Sep 22, 2023

Cartoon Forum 2023 See 5 Pitches for New European Programming

More than 75 pitches were made this week at the Cartoon Forum held at the Congress Building in Toulouse.

The diverse projects pitched to European broadcasters, distributors, and potential partners were plentiful, so we narrow down the second group of five pitches that deserve the spotlight.

Here is the first round of pitch reviews.

Country France

Studio Darjeeling

Audience Young Adult

Episodes: 10 x 20 min

The title Agents of B.A.D. is very similar to the title "Conspiracy of Pigeons:" If it sounds ridiculous, then you already know what the program is about. The show follows two beautifully dim-witted agents of the B.A.D. (Bureau of Archival Documents), the bottom of the French intelligence pyramid. When an elderly woman is reported missing, the two uncover a conspiracy far beyond their ranks. The show takes its cue from satirical American conspiracy theories, primarily the "conspiracy" that the bird is not real. In the show's secret world, pigeons form secret societies, investigating human conversations and posing as important people around the world.

B.A.D. agents superimpose 2D characters over live-action footage in some scenes and animate the entire background in others. This discrepancy shows the public's ignorance of the conspiracy that the protagonists unravel over time, adding another layer to the film's eerie, offbeat comedic sensibility. inspired by "The X-Files" and "Men in Black," "B.A.D.'s Agents" is an intense action and comedy in harmony.

Country France

Studio Perpetual Soup

Audience demographics Young Adult/Adult

Episode: 10 x 26 min

The animation, a fusion of 2D and 3D, compares the class system to the food chain of underwater life. Whales sit at the top of the food chain because they can eat anything else in the ocean. Therefore, romantic relationships between whales and other sea creatures are taboo, but Molly, the show's protagonist, decides to ignore this convention.

The story begins when a hybrid child of a whale and a seahorse announces its existence on the news. The existence of the hybrid child raises the question of where it fits in the food chain and questions the entire social structure of the ocean.

Molly's Blues is notable for its masterful background depiction and experimental character animation, along with the show's moral issues. The characters speak and move like cutouts, but are accented and textured by hand-drawn and computer graphics. The erratic nature of the animation reveals the ugliness hidden beneath the surface of the morally gray characters.

Country France

Studio Super Productions

Audience demographics Kids 7+/Family

Episodes: 8 x 22 min

It is hard not to be drawn in by the visual style of "Heroic Football". The characters' limbs all seem to exist perpendicular to one another, color overflows from every object in every frame, 2D elements burst from the CG models, and the animation inspiration fits beautifully into the dystopian setting. As the show unfolds, the audience follows two soccer-obsessed teenagers who must use their talent with the ball to save Pangaea from an oversized, ugly monster.

The concept is intentionally ridiculous, with spectacular set pieces, sweeping camera moves, and serves as a vehicle for the wager to save the world. The explosive and dynamic "Heroic Football" stands out among the most action-packed pitches at this year's Cartoon Forum.

Country France

Studio Les Films du Tambour de Soie & WeJustKids

Audience demographic: adults

Episode: 8 x 8 min

"Grandma and Grandpa's Revolutionary Road", has the unique distinction of being the only documentary screened at this year's Cartoon Forum. The presence of this film proves that animation can not only tell any story, but also enhance it. Gorgeous watercolor landscapes become supple and silky as they move from frame to frame, allowing for a large passage of time spanning eight stories.

The stories of Maoist leaders and members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine are told with subtle, beautiful, and sometimes gut-wrenching images. Each episode is populated by characters who tell their grandchildren about their days as revolutionaries. These true-life documentaries span the years 1967-1995 and follow the revolutionaries who helped shape the Middle East region. Grandma and Grandpa's Revolutionary Road will broaden your mind by expressing how political power depends on the individual.

Country Belgium

Studio Storyhouse

Audience 6+

Episodes: 6 x 12 min

Cartoon Forum has never seen a film as heartfelt as "Exit Tales". Depicting the experience of becoming a refugee through the eyes of children in a way that only animation can, "Exit Tales" takes us inside the picture of a children's classroom as we journey through the children's interpretation of the experience of being forced to move abroad. The gut-wrenching emotions are conveyed through the simple and innocent pictures.

"Exit Tales" is an anthology series, with each episode telling a different child's story. Told from the perspectives of children from Venezuela, Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Guatemala, the stories illustrate the common struggles of refugees, as well as the children's specific interpretations of the political and complex.