Two European Toon Houses’ Financial Straights Cause Production Delays

Because of the worldwide economic slump being felt even harder in Europe and the Far East, two of Europe’s largest toon film houses, Sparx Studio and Bibo Films, have decided to stop production on two of their projects, the highly anticipated CGI animated flick “Bunyan & Babe” and “A Monster in Paris.”

“Bunyan & Babe” was the biggest film of the two and, if it ever gets back into production, will feature the voices of Emmy winners Kelsey Grammer and John Goodman. Just how long the movie will be in purgatory is anyone’s guess at this point. Everything depends on the state of the European economy. “Bunyan and Babe” is loosely based on the popular Paul Bunyan folklore and will feature two children exiled on their grandfather’s farm in Minnestoa who discover the secret hiding place where Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox have resided since their disappearance from the Dead Forest. Originally set for a release sometime in 2009, the film could be back-lotted to late 2010 or early 2011.

“A Monster in Paris,” (Un monstre à Paris) was to be released in April 2009, but is now on indefinite hold. It is a 3D-animated feature set in 1910 that chronicles a monster’s attack on that famous French city known as the Jewel of Europe.