CARTOON MOVIE, the only event dedicated to promoting European animated feature films, has nearly doubled in size in its five-year history. CARTOON MOVIE started on a positive note when organisers revealed that 1/3 of the projects presented last year are now in production with the required participants and funding. Started in 1998 with 255 professionals, the fifth edition of CARTOON MOVIE closed March 15, 2003 at Babelsberg Studios, in Potsdam, Germany with 461 attending, amongst them were 51 distributors and 61 investors. Of 49 projects from 13 countries, 15 appear to have obtained the necessary funding over the short term, representing a total budget of 120 million Euros, according to the organisers. The content and technique of animated films in Europe is changing. Now about 1/3 of the 49 films presented at CARTOON MOVIE were in 3D, confirming the growing trend happening worldwide. Among these was ROBOTA, a French-American co-production by the French company Sparkling* and director Doug Chiang, designer of STAR WARS EPISODES I AND II. For the second consecutive year, CARTOON MOVIE invited American buyers in order to help exploit the films outside of Europe. Pathe, DreamWorks, Universal and Pixar representatives were present. CARTOON MOVIE Tributes were elected by participants during the final dinner. Awarded to three individuals or companies that contributed to the recognition and the success of the European animation cinema, the winners were: DIDIER BRUNNER (France) for producing the greatest number of auteur films over the last five years, GRUPO FILMAX (Spain) for its strategy of production and distribution in Spain and ROBERT REA (France) for his role as a major European producer. CARTOON MOVIE 2003 is organised by Cartoon, the European Association of Animation Film (in collaboration with NFP teleart in Germany), with the support of the Media Programme of the European Union and the Filmboard Berlin-Brandenburg, as well as Land Brandenburg, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, FFA (General German Filmboard), ILB (Investmentbank of Berlin) and IBB (Investmentbank of Land Brandenburg). The next CARTOON MOVIE will take place March 11-13, 2004 in Potsdam-Babelsberg.
