[Cartoon Forum] Redefining Stories and Formats: Our Selected Young Adults Projects

Projects targeting Young Adults have significantly increased at this edition of the Cartoon Forum, and they share a common trait: storytelling innovation.

2142

Animation / Format: 3D Computer / 8 x 45’

Genre: Action, Sci-Fi

Producers: The World of 2142 (SRB), Hampa Studio (ES)

Transmedia Tip: Graphic Novel, Gaming

2142 is an animated series set in a futuristic, dystopian crypto world. The story unfolds in a society split between the digitally controlled Upper World and the chaotic, forgotten Lower World. In this divided society, a young girl named Sola embarks on a quest to discover her identity after accidentally assuming someone else’s digital identity and uncovering a mysterious code within her. As the world begins to unravel under the weight of the myth of Satoshi—an entity that might be a god or merely a program—Sola must decide whether to flee, submit, or embrace a role she was never meant for, but one only she can fulfill.

CLOUT CHASERS

Animation / Format: 2D Computer Drawing / 10 x 11’

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Friendship

Producers: Turning Green Productions (BA)

Transmedia Tip: Graphic Novel

After tasting their first crumb of internet fame, KJ, Lucas, and Buckley decide they’d much rather make money from viral videos than a traditional 9-to-5 job. These three unemployed 20-somethings must do their best to forge their own path in the world of online content, shaping influence and internet culture. This is the main premise of Clout Chasers: to get popular—no matter what! While often satirizing online content creation, influencers, and internet trends in a tongue-in-cheek manner, Clout Chasers celebrates the cutting-edge creativity and trailblazing culture that young people have established through the internet.

>>>> Read our selected projects in the new issue of EAJ 

FUNESTOPOLE CIRCUS

Animation / Format: 2D Computer / 10 x 15’

Genre: Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi

Producers: Werlen Ipsum (FR)

Transmedia Tip: Graphic Novel, Gaming, Board Game

A 2D Western-Shonen comedy series where two allied bounty hunters will stop at nothing to escape a mad world ruled by absurd laws. Funestopole is a mining city at the bottom of a deep crater. The only way to escape this hell is to board a train reserved for Funestopolitan oligarchs. Two inhabitants of the slums, Pigro, a nonchalant hunter, and Ania, a fiery trainer, become unlikely allies through the force of fate, to become the best hunters in the city to secure their train ticket. Both dream of leaving the city, but only one will succeed, because after all, no rules apply in Funestopole.

LOLA, PORCO & PACO

Animation / Format: 2D Computer, Cut-out / 12 x 8’

Genre: Comedy, Folklore, Friendship, Political

Producers: Undodez Producións (ES)

Transmedia Tip: Publishing

Lola, Porco e Paco blends everyday humour with social satire in a Galician village at Finisterre, following three contrasting characters: Paco, an easy-going thirty-something; Porco, his best friend—a literal pig; and Lola, Paco’s sharp, restless ex. Their simple rural routines clash with the contradictions they absorb from screens, causing them to become conspiracy theorists and feminists, activists and slackers, with their opinions shifting as quickly as the wind. Conceived as short, stand-alone 2D animated episodes for digital platforms, the series has support from AGADIC and Televisión de Galicia.

THE AMBUSH

Animation / Format: 2D Computer / 10 x 22’

Genre: Comedy, Political, Society

Producers: L’Incroyable Studio (FR)

Transmedia Tip: Graphic Novel

Deep in the jungle, Jackie Woodson fights to keep her seat as mayor of La Crosse. Challenged by her opponents and by the circumstances that brought her to the mayor’s chair, Jackie will do anything to hold on to power and take revenge on those who have hurt her or stand in her way.

WELCOME BACK CLARA

Animation / Format: 2D Computer / 20 x 4’

Genre: Family, Sisterhood

Producers: Les Valseurs (FR)

Transmedia Tip: Graphic Novel, Social Media Vlog

At 26, Clara moves back in with her mother, where her younger sister Rachel – and her cat – are already living. The family loves each other fiercely, laughs at everything, and argues about anything, from the most trivial matters to the latest headlines.

But there’s one subject no one addresses: their father’s illness and death from a few years ago. As Clara gradually comes to terms with her own depression, the family’s hectic daily life begins to reveal the wounds of a loss they’ve never truly confronted.

>>>> Read our selected projects in the new issue of EAJ 

WELCOME TO HAPPYCRACY

Animation / Format: Stop Motion, Puppets / 10 x 5’

Genre: Comedy, Documentary, Well-being

Producers: Manégann Films (FR), XBO films (FR)

Transmedia Tip: Publishing, Vlog Social Media

Welcome to Happycracy explores the many contradictions of humans in a constant quest for happiness. Each episode focuses on a different company that promises to make consumers happy. A microphone is handed out to customers and business managers: those who buy and those who sell wellness services. Everyone speaks out, until contradictions emerge and the situation spirals out of control. The dialogues are extracts from documentary interviews. They are embodied in stop-motion puppets. The puppets express themselves in front of the camera and will sometimes be placed in various situations.

YOJIMBOT

Animation / Format: 2D Computer / 10 x 26’

Genre: Action, Adventure, Friendship

Producers: Passion Paris Prodcution (FR)

Transmedia Tip: Publishing, Gaming, Board Game

The protagonist of the series is Hiro, a resilient but naive teenager who has spent his life in what he believes is an underground compound built to protect him from a past nuclear disaster on a remote Japanese island. When his father is killed while trying to escape, Hiro forms an unlikely alliance with four obsolete samurai-themed entertainment robots who become his protectors and new family. Hiro’s talent for bonding with technology is only the beginning. With his companions at his side, he embarks on a perilous quest to uncover his family’s secrets and confront the mysterious entity ruling the island.