Dandelooo acquires global sales rights to Czech-German animated feature Acorn's Adventures

• Dandelooo has acquired global sales rights to the Czech-German animated feature Acorn's Adventures
• The film is directed by Filip Mašek and scheduled for release in 2029
• Acorn's Adventures won the Eurimages Co-production Development Award at Cartoon Movie earlier this year
  

French sales heavyweight Dandelooo has acquired global sales rights to Acorn's Adventures, a CG animated feature co-produced between the Czech Republic and Germany, with a release scheduled for 2029.

The project and its origins

The film is directed by Filip Mašek, an animator, director, and former Boy Scout leader whose experience with children's imaginative play — specifically their ability to tell entire stories using twigs and acorns — sparked the concept.

Mašek developed the film through workshops with children in the United Kingdom, Brazil, and the Netherlands, building a lush, colourful forest environment populated by quirky characters co-created with the children themselves.

"This story is about acceptance and finding who you are," Mašek explained at Cartoon Movie. "We made several workshops with UK, Brazilian and Dutch kids to discuss the project with them, and they were equally enthusiastic about it. It's great to see that these characters can create strong responses from children worldwide."

Czech main producer Kristina Husová of Pure Shore collaborated closely with German co-producer Fabian Driehorst of Fabian&Fred, who joined the project in 2024.

The film has received support from the Czech Audiovisual Fund, MOIN Film Fund, and Creative Europe Media, and earlier this year won the Eurimages Co-production Development Award at Cartoon Movie.

"What I love about Filip's approach is that, to him, it's still a Czech film," said Husová. "Czech people will recognize their forests in the feature."

The German broadcaster's problem

Despite the project's growing international profile, Driehorst flagged a persistent structural issue facing German animation producers. "Our biggest challenge has always been the lack of support for animation talents from German broadcasters," he said.

"While there are fantastic programs for feature films and documentaries, I feel sad to say that there isn't a single initiative for animated films."

He noted that even as lead producer on German animation projects, Fabian&Fred frequently finds itself in a weaker position due to limited broadcaster support and restricted access to automatic funding.

"Most of our animated short films are co-productions involving at least two or three countries," he added.

A strong Cannes slate for Fabian&Fred

Alongside the Dandelooo announcement, Fabian&Fred is presenting a broad animation slate at Cannes. Raman Djafari — known for his music video work with Elton John and Dua Lipa on Cold Heart and Coldplay's Feelslikeimfallinginlove — makes his fiction short debut with Throwing Sticks at the Sun, a 14-minute coming-of-age drama following a group of teenagers who accidentally kill a bird and must confront their reactions.

The company is also presenting Daylight, a 2D documentary debut short by Ayala Shoshana Guy selected for MIFA, and Two For Me, One For You, a stop-motion debut from Student Oscar winner Jan Gadermann.

On the feature front, Fabian&Fred is developing Karmic Knot, the next project from award-winning director Signe Baumane, co-produced with Studio Locomotive and slated for 2029.

The film has already announced its voice cast, including Tony Award-nominated actor Patrick Wilson, Succession star Dagmara Dominczyk, and Broadway lead Gracie Lawrence, and has secured support from both the Latvian Film Centre and MOIN Film Fund.

Acorn's Adventures is set to be presented at a CMC showcase in July.