Catalonia’s Adult Animation Scene Prospers as Artists Push to Tell Mature Stories

Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 keeps on soaring, reaching $799.7M globally through Tuesday. Within that, its international box office crossed the four-century mark at a running cume of $411.9M from 44 overseas markets through Tuesday. In North America, Inside Out 2 rose to $387.8M, moving well up the domestic animated chart.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor The Palm Springs International ShortFest has announced the juried and audience award winners for its 2024 edition, which took place June 18-24. Over $25,000 in cash prizes and five Academy Award-qualifying honors were presented to the winning films, which included Esteban Pedraza’s “Bogotá Story” and Jadwiga Kowalska’s animated film “The Car That Came Back from the Sea.” See a full list of winners below.

Fred has offered a telling reaction as he prepares for the new season at Fenerbahce under former Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho.

Selena Kuznikov “What We Do in the Shadows” star Harvey Guillén says he wasn’t expecting to be honored with an award at the National Hispanic Media Coalition Impact Awards Gala, but the work he does is never for the accolades. “You just do it because you wish someone will see you and get inspired to continue to be themselves and go into a field that’s traditionally not presented to us,” Guillén told Variety. The gala, hosted by Mayan Lopez and Annie Gonzalez at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel June 16, honored Latino creatives in the entertainment industry paving the way for others.

Disney/Pixar‘s Inside Out 2 grossed $29.1M stateside yesterday, repping a Tuesday record for an animated movie. That beats the first Tuesday gross of 2018’s Incredibles 2 at $27M.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Flow,” a director-driven animated feature which world premiered at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and just swept three awards at Annecy Film Festival, has been embraced by a raft of major distributors in key territories, including the U.K., Japan, South Korea, Germany, Spain and Italy. The movie is represented internationally by Charades.

Marta Balaga Viaplay Group has sold Sweden’s “Little Did I Know” – starring Alexandra Rapaport – to Australia (SBS), Croatia (Pickbox), Basque Spain (EITB), Indonesia (Mola) and Latin America (DMD). The film, which plays in competition this week at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival, is produced by Bigster. It follows Petra (played by Rapaport), who is in for a rude awakening: her “perfect” husband, the father of her two children, is having an affair and he wants a divorce.

Annecy Animation Festival, the most important eight days of the year for the global animation industry, wraps up tonight, so we’re looking back at 10 themes that dominated the dialogue around this year’s event. In interviews held before this year’s festival, several representatives from Hollywood studios, speaking on background, told us that Annecy has now replaced Comic-Con as their most important promotional event of the year for animation.

Marta Balaga Spanish Animation is ready for more international collaborations in the near future, but there is one stipulation: “Passion is mandatory,” said Hampa Studio’s Álvaro García González. Behind “The Treasure of Barracuda,” the company is currently eyeing Latin America. “Anybody who makes animation needs passion.

Michael Ouweleen, president of Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Adult Swim, a major force behind the rise of adult animation, has signalled at Annecy the company’s intention to ramp up its presence in Europe and international markets at large. “We very much want to see Adult Swim originals coming from anywhere in the world,” Ouweleen told Variety at the French festival. The stars are aligning for the overseas drive.

Ibermedia Next, a groundbreaking fund dedicated to advancing the use of new technologies in animation and digital content from Spain, Portugal, Italy and Latin America, is launching its second round of funding. The announcement was made at the Annecy Animation Festival on the final day of its MIFA market at at a presentation attended by representatives of two of the project’s drivers: Jara Ayucar, director of marketing policy at Spain’s ICAA film agency, part of its Ministry of Culture; and Jose Luis Farias, executive producer of the Quirinos Awards, representing La Liga de la Animación Iberoamericana, formed by the Quirinos, Mexico’s Pixelatl Festival and Ventana Sur’s Animation! forum. Ibermedia Next 2 follows the success of the initial funding round which saw 14 innovative projects gain crucial support, allowing creators to push the boundaries of animation and VR technology.

Coronation Street star Claire Sweeney has sweetly shared her adoration for her former Dancing on Ice co-star after a message to her 'darling' beau Ricky Hatton. The actress may be enjoying a break in Spain but she was still keen to share her birthday wishes to actor Ryan Thomas.

Marta Balaga The “Spermageddon” is coming. Leading indie sales agent Charades has closed deals with Telepool and Square One Entertainment for rights to the CG-animated film for Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Co-directed by Rasmus A.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent ANNECY, France — José Miguel Ribeiro, Nuno Beato and David Doutel and Vasco Sá, iconic figures in modern-day Portuguese animation, will unveil new projects at this year’s Annecy. They will be joined by newer talents – Vier Nev, behind “A Mind Sang” – João Carrilho, Patrícia Figueiredo and Natália Azevedo Andrade – who together deliver an eloquent snapshot of the burgeoning state of Portuguese animation. Over the last 30 years, Portuguese animation has won ever more prizes for usually 2D short films of dazzling beauty, experimentation and sometimes social point.

Jamie Lang For good reason, Portugal is this year’s Country of Honor at the Annecy Animation Festival. A decade ago, new government financing structures were put in place that have helped create a young and vibrant industry that has earned critical and awards praise around the world, including the country’s first-ever Oscar nomination.

Anna Marie de la Fuente The Costa Rican tale of a grandfather’s lifetime care for his family, “Agua Dulce,” Mexican eco-themed elf story “Bolla” and teen horror tale “Knightmares” are among the six projects to be pitched June 12 at the Annecy Animation Festival’s Mifa Market. These are presented by La Liga, an umbrella association jointly founded in 2018 by Argentina’s Animation! at Ventana Sur, Spain’s Quirino Awards and Mexico’s Pixelatl fest.

Jamie Lang Portugal is this year’s Country of Honor at the Annecy Animation Festival, so we’ve decided to take a close look at the current generation of artists who are helping to inspire a new era for the country’s animation sector and, increasingly, making waves abroad. Below is a list, in no particular order, of 11 exciting Portuguese animation talents to keep an eye on. Some have been around for several years and already started to put together impressive bodies of work, while others are just emerging on the scene.

Jamie Lang Catalonia‘s animation scene is flourishing thanks to a motivated and well-trained base of artists, generous government backing and early involvement from public broadcasters. One need look no further than this year’s Annecy Animation Festival for proof of the Catalanimation boom.

Jamie Lang A quarter-century after lending his voice to Z in Disney’s CG feature “Antz,” Woody Allen is set to return to the recording booth and narrate the upcoming Spanish animated short “Mr. Fischer’s Chair,” which will formally add several key co-producers during this year’s Annecy Festival. The film’s directors have also given Variety an exclusive look at early concept art for the project.

Nicholas Galitzine opened up about his career while participating in a roundtable discussion with his fellow actors.