This article was written for the November '24 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 344).

One of the best parts of being in Los Angeles the fall is enjoying the magic of the annual Animation Is Film festival at the Hollywood TCL Chinese Theater. This year is no exception as festival organizers have handpicked some of the best movies of 2024 so that fans can enjoy them on the big screen with fellow animation lovers (Oct. 18-20).

The influential event, which premiered Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio in 2022 and Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron in 2023 — both of which went on to claim the Oscar for Best Animated Feature later — promises to be another glorious trip to Toon Town this year. The festival opener is Annecy favorite The Colors Within, the new offering from Naoko Yamada, best known for her 2016 movie A Silent Voice.

L.A. audiences also get a chance to see the year’s other festival favorites such as Flow, Ghost Cat Anzu and Memoir of a Snail this month, as well as the much-anticipated North American premiere of Pete Browngardt’s The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, starring Porky Pig and Daffy Duck! You can also learn more about the biggest studio pics of the year at screenings/panels devoted to The Wild Robot, Moana 2, Inside Out 2 and Transformers One.

Away from the Kids’ Table

“The goal of each edition of AIF is to provide, over the course of a single weekend, a record, a document of the year in animation,” says festival director Matt Kaszanek. “So, in that sense, I’m reluctant to say that the program has individual ‘highlights.’ We see it as a single entity, made up of discrete units in conversation with one another. What is the state of animation in 2024? What is the state of filmmaking in 2024? And the answer is, ‘this.’”

Kaszanek, who has been at the helm of the festival from its inception in 2018 says he’s always excited to see animated features celebrated prominently at the big festivals from around the world. “Flow and Ghost Cat Anzu screened in Cannes (in Un Certain Regard and Directors Fortnight, respectively.) The Colors Within blew the roof off the place in Annecy! Boys Go to Jupiter was at Tribeca. Memoir of a Snail and Piece By Piece were in Telluride and Toronto. The world is embracing these films, and now the U.S. will have its chance! I think last year’s IMAX premiere of The Boy and the Heron was a real turning point for the festival.”

When asked about the most underrated titles at the event, Kaszanek responds, “I do feel like all animated films tend to be ‘underrated’ to a degree in that there’s a too large segment of the population, certainly in this country, that file them in a subsection of films. Guillermo Del Toro calls it ‘The kids’ table.’ But take a film like Flow or Adam Elliot’s Memoir of Snail… they swept the top prizes in Annecy and have been greeted by rave reviews (not positive reviews, bona fide raves) virtually everywhere that they’ve played. It’s hard to say they’re underrated now. But ask me again if either doesn’t show up in The New York Times’ end of year Best Films list!”

Memories of the Master

Kaszanek has a clever answer when he’s cornered to pick his favorite memory from previous editions of Animation Is Film. “There’s a scene at the end of the movie Roman Holiday where a reporter asks Audrey Hepburn’s Princess Ann which of the cities that she visited on her European tour was her favorite. She starts with a bland response to avoid offending anybody (‘Each was special in its own way…’) but then, she can’t help herself and blurts out ‘Rome!’ I started to say, ‘I couldn’t possibly choose just one memory,’ but screw it! It’s Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio screening!”

“It was at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. and we had a hard out time because there was an AMPAS screening scheduled right after” he continues. “After the film, GDT has this in-depth conversation about the state of animation with Phil Tippett and they get so into it that they completely lose track of the time. I’m standing in the wings waving frantically for them to wrap it up. Finally, Guillermo sees me (or, more likely, stops pretending that he doesn’t see me!) and then says, into the microphone so, like, a thousand people can hear, ‘Hey, let’s continue this talk in the lobby!’ We, of course, have made zero plans for this. We have no stanchions, we have no security, even our photographer has gone home! But there’s Guillermo del Toro standing in the middle of the lobby, surrounded by fans, and the guy’s just holding court and answering everybody’s questions for an additional 45-50 minutes. Eventually, the Academy guy makes his way over to me and I think I’m about to be yelled at for commandeering their lobby. Instead, he just goes: ‘This right here. This is what it’s all about.’”

He concludes, “So… Each, in its own way, was unforgettable. It would be difficult to… Rome! Rome. I will cherish my visit here in memory as long as I live!”

You can make your own Animation Is Film memories, Oct. 18-20, at the TCL Chinese Theaters in Hollywood. For an up-to-the-minute schedule, visit animationisfilm.com.

AIF 2024 Lineup at a Glance

Opening Night (Oct. 18)
The Colors Within (N. American premiere)
Boys Go to Jupiter

Centerpiece
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (N. American premiere)

Closing Night (Oct. 20)
Memoir of a Snail (L.A. Premiere)

Additional Titles in Competition:
Flow
Ghost Cat Anzu
Mononoke the Movie: Phantom in the Rain
Sultana’s Dream

Special Screenings
Miyazaki, Spirit of Nature (N. American premiere)
Redline (15th anniversary screening)
Over the Garden (10^th anniversary screening)

Studio panels & events
Inside Out 2
Moana 2
Transformers One
The Wild Robot
Yoppaman (work in progress)

Shorts
An Almost Christmas Story, Beautiful Men, A Crab in the Pool, Nube, Wander to Wonder, Yuck!, I Died in Irpin, In the Shadow of the Cypress, Maybe Elephants, Percebes and student showcase screenings from CalArts, USC, Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Fullerton.

Lineup is subject to change. See website for updates.