EASTERN EUROPE ANIMATION CONTINUES TO ENCHANT

THE LATEST PROJECTS OF QUALITY EASTERN EUROPE ANIMATION STUDIOS.

The Budapest based animation studio Umatik is dedicated to creating unique content and delivering the highest quality in animation. It started to focus on the production of its own IPs in the last few years. Its latest project is Pixie Fix and the lost dewdrops (13x11’) and its 2nd season Pixie Fix and the Amazing Planet (13x11’). Targeting kids from the age of 6, the tv series are aiming not only to entertain the audience by its adventurous story, but the show has strong educational content on environment protection

The series shows what is going to happen to the Earth if we do not take care of it. Through the different locations of the episodes, the story drives us around the continents of the Earth. Among other things, deforestation of the rain forests, overmining, air pollution of the factories will be shown to the audience. In each episode, our heroes will be facing different problems which they can solve with the help of the local wildlife. Friendship, taking care of each other and selfishness will be playing important roles all along the story. The tale will be flavoured with humour, kindness and loveliness to be entertaining.

Pixie Fix’s 1st season is already completed, the 2nd one will be delivered by November 2023.

Since 2003, MAUR film has been one of the biggest animated film producers in the Czech Republic with a wide range of genres, formats and animation techniques.

MAUR film is currently developing three animated features - two of them have already been presented at Cartoon Movie, and Of Unwanted Things and People won the Eurimages Co-production Development Award. This film is directed by four directors from the same four countries as the producers MAUR film (CZ), Vivement lundi! (FR), Artichoke (SK) and ZVVIKS (SI). The film is based on the children‘s book by Czech author Arnošt Goldflam and contains a lot of fantasy, humor and imagination. It is a plea for the art of storytelling as an ideal means of accepting the sometimes difficult sides of life. The project also holds book rights and is currently in production.

Steampunk polar road movie Rosentaal tells the story of 16-yearold orphan Nab, who has lived since birth on a huge ship, which is at the same time a factory, a town and a permanent home to several thousand people. The script was written by the award-winning Czech author Marek Epstein and the art designer Václav Švankmajer created a very unique visual style.

The project The Eleven completes the trinity, a combination of real puppet decorations and 3D/CGI character animations. The film is based on a well-known book about eleven boys who built a football team. But real life is never a clear victory and the players soon understand that “Football comes second...”. The project is in development and the merch concept is being worked on at the same time.

The production company MAUR film also has 13 short films in development or production, which the festival audience will surely hear about soon.

Badi Badi is an animation and post-production studio based in Warsaw, Poland.

Currently, one of Badi Badi’s departments - Badi Originals - focuses on productions for children and family audience.

The company’s portfolio includes both 3D and 2D productions. To date, Badi Badi has produced four seasons of the pre-school series Agi Bagi. This series shows the adventures of the inhabitants of the planet that has two sides: Agi and Bagi. Each episode focuses on an environmental theme where Agingas and Bagingas work together to take care of the planet. This educational series has been translated into 11 languages and sold to over 60 countries. The Your Family Entertainment distributor is responsible for distribution outside Poland. The experience gained in the production of Agi Bagi convinced Badi Badi of how to successfully create more brands.

Another series produced by the studio is called The Flying Bear. It is an action-packed animated adventure series for children over the age of six. The series features the adventures of a pair of siblings: 7-yearold Jake and 11-year-old Madeline. Madeline and Jake, together with the magical Bear defend mythical characters against a computer virus called Cyber. This antagonist tries to kidnap the heroes of folk tales and legends to create an army to conquer the world. The second season was produced in 2022 and will be released the following year. International distribution is handled by Sola Media

Badi Badi is also developing four other TV series for children: Crazy Inventions, a series that tells the stories of modern inventions in a funny way; Giggle Wiggle, a story about the friendship between a big green gnome, Giggle Wiggle, and a little girl, Blabberina; Witty Kitty, a series for young children, that tells the story of a resourceful black and white cat and his friends; Robot and the Martians, a science fiction series, full of slightly abstract, ironic and situational humour. For all these series, Badi Badi is looking for funding opportunities and partners.

The studio also produces feature-length animated films for family audiences. Currently, three films are in the development phase: Agi Bagi. The Universe Is Not Enough, Cyber versus the Guardians of Legends and Zu

The director and scriptwriter of most of the studio’s productions is Tomek Niedźwiedź, who is also one of the founders of Badi Badi together with Tomasz Paziewski and Arkadiusz Paziewski

At the same time, the studio also works with other directors and screenwriters on selected productions and is open to collaborations.

All the animations created in the Badi Originals department are non-violent, educational and entertaining for the youngest and their parents. This year the company celebrates its 20th anniversary on the market!

Letko is a 2D animation studio from Warsaw, Poland, that in the last few years specialized in developing high-quality TV series for kids. They’re currently working on the development of Happy not lucky, a series for 6-9 years old. It’s a detective comedy about black cat Teo and black sheep Lu solving mysteries and fighting crime in their home – a calm and peaceful Happy Fields farm. This series explores in a light and funny way the stereotypes held against different animals in order to show that it doesn’t make sense to judge the book by its cover (or a sheep by its fur). If our two heroes dealing with bad luck and constant troubles can embrace who they are, so can we.

Their most recent production is a series for preschoolers called Odo (52x7’) which they created and co-produced together with Sixteen South Originals. Letko was responsible for the visual development of the series as well as all visual aspects of the production. Odo teaches young children self-efficacy and to believe in themselves to help combat the troubling rise in anxiety and depression levels in today’s children. Comedic and warm, with a genuine hero – a little owl called Odo, the stories also deal with important themes such as immigration, racism and respect for others. Odo and his bird friends are building their nests thanks to the best broadcasters all over the world, such as KIKA, Milkshake or Canal+. It has been sold to more than 150 countries. In addition to working on their own IPs, Letko also performs service work for renowned Animation Producers all around the world.