Cartoon Forum Marks 35 Years

The 35th Cartoon Forum has begun in Toulouse, France, running from today through September 19 with a lineup of 75 new animated series and TV specials.

The selected projects, shortlisted from 107 submissions, hail from 20 countries and amount to nearly 400 hours of new content. This year’s Spotlight includes five projects in development from Italian creative voices, including Guglielmo the Inventor (POPCult/Animalps Productions/Krutart), MaFta HB (IBRIDO Studio), Mindtoonness (Vismanimation), Mission: Delta (Eagle Original Content/MAD Entertainment) and No Pets! (Nuvole e Strisce).

France leads the lineup with 36 projects, followed by Ireland with 8 and Germany and Italy with 5. The CEE countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Serbia and Slovakia) have one project each. Denmark and Spain feature three projects each, while Portugal participates with two. Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Poland are represented with one each. Participating for the first time at Cartoon Forum, Armenia, Georgia and Moldova round up the selection with one project each.

Series targeting preschool to 11-year-old children remain the focus of European animation production, amounting to 68 percent of the roster. Projects aimed at young adults and adults have considerably increased to 24 percent of the selection, a surge from 2019. Series for family audiences have stayed stable at 8 percent.

In terms of budget, there has been a slight decrease in the average cost per project, falling to €4.7 million in 2024 from €5.2 million in 2023.

Aiming at promoting the animation industry throughout Europe, Cartoon Forum annually dedicates a spotlight to a country or region. Italian animation will have the opportunity to further its industry and showcase its next generation of animated projects. The spotlight is supported by Marche Film Commission in collaborabon with the Sardegna, Roma-Lazio, Toscana and Torino Piemonte Film Commissions and coordinated by Cartoon Italia.

The 35th Cartoon Forum is organised by CARTOON – European Association of Animation Film with the support of the Creative Europe MEDIA Programme of the European Union, the Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée (CNC), Région Occitanie, Mairie de Toulouse, Toulouse Métropole, Casino Barrière and France Télévisions (FTV).