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Fairies, unicorns and dragons are a recipe for success in any child-friendly film. Nothing quite captures the imagination of the younger viewer than these mythical beings being brought to life on screen. Directors Aina Järvine and Federico Milella’s animated fantasy The Fairy Princess and the Unicorn delivers as its title suggests in a simple, sweet and innocent way, complete with cute animals that would not look out of place accompanying any Disney hero(ine).

The diverse fairyland of Bayala and its magic is under threat from a decay called ‘the wilt’, after wicked shadow fairy leader Ophira (voiced by Liza Ortiz) stole all the dragons’ eggs that supply its magic. Ophira also kidnapped sun fairy Princess Surah (voiced by Madison Mullahey) as a child, raising her with her shadow fairy cousin Princess Nuray (voiced by Rebecca Becker) and slowly mutating her sun wings into shadow ones, so that she...

Claude Barras’ “Savages!,” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli’s “Tales of the Hedgehog” and Peter Dodd’s “King of the Swamp” are among the sixty-six projects –a 10% increase from last year– to be pitched at the 21st Cartoon Movie, Europe’s leading animated movie co-production event, which will take place in the French port city of Bordeaux, kicking off March 5.

Projects will be offered to buyers and potential partners in different stages: 28 in concept, 24 in development, seven in production and seven sneak previews.

“Savages!” is the much-awaited sophomore project from Switzerland’s Barras, following his multi-awarded and foreign-language Oscar nominated “My Life as a Zucchini.” A stop-motion feature, “Savages!” is produced by France’s Prélude in co-production with Switzerland’s Helium Films. It tells the story of the friendship between 11-year-old Kéria and a Bornean orangutan baby. They will be forced to flee from Kéria’s father who wants to...