We present details of three intriguing projects that were presented at this year’s Cartoon Movie, which ran in Bordeaux from 8-10 March

The creative team pitching The Amazing Maurice by Toby Genkel

Cartoon Movie finally returned in a physical format this year: the prestigious pitching forum for animated features unspooled in Bordeaux from 8-10 March. Over two days, 57 projects were presented, hailing from 19 different European countries, for a total budget of €266.3 million. France boasted the biggest contingent, with 15 projects, followed by Spain (eight), Belgium and Norway (five), and the Czech Republic (three).

Here, we present three interesting projects introduced at this year’s gathering – all of them very well received by the industry representatives attending the event.

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The Amazing Maurice [+see also:
trailer
film profile] – Toby Genkel (Germany/UK)
Based on Sir Terry Pratchett’s bestselling book, Toby Genkel’s film follows the titular streetwise cat, who has come up with the perfect moneymaking scam. He has found a stupid-looking kid who plays a pipe and his very own plague of rats – rats that, strangely, are educated, so Maurice can no longer think of them as “lunch”. But when Maurice and the rodents reach the stricken town of Bad Blintz, their little con goes down the drain. Penned by Terry Rossio (Shrek, the first five parts of the Pirates of the Caribbean saga), the film is being sold by Global Screen, which has already closed a raft of deals with various European and Middle Eastern territories. Commenting on the team’s participation in the gathering, producer Emely Christians told Cineuropa: “It was a really fantastic Cartoon Movie; the energy of the people and the fun they had with the new projects was truly enthralling. I’m amazed at how well our project The Amazing Maurice was received: the participants were convinced of the quality of the designs and the animation, and they made it very clear to us! We are happy and excited to be able to present the film to all animation friends and professionals, and cinema viewers on the big screen, soon.” Meanwhile, Andrew Baker, a producer at Cantilever Media added: “The Amazing Maurice is a truly global production – a co-production between Cantilever Media, based in the UK and Ireland, and Ulysses Filmproduktion in Germany, for Sky Cinema. Terry Pratchett has an international fan base, so we are genuinely thrilled that the film was so well received by delegates from around the world at Cartoon Movie.” The attached cast is stellar: Hugh Laurie will play the title role, along with thesps of the calibre of Emilia Clarke, David Tennant, Himesh Patel, David Thewlis and Gemma Arterton. Delivery is expected for summer 2022.

Unicorn Wars [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Alberto Vázquez (Spain/France)
Certainly one of the most eagerly discussed projects at this year’s edition, Alberto Vázquez’s (Birdboy: The Forgotten Children) new animated effort depicts a gloomy, post-apocalyptic universe wherein religious-zealot teddy bears and environmentalist unicorns fight a conflict resembling our real-world World War I. The story centres on two teddy-bear brothers, Bluey and Tubby. The latter craves unicorn blood because it confers eternal beauty, according to his religion’s sacred book, whilst the former fears war and lacks confidence. The pair are sent off to search for a missing squad, but things will go awry. A clearly adult- and young adult-orientated production, during the sneak preview, the team presented three sequences, with some images depicting graphic violence and cruelty. The feature is being produced by Iván Miñambres for UniK, Chelo Loureiro for Abano Producións and Nicolas Schmerkin for Autour de Minuit. Intriguingly, Miñambres described the project as “a mix between Bambi and Apocalypse Now”. Charades is in charge of its world sales, with UFO Distribution handling its French release and Barton Films its Spanish one.

Forest – Francesco Dafano and Luca Della Grotta (Italy)
Directed by the two helmers of Trash [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2020) and presented on stage by producer Mario Lanti, of AL ONE, this family-orientated flick – also at the concept stage – revolves around a young mushroom, Fey, who goes off on an adventure to find the legendary Flame-watchers, now reduced to an unlikely, though well-meaning, crew of layabouts. In it, Fey will embark on a mission to save the forest and her beloved world. The character design has been entrusted to Andrea Scoppetta, whilst Francesca Sofia Allegra will serve as the project’s editor. Dafano is working on the script together with Andrea Nobile. Lanti, who is producing the flick along with Alan Vele and Riccardo Cesarini, disclosed: “It’s been our first time at Cartoon Movie. Forest is a movie in full development, and being here during this phase has helped us to open up new dialogues. Many expressed their interest in the project even before our pitch. The intensity of the event and the meetings we had made these days busy and stimulating. For AL ONE, it’s been fundamental to be present and introduce ourselves as an Italian studio producing 3D animation for an international audience.” Lanti also unveiled the project’s very first piece of artwork (see below).

Finally, according to the figures disclosed by Cartoon, the projects that recorded the highest attendance levels from buyers were Barry O’Donoghue’s Little Caribou (Ireland, >56% of the attendees), Xavier Picard’s Marie-Louise (France, >51%), the aforementioned The Amazing Maurice (>47%) and Caroline Origer’s Ellie and the Christmas Creep (Luxembourg, >45%).

You can discover more about all of the presented projects here.