Acorn Elves

Pre-school oriented (3D, both painting and live action) TV series Acorn Elves tells a story about magical oak creatures living in the forest – in an oak tree. They take care of their surroundings conscientiously, although sometimes they do not feel like they want to. Responsibility is a demanding area, but if it is approached creatively, anything in the world can be a fun game!

The series is an adaptation of the eponymic book (Petr Václavek) and is being made in co-operation beween the director Pavel Jindra, scriptwriter Klára Smolíková and graphic author Marcel Legindi. The series is produced by Radovan Surý from the digitally oriented Czech company Bare Bear, which was also involved in the children’s animated series Barney the Piglet warmly received at Cartoon Forum in 2019.

Dinofables

Dinofables, a pre-school oriented both 2D and 3D animation TV series, already garnered international attention at Cinekid Junior Co-production Market 2020. The story of this series takes us into the distant past. There is a friendly, forest neighborhood of pigs, mammoths, saber toothed tigers, deer and megatheria. Father megatherium is raising his lively triplets while their mother is at work. Alfie, Elza and Eve have very different natures and together they create a rowdy bunch! Luckily, there is a way to calm those little rascals down – telling stories about creatures that lived on Earth in much more distant past, dinosaurs.

Scriptwriter Klára Jůzová and graphic author Martina Svojíková work under the guidance of the producer Martin Jůza of Krutart (the director to be announced). Krutart is a studio specializing in children’s content, and it has been fully dedicated to animation since 2018. Abroad, the studio has had the great success with the Kosmix series. For development of Dinofables, Krutart was granted the amount of EUR 38 000 by the Czech Film Fund in 2020.

The Seniors

The third Czech series selected for the pitching, The Seniors, is created in 2D and it is focused on young adults and adults. The story is set in the near future: the planet is overpopulated and most people are prohibited from having children. But nothing is lost and they can adopt a senior instead. Older people are sent to special shelters where they wait until someone adopts them. The main character is a 70 years old newcomer to the shelter. She is tough, adventurous, and ready to find her own place at any cost.

The Seniors are written and directed by Ekaterina Bessonova and produced by Zdeněk Holý of Vernes. The project also received development support from the Czech Film Fund (EUR 38 500) last year.

Veggierado

Both 2D and 3D animation techniques are used in Veggierado, aimed at children aged 6-11. The story takes place somewhere in the wildest wild and south-westernmost South-West. The Stinky Valley creates a natural borderline between the good and the evil. On the good side of the Stinky Valley lays the settlement of Potatown. One day, a strange and dangerous rabble – the Sombréros, led by the mischievous tomato Don Diabolo – settle down in the dilapidated town of San Sombréro on the other side of the abyss. Sombréros start to hover around, looking for things to steal.
In this moment the lonely gunfighter and adventurer Godly Kid and his striped horse Zebra arrives and leads the Potatowboys, teaches them to fight and lights the fire of their forgotten manhood.

Veggierado’s director, scriptwriter and animator Jan Bubeníček world-premiered his long-awaited animated feature Even Mice Belong in Heaven (co-directed with Denisa Grimmová) earlier this year within the Annecy IAFF. On Veggierado, Bubeníček also co-works with producer Vladimír Lhoták (Hausboot).