After whittling down a shortlist of nearly 300 submissions for its inaugural animation pilot scheme ANIM8, CBBC and BBC Worldwide have announced the final three projects that will move on to the final development phase.

Mystery Soup by Hannah Jacobs and Victoria Manifold, Peeled Prawn and Shaved Sheep (pictured) by Vincent James and Karina Stanford-Smith of Fat City Films, and Poles Apart by Alex Collier are the final selections that will now receive more development time to complete scripts, visuals and a bible.

The projects will then be pitched and assessed by CBBC controller Cheryl Taylor, CBBC creative director of scripted, animation and co-productions Sarah Muller, BBC Worldwide director of children’s Henrietta Hurford-Jones, and BBC Worldwide head of children’s and scripted Nathan Waddington.

The finalist will get the chance to turn their project into a pilot with support from CBBC and BBC Worldwide creative.

Surreal comedy Mystery Soup follows the adventures of three 13-year-old girls, who come together to unravel a series of weird occurrences at their new boarding school. Superhero-inspired Peeled Prawn and Shaved Sheep, meanwhile, features a genius sheep and his best shell-less friend who team up to bring down the villainous Mr. Big with the help of Prawn’s special super shell suit. (Simon Godfrey and Kaine Patel are the project’s additional creators.) Finally, character-based action comedy Poles Apart follows the adventures of clumsy elf Ryder, who has been banished from Santa’s workshop to live in the South Pole with Santa’s brother, Sandy Claus.