'Migali' Premieres at MipJunior: Director Cédric Frémeaux on His AI-Free Spider Princess

The animated series "Migali" makes its world premiere on Oct. 10 at MipJunior in Cannes, where director Cédric Frémeaux will present a 52x11-minute series about a six-armed, two-legged spider princess — produced entirely without AI tools.

Frémeaux, whose credits include "50/50 Heroes," told Variety the show's teams received strict instructions during the creative process: no artificial intelligence. "It would be a far less interesting product if I had created it alone with AI tools," he said.

"Migali" is produced by Adelaïde Terme at Easy Peasy Entertainment, the production and licensing arm of France's Auzou Publishing Group, with Bardaf! Productions and co-producers RTBF, Ketnet, RTS and TF1. Moonkeys International Content handles international distribution. The series will air on TF1 and partner broadcasters in the coming months.

Who is Migali?

The series centers on six-year-old Migali, a spider princess determined to become queen. She attends the Royal Academy, where princes and princesses of all kingdoms learn to control their abilities, meeting a cast of quirky characters along the way. Frémeaux frames her as "Spiderman's young cousin living in a world of unicorns, dragons and potions."

The show adapts the eponymous comic book series by Alexandre Arlène and Fabien Ockö Lambert. The books have sold more than 150,000 copies in France across nine volumes — a success Terme anticipated, having spotted series potential before the first comic was even published.

"What struck me with this character is how radiant and fun she was, as a heroin," Frémeaux said. "With our target audience [kids 5-8], it's very important to connect with a protagonist. And with Migali, they definitely can as she faces the sames challenges that they do."

How was the series made?

Frémeaux came to animation early. "As a kid, I woke every morning eager to discover 'Dexter's Laboratory,' 'Dragonball,' and many others," he recalled. After an internship at Ankama, the French multimedia company behind "Dofus" and "Wakfu," and animation studies at LISAA in Paris, he built his career as a storyboard artist. "Migali" is his second series as director.

Producing 52 episodes of 11 minutes — what Frémeaux calls "a nine-hour movie" — demanded a relentless pace. "Once storyboard was locked, we had to deliver a full episode's animatic every week," he said. "My role as a director is to find people who are better than me at they own field of expertise. Once I managed to achieve that, every piece fell right into place, and the production was very smooth."

Animation split between Caribara studios in Annecy and Paris, and Caribara's Belgian subsidiary Waoooh. "The key is these large European co-productions is to communicate constantly, and maintain overall cohesiveness throughout the whole pipeline," the director said.

Why no AI?

Frémeaux draws a line between tools and creativity. "Technology has always been part of the animation industry, which faced similar issues with the introduction of 3D, and other tools that revolutionized the medium over and over," he said. "But creativity has to remain at the center of this process, and tools can't replace artists."

He added: "Our show is made by people who asked themselves a lot of questions, who made choices in framing, staging, and poured their craft and soul in this series. And that is something that AI can't do."

What comes next?

Frémeaux sees the premiere as a beginning rather than an endpoint. "There are many more paths and characters we can explore, to build beyond the Royal Academy and introduce children to this loveable IP," he said. With global buyers gathered in Cannes and broadcaster slots already secured, "Migali" now heads from the market screen to international children's schedules.