After the busy days of Marseille’s Cartoon Next (9-11 April), Cineuropa gained exclusive access to Joy Eternal, a brand-new, 13x11-minute, 2D cut-out series aimed at teenagers and directed by Finland’s Juha Fiilin. The show was one of the eight projects pitched at the recent French gathering.

Before embarking on the making of Joy Eternal, Fiilin created and directed the animated series Divine Consultants (2020). Moreover, he is currently developing the anime-inspired series Thinkies and the animated feature Earth 2.0, both based in the same story universe.

The plot of his new effort sees the parents of the protagonist trying to take down a corrupt mega-corporation named H&H. Joy (voiced by Katharine King So), however, is in the wrong place at the wrong time, and both of her parents get killed. Their last wish was for their daughter to enter a destruction code into the corporation’s servers. Feeling responsible for their deaths, a sensation compounded by her own failure, Joy subsequently loses her own life while trying to complete the mission. She wakes up in a mysterious afterlife and discovers that H&H also exists there. Feeling unworthy of an eternity of happiness, she pursues H&H into the City of Lost Souls, eager to prove herself and fulfil her parents’ mission.

The script is penned by Ireland’s Adam Cullen. Key creatives include animator Etienne Aubry (Rick & Morty), art director Jan Andersson, sound designer Salla Hämäläinen and composer Tuomas Kantelinen. Benoit Godbout, of Canada’s CarpeDiem Film & TV, is serving as a consulting director. Justine Johnson and Ewan Allison are also among the confirmed cast members, and they will dub a young security guard named Oogle and a character called Peter, respectively.

Joy Eternal is being produced by Fiilin himself for Finland’s Fiilin Good Films, Marie-Claude Beauchamp for CarpeDiem Film & TV and Alazne Vásquez for Spain’s Mago Production.

Commenting on the project, Fiilin told Cineuropa: “In Joy Eternal, we show a character struggling with her self-worth, mistakenly thinking it is tied to her achievements and failures. She continuously sacrifices herself to prove herself worthy, but in the end, by recognising her self-worth, she can save herself and those she loves.”

Meanwhile, Cullen added: “We are willing to pay the highest price for the illusion of power. Our hero, Joy, cuts herself off from her emotions in exchange for superpowers. But this exchange, literally becoming disconnected from everything and everyone, leads to tragedy and alienation. The real problem? Joy doesn't realise her own worth. Instead, she seeks validation through overcoming her failures. This show is a reminder that true power comes from recognising your own value. It's for anyone who needs to hear this: you are valuable, regardless of your successes or failures, and the price you pay for them.”

The first season is now ready for release. YLE will handle its linear and non-linear release in Finland in November, whilst 3Cat will air it in Spain in 2024. The rest-of-the-world sales have been entrusted to Montréal- and Madrid-based Pink Parrot Media.

With the project budgeted at €2.4 million, the Finnish partners attached to it include YLE, Business Finland, the Finnish Impact Film Fund, the Finnish Film Foundation, the Kantelinen Company, Fiilin Good Films, Fiilin Creative, V Rousu Consulting and Aurora Studios. Canadian partners include the Quebec tax credit, the Canada tax credit, the Shaw Rocket Fund, CarpeDiem Film & TV and Pink Parrot Media. On the Spanish side, the project has received backing from TV3, CCMA and ICEC.

The series’ original language is English, but it will be subtitled in Finnish and dubbed in Catalan.