Would-be toons pack their bags for Cartoon Forum

The annual pitchfest in Toulouse will feature nearly 80 new development projects this year, with a heavy dose of concepts for six to 11s in the mix.

June 5, 2023

If there’s one thing to be gleaned from Cartoon Forum’s just-released list of featured projects for 2023, it’s that six to 11s seem to be the industry’s sweet spot right now.

The annual pitchfest for European animated content is back in Toulouse, France from September 18 to 21. More than half (58%) of the 78 projects that have been selected for this year’s program target six- to 11-year-olds, followed distantly by preschoolers (22%), adults (14%) and family audiences (6%).

As usual, France leads the 16 EU countries participating in the event with 33 projects, followed by Ireland with just eight. Also in the lineup are projects from non-European co-production partners located in Canada, China, North Macedonia and the UK.

As a result of Brexit and the UK’s withdrawal from Creative Media Europe, the region’s studios and creators have not been eligible to pitch at the event since 2021. This year’s edition marks a return of British animation to Cartoon Forum by way of a new program called Animated UK Meets Europe.

This initiative will introduce five development projects from the UK (with broadcasters BBC, Disney, WBD and Sky attached ) to potential European co-pro partners in a 90-minute session. Included in the lineup are The Wolfbjorns (BBC Studios Kids & Family, BBC Children’s and Education) and Magic Animal Friends (Coolabi, Paper Owl Films),

Cartoon Forum’s 2023 selections represent 475 hours of content collectively budgeted at US$425 million, which is up from US$392 million last year.

Topics that will be explored this year include outer space—the backdrop for preschool toon Yukon, Space Botanist (Dept) and tween series Space Aged (Studio Meala)—and kid-friendly horror stories in projects like Erica & Trevor vs Spooky Monsters (Cyber Group) and book adaptation Mortina (Cartobaleno).

Check out the full list of Cartoon Forum 2023 projects here.

Featured image: A Horse Named Steve, a 52 x 11-minute comedy series from Irish prodco Sixteen South and Canada’s Nelvana, is among the projects selected for this year’s Cartoon Forum.