Older skews, edgier styles and generally more sophisticated graphic design – 2D, 3D, goth animation – are among the trends spotted in the aisles of the mifa animation market in Annecy last month, and confirmed by broadcasters’ upcoming skeds.

Cine-Groupe president Jacques Pettigrew says the teen/young adult fare is particularly popular in Japan and Germany, and points to the computer and video game market as a catalyst to developing the more mature animation niche, creating a measurable appetite for shows skewing older.

Targeting the likes of Canal+ in France or Spain, Cine-Groupe has three such sci-fiesque series heading into production: Mercenary (based on Vincente Segrelles’ cult comics, also being planned as a feature), Grand Prix and Soft War, which employ a proprietary 3D software from coproducer Planet Cartoon of Madrid, which brings cg costs down to the high-quality animation standard ($350,000 to $400,000 per episode).

Harnessing its colorization facility Toonteck to handle the volume, the slate will necessitate expansion and the hiring and training of a dozen animators, possibly in the next five months.

Another Cine-Groupe sci-fi entry still in development is Sinkha, which has a girl heroine and is based on Marco Patrito’s multimedia novel.

Girl heroes is another trend. Canal+ Distribution is keen on its prospects for series such as its Fantomette’s Mysterious Adventures (a Canada/France copro from Cactus Animation and Elma Animation for December ’98 delivery to Canal J/France 3).

Based on the Hachette-published Georges Chaulet novels, the property features a Laura Croft for the six-to-10 set and also scores high on the style front.

Exemplifying the deco-driven (Jetsons meet Frank Lloyd Wright), stylized look popping up more frequently, the half-hour series is about a 14-year-old student who becomes a battler of evil after donning her computer glove and electronic gadget belt, and is replete with toyetic vehicles with interactive elements already designed in.

France’s Marina Productions targets the eight-to-12 girl gang with its Princess of the Nile series for France 2, 26 action-adventure female heroine half-hours, which is said to be destined for a Princess block on Fox.

More editorial realism in toons is also creeping in. Julie Fox, director of sales and acquisitions, says Marina is working on The Fabulous Adventures of Jacques Cousteau bible with Nelvana, and that the 26 half-hours, which cbs is blocking into its deal, are for 2000 delivery to France 3.

Marina, via Dargaud Editeur, is one of several busy French producers in a well-positioned corporate structure which includes both a studio (Belvision Cartoons, one of the oldest animation studios in Europe) and a rights-rich publishing arm – a strategy which Canadian tooncos, most recently Cinar, have been emulating.

Coming soon to a screen near you on the primetime front, Fox, toon-intoxicated by the cult of Bart andKing of the Hill’s deadpan Texan humor, has upped its primetime animation quotient by three new mid-season series.

Futurama will be produced by Matt Groening’s Curiosity Company with Twentieth Century Fox. Simpsons creator Groening will exec produce, David Cohen (Simpsons writing vet) is the showrunner. l.a.- and Korea-based Rough Draft Animation (also Simpsons alum) may helm the show solo. The other shows are The PJs (an Eddie Murphy and Will Vinton Studios stop-motion entry) and Family Guy.