past,” Cross River Productions (France)
ADULTS/YOUNG ADULTS
“A Cyberpsy on Social Media: 12 True ‘Connected’ Stories,” Schuch Productions, Look at Sciences (France)
“Beaver & Co,” Plip! Animation (France)
“Bookworms,” Mad Cat Studio (Belgium)
“CANNABIZ,” Lardux Films, NEOS Films (France)
“Dick has a problem,” Wiggleywoo (Ireland)
“Freaked out,” Autour de Minuit FKLG (France)
“Hrafn Academy,” Animagrad (Ukraine), GunHil (Iceland, Ukraine)
“Pete & Bern’s,” Sardinha em Lata (Portugal)
“Samuel,” Les Valseurs (France)
“Starting With Hope,” Moukda Production (France)
“The Monsters Valley,” WKND (Spain)
“The Seniors,” Vernes, Maur Film (Czech Republic)
“Voro,” Les films du poisson rouge, Why Not AI (France)
“What It Takes,” Les Astronautes (France)
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