An Animation Festival’s Draw

Kicking off with the public premiere of the animated film “Osmosis Jones,” the eighth World Animation Celebration on Tuesday begins six days of screenings, workshops, trade conferences and recruitment seminars.

With 15,000 attendees expected from the animation industry and the general public, the festival will include more than 100 screenings of animated commercials, public-service announcements, short-and feature-length films, and the first inductions to the Animation Hall of Fame.

The animation industry has multiplied in numbers and outlets in the past decade, said Jean Thoren, one of the celebration’s founders and the president of Animation magazine, a monthly trade publication that is sponsoring the event with Variety. Organizers hope the festival will serve as a meeting ground for the industry’s producers, artists and executives and as an outreach to inform the public about the varied uses of animation.

“I think people in America tend to think of animation as limited to Saturday mornings,” Thoren said.

About 800 submissions were received by the festival, the only international animation event held in the United States, according to organizers. Along with several producers, Walt Disney and Chuck Jones will be inducted to the hall of fame. A former executive of Shockwave software, the chairman of DIC Entertainment and the producer and screenwriter of the upcoming feature “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius” will be among the keynote speakers. And the makers of movies such as DreamWorks’ “Shrek” and Disney’s “Atlantis” will participate in seminars about filmmaking and writing for animation.

“This year, we are focusing on the writing and talent aspects of animation--which people often ignore, but are critical to good animation,” Thoren noted. “There are so many jobs beyond the artistry. We are trying to wake up the community as to what animation can offer.”

Events will take place at the Egyptian Theater, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and the Knitting Factory in Hollywood. The festival opens at 9 a.m. each day, with screenings beginning at 5:45 p.m. See https://www.wacfest.com for more information.