Le Pacte Acquires France & International Sales Rights to Alberto Vázquez’s Animated Project “Decorado”

Alberto Vázquez’s latest project is getting imPACTEful support.

Le Pacte, one of France’s most important independent film companies has acquired the rights to the Spanish comic book artist and filmmaker’s Decorado for distribution in France and international sales.

Alberto Vázquez, Decorado“We picked up ‘Decorado’ because we were in love with [Vazquez’s] Unicorn Wars and Decorado is even crazier,” said Jean Labadie. “We love animation and bold projects which are out of boundaries.”

Decorado was presented at Cartoon Movie in March, where its producers met Le Pacte and initiated discussions after Le Pacte’s expressions of enthusiasm for the story and the project.

Vázquez’s follow-up to Unicorn Wars, a Gkids U.S. pick-up like Birdboy, Decorado expands upon the universe of the same-titled short which world premiered to acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival’s 2016 Directors’ Fortnight.

In the short feature, Arnold, a middle-aged mouse in midst of existential crisis, suffers an ever mounting suspicion that he’s living on a television set, with even his wife seemingly mouthing commercials for coffee from ACME (a Company that Makes Everything). Acquaintances talk about their roles in a short which resembles Arnold’s life; at times Arnold thinks he’s heard snatches of audience laughter.

The short is set up as a series of micro-sketches, separated by intertitles proclaiming Decorado, the word sung by a choir as if re-announcing a TV comedy after a commercials break.

Decorado won a Spanish Academy Goya for best animated short and has been described as The Truman Show meets Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal.

Decorado the feature is produced by Iván Miñambres for UniKo, Chelo Loureiro at Abano Producións, Jose María Fernández de la Vega for The Glow Animation Studio and Sardinha em Lata’s Nuno Beato.

Jose Luis Ágreda is on board as art director. Currently in pre-production, the film will be ready in 2025.

The feature is an existential comedy that aims to reflect on the very meaning of life, “on what we are or what family and friends mean to us,” said Miñambres, which has worked with Vázquez since his first short, Birdboy.

“I’m interested in addressing social injustices, economic and health crises, and above all, love and friendship, which are the only things that can save us in times of crisis in life,” said Vázquez.

Not all elements of the short, however, may make the feature, many of whose details have yet to be revealed. Two aspects that are known is that the feature will be 2D and that while the short was made in black and white, the feature will be colorized.

“For a feature film, we couldn’t miss out on the expressive opportunities that color brings us, especially considering Alberto’s great use of color as a narrative element in his filmography,” said Miñambres.

Decorado is a natural evolution of Alberto’s work. This time, it takes the form of an existential fable about the meaning of life and individual freedom. From the beginning, we wanted to take special care of the screenplay,” he added.

The upcoming movie again features anthropomorphic animal characters, universal figures without a specific time or place. Everything takes place in a city called Anywhere.

“If there’s something that sets this film apart from previous ones, it’s the use of humor. It’s a movie with many narrative and visual gags, contrasting with the previous productions that were very dark dramas. We want the audience to fully enjoy the experience and reach a more universal and broad audience,”Miñambres observed.

Gkids Acquires North American Rights to Alberto Vázquez’s Animated Feature “Unicorn Wars”

Alberto Vázquez’s latest project is headed to the United States…

Gkids has acquired North American rights to the 41-year-old Spanish comic book artist and filmmaker’s latest genre-bending animated feature Unicorn Wars.Alberto VázquezThe news comes ahead of the film’s U.S. premiere at Fantastic Fest.

The horror-comedy will be released in theaters by Gkids in early 2023, following its domestic release in Spain this fall.

Billed as Bambi meets Apocalypse NowUnicorn Wars‘ logline is as follows:

Unicorn WarsFor ages, teddy bears have been locked in an ancestral war against their sworn enemy, the unicorns, with the promise that victory will complete the prophecy and usher in a new era. Aggressive, confident teddy bear Bluet and his sensitive, withdrawn brother Tubby could not be more different. As the rigors and humiliation of teddy bear bootcamp turn to the psychedelic horrors of a combat tour in the Magic Forest, their complicated history and increasingly strained relationship will come to determine the fate of the entire war.

Unicorn Wars previously featured in competition at the 2022 Annecy Animation Film Festival, and was just announced as a selection of the 2022 BFI London Film Festival.

Vázquez directed from his own script, with Chelo Loureiro, Iván Miñambres and Nicolas Schmerkin serving as executive producers.

“There is nobody on Earth who could make a film like Unicorn Wars except Alberto Vázquez,” said GKIDS’ President David Jesteadt. “We are proud to partner again with this exceptional filmmaker on his richly layered and darkly funny new film about cute characters doing horrific things. It continues to haunt me.”

Vazquez is a Goya and Annecy Cristal-winning director.

GKIDS to Release Hayek’s “Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet” in August

Salma Hayek’s latest personal project is headed to theaters in August…

GKIDS has announced plans to release Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet on August 7 in Los Angeles and New York before expanding it nationwide the following week.

Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet

The animated film, adapted from Kahlil Gibran‘s book The Prophet, was spearheaded by Hayek and features a narrative story written and directed by Roger Allers (The Lion King), with “chapters” based on Gibran’s poems designed and directed by animation directors including Tomm Moore, Joan Gratz, Bill Plympton, Nina Paley, Joann Sfar, Paul and Gaetan Brizzi, Michal Socha and Mohammed Harib.

Hayek, Liam Neeson, Quvenzhané Wallis, John Krasinski, Frank Langella and Alfred Molina make up the voice cast.

The Prophet is a book of 26 prose poetry essays written in English by the Lebanese artist, philosopher and writer. It was originally published in 1923 by Alfred A. Knopf. It is Gibran’s best-known work. The Prophet has been translated into over 40 different languages and has never been out of print.

Sheen to Voice Character in Animated Film “Wrinkles”

Martin Sheen is embracing his arrugas

The 72-year-old half-Spanish American Actor and former West Wing star, is lending his voice to Wrinkles, the English-language version of the Spanish animated film, which was directed by Ignacio Ferreras and based on Paco Roca’s award-winning graphic novel.

Martin Sheen

Dubbed by GKIDS, the film will be in all ingles, and available in all English-language foreign territories.

Wrinkles, which tackles a universal subject matter with humor and acerbic wit, centers on former bank manager Emilio, who is being dispatched to a retirement home by his family. His new roommate is a wily, wheeler-dealer named Miguel, who cheerfully swindles small amounts of cash from the more befuddled residents but is also full of handy insider tips that are crucial to survival.

Along with Sheen, the English voice cast includes George Coe and Matthew Modine,

Wrinkles is considered an animated movie for adult audiences. The film has garnered wide critical acclaim, multiple festival awards, and earned two Goya Awards in its home country of Spain.

The English-dubbed version of Wrinkles is set for release in early 2014.