Cartoon Movie plans birthday bash

The event, which runs March 5-7 at the fx.Center Babelsberg outside Berlin, will showcase finished animated pics, works in progress and projects in development. As an industry forum, the confab is aimed at boosting the production, financing and distribution of European ani-mated films.

Cartoon Movie brings together more than 500 industry professionals — with the lion’s share of participants hailing from France, Germany and Spain — who will have the opportunity to network, educate themselves and view new projects. Created by the European Assn. of Animation Film, Cartoon Movie has become a pillar of the European animation industry.

Of the 47 projects that will be presented at the fx.Center, nine are completed films and 10 are in various stages of production, while the remaining 28 are in initial concept or at the development stage. France is again the most represented country, with a total of 20 projects, followed by Germany with 12 projects.

This year’s catalog also includes titles from Spain, with six projects, and Denmark and Belgium with five each. In addition to “Lucky Luke,” other finished pics to screen include “Donkey Xote,” a Spanish-Italian co-production from Filmax and Lumiq Studios; “Dragon Hunters,” a German-French-Luxembourgian co-production from Trixter Prods., LuxAnimation and Mac Guff Ligne; and “The Three Robbers,“ from Animation-X, a subsidiary of Berlin-based producers X Filme and Promedium.