The "Cartoon d'Or" 1999 was announced at the Cartoon Forum this past
Sunday. The winning film is "Migrations" by Constantin Chamski (France), a
4-minute CGI film. The director received 25,000 ECU (approximately U.S.
$25,000) to spend on a new animation project. This year the forum welcomed
a record attendance of 620 participants, which included producers,
distributors and broadcasters. Sixty-nine projects seeking partners were
offered to potential investors and producers. Since its start ten years
ago, the Cartoon Forum has become a major venue for European animation
producers looking for co-production financing. Over 150 projects initiated
at the Forum in previous years have been produced and broadcast. Between
1996 and 1999, 53 animation series have been produced, representing a total
of 420 hours of programming. Cartoon's main achievement is to have
succeeded in structuring a sector that was initially very fragmented,
enabling European animation to become stronger against growing
international competition. Cartoon contributed to the creation of a
European Federation of Animation Producers at its 1998 forum. In February
1999, Cartoon launched Cartoon Movie, an annual forum specifically for
animated features, using the same method successfully applied to the
Cartoon Forum. The animated feature industry is still young in Europe;
indeed, it is comparable to the television market at the time of the first
Cartoon Forum. Ten years from now, let's see if Europe's feature industry
has enjoyed a comparable success to those productions boosted by the
Cartoon Forum.
Last year's Cartoon d'Or winner, "L'Enfant au Grelot" ("Charlie's
Christmas"), a 26-minute film by Jacques-Remy Girerd (France), was one of
the 19 projects presented at the forum in 1996 which received the necessary
guarantees to secure short term financing. Girerd spent the Cartoon d'Or
prize money toward his new feature film, "La Prophétie des Grenouilles"
("The Frog's Prophecy").
Previous Cartoon d'Or winners are: "La Vielle Dame Et Les Pigeons" (1997) by Sylvain Chomet (France), "Quest" (1996) by Tyron Montgomery (Germany), "The Monk And The Fish" (1995) by Michael Dudok de Wit, "The Wrong Trousers" (1994) by Nick Park (UK), "The Village" (1993) by Mark Baker
(UK), "Manipulation" (1992) by Daniel Greaves (U.K.) and "Creature
Comforts" (1991) by Nick Park (UK).
The 1999 Cartoon Forum will be reviewed in the November 1999 issue of Animation World Magazine. The 1998 edition was reviewed by Marie Beardmore in the
November 1998 issue .
In the November '98 issue, Animation World Magazine asked Jacques-Rémy Girerd to share his thoughts on winning the Cartoon d'Or, the status of
animation production, and his upcoming projects. To accompany this
interview, we also presented a Quicktime movie of
"L'Enfant au Grelot."
Heikki Jokinen reviewed the Cartoon Forum 1997 in the
November 1997 issue of Animation World Magazine.
New to Cartoon? Heikki Jokinen profiled the organization in the
October 1997 issue . Find out what it's all about.
