Cartoon Forum Unveils 66 Animated Projects For Its 2026 Edition

Cartoon Forum has unveiled the 66 animated projects selected for its 2026 edition, offering another snapshot of a European animation industry that continues to evolve through international partnerships, broader audience ambitions, and a growing range of creative voices.

We’ll take a closer look at the full program and pick a few titles that stand out, but for the time being, let’s take a look at the facts behind Europe’s premier animation support system.

Cartoon Forum is one of several industry events organized under the Cartoon umbrella, the Brussels-based association that has spent more than three decades supporting the European animation industry through financing, training, and co-production initiatives. Alongside Cartoon Forum, the organization also runs Cartoon Movie for animated features, Cartoon Springboard for emerging talent and early-stage projects, Cartoon Business for industry training and market analysis, and Cartoon Next, which focuses on new technologies and transmedia storytelling.

Among those events, Cartoon Forum remains Europe’s leading co-production market for animated television projects.

Chosen from 111 submissions, this year’s selection includes 61 series and five TV specials, representing a combined production volume of 330 hours. The projects carry a total budget of €283.6 million ($330.1 million), with an average budget of €4.3 million ($5 million) per production.

France once again dominates the line-up with 32 projects selected, followed by Ireland with six, Germany with five, and Spain with four. Nineteen countries are represented overall as lead producers, while the selection also includes six projects from Central and Eastern Europe and six from Nordic countries.

International co-production remains a defining feature of the event. Twenty-six projects, or 39% of the selection, are being developed as co-productions. Ten involve collaborations between multiple Creative MEDIA countries, while five include partners from Brazil, Switzerland, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. France, Luxembourg, Austria, and Germany are among the most active co-producing nations this year.

The 2026 line-up also reflects the European industry’s continued push toward older audiences. Seventeen projects, accounting for 26% of the selection, are aimed at teenagers, young adults, and adults. Three projects target viewers aged 12-15, while 14 are designed for young adult and adult audiences.

The selection committee highlighted the overall quality and competitiveness of this year’s submissions, citing originality, creative ambition, financial viability, and international appeal as key factors in the final choices. The committee also emphasized its efforts to maintain a broad representation of European creative talent and perspectives.

Among the selected projects are titles from some of Europe’s best-known animation producers and filmmakers, including projects connected to studios such as Cartoon Saloon and works involving acclaimed director Claude Barras, alongside productions from more than a dozen leading European animation companies.

Industry partnerships also played a role in shaping the final line-up. Through Cartoon Forum’s collaboration with Animation Production Days and the CEE Animation Forum, three additional projects secured direct access to the event.

Cartoon is also bringing back its Fill the Gap initiative for 2026, following a successful launch last year. Designed in response to ongoing financing challenges across the animation sector, the initiative gives previously pitched Cartoon Forum projects renewed exposure through trailer screenings, networking sessions, and one-to-one meetings with buyers, broadcasters, distributors, and potential co-producers.

The goal is to help projects that have secured most of their financing bridge the remaining funding needed to move into production.