From a classic play to a computer game

Leading industry publication Animation Magazine has put the Ukrainian cartoon Mavka. The Forest Song on its list of the most important news. This happened after the project was presented at Europe’s premiere animation forum Cartoon Movie, FILM.UA Group reports. The cartoon’s main character, Mavka, graced the cover of the March issue of the publication, the event’s official partner, which was distributed massively at the forum held in Bordeaux, France. This allowed the creative team to score an effective pitch and receive an impetus for development.

Voice of America notes that the cartoon has attracted the attention of potential European co-production partners, investors, distributors, and broadcasters.

Many of the forum’s participants tagged Mavka’s pitch as the best of the event’s 50 projects in the traditional survey. The producers received feedback from major animation market players, including The Walt Disney Company (Germany, Switzerland and Austria). All of them noted the strength and uniqueness of the main character, high quality visuals, and huge international potential of the project. The feature-length animated film is in development at the moment, with the release scheduled for 2019.

Let us recall that Mavka. The Forest Song is inspired by a play of the same name by Lesia Ukrainka, as well as by various Ukrainian myths and cultural traditions.

Experts from leading ethnography institutes are now working as part of the film crew to interpret the Ukrainian myths and legends, customs, rituals, and visual culture in the singular animated world of Mavka.