Cartoon Movie 2026: “Optimism and Fun is Back.” Nordic animation holds strong as market mood improves

Cartoon Movie 2026 (3–5 March) once again confirmed its role as Europe’s main pitching and co-production forum for animated features, bringing together 831 participants from 42 countries and 448 firms in Bordeaux. A total of 50 projects from 20 countries were presented, spanning a wide range of genres, audiences and artistic approaches. Alongside a strong European presence, the programme also opened up to international partners through the Québec–Canada “Land in Europe” initiative. Within this diverse line-up, Nordic producers stood out through both their projects and their growing visibility in the European animation ecosystem.

Nordic animation showcases its range

Four projects with Nordic majority producers were presented this year, illustrating the range of storytelling and target audiences emerging from the region.

Among them was Puk Grasten’s Betty Balloon (Betty Ballon, Denmark), a preschool-oriented animated feature now in production. The story follows a four-year-old balloon navigating everyday life and unexpected friendships in a neighbourhood populated by balloon and cactus families. The project was presented as a work in progress ahead of its planned Danish theatrical release in October 2026, with LevelK handling worldwide rights.

Sweden was represented by Måns Mårlind’s Before They Were Gods, an adult-oriented coming-of-age story imagining the teenage years of future music icons Nick Cave and Joakim Thåström in early-1970s youth culture.

Norway pitched two projects. The first is Will Ashurst and Kjersti G. Steinsbø’s Gingerbread Town (Pepperkakebyen, Norway/Germany/Ireland), a family 3D adventure set in Bergen’s famous gingerbread city exhibition and seeking sales, distributors and broadcasters. “Think Night at the Museum, with gingerbread! The film is about embracing imperfection and creating a more tolerant community,” Den Siste Skilling’s producer Kristine Knudsen tells NFTVF. “It was a thrill to present the project to the enthusiastic industry audience at Cartoon Movie, and the positive feedback from the market was strong.”

The second project is Hanne Berkaak’s Sander’s Midsummer (Sanders midtsommer), currently at concept stage and blending fantasy elements with a coming-of-age story about a vulnerable boy discovering the beauty of imperfect nature. Knudsen is producing, with Mikrofilm’s Tonje Skar Reiersen, and with Berlin’s Knudsen Pictures co-producing.

Finland also appeared as a minority partner through Fiilin Good Films on Kostiantyn Fedorov’s Ukraine-led Family Squad.

The awards presented during the event reflected the diversity of Europe’s animation landscape. The Eurimages Co-Production Development Award went to Filip Mašek’s Czech-German co-pro Acorn’s Adventure (Kastánci). Meanwhile, the Cartoon Tributes recognised several key industry players: the Producer of the Year award went to the teams behind Allah Is Not Obliged (Allah n’est pas obligé), the Distributor of the Year prize to Les Films du Préau, and the Director of the Year honour to Reza Memari for The Last Whale Singer.

Business is cautious, but confidence is slowly returning

Beyond individual projects, many participants noted a cautiously optimistic atmosphere across the market this year, even as structural challenges remain. Reiersen described the general mood as improved compared with recent editions. “Optimism and fun is back,” she observed, noting that previous years had been overshadowed by uncertainty surrounding the theatrical market and debates about the potential impact of artificial intelligence on the animation industry. This year’s event, she suggested, felt more hopeful, even if the financial landscape remains difficult.

Reiersen also pointed to the growing visibility of Nordic animation within the European co-production environment. Looking at the Nordic projects presented this year, she said they illustrate the diversity of films being developed in the region, spanning preschool content, family entertainment and stories aimed at young adult audiences. “Compared with five or ten years ago,” she added, “the Nordic presence at Cartoon Movie has grown significantly.” In the past, it was rare to see more than a couple of Nordic projects in the selection, whereas the region now appears far more consistently in the line-up.

At the same time, producers are adapting to a changing financing reality. According to Reiersen, budgets for animated features are often shrinking even as production costs continue to rise. The shift reflects a landscape in which streamers are investing less aggressively in animated features, broadcasters are becoming more cautious, and the theatrical market remains uncertain. As a result, some projects are exploring ways to optimise production pipelines, for instance by combining traditional animation techniques with motion-capture workflows or real-time tools such as game engines.

She also noted creative trends shaping the current generation of projects. The influence of Japanese anime is increasingly visible across European productions, particularly in projects aimed at teenagers and young adults. In addition, more stories are set outside Europe, including projects exploring African settings, while Eastern European and Nordic producers are gaining greater visibility. Together, these developments contribute to a broader range of visual styles and narrative perspectives.

Meanwhile, Mårlind described the overall mood at the market as “positive and inspired”. Billing himself as a “new kid on the animation block” after working mainly in live action, he noted that in Sweden animation has traditionally remained limited largely to children’s content, making events like Cartoon Movie particularly valuable as a meeting point for creators and producers across Europe.

For Finnish journalist Heikki Jokinen, who has followed Cartoon Movie since its first edition in 1999, the growth of adult-oriented animation stood out as one of the most striking developments this year. Out of the 50 projects presented in Bordeaux, 19 targeted adult audiences. According to Jokinen, this confirms that adult animation has become “an integral part of European animation production”, with many projects tackling complex historical or political themes, including war and displacement.

Looking at the event from a longer perspective, Jokinen also emphasised how Bordeaux has fostered stronger collaboration between European producers over the decades. The event’s original aim was to encourage cross-border co-production, and this objective has largely been achieved. Today, he observed, there is “a real atmosphere of a common region in production”, even though the European animation market remains more fragmented when it comes to distribution.