Khudayana is a beautifully animated 3D toon-shaded anime concept with a mystical Eastern theme. It was one of the top 10 shows in terms of attendance at the producers’ presentations. © 2005 BRB Internacional/ Screen 21.

Khudayana is a beautifully animated 3D toon-shaded anime concept with a mystical Eastern theme in which a team of three kids learns to be heroes. It’s planned as a series of 52 half hours on a budget of €200,000 per episode. Set in the imaginary world of Magesh, the young heroes have to find the runes that will help return the world to harmony.

Puppet making and animation specialists Mackinnon and Saunders stepped into a wacky 2D world with their offering of Frankenstein’s Cat —Â a 26x11 comedy caper for kids 6-11.

The Pinky and Perky Show brought together The Picture Production Co. and Lupus Films in a CGI revival of the classic British piglet puppet who starred in their own BBC show from 1957 until 1973. At the height of their popularity, they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show with The Beatles and appeared regularly in Las Vegas in a live stage show. Rights are now held by Pinky and Perky Enterprises and an update gives the pigs their own peak time celebrity TV show — including a 2D animation created by Pinky called Powerpig and Swillboy. The plan is for a 52x11 show for kids 6-11with initial scripts written by BAFTA-winning writer Alan Gilbey.

Icelandic CGI studio Caoz returned to the Forum this year with Anna Young — a series of 13 half hours based on the same concept as the half hour special Anna and the Moods launched at the Forum two years ago and now complete. With a teenage theme and high quality 3D animation, it was a popular session — although it’s proposed budget of €17,500 was one of the highest being pitched.

Little Kingdom is the latest series to be created by Astley Baker Davies following their huge success with Peppa Pig — which was itself launched at Cartoon Forum three years ago. © Astley Baker Davies Ltd.

Little Kingdom is the latest series to be created by Astley Baker Davies following their huge success with Peppa Pig — which was itself launched at Cartoon Forum three years ago. Another series of 52x10 in a simple 2D style, it’s the charming tale of Holly the fairy princess and her little friend Ben the elf.

Minifant - Forgotten Tales From Okavango is a proposed series of 26x11 set among—the animals of the African savannah. Central to the tales is Minifant — an elephant who is so forgetful that one fine day he simply forgets to grow. His continuing forgetfulness is the starting point for all the stories in the series — although he always comes up with an offbeat solution to problems that ensue.

Danish studio Funkhauser Film invented a whole new format for its CGI story Oliver Panpot — a triple animation special of three half hour episodes. An impressive trailer made by director Jesper Ostergaard attracted a lot of admiration and strong interest from broadcasters. Set in medieval times, it’s the story of Oliver the young inventor, a princess mixed up with another girl at birth, an army of dwarves and freedom fighters and the overthrow of a tyrant king. Budget for the animated miniseries is €3.26 million.

Irish horror spoof Dad the Impaler presents the story of two kids with a werewolf for a brother, a vampire for a dad and a mummy for a mommy. The proposed series is for 26 half hours.

Also from Ireland, Jam Media came up with what appeared to be a guaranteed hit as broadcasters enthusiastically queued up to praise its interactive series Twisted Tales. The company already has a big hit on its hands with its pre-school show based on the same technology — Pic Me. This allows parents to send in pictures of their children to star in animated episodes. Twisted Tales takes things a step further, using a website and mobile phones to download a series of digital pictures of your face, which can then be automatically combined with the show. You can watch your own version on the Internet and broadcasters select from these. The series itself is an extremely funny twist on classic fairy tales. Broadcasters are offered a package of faceless animation plus software to combine it with their viewers’ pictures.

Finally in the top 10 was Cartoon Forum institution Robin Lyons in his first appearance with new company Calon — set up after his previous outfit Siriol merged with Entertainment Rights. Lyons is noted for his theatrical presentations and this year was no exception as he played a spy in the animation community in order to present Safehouse Hotel —Â a proposal for 26 half hours of Flash animation about two children whose unsuspecting parents run a hotel that’s a nest of spies. It’s described as a cross between Fawlty Towers and The Prisoner.