CARTOON FORUM The future of European animation at Cartoon Forum 2020

CARTOON FORUM

The future of European animation at Cartoon Forum 2020

By Rossella Arena

Cartoon Forum 2020, from 14 to 17 September, took place entirely online for the very first time, but there was no shortage of innovative and interesting projects. Here are just some of the shows, pilots and concepts that had the most positive reactions at this major animation showcase.

Cartoon Forum is one of the most anticipated events in the world of animation every year, with new and interesting projects coming from all over Europe. This year, due to the necessary restrictions brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, the event took place entirely online.

Tiny Island

At the 2020 forum, 80 projects from 22 European countries were shown, representing a budget of about 327.2 million euros, and 445 hours of animation. Although it is now over, the various pitches can be accessed on the web until 15 October, using a personal login.

The pre-school projects in particular were notable for their bright colours, energy and themes of adventure, tenderness and fun. Tiny Island, for example, is a 3D French project about a charming and delightful island. Creator Greg Grabianski and director Guillermo Garcia Carsi explained that the show’s heroine Tiny is always ready for adventure in this big world, especially when her new friends need her help! Tiny Island immediately established itself among the top 10 projects gaining the strongest response during the event. Relè is an Italian project in 3D and 2D, whose hero is a mouse, who appears in stories that reflect the fantasy and wonder of children’s imaginations. The author Alessandro D’Osualdo stated: “The series was built on a character who had already obtained wide feedback in various fields (including educational, advertising, art publishing and social promotions) and who was developed and tested with the help of professionals in such areas as teaching, marketing and communication.” Hanna & Nana is an Irish project whose producer John Rice said that within a few days of the presentations they were inundated with shows of interest. In each episode of this show the two

Flip’s Fantastic Journal Hanna & Nana

main characters, a grandmother and her granddaughter, take care of an animal in difficulty or look after the environment. The creator of Flip’s Fantastic Journal, Angelo DeCesare, has explained that the show is based on a series of books that address part of the school curriculum and have been used in the United States for many years. DeCesare drew the characters with simple shapes, so that children could easily copy them. They are also adaptable for many types of license. Calypso Cruise is a French 3D project from Redfrog studio about a cruise ship designed for exhausted soft toys who come on board to have a rest. The show is named after Calypso, the teddy bear cruise director (and daughter of Captain Teddy Daddy). The series aims to convey values such as taking care of others and respecting them, in between a lot of fun and adventure. It is a project that can be adapted to numerous contexts, such as social media (including music, viral videos

Calypso Cruise

and tutorials), an app with games or live, through workshops and partnerships in the travel sector. It can also be relevant to publishing through sewing kits and interactive books, and of course to merchandising via plush, toys and beach gear. Turu’s Musical Farm is a Spanish 3D project. One of the producers, Diego López Álvarez, said: “Our goal is to create a high-quality 3D series, which uses a playful approach to bring music culture and values to a preschool audience, Turu’s Musical Farm through the fun and exciting adventures of a group of animals who decide to form a musical group. A different musical genre is highlighted in each episode”. Another project with a lot of potential is Hey Fuzzy Yellow, a project that come into being via a partnership involving Germany, Italy and the United States. It is an unconventional series, with a

hybrid format and a narrative story that combines different sections on various topics including art, poetry, songs, dance and STEM content. The 3D animated series Bim was created in Belgium. It has comic overtones and magical/realistic elements. It is inspired by a European Easter tradition, according to which church bells fly to Rome just before Easter to collect Easter eggs. The Little Bird is another Belgian – and also Swiss –project, this time in 2D, which evocatively displays the different elements of nature. A little black bird lives in a tree in the forest. He is curious and makes friends with other animals – but he must beware of the red-nosed fox. Flo the Seal is a Polish project in which a

little seal named Flo encounters problems

much bigger than her, but always finds ways to handle them. Also worth keeping an eye on is the French The Coco Boos, whose author Yolande Damart said: “We want episodes to be small journeys into the imagination. If the series, thanks to its colourful characters, gives children the desire to dance, make music, draw, eat good things or just dream, we will have succeeded.” Mouse & Crane is a 2D and 3D project co-produced between Denmark and Canada. Director and author Trine Laier is keen to emphasize that it is important Pop Paper City for children to be creative and innovative and not afraid to do something ‘strange’ or ‘wrong’. This, Laier suggests, is how new inventions and ideas are born that could save the world. In the series some friends have fun creating new and useful things from tools they find in a port. The stories have also extended into picture Little Fox Mouse Ketti books, a puzzle building game, and a Labo cardboard toy extension for Nintendo Switch. Pop Paper City is a British project that focuses on a group of paper friends living in Pop Paper City, the capital of the extraordinary world of paper. Author

Georgina Hurcombe said: “The show aims

to stimulate children’s creativity through adventure plots, and moments of manual work. This year Aardman will represent Pop Paper City at Brand Licensing Europe. We are looking for other licensing partners and will be happy to hear from anyone interested”. Mouse Ketti is a delightful co-produced project between Luxembourg and Canada, in which a six-year-old little mouse from the countryside moves to a big city, to live with his elegant cousin. Fred Neuen, author and producer, said: “Mouse Ketti is a character already known in Luxembourg, where it has strong potential in the children’s market, notably in books, toys, school supplies and food licensing (such as local organic brands). It also has potential in the gift and adult collectors market; Mouse Ketti has been around since 1936, everyone here grew up with it and there’s nostalgia attached to it.” He added: “It has enormous licensing potential for the international market as it is based on the world famous fairytale The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse and is presented in a classic and timeless visual style.” Little Fox, a German 3D project, is about a fox living in a small forest, where she is always busy! For example, she builds a device that uses rain to make tea and

play music. For her, no challenge is too complicated. The Very Hairy Alphabet coproduced between Germany and Poland, stars Nitso, a large yellow monster, who wants to learn the alphabet. He tries to ask for help from the Great Teacher Tebahpla, who lives on the highest mountain and is the wisest of all people. The projects aimed at children from 6 to 11 years old are of various kinds and deal with important issues, from illness to our relationship with nature. The Upside Down River, by the French studio Dandelooo in collaboration with Canal + Family, is based on the children’s novel La rivière à l’envers. The story is about Hannah, who needs the drops of water from the Qjar River to cure her sacred bird. The delivery date for the

Goat Girl

series is early 2022. In the French2D series PriZOOners, Zack and Jack are apes who think they are human. They find themselves locked up in a zoo by mistake (or so they think) and come up with the most unlikely and extraordinary escape plans! A more serious topic is addressed by Baldies, a co-production between the Czech Republic and Canada. This is a hybrid animated series that aims to give as much information as possible on childhood cancer. Author and artist Eliška Podzimková suffered from cancer herself at the age of 16 and has since collaborated on several projects on this topic. The series will present important information regarding therapies for new patients

through animations and live footage. The content will be complemented by interviews with former patients who have gone through the entire process, something that can give courage and hope to those who still have all the therapy ahead of them. The main character is a nine-year-old boy, a patient who will be our guide through history and will explore the facts from a child’s point of view. Goat Girl is an original Irish 2D series: it’s about a 13-year-old being raised by goats, who will have to go to school for the first time. Lindsey Adams, one of the producers, proudly points out that this is a gender-neutral comedy series, created and led by women. Agus & Monsters is a Spanish 2D series.

Agus & Monsters

Agus Pianola’s life would be very normal if it weren’t for the ten monsters who live in her bedroom. Agus shares this secret with Lidia, her good friend, while making her parents believe that the monsters are soft toys. Each monster has a speciality (books, ideas, cooking, recycling and holes, to name only a few) and together they work as a team. The series is based on the graphic novel of the same name, a 2014 bestseller popular in many different parts of the world. Alex Player, a French 3D project, is an Esports series full of non-stop thrills, fun, passion and laughter on and off the game screen. Wonder Wai, by contrast, is from the French production company Ellipsanime, whose mantras include ‘Curiosity is Power’ and ‘Fun and Facts’. Aya, Lea and Karim are two girls and a ten-year-old boy with lots of questions. Careful observers of the world around them, these young scientists are always looking for new discoveries and ways to unravel the mysteries the uncover in the city. Super Lucha will be the first Mexican manga using stop motion animation, according to its creators. Producer Mathieu

Super-Lucha

Courto is commented: “We are delighted to be developing this new project which will introduce a new universe through its four heroes. We would like to distribute the Super Lucha IP in series form first, but also in minifigures where every child can paint their own Super Luchador in any colour they want.” The Olive Bunch is a 2D coming-of-age comedy-adventure show from Cyprus. In a Mediterranean setting and in a community situated somewhere between tradition and progress, best friends Amira, Stephano and Yani seek their place in the world through their games – which are at Lorenzo and the Mirror

once carefree and creative. Author Maria Pavlou said: “Our main goal now is to attract co-producers, broadcasters and distributors. We are going global, but our theme is the Mediterranean, so we aim to get interest from Southern Europe. At the same time we do not want to exclude any country or opportunity, as we have also had requests from Germany and the United States.” Lorenzo and the Mirror is an ItalianCanadian project starring a seven-yearold boy, who observes reality through his personal filter, like autistic children. Alternating the imaginary world and reality, the project manages to show the autism spectrum from the points of view of those who live it from the inside and those who face it from the outside. Fram the Polar Bear is a Romanian 3D project based on the novel by Cezar Petrescu. Fram loses his mother and begins an adventure that takes him from the North Pole to Strutki Circus on the Fram ship. Producer Stefan Buzea announced: “We are in pre-production with the short film Fram the Polar Bear for which we have also received funding from CNC Romania. This will then become the pilot episode of the first series.” Get Making, a 2D project from Cyprus, shows 12-14-year-olds working together to solve problems and overcome challenges that impact their community. Author and producer Michael Kalopaidis said: “Our goal is to create a show that inspires today’s young people to become the scientists, innovators, ethical

Get Making

entrepreneurs and leaders of tomorrow, through a diverse group of characters.” He added:“To break the gender stereotypes, we have assigned the roles that symbolize science, technology and engineering to strong female characters.” Masked Cinderella is Mondo TV Iberoamerica’s new 2D production, coproduced with MB Producciones, which in addition to Cartoon Forum has been and will also be presented at other events in the sector, such as the Indian Cine Film Festival (where it won a major prize) and the Weird Market, one of the most important Spanish markets for animation and new media (1- 4 October). Cinderella studies at Brothers Grimm High School,

with unique classmates like the rebellious Little Red Riding Hood, the antisocial Beast, and the Little Mermaid, a famous princess influencer. Most people think that Cinderella is just an insignificant little girl, but in reality she is the masked heroine who defends the kingdom from monsters and injustice. The combination of ideas inspired by classic fairy tales and modern settings makes the project perfect for multiple formats and platforms, as well as for various merchandising and publishing initiatives. Oops! is a sparkling French project about three children who appear out of nowhere and put things right whenever someone gets in trouble. A very different approach

to childhood comes from Ormhildur the Brave, an animated series for 8-12-yearolds produced in Poland, the Czech Republic and Iceland. Ormhildur is a girl who came into the world when all the glaciers melted, accompanied by a number of mythical creatures. Over the course of the series, Ormhildur embarks on a series of adventures in which her courage grows and she realizes that she has magical powers. Medhi: Delivery Notice is a French animated series for teenagers, which is based on the adventures of a young postman and is inspired by real events that happened to author and director Oussama Bouacheria. Rowbot5 is a 3D animated adventure series for the whole family. Alex Hudson is a 13-year-old robot pilot who finds himself in possession of Atlas, an advanced artificial intelligence technology. Alex is a BattleBots sports fanatic and puts Atlas in his robot to fight with him, hoping to become unbeatable. But things aren’t quite so simple… During the series you will have the opportunity to see all the robots take part in the BattleBots competitions. The pre-production of the French project was scheduled for December 2020; the start of the actual production is scheduled for July 2021. Finally in this short round-up, there’s a short 2D family film from France. The Possum that Didn’t is based on the book by Frank Tashlin and about an always cheerful possum, who finds himself on an adventure in the big city.