France’s Cyber Group Studios has partnered with anime powerhouse Nippon Animation to co-produce a hybrid animated feature film called Nanami and the Quest for Atlantis. 

The project marks the beginning of a long-term collaboration between the prodcos that will include reimagining several of Nippon’s classic series and developing new IPs as well. 

Animated in 2D and 3D, Nanami and the Quest for Atlantis sees a group of friends searching the ocean for hidden treasure during the gold-rush era of the 1850s. They explore the relationship between humans and nature as they try to uncover the answer to what is more important than material fortune. 

Hitoshi Takekiyo (After School Midnighters) is directing the film, which is based on classic 1994 anime series Tico and Friends (39 x 25 minutes), originally produced by Nippon and directed by Jun Takagi (Penelope and Chibi Maruko-Chan). After debuting in Japan on Fuji TV, the show ran on French linear network TF1 in 1996, and eventually reached the shores of Germany, Italy, Spain and Korea by 1998.

After Nanami and the Quest for Atlantis is released, Cyber Group and Nippon expect to follow up with a brand-new animated series that will continue the storyline.

Nippon was founded in 1975 and has produced more than 130 2D-animated series to date, including dramas The Dog of Flanders (1997), Anne of Green Gables: Road to Green Gables (2010) and comedy series The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1980).

Cyber Group is on a partnership hot streak this week. Just yesterday, the studio launched a new joint-venture production company called CyberSplash with LA’s Splash Entertainment to make family-friendly animated projects.