MIP Junior is right around the corner, and while most attendees are finalizing meetings and booking dinner reservations, a handful are gearing up to pitch brand-new projects on the event’s main stage.

Sixteen South, Digitoonz and Birdo are among the five companies that have been selected to present during an October 12 MIP Junior Pitch session at 2:45 p.m. (local time). The studios are unveiling projects for ages six to 12 that are in early stages of development and looking for partners. Kidscreen reached out to the teams for more details.

The Retrievers – Sixteen South (Ireland)

Only a month after pitching This Moose Belongs to Me at Cartoon Forum, the folks at Ireland’s Sixteen South are heading to MIP with a new CG-animated series called The Retrievers (pictured at top) ready to show. 

In this comedy-driven mystery-adventure, a young girl who can talk to animals and a police dog work with other animals to solve crimes. Set in Paris, their noir-inspired adventures range from rescuing the stolen Mona Lisa from the clutches of a viper supervillain, to figuring out who swiped a priceless baking trophy.

This 26 x 22-minute series, which Sixteen South describes as a cross between Scooby-Doo and Ocean’s 11, has both bark and bite. (Ask them to show you the series bible—it’s a treat!)

YugiBao – Digitoonz Media & Entertainment (Spain)

This fantasy series has an unexpectedly edible hero at its core: a bao named Yugi. Geared up in protective armor (that’s also a steamer), Yugi embarks on a quest to recover the Steam of Life from the evil Count Tofu. Along the way, he meets new allies and learns that he has the potential to save the universe.

Morgana Studios CCO Claudio Lluberes blended his love of Transformers and Asian food to create this series concept. It started out as an NFT collection with more than 1,600 characters—and more than 18,000 followers on X. And now Digitoonz (Showtime, Misha the Purple Cat) is looking to expand it into a 39 x seven-minute CG-animated series.

YugiBao has a budget of roughly US$7 million, and the plan is to deliver it in Q2 2027. A pitch deck, bible, promo video and even a video game demo are available.

Ubuntu: Ambassadors of Peace – Armada Studio (Ivory Coast)

In each episode of Armada Studio’s 12 x three-minute short series, four kids in a school club learn timely civic lessons like how to spot fake news, stop school violence and challenge gender stereotypes. There’s plenty of humor and also an underlying educational focus. At its heart, the series is all about helping kids develop tolerance and curiosity as they work towards achieving peace, according to creator Emmanuel Koukambakana Kouka.

Six of the CG-animated episodes are already completed, and the series has a budget of roughly US$422,000 (US$35,000 per episode). Armada is looking for co-production and distribution partners next.

Izzi’s Super Fan Club – Birdo (Brazil)

In this 2D-animated series, superfan Izzi works at superhero headquarters while the real heroes are out saving the world. She tries all manner of elaborate schemes to build a fanclub that will attract the heroes’ attention—but when it’s secondary characters like the sidekicks and maintenance robots who are always there to help her, she realizes she’s got fans (and friends) of her own.

Episodes will be 11 minutes long, but the number is TBD. Comic book artist Rafa Rosa created the series, and scripts are being penned by James Huntrods (The Amazing World of Gumball).  

Fox Fairy – Buddha Studio (China)

A little fox demon pairs up with a down-on-his-luck god to fight monsters in this anime-style 2D-animated adventure series.

Fox Fairy is rooted in Chinese culture and aesthetics, says Buddha Studio’s animation director Simin He. The company has completed a script, secured some initial funding and done several art and animation tests. Though it previously brought the series to Annecy, pitching to a European crowd is a new experience and a big milestone.

“We are still gaining experience in international communication, but we are committed to presenting our project with sincerity,” He says. “At the same time, we deeply admire the professionalism and creativity of the European animation industry, and we look forward to meaningful exchanges, diverse feedback and the discovery of new opportunities for cooperation.”

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Check back tomorrow for our latest Cool New Shows roundup from Kidscreen‘s Q4 magazine issue. It’s chock-full of key info about exciting new projects at MIPCOM that we think have strong potential to sell worldwide.