The growth of Europe's animation industry has been very fast. Before CARTOON's start in 1988, there weren't any 26 half-hour episode series being done in Europe. Now there are several every year. The French Union of Animation Film Producers surveyed European television channels about their animation programs. Though only a few television channels replied, the results were published in Arles. One development was clear: the share of European animation on European television has grown, and Japanese animation has decreased. U.S. animation seems to have more or less kept it's position at 20-50% of most channels' programming. German channels WDR Cologne and Premiere, and Italy's RAI DUE only program 10% of their schedules with U.S. animation, but Ireland's RTE and the MegaChannel in Greece both show 80%.

Studios Over the Borders
CARTOON has succeeded in getting small European studios to work together over national borders. Many of the studio groupings established from 1989-95, during the European Union's MEDIA I program, are working fine, even without CARTOON's initial financial support. Some of these now even have contacts outside of Europe as well.

Robin Lyons of the U.K.'s Siriol Productions is partnered with La Fabrique from France, Sofidoc from Belgium and Cologne Cartoon from Germany to form the studio grouping EVA. "We were the first group. That explains the name," he says about EVA, which was started in 1989. According to Lyons, the most positive CARTOON experience is that it is easier to begin new productions. All of the ideas are discussed carefully together, which helps to evaluate the possibilities for international success. "If Germans say that some idea doesn't work there, we can make changes," Lyons says. Every studio, however, does not have to be involved in every single project completed by EVA. Partners can also be found elsewhere. "Now we are cooperating with another French studio," Lyons explains. "It is, however, recommended by our French partner."

And there are still new groupings popping up. Under the MEDIA II program, which began last year, CARTOON supports six new studio groupings. These groupings are not working together, however, in a uniform way. On the contrary, they are trying to find their own work and success. Animbase is composed of studios in Greece, Italy and France, and specializes in new technology with aims to become a complete virtual studio. Fabel, which links three studios in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, works on feature films. The studios have already made a total of seven features.

The Old Lady and the Pigeons, the winner of the Cartoon d'Or for 1997. © Sylvain Chomet.

One More Prize for Sylvain Chomet
The Cartoon d'Or is CARTOON's annual prize for the best animated piece. It is selected from the winners or finalists of the six European animation film festivals with which CARTOON is cooperating. The prize is 35,000 ecu, which stands for European Currency Unit, the official EU monetary unit which is generally equivalent to U.S. $1.09. The money is to be used for another production, which this time should be a suitable length for a normal television programming slot.

This year's prize was no surprise. It went to Frenchman Sylvain Chomet for his film La vieille dame et les pigeons (The Old Lady and the Pigeons). The main aim of the prize is to integrate suitable talent into the animation industry. Chomet's film and style has a clear commercial potential. The Old Lady and the Pigeons has already received the Grand Prix at the Annecy Festival and at the Los Angeles World Animation Celebration. The jury also gave a honorary mention to Ruth Lingford from the U.K for her film Death and the Mother. This film is a trip to our common myths; a strong story about a mother's sorrow and fight in the face of her child's death.