'Wolfwalkers' First Look Footage Leads Previews From 'Cartoon Movie'

Cartoon Movie is an annual event organised by Cartoon: The European Association of Animated Film. As explained by the website: "Cartoon Movie is neither a fair nor a festival, but rather a pitching co-pro forum for animated feature films." Over two days, producers have the chance to pitch their projects in order to snag financing, find co-producers and attract the attention of international distribution companies. From a fan's perspective, however, it's a chance to get a sneaky peek at some of the exciting projects happening in Europe's currently booming animation feature scene.

This year's event took place in Bordeaux, France from on March 9th and 10th. Animation companies from all over the continent presented their films in production for an eager international audience. For those of us who couldn't be there, however, Cartoon Movie released a series of compilation videos. Featuring footage from dozens of exciting in production animated features (and a few at the concept stage), it's quite a treat. You can check out the videos (split into four parts) below.

Most excitingly we get our very first look at footage from Tomm Moore and Cartoon Saloon's upcoming Wolfwalkers . It's very early stuff, and this is certainly not finalised animation but it's very exciting all the same. Even in such a short amount of time, it does a wonderful job of selling the basic set up and hints at the atmosphere the film will have. The Wolfwalkers footage is in the first video at around 5 minutes in.

There's a wonderful variety of styles here in the previews, which range from concept art to fully polished animation. It's an excellent demonstration of what a rude state of health the European animation industry is in. Exciting time for animation fans!

Other highlights include:

Calamity from Long Way North Director Rémi Chaye, based on the childhood of Martha Jane Cannary aka Calamity Jane
Kensuke's Kingdom from Lupus Films (Ethel and Ernest) based on the bestseller from acclaimed author Micheal Morpurgo (War Horse).
Super Vinamotor- a stunning looking adult animation thriller set in Vietnam
Miss Saturn a 1980's teen movie
The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales- a lovely looking family film from the folks who brought you Ernest and Celestine.
Unicorn Wars an intriguing mix of the cute and twisted from Alberto Vazquez, director of Psiconautas.