State broadcasters get onboard Italian toon
Italian toon Pipi, Pupu and Rosemary caused a stir at Forum with state broadcasters Rai and Finland's YLE committing to the project, penned by acclaimed screenwriter Vincenzo Cerami (Life is Beautiful, Pinocchio).
The 52 x6' high definition animation sees three friends a racoon, a bird and a rabbit travel throughout the world in search of Mapa, a bit mama and a little bit papa. The TV series has been created and directed by Enzo D'alo from Rome-based Cometafilm.
Cometafilm has already secured 75% of the budget and is seeking one more coproducer to complete financing. The budget is €2.9m (US$4.1m). Pii Berg, YLE's acquisitions executive, said the toon was a "wonderful and poetic" story about children looking for comfort.
AWOL onboard Beast toon
French boutique distributor AWOL Animation has come onboard Image-in's Beast in the Box 3D preschool toon, while the French producer is seeking further copro partners for the project.
Image-in's 26x2' project has secured 50% funding from France and is looking for copro partners to secure the remaining 50%.
The short centres on a beast inside a tightly closed mystery box with the audience having to guess what sort of animal it is before it is revealed. The interactive project is targeted at four- to six-year-olds.
The budget for the series is €7,000 (US$9,900) per minute. The pilot has just been completed and 13 scripts are ready. It will go into production in nine months.
UK comedy talent onboard Triffic projects
UK animation firm Triffic Films is here at the Forum pitching an adult animation with Morwenna Banks (Saxondale) and Rebecca Front (Nighty Night) attached. It is also developing a Simon Nye-penned sitcom for cabsat channel Dave.
Triffic Films chief Tim Searle (2DTV, I Am Not an Animal) is here at Cartoon Forum pitching Paper Clips and Nail Polish (26 x11') to investors.
The copro, with Hungarian animators Studio Baestarts and Casa Magica is a female-led office comedy following the lives of a group of execs at an events management company, Kosch and Partners.
Morwena Banks (Saxondale, Saturday Night Live, Skins) voices Ella a feisty admin exec, while Rebecca Front (I'm Alan Partridge, Absolutely Fabulous) plays Ilona, an uptight spinster.
Jess Whittaker voices Clara, a regressed lesbian boss, while Rosie Cavaliero (Green Wing, Saxondale) plays spiritual accountant Lydia.
Searle said that there had been some interest from Comedy Central UK on the series. "Original animation is a hard sell at the moment when broadcasters can acquire American product more cheaply," he said. Searle says for that reason, the project may start life on an online comedy portal, which will be used as a nursery slope.
The presentation was one of the most packed out at Cartoon Forum so far, but then Triffic had the crafty marketing ploy of cutting through the clutter of fluffy bunnies and cuddly bears by using a dildo as a prop.
Searle has also done a development deal with Dave, the UK male-skewing channel du jour owned by UKTV, on a sitcom called The Wild World of Warren, a copro with Canadian prodco Smiley Guy. Simon Nye (Men Behaving Badly) is attached to write the series while Searle will direct.
It centres on 37-and-a-half-year-old Warren who hasn't grown out of being a football fanatic, which is starting to impinge on his family life.
Darren Boyd (Smack the Pony, Kiss Me Kate) plays Warren, with Nitin Ganatra (Eastenders, Catherine Tate) playing his friend.
Searle was here at Cartoon Forum two years ago with Dog Squad, which originally picked up interest from the BBC, although it looks the project has been put back.
Axis seeks coproducers for canine toon
Scottish prodco Axis Animation has teamed up with Denmark's A-Film and Ireland's Magma Films here at the Forum on its new animated project Colin & Cumberland.
The show was originally an adult project under the same name with BBC Scotland attached, but Axis has reworked it to appeal to eight- to 12-year-olds and is pushing it here in Germany.
Axis has secured some Scottish funding for the series and is looking for international corpoducers to secure the rest. The budget for the series is €3.2m. It looks as though A-Film and Magma will back the series in some way.
The 26x13' show follows the comical misadventures of a sneaky sausage dog called Cumberland and his blissfully innocent and enthusiastic owner Colin.
Axis MD Richard Scott told C21 the show has already received some interest from partners in Spain and Holland. Axis originally started out as a commercials and video games animator but is now branching out into TV content.
Cross River debuts Little Astronaut
French prodco Cross River Productions is here at the Forum shopping Little Astronaut, the 52x7' animation for six- to nine-year-olds.
The project, originally derived from a comic book, centres on a bad tempered earthling who crash lands on the unknown planet Minos, where he meets two crazy aliens Lako and Bulga.
Producers Jean-Marc Desrosiers and Jerome Nougarolis told the Forum that the project also has multiplatform potential.
Half of the project's finance has already come from France, with Cross River seeking to obtain the remaining 50% from international broadcasters, distributors and presales.
The project, in early development, starts production in 2009 and Cross River owns all of the rights.
Mackinnon secures distribution for Rah Rah!
Canadian distributor CCI has come onboard Rah Rah!, the preschool project from Mackinnon and Saunders, the kids indie behind Frankenstein's Cat and Tim Burton's Corpse Bride.
With distribution in place, producer Jackie Edwards confirmed that the indie is still seeking broadcast, home entertainment and licensing partners. The budget has been estimated at €3.6m (US$5.2m).
The stop motion project targets 2-4 year olds and aims to tap into tots "noisy development". CCI previously partnered with Mackinnon and Saunders on the BBC's Frankenstein's Cat.
Set in the jungle the main character is Rah Rah the lion. Other characters include Toot Toot the elephant, Nee Nee the Zebra and Num Num the giraffe.
In related news, Entertainment Rights has secured the UK home entertainment rights to CBBC series Frankenstein’s Cat. The first DVD will be published on October 20 in time for Halloween.
Welsh indie raises D.E.A.D. in Germany
Welsh indie Griffilms is here in Germany pitching a comedy project aimed at 16-24s to broadcasters and investors, with comedy writer Rob Evans attached.
D.E.A.D. is set in a typical office – except it is where people go before they die, and is described as a "sorting office of souls."
Griffilms MD and chief creative officer Hywel Griffith said: "D.E.A.D. (Department of Endless Admissions of the Deceased) is just like any other civil service office. The only difference is that it processes dead people, sending them either upstairs or downstairs. Who better to process this monumental decision than a bunch of lazy, work-shy administrators?"
Characters include a poor, fat man in his 30s whose only thrill in life was wearing his wife's knickers and stilletto heels, a 19-year-old woman who came to an untimely end after an argument over a scrunchy and a super-smart physics boffin.
Griffilms said the series has been conceived to fit a 30-minute slot and would also work online. Because of the plot, it is adaptable so that historical or recently deceased figures can appear – anyone from "Napoleon, John Lennon and 2PAC to Tchaikovsky," according to Griffith. There will also be a strong musical element to the show.
The company also will be taking the project to Mipcom. At present there is one script ready with up and coming Welsh comedy writer Rob Evans attached. The estimated budget is €8,000 (US$14,360) per episode.
Monster completes financing for Ballybraddan
Irish toon project Ballybraddan is now fully funded, prodco Monster Animation and Design confirmed today, though it is still seeking international distribution for the series.
The 26x13' show has secured a commission from Irish pubcaster RTE and Monster has now finalised all funding for the series. It will hit screens in summer 2009.
Monster producer Gerard O'Rourke said that he was still looking for an international distributor for Ballybraddan, set in a sleepy fictitious town. RTE children's commissioner Sheila de Courcy said she backed the series from the beginning because of its historic value and its originality, calling the toon "an animated soap."
RTE is looking into stripping the toon Monday to Friday, with an omnibus on Sundays.
Ballybraddan is directed by Jason Tammemagi (Fluffy Gardens) and centres on fifth grade children on the school hurling team who dream of winning the championship, with a healthy mix of drama and relationships thrown in.
Indie muso attached to preschool toon
UK producers Dandy Productions and Blue Zoo Productions are co-developing a new musical preschool show set in a zoo, with songwriter and musician Mick Cook of Scottish indie band Belle and Sebastian providing the music.
C21 today caught up with Dandy director Andy Williams, who is here at the Forum to present Monkey Fist, Dandy's updated version of '70s cult classic Monkey.
Dandy and Blue Zoo's (Those Scurvy Rascals, Stitch Up Showdown) new CGI project is called Uncle Zoo and centres on Molly, who goes to visit her uncle who runs a zoo.
Animals vary from jazz-playing penguins to lions and monkeys, all with their own nuances and tastes for music. "Having Mick attached to the project is a great coup. If you know Belle and Sebastian's music. It's going to sound really different," Williams told C21.
Cook is trumpeter and bass player in the Glaswegian band, most famous for their 1998 album The Boy with the Arab Strap.
Williams says he is considering bringing the project to the Forum next year. Meanwhile, Monkey is attracting interest from both Nickelodeon and Jetix and a number of distributors here.
Aside from Monkey Fist and Uncle Zoo, Dandy has written scripts for Novel Entertainment's Horrid Henry and Aardman Animations' Shaun the Sheep and has a number of adult projects also in development.
On their way to the Forum...
C21 Kids takes a look at animation projects that will be seeking finance and partners at the 19th Cartoon Forum.
From France, Xilam Animation is presenting Mr BaBy (52x3'30", left). The family-targeted sitcom has been shot in digital 2D and centres on Mr BaBy, the 15-month-old baby who speaks with the sharpened mind of a "50-year-old misanthrope," according to Paris-based Xilam.
"Imagine that instead of twittering, your baby started criticising your way of life, demanded to eat foie gras instead of good old mush and blamed you severely for your deficiencies in stock investments," says Xilam of the project.
Mr BaBy is one of 15 entries from France, which is the leading contributing country at this year's Forum. Others are Beast in the Box from Image-In; Claude from Folimage; Gaston from Normaal Animation; Le Velu from Besora; Little Astronaut from Cross River Productions; Magic Planet from Label-anim; Martone from Les Armateurs; Mouk's World Tour from Millimages; Nelson from Dupuis Audiovisuel; Nina Patalo from Je Suis Bien Content; Pok and Mok from Alphanim; Romu's Blog from Studio Broceliande; The Adventures of Akibia and Kimani from GanaVision; The Culture Quest with Mister Otter from La Station Animation and The Eenie Meenies from Fluid Company.
Three new projects come from Spain this year: Dr W from Magoproduction; Operation Lynx from Lince Studios; and Myo & Ga from Imira Entertainment .
Myo & Ga (78x7') is a 3D animated series targeting the six-plus age group and is a coproduction with Korean amimation channel Tooniverse as well as Korea's Vooz Character Systems. Set in the animal kingdom the fast-paced action adventure is filled with slapstick comedy and martial arts. Imira says that the toon has "Matrix-style" fight sequences with Manga-inspired animation codes and video game sound effects. It sees its heroes – a rabbit and a turtle – track down the mysterious Dragon Pearl of Wong to save the natural world from destruction.
As usual, the UK has a raft of exciting content at this year's Forum, representing 10 projects, including a pilot voiced by comedian Kathy Burke and a return of cult classic Monkey in animated form.
Two projects this year come from Hungary. Huhu from Studio Baestarts follows a group of owls, which land at the Arctic and start a new life there. "Their main attribute is their stupidity combined with with the lack of long-term memory. They never learn from their failures, and start to do and discover things as if for the first time," says the studio.
A second project from Hungary – Paper Clips and Nail Polish – comes from Casa Magica.
Three Belgian projects are looking for funding this year, including Plankton Invasion. It is being developed by Tinkertree, Nexus Factory and France's TeamTO, and started life as a webisode. It centres on the zoo-plankton, the smallest form of aquatic life who have "organised themselves in a military way in order to invade, conquer and rule the world."
Characters include Captain John C Star, a martial arts master and expert in human and plankton warfare; sergeant Pulpo Kalmerez, a communications manager who specialises in IT; and Doctor Anna Medusa, a jellyfish descendant and the commander-in-chief's only daughter.
Other shows from Belgium are Chicken Town from 1st-day and Petit Creux from Cherry Picking. The latter is a series of 104 one-minute shorts about healthy eating, and Swiss network TSR and the EBU are backing it.
Danish project Tott Igelkott (Tott the Hedgehog) is a humorous series aimed at preschoolers from prodco A-Film. The series uses children's voices in the dialogue to add "authenticity and charm" and features animals from Nordic wildlife, with the exception of Dino, a toy dinosaur, who appears as an ordinary living character.
The other project from Denmark is Bamse & the Time Travel Machine from Asta Films producer and owner Per Holst (Pelle the Conqueror).
Percy and His Friends from La Fabrique d'Images is Luxembourg's only entry this year, while Portugal has entered Captain Romance from Zeppelin Filmes.
Sweden has just one project in the Forum this year. Coming from Nordisk Film, Rocky is a canine cartoon that has appeared in Sweden's largest morning newspaper, DN. Nordisk is putting together 13x2' episodes adapted for television, which will later be developed into a feature film.
The plot centres on a gang of buddies in their twenties: Rocky, Mange and Tommy, who try to pick up girls, go out drinking, move in with girls and are thrown out together with all their things in a cardboard box, according to the producers.
Rocky is an original Swedish cartoon that has rapidly reached international status, and is also published in Norway, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Spain, Switzerland, England, Italy, Slovenia, France and the US.
The Netherlands has three Forum projects in competition this year. The Tumblies (26x5') is an L&M-friendly preschool animation from Il Luster Productions, which is expected to launch in 2009.
Dutch pubcaster KRO is attached to the project, which has been created by Ramon Verberne, Joris Oprins and Marieke Blaauw, and will be directed by the latter two. Portuguese animation house Sardinha em Lata is down as coproduction partner.
The Tumblies are creatures made up of three of four separate discs. These discs are not fixed to each other, so they can fall apart which often leads to "slapstick, playful scenes," according to Il Luster.
Other projects from the Netherlands are Picnic With Pie from Submarine and Rintje from Lemming Film.
Italy has five projects entered into the Forum this year. Sturmtruppen (which translates as Stormtroopers) is an animated series based on the satirical anti-war comic books written and drawn by Franco Bonvicini.
The 3D animation is for young adults and adults, and is a coproduction between Italian companies Casta Diva Pictures and Chiaroscuro and 2D/3D animator Ernesto Paganoni (Asterix & the Britons).
Other Italian projects screening in Ludwigsburg include Musicartoon's Marfy of Dreams; Gerie's Penny X; Cometafilm's Pipi, Pupu & Rosemary and Cartobaleno's The Tea Team. Check out the links below for Forum projects from Germany and Ireland.
As host country, Germany is the second biggest contributor to this year's forum, presenting a total of 11 projects out of the 60 selected. One worth watching out for is Dr Ella, from Ulysses Filmproduktion. It centres on a young female doctor in a small town.
Ulysses says of the pilot's heroine: "She is charming and confident and always willing to help. She knows all about medicine and the people she looks after. Dr Ella is always ready to rescue in her speedy little Mini car."
Other German projects include APD – Animal Police Department from JEP Animation, the studio behind Crash Test Dummies Off Work and Petzi. Dr Brumm is a toon from Trikk 17 Animationsraum, while Fileas Frog is being developed by Frogfilm Studio.
Lup, Lars and the Lighthouse is a new animation from Bummfilm; Marvellous Adventures in Insect Kingdom comes from Studio 88; Mascha the Tomcat and the Elephant is from Balance Film; Paper Bag Lady is from Motion Works; ASL Animationsstudio is working on a project called Pauli; Stories About Francis is from Ogglies Film Productions and Animation X is developing The Three Robbers.
Ireland, meanwhile, is presenting three projects this year. Just a Thought , from Magma Productions, is being coproduced with Denmark's A-Film as well as Ulysses and PMA in Germany. The premise of the show is to talk to children to get their ideas and points of view on a varied range of subjects such as love, fear, happiness, babies and money.
The Irish firm says that when developing the concept it also spoke to children from varying backgrounds, cultures and ages, in order to get a cross-section "of the children of our times." The company is also hoping to sell the format to the toon and produce versions for broadcasters in other markets.
Secondly, Jam Media will be presenting Badly Drawn Roy, which has already attracted a commission from CBBC. It centres on an animated 11-year-old, born to live-action parents in a live-action world.
As the show begins, Roy and his family have moved from the fishbowl of a small village to the anonymity of life in a working-class suburb of Dublin, and the series follows Roy as, like any boy his age, he tries to fit in and be accepted - despite his appearance and involuntary cartoon reflexes.
A third project, Ballybraddan from Monster Animation and Design, completes the Irish line-up.
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