At Cartoon Forum this week, 75 creative teams from around Europe have gathered in Toulouse to pitch their animated TV projects, in hopes of connecting with potential buyers, co-producers and other partners. Kidscreen’s senior reporter Ryan Tuchow is there, and has been covering the trends and exciting projects he’s seen. This is his last report. (But you can also catch up on our Cartoon Forum preview series from last week here.)

The final day of Cartoon Forum is a wrap, and I saw a few really excellent projects today that have strong market potential. But first, a few stats from today’s press conference. 

The five pitches that had the most buyers in the room this year were: Elle(s) from GO-N Productions, Pepper (Millimages, L’Incroyable Studio), Temtem (Marla Studios – Kiss a Frog, Somewhere Animation), Frostheart, the Seven Hearts of Darkness (La Chouette Compagnie) and This Moose Belongs to Me (Sixteen South).

In total, Cartoon Forum 2025 welcomed 870 participants, including 240 buyers (a 30% increase from last year, driven primarily by the increased presence of publishers). There were 100 fewer attendees overall than in 2024. 

Now, let’s get into the final-day standouts! 

A scrappy series 

Creature Combat (26 x 11 minutes) from Denmark’s Nice Ninja feels like it would be a natural (pun intended) prospect for most public broadcasters, which are typically the buyers most interested in educational programming. 

This series punches up what is essentially a 2D-animated animal facts program for six- to nine-year-olds in which two real-life nature experts/influencers present scientifically accurate information about critters from all over the world.

The twist is that these hosts ask three judges—a trio of goofy monkeys—to score the animals  based on their appearance, their hunting ability and their unusual talents (what the show calls “superpowers”), and one is declared the winner. In a clip from the presentation in which sea creatures from the Mariana Trench are pitted against each other, for example, the ghost fish triumphs over the tripod shark in the appearance battle with its translucent body. 

Nice Ninja is looking for broadcasters, distributors and co-producers for this series, which is budgeted at US$2 million. Danish pubcaster TV2 and Nordisk Film Distribution are attached, and the project has received funding from the Danish Film Institute. 

Animals are better than humans 

At least that’s how Olga, the star of Apartment 11/Fabrique Fantastique’s same-name 2D-animated series, sees it. 

This shy 10-year-old protagonist is way more comfortable around animals than other kids. But that all changes when she meets an unusual—and potentially alien—creature called Meh, who is curious about humans and wants to do everything they do. 

In each episode of this 52 x 11-minute series for the six to nine set, Olga (who is an aspiring zoologist) tests out a scientific hypothesis about humans or animals. For instance, when Olga wants to find out whether she and Meh have the kind of symbiosis that animals in the wild do, they try out Puppy and Me Karate. Olga gives up too quickly, and Meh has to convince her to try again. The conclusion? Their symbiosis is one in which they make each other better. 

Budgeted at US$7.7 million, Olga has already attracted TFO, CBC/Radio-Canada and VRT-Ketnet. There are scripts and an animatic available to share to prospective buyers and partners. 

I, manga 

Cartoon Forum attendees were treated today to an updated look at Brain Comet/Blue Spirit Productions’ buzzy 2D/CG-animated series My Life is a Manga. This project was selected last year for the EBU Co-Development Initiative, a program that pools funding from more than a dozen UK and European broadcasters to help develop one Cartoon Forum project each year.

Targeting six to 10s, My Life is a Manga (52 x 11 minutes, pictured) revolves around Liya, a young girl who deals with real-life problems by envisioning herself as a manga hero, taking on different personas such as secret agent, pirate captain and knight. In a full-episode animatic the producers shared today, Liya has to do a presentation on manga to her class. She turns this daunting task into an imaginary knightly quest that sees her battle books, a cloud of smoke representing anxiety and even her own self-imposed pressure to be perfect. Vanquishing all of these challenges, she finally gains the confidence she needs to deliver a killer presentation in real life.

There are 15 broadcasters supporting My Life is a Manga as part of the EBU initiative, including the BBC, France TV and YLE. The series got one set of notes from each broadcaster after last year’s pitch, and Brain Comet and Blue Spirit have since worked on visual development and produced the animatic, a teaser, four synopses and two scripts. The next step is to curn out nine more synopses by April. Delivery is TBD, depending on when financing is completed. 

In a few weeks, another project will be given a similar opportunity. The EBU’s pick from this year’s batch of Cartoon Forum pitches will be announced in early October, says president Matthieu Blanc, with between US$58,000 and US$117,000 in development funding set aside to help it get to the next level.