The Cartoon Movie 2007 business forum will present 500 participants with a selection of 41 features with an overall budget of almost $391m (Euros300m) in an attempt to boost finance and distribution for European animated films.

In its ninth year, the festival convenes at Germany's Babelsberg Studio from March 7-9 and shows both completed films and works-in-progress. France is the most represented country, with a total of 14 projects. Germany has 13, Spain will show seven, Denmark five and the UK four.

The films reflect market trends of recent years with a majority (67.5%) targeting family audiences and almost half using 3D animation. Over 50% have a budget between $3.9m and $6.5m, which indicates that the industry is taking cartoon features seriously indeed. In fact, last year three of the ten completed films (Kirikou And The Wild Beasts, Asterix And The Vikings and The Little Polar Bear - The Mysterious Island) saw over 1.5 million admissions in their home markets.

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