Car­toon­Next 2026: Highlights

AN EDI­TION FULL OF SURPRISES

This edi­tion deliv­ered unfor­get­table firsts. A musi­cal inter­lude show­cased the project ​“Regarde Les Danser”, pro­duced by MoPA stu­dents, joined on stage by pro­fes­sion­al musi­cians who impro­vised live music inspired by the visu­als - a time­less moment.

The audi­ence also had the chance to dis­cov­er exclu­sive con­tent from ​“The Broos”. Gabrielle d’An­d­ri­mont & David Mirailles guid­ed par­tic­i­pants through the cre­ative process of the series, offer­ing rare behind the scenes insights.

NEXT IDEAS LABS: TOMOR­ROW’S SKILLS

This new ini­tia­tive explored how emerg­ing tools and process­es are reshap­ing the indus­try, with par­tic­i­pants shar­ing their expe­ri­ences, con­cerns, and perspectives.

Two round­ta­bles, mod­er­at­ed by Kel­ly Vero, Eliza Jäp­pinen and Japhet Ash­er, offered pro­fes­sion­als a space to voice their thoughts on the future. Par­tic­i­pants val­ued the oppor­tu­ni­ty to con­nect with their peers, and felt that their voice matters.

HUMAN & TECH­NO­LOG­I­CAL KNOW-HOW: STRONGER THAN EVER

Cre­ative pro­fes­sion­als high­light­ed how expe­ri­ence and emo­tion remain essen­tial cre­ative fuel, par­tic­u­lar­ly in pan­els on stop motion, music and gaming.

As AI and new tools con­tin­ues to reshape the indus­try, par­tic­i­pants agreed that human know-how will be the key to bring strong inten­tion and vision into future projects.

Rather than com­pet­ing with AI, cre­ative minds should focus on their indi­vid­u­al­i­ty and how their unique­ness can reflect through their work.

CAR­TOON­NEXT AND ITS EXCLUSIVITIES

What sets the event apart is its abil­i­ty to con­sis­tent­ly sur­prise par­tic­i­pants with exclu­sive con­tent. High­lights includ­ed a first look at For­tiche’s new project, Gul­li shared insights into their way of work­ing, and mul­ti­ple ses­sions offer­ing priv­iledged access to cre­ative process­es. Par­tic­i­pants appre­ci­at­ed a pro­gramme that felt focused, exclu­sive, and fresh - while also fos­ter­ing mean­ing­ful con­nec­tions through One-to-One Meet­ings and ded­i­cat­ed net­work­ing moments.