Cartoon Forum Wrap: Trends, Top Pitches & Attendance Numbers

After three intense days of enthusiastic pitching sessions in Toulouse, Cartoon Forum maintained its same key takeaways after its return to an in-person event: high-quality projects with a great diversity of subjects, and upcoming talents entering the spotlight to open a fantastic new vista on the future of animation.

This year’s pitch selection presented 84 animated TV series projects from 21 European countries, for a total budget of 326.1 million euro, representing 460 hours of animation. The most-represented production countries were: France (33), Ireland (11), Germany (8), Spain (6) Belgium (5), Czech Republic, Denmark and Portugal (4).

The Top 10 most-attended pitching sessions were:

1. Mister Crocodile – Joann Sfar’s Magical Society (FR)
2. Me and My Compost – Vivement Lundi ! & Superprod (FR)
3. Under the School – Ellipsanime Productions & Timpel Pictures (FR)
4. Living with Dad – Dupuis Edition & Audiovisuel & Belvision (FR/BE)
5. Freaked Out – Autour de Minuit & FKLG (FR)
6. Sacha and the Christmas Creatures – Xbo films (FR)
7. Corgi, a Royal Family – Studio Redfrog & nWave (FR/BE)
8. The Chimera Keepers – Monello Productions (FR)
9. Abyss: Very Special Case Unit – Les Armateurs (FR)
10. Voro – Les Films du Poisson Rouge & Why Not AI (FR)

Top 5 EU co-production pitches:

1. Living with Dad – Dupuis Edition & Audiovisuel & Belvision (FR/BE)
2. Corgi, a Royal Family – Studio Redfrog & nWave (FR/BE)
3. Tommy Pepper – Lunanime & Melusine Productions (BE/LUX)
4. Tales of Terror – Dream Logic & Lupus Films (IE/LUX)
5. Space Ham – MiniCosmos & Dandelooo (DK/FR)

Top 5 pitches by percentage of buyers in the room:

1. Little Charlie – Alexandra Schatz Filmproduktion & Submarine (DE/NL) > 67%
2. Rhina Rhino – The Big B Animation (DE) > 66%
3. Tiny Toot – Toolbox Film (DK) > 62%
4. Freddy Buttons Wacky Mysteries – Treehouse Rep. & Tumbledown Media (IE) > 60%
5. Hadido and the Red Flower – HECAT Studio (FR) > 58%

Cartoon Forum 2021 welcomed 202 buyers on site in Toulouse, including 7% new buyers, such as Benshi (FR), TV Nova (CZ), Tribes Media (Glitch – NL), El Reino Infantil (SP), FairSquare Comics (U.S.A.) and Asmodee Entertainment (FR). By maintaining elements of the digital 2020 edition, the event pulled in an additional 65 buyers attending virtually — 24.2% of the 267 total buyers.

In total, this year’s event brought in 1,015 participants from 41 countries — 885 on site in Toulouse and another 130 attending virtually. The gender balance of all participants broke down near equal between women (50.3%) and men (49.4%), and 0.3% non-binary attendees.

Notable trends in this year’s selection included:

• Adaptations of great successes. The world of novels and comics is a fantastic source for new animation TV series: Mister Crocodile from the comic book by Joann Sfar, Living with Dad from the comics Dad by NOB, Hello, Oscar! from the book Oskar ja asjad by Andrus Kivirahk and Tales of Terror from the kid’s novel Uncle Montague’s Tale of Terror by Chris Priestley.
• Girls take the lead. Girls now take much stronger and active roles as main or secondary characters. Their personality and the way to describe them has evolved, such as Griott from Griott & Mungo, who has a “character carved in stone”. The same goes for Audrey in Audrey’s Shelter, Blanchet in The Monsters Valley, Fio Lina in Fio Lina and the Maestro and Nadia, among others.
• Adult-targeted titles. Still going strong, the Young Adults & Adults target demographic is on the rise in animated TV shows, including Cannabiz, Voro, The Seniors, Freaked Out, Starting with Hope and Dick Has a Problem.
• A new generation. The success of their presentations said it all for rising newcomers in the industry: Les Valseurs with Samuel (FR), Dreamin’ Dolphin Film with Hygge (DE/DK), MiniCosmos with Space Ham (DK/FR), Les Astronautes with What It Takes (FR) and Pigeon with Welcome to Mamoko (POL).

The Cartoon mobile application (and web version) will remain available for attendees to refer to project information at any time. Recorded catch-up sessions will also be viewable on the digital platform until midnight on October 15. Participants are encouraged to continue discovering this year’s enticing projects and fill out feedback forms to help presenting producers improve their projects.

Save the Date: Cartoon Forum 2022 will take place September 19-22 in Toulouse, France.

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