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The world’s largest animation festival continued this Tuesday in Annecy. On the agenda: Chinese animation, a major announcement from Fortiche, Asterix, interviews, and studios at Mifa.
Fortiche Thinks Big, Very Big
The Fortiche team (pictured above, standing on stage) presented a Studio Focus. The room was packed, and the studio was set to announce a new project, unrelated to the much-anticipated season 2 of Arcane.
The project is an animated feature film in developmen Penelope of Sparta. Riot Games is not involved, and this film will follow the adolescence of the famous character from The Odyssey in a school filled with other well-known Greek heroes. This universe will blend science fiction, mythology, and fantasy, and will introduce us to various locations in Ancient Greece.
We had the opportunity to interview the team: a video is coming soon about this project, along with the studio’s ambitious plans (Fortiche aims to release one project per year, whether it’s a series, film, or short format). Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel!
Astérix at Annecy
Another major event of the day was the exceptional presence of well known French director and comedian Alain Chabat, presenting the series Le combat des chefs (“Asterix and the big fight”). Accompanied by his team, Alain Chabat led a conference filled with humor and irony.
He revealed the research work done with Kristof Serrand. Serrand explained that he revisited his childhood because the first film he saw in theaters was Asterix the Gaul in 1967. Kristof also expressed his pleasure in working on Uderzo/Goscinny’s work and developing everything in 2D.
The 3D production was entrusted to TAT studio in Toulouse, France. The collaboration between the studio and Alain Chabat was not new. Chabat had previously chosen to premiere the short film Le Voeu directed by TAT founders Éric Tosti, David Alaux, and Jean-François Tosti before his movie Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra.
The series will consist of five 30-minute episodes, set to release in the first quarter of 2025 on Netflix. The budget is substantial, evidenced by the prestigious French voice cast: Alain Chabat (Asterix), Gilles Lellouche (Obelix), the PalmaShow team, Alexandre Astier, Thierry Lhermitte, and Jérôme Commandeur (who will play Caesar’s mother). We saw the first trailer, still being finalized, with an enthusiastic audience.
That Christmas
We attended the Work In Progress of the upcoming Christmas film That Christmas by Simon Otto (Locksmith Animation). Known for being the head of animation for DreamWorks’ How to Train your Dragon, Otto is now directing.
The film is based on three children’s Christmas books written by Richard Curtis (screenwriter of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually). The series of books (The Empty Stocking, Snow Day, and That Christmas) tell stories about family, Santa making a huge mistake, and numerous turkeys. The voice cast includes Lolly Adefope, Alex Macqueen, Katherine Parkinson, Sindhu Vee, India Brown, and Zazie Hayhurst.
During the WIP, Simon Otto presented numerous drawings, sketches, and character designs. Once the stages were validated, the assets could be sent to DNEG to create the animation.
The team unveiled the first images and video excerpts from the film, giving us a taste of the full movie, set to release at the end of the year on Netflix.
Dazzling Chinese Animation
Another highlight of the day was meeting the teams behind the Netflix series Scissor Seven and the animated film The Storm. Two rich and powerful Chinese projects. We interviewed Busifan, the director of The Storm. Our article, coming soon on 3DVF.
Interviews and booths
We also met with producer Matteo Paolini, Production Supervisor at Keytales. We discussed the teaser for their animated feature project Wildheart recently. We will soon share an interview with him on 3DVF.
We also met various schools, studios, and companies on their MIFA booths. One example is French digital arts school Parallel 14, located in Martinique. The school will soon expand in Guadeloupe and French Guiana. An online platform will unite students from all locations so that they still feel they belong to the same school.
Further along, we stumbled upon MIAM! Animation. The studio is working on the animated series The Tinies created using Unreal Engine.
We will continue our coverage of the Festival and MIFA in the coming days. Follow us on Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Youtube to not miss any of our content published during and after the annual world animation event.
