Woo Films Boards Cinema Fantasma Stop-Motion Animation Pics (EXCLUSIVE)

Mexicos Woo Films is venturing into the kids/younger audience content biz for the first time, boarding three stop-motion animated features by Mexico City-based Cinema Fantasma, led by brothers Roy and Arturo Ambriz.

Producer Andrea Toca who brought the projects to Woo Films, said: Weve always wanted to make content for children and younger audiences.

I went to University with the Ambriz brothers so thats where we first connected. We were very impressed by the working techniques they have developed in their workshop aside from their stories, she added.

The initial pact is for Woo Films to co-produce Cinema Fantasmas Frankelda and The Prince of Spooks, being presented at Annecys work in progress (WIP) section as well as two other stop-motion pics in development, The Ballad of the Phoenix, pitched last year at Annecy, and The Bee Revolution.

Frankelda and The Prince of Spooks is a spin-off of Cinema Fantasmas ground-breaking series, Frankeldas Book of Spooks, sold to HBO Max Latin America, which with a total running time of 70 minutes was the longest running stop-motion project made in Mexico.

Unsurprisingly, Cinema Fantasma got their first break with Guillermo del Toro who mentored and co-financed their first medium-length stop-motion film, Revoltoso (Rebellious).

The titular Frankelda is a Mexican horror writer from the 19th Century who travels to a kingdomwhere all the characters in her stories thrive, led by Herneval, the winged Prince of Spooks. There she sets out to restore the equilibrium between the realms of fiction and reality.

The Ballad of the Phoenix touts Gael Garca Bernal as the lead voice actor andproduction designer Bruce Zick, whose credits include such acclaimed classics as The Lion King, Pocahontas and Wall-E, designing its sets.

Story centers on Virian, a goblin princess, who after realizing her dying father is a tyrant,must decide whether she should use her singular powers to brew the elixir ofeternal life and save his life or spare the kingdom from his brutal repression.

Marta Hernaizs Cine Vendaval is also a co-producer of Ballad. A longtime partner and collaborator of Cinema Fantasma, Cine Vendaval also produced the series Frankeldas Bookof Spooks.

The project was named Best Animation Feature Film in development at the 2018 Pixelatl festivaland won an Annecy Award at Ventana Sur that same year in Buenos Aires.

Coming-of-age tale, The Bee Revolution, centers on aspiring teen musician Kaab who dreams of becoming a mega pop star but her less privileged pal Poboldo wants to form a band while Kaab wants to be a solo artist. Struggling to write the perfect song for a contest, she steals a song by Poboldo, winning the contest but losing her best friend forever.

Woo Films Toca, Rafael Ley and Monica Vertiz are among the producers on the films. One of Mexicos powerhouse production shingles, Woo Films has produced a slew of award-winning films and TV shows, such asThe Good Girls (Las Nias Bien),Los Adioses and hit seriesLa Casa de las Flores by Manolo Caro.

The Bee Revolution Courtesy of Woo Films