In the latest example of East-meets-West creative fusion, Mogu & Perol (39 x seven minutes) is officially greenlit and will start production this month.

Paris-based Zephyr Animation co-developed this CG-animated series with Japan’s dwarf studios, and it has been co-commissioned by France Télévisions and Taiwan’s free-to-air channel Hakka TV. 

Mogu & Perol is all about a pair of besties who live together on the island of Mori Mori. While Mogu is a gentle monster with a love of nature, Perol has a much more explosive personality—despite a tiny, cuddly exterior. The series was pitched at Cartoon Forum 2022, and Zephyr says the experience helped it secure an investment deal with the momomini Kids Content Fund in Taiwan.

This marks Zephyr’s second production, coming on the heels of making 2D toon Lana Longbeard for Warner Bros. Discovery, Super RTL, M6-Gulli and CBC Kids. Known for producing Netflix’s stop-motion Pokemon Concierge, dwarf debuted the Mogu & Perol concept years ago in 2018 as a stop-motion short film created and directed by Tsuneo Goda.

The short-to-series pathway has also been a successful strategy for companies like La Cabane (France) and Thuristar (Belgium). After a festival run, the sister banners turned the short film Luce and the Rock into a 2D-animated kids series called Luce in the Lovely Land—another Cartoon Forum pick that eventually caught France Télévisions’ eye.

While the original short was done in stop motion, Mogu & Perol the series will be CG-animated, with 2 Minutes (France) and Aries Creative (Taiwan) handling this work. It’s expected to deliver by October 2027, and Madgic Distribution (which operates under the Madgic Group, just like Zephyr) will sell it internationally.