Film fans will be taken on animated journeys this weekend at the eighth Red Stick International Animation Film Festival at the Manship Theatre.
To kick off the festival, 2012 Academy Award-nominated animated short films will be screened Friday night, including the Oscar-winning “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.”
Festival director Stephen Beck said he is most excited for “Lessmore,” which was produced by Shreveport’s Moonbot Studios.
“It’s an absolutely fabulous film,” he said. The fantasy film features Mr. Morris Lessmore, who gets blown away by a storm with his flying books.
Cartoon-A-Palooza will be held Saturday afternoon at the Shaw Center for the Art’s plaza from 3 to 6 p.m. The family-friendly event will include carnival games, face painting, balloon artists, caricature artists and more.
“[We’re] trying to get kids interested in animation,” Beck said. The festival will show the 23 finalists’ animated videos Saturday, following a screening of Disney’s “Tangled Ever After,” a sequel short to the feature film “Tangled.”
“Best of the Fest” is divided into four categories: animated professional, student, experimental and music videos. There were entries from 30 different countries, according to Beck. The winner from each category will receive a $1,000 prize, and the Best-in-Show winner will also receive a prize of $1,000.
“Brave,” Disney/Pixar’s newest film to be released June 22, will be prescreened Sunday.
“[Baton Rouge is one of] five places in the whole world that will be doing a prescreening. One of them is a Pixar party,” Beck said.
Though festival attendance is free, all 320 seats in the Manship Theatre have already been reserved for each night.
 
____ Contact Danielle Kelley at [email protected]