Annecy Film Festival lineup includes Frozen II, Chicken Run reunion & more!
Annecy Film Festival, the largest animation festival in the world, will be following in the footsteps of numerous others this year and be taking this year’s events online with special presentations including Frozen II, a Chicken Run reunion and stop-motion masterclass with director Henry Selick (Coraline), according to Variety.
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The festival is set to include some of the biggest studios and animated houses in the film and TV industry today, including Netflix, Disney, Sony, Cartoon Network Studios and Aardman, as well as some of the most celebrated filmmakers in the field. However its shift to an online festival has also resulted in the lack of any potential blockbusters making their world premiere, such as the Despicable Me movies, which debuted there in the past, though it’s believed other studios will join in the coming months.
Netflix’s presentation will feature a masterclass in stop-motion from the legendary Henry Selick, the man behind the beloved 1993 fantasy musical The Nightmare Before Christmas and Laika adaptation of the Neil Gaiman novel Coraline, amongst others. Selick will be joined by frequent collaborator, Bruno Coulais, who has composed a number of the 67-year-old writer/director’s projects including Coraline and the upcoming Wendell & Wild starring Jordan Peele (Us) and Keegan-Michael Key (All the Bright Places). The streaming service will also unveil a making-of first look at the upcoming Animal Crackers with directors Tony Bancroft and Scott Christian Sava exploring the journey in bringing the film to life.
After the film became a critical and box office runaway success last year, Disney will be diving back into the world of Frozen II with Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Chief Creative Officer Jennifer Lee and fellow director Chris Buck, who are offering a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the long-awaited sequel and the upcoming documentary series Into the Unknown: Making Frozen II, with the first episode set to be available on the festival’s platform on June 26.
Sony Pictures Animation will be offering fans an update on the highly-anticipated sci-fi comedy Connected, which hails from Oscar-winning producing team Phil Lord and Chris Miller and director Mike Rianda, who will all be joined by head of story Guillermo Martinez and production designer/lead character designer Lindsey Olivares.
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Cartoon Network Studios will host a special masterclass focusing on the art of storyboarding featuring artists from the channel’s classic series, including The Amazing World of Gumball‘s series director Mic Graves, Summer Camp Island creator Julia Pott, storyboard artist Alabaster Pizzo and Apple & Onion director Chuck Klein.
Three-time Oscar nominee Dean DeBlois, best known for writing and directing the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy for DreamWorks, will be hosting a masterclass with Variety’s Peter Debruge on Thursday, June 18. Classic British animation studio Aardman will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of its debut feature effort, Chicken Run, with a reunion between directors Peter Lord and Nick Park.
Other special presentations will include VR animation leader Baobab Studios debuting its latest immersive experience, Baba Yaga helmed by co-founder Eric Darnell and co-directed by Mathias Chelebourg, French filmmakers Nicolas Blies and Stéphane Hueber-Blies hosting a discussion on Sexual Violence in Animation, a masterclass hosted by iconic Disney directors Ron Clements and John Musker and the debut of the adaptation of the Franco-Belgian comic book series Yakari.
The online version of Annecy Film Festival is set to begin on June 15.
