Spain’s Animation Booms, Grapples Large Challenges
variety.comEmilio Mayorga Alberto Vázquez’s “Unicorn Wars” is an Annecy competition frontrunner. “They Shot the Piano Player,” from Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal, weighs in as one of the festival’s most anticipated works in progress.A bevy of Annecy MIFA unveils and score of Spanish titles, sometimes sneak peeked at other events, form part of a historic growth on Spain’s animation scene.At March’s Cartoon Movie, only France had a larger number of titles than Spain.
At September’s Cartoon forum, a showcase for long-form animation, Spain again ranks among European countries, in number of projects set to be pitched, tying with Ireland.With an annual turnover of $950 million in 2021, according to Spanish trade promotion board ICEX, Spain also has first-class animation schools (U-tad, BAU, Lightbox Academy, La Salle, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia…) and specialized events such as Ibero-American Quirino Awards, Valencia’s Weird Market, Pamplona’s Next Lab Finance & Tech and Lleida’s Animac.
Produced with Netflix by Madrid-based SPA Studios, “Klaus” scored an Oscar nomination. Another Spanish title, “Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles” took an Annecy Jury Award.
The first two instalments of animated movie franchise “Tad the Lost Explorer” bowed to top box office rankings in multiple countries outside Spain.For most Spanish producers, this animation renaissance is driven by crucial new state regulation.In 2020, a tax break hike catapulted Spain into the top echelon of destinations for big international shoots.
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