Ellipse Animation to highlight two new series at Cartoon Forum

French production company Ellipse Animation will feature two new series at Cartoon Forum taking place in Toulouse between 19 and 22 September: the preschool project "Trotro & Zaza", based on Bénédicte Guettier’s illustrated books and "Dreamland", a teen-adult project in coproduction with La Chouette Compagnie, adapted from the manga of the same name.

“We are delighted to be in Toulouse this year with two projects which illustrate the diversity of our editorial line at Ellipse Animation. With this diversification, we will continue opening up new collaborations both in France and internationally. Our attendance at Cartoon Forum is a crucial step in this development strategy”, said Caroline Audebert, Managing director of Ellipse Animation.

The panel "Dreamland: when a successful Mangfra (a manga made in France) becomes an anime" will be held on Wednesday 21 with the participation of Caroline Audebert; Sylvain Dos Santos, producer of La Chouette Cie; Joe Celse, director and Antoine Maurel, screenwriter.

This adaptation of the manga created by Reno Lemaire is published by Pika Edition (20 volumes published to date and almost 600,000 copies sold, volume 21 is coming out on 12 October), the 10x24’ 2D animation series will take the viewer into the world of Terrence. “Convinced of the universal scope of the story developed by Reno Lemaire since 2006, we have dreamed for years of adapting the manga 'Dreamland' at La Chouette. Now it’s come true, thanks to ADN and Ellipse Animation. The whole team is thrilled to bring this story to the screen and show this incredible world of dreams to as many viewers as possible both in France and around the world.” said Sylvain Dos Santos, producer of the series for La Chouette Compagnie.

“We are buoyed up by the great interest expressed in this new project following the screening of the trailer in Annecy. We’ve had more than 165,000 views on YouTube, along with the hundreds of thousands of views on Twitter. Another positive sign is the Dreamland, conference organised by Pika Edition at Japan Expo on 14 July which was extremely well received. This is only the beginning and we have every reason to dream of success for Dreamland” said Caroline Audebert.

The second series will be showed at "Trotro & Zaza: a whole new preschool project based on a major property" panel organized on Thursday 22 with Lila Hannou, VP creative Development and Strategy at Ellipse Animation; Gaëlle Guiny, producer; Bénédicte Guettier, creator of Trotro & Zaza and Alexandre Coste, director as speakers.

Trotro is one of the most powerful IPs of the past 20 years. The first series, which won the Unifrance Award for Audiovisual exports in 2017, is currently broadcast around the world, including on major platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. On YouTube, Trotro has generated more than 700 million views and gathered more than a million subscribers in the 8 languages available. This new series follows the famous little donkey at a time when he has to take on a massive new challenge: becoming Zaza’s big brother.

“We are proud to accompany 'Trotro & Zaza' in new stories crafted for younger audiences. These two endearing characters complete the family of iconic heroes from Ellipse Animation. We know they have what it takes to reach the international success they deserve with children and their parents who have almost certainly enjoyed the first series”, said Lila Hannou, VP creative Development and Strategy at Ellipse Animation.