Buena Vista International Spain (BVIS) has picked up Spanish theatrical and video rights to local animated feature film The Living Forest (El Bosque Animado).

Digital satellite platform Via Digital has pay-TV rights to the film, while free-to-air rights in Spain are still under negotiation. BVIS is expected to release Forest in summer 2001.

The $3m (PTS550m) project, still in production, is billed as Europe's first animated 3D feature. According to executive producer Manuel Cristobal, the innovative project has sparked buyer interest in Europe and Latin America. No international sales agent has yet been announced.

Forest is a production of La Coruna-based Dygra Films, with backing from the Galician government, the MEDIA program and regional broadcaster TVGalicia.

The unveiling of the film's state-of-the-art webpage (www.elbosqueanimado.com) was scheduled this week to coincide with the Madrid Animated Film Festival (ANIMADRID), which kicked off Monday.