CARTOON MOVIE 2012’s LINE-UP: STEREOSCOPIC 3D, SENSITIVE CHILDREN’S FILMS AND MATURE SUBJECT MATTERS
– 20% of the films target an adult audience and tackle political or sensitive subjects such as war, Alzheimer’s and the birth of universe

– 40% of the selection in stereoscopic 3D

– Famous comics authors Enki Bilal and Arthur de Pins to direct their own film based on their albums

– 50 projects from 17 countries including Germany, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg and UK

Fifty animated feature projects in different development stages from 17 countries will be pitched at Cartoon Movie 2012 (Lyon, 7-9 March) to find
financing, co-producers and distributors. European animation has not only taken a definitive leap to 3D, which accounts for half of the projects, but also moved decisively towards stereoscopic 3D, with 40% of the projects conceived to be made in this technology, doubling last year’s figure.

France — which remains the region’s powerhouse — will be represented with 19 projects, followed by the Nordic Countries — led by Denmark — with 13, Belgium with four and Germany with two. This year’s projects have a global budget of 291.2 million EUR with an average cost of 5.8 million EUR each film.

The trend of adult-skewed films in European animation is growing: 20% of the selected projects target an adult audience and tackle political or sensitive subjects ranging from the Angolan civil war and its child soldiers (Another Day of Life), World War I (Cafard), Nazism in the biopic of a boxing champion (Young Perez), child neglect (It’s a Zucchini’s Life, The Island of Lost Children), Alzheimer’s disease (Wrinkles), and the story of life on Earth (Alpha).

Literature and comics remain a strong source of inspiration, with some of this year’s projects based on adaptations and screenplays from writers such as Ryszard Kapuscinski, Jacques Prévert, Gilles Paris, Jean-François Beauchemin, Leena Krohn, Gunilla Bergström and Kjell Aukrust as well as on award-winning graphic novels by authors like Enki Bilal and Arthur de Pins — who will direct their films themselves —, Paco Roca and Jens Harder.

This year in Lyon, some well-known TV animated series will also make their leap to the big screen, including The Triplets from Spain, Alfie Atkins from Sweden and Belgium’s Pic Pic André Shoow. Cartoon Movie 2012 will also reveal projects that seek aesthetic and narrative innovation in animation.

Chris Arrant

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