TeamTO is looking to parlay the success of Ukrainian animated movie Mavka, The Forest Song into a new CG-animated series project.

The French studio has teamed up with Kyiv-based Animagrad and parentco Film.UA Group—which co-produced the 99-minute feature film—to develop an animated series together.

Inspired by Ukrainian history and culture, the family-friendly film stars a guardian of the forest who has to choose between love and duty after falling for a human musician. The new 12-episode series project with TeamTO will be a prequel to the movie, showing Mavka working to restore harmony in her forest after a recent battle.

TeamTO is committed to contributing financing and sharing in the production work, says SVP of production and development Corinne Kouper, adding that Animagrad and Film.UA Group have proven their talent and reliability by producing a “beautiful feature film” in the chaos of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The pic was completed while animators and creatives sheltered in Film.UA Group’s studios during the war. Despite challenges to production and delivery, Mavka secured pre-buys from distributors including Germany’s Koch Films, Cinemart in Slovakia and Italia Film International. It became an international box-office success following its Ukrainian launch on March 2.

Budgeted at roughly US$5 million, the feature has earned US$11.7 million internationally so far, according to Box Office Mojo. Its biggest-grossing markets have been Ukraine and France, where it earned around US$4 million in both markets—managing to sell more than a million tickets in Ukraine while its cities and theaters were being bombed.

All tolled, Mavka has sold into 80 countries to date, including Australia and Spain. Film.UA is set to launch the film in Poland this summer, and Shout! Factory is on board to release it on DVD in August.