The full title of this event is
celebrating a world of animation for kids
Blurb from the Sydney Opera House: In need of an escape from the Summer sun? Join us for the return of the London International Animation Festival for kids. Our Playhouse has been transformed into a cinema for you and the family to enjoy the best independent animation from across the globe. From stop-motion, claymation, 2D and 3D CGI and everything in between, get comfy in your seats and ready to travel to faraway lands and mysterious planets. Grab some popcorn and get involved in the fun free foyer animation play activations before or after your movie session as we roll out the red carpet for this big screen celebration. This carefully curated programme for our littlest film critics contains the most wonderful animated short films from all around the world. There will be talking animals, heartwarming friendships, fun adventures and wondrous tales to spark everyone's imagination.
Let's unpack this - International - yes - there are films from France, Hungary, UK, Japan, Slovenia/Croatia, Belgium, Germany, USA, Russia, New Zealand, and Lithuania. Celebrating the world - no - Who is missing? There were no films from Australia this year but we do have talented animators as evidenced by the new film release of Magic Beach. There was only one film from South America, and only one from Japan with none from other parts of from Asia. Also nothing from Middle Eastern Countries. I mention them because in past years the Opera House hosted a brilliant film festival for kids called "Little Big Shots" and some of the best short films (live action and animation) at that event were from Iran and Afghanistan. Sadly, I think "Little Big Shots" has now closed but it did run for more than ten years especially in Melbourne.
I was also surprised most of the films were made before 2020. I wonder if this an older selection on loan by the Opera House from the UK Festival. I did read that in the UK The London International Animation Festival screens around 300 independent animated films of every technique, style and genre across London venues for 10 days from late November to early December every year for all ages including a children's selection.
Anyway, putting all of that aside I did thoroughly enjoy the nine films in the section designed for children aged 6-10. Many also have fabulous music to accompany these mostly 'silent' stories.
Tickets and session times here (17-19 January 2025). Over the three days, four sessions are available per day
- 10am & 12pm: Recommended for ages 2 - 6
- 2.30pm & 4.30pm: Recommended for ages 6 - 10
- 7pm: Recommended for ages 10 - 14
Here are the films I saw for ages 6-10 from the 2025 event:
- Spring Jam is based on birds and music and especially Brandenburg' Concerto no. 4 in G major.
- Hedgehog (this is the whole film on YouTube) is a very poignant film featuring a young boy who loved hedgehogs but who had a very dysfunctional and even violent home situation.
- Gunpowder (trailer) (whole film here) is actually about tea - Phileas travels to China to find some tea and while he is there he encounters a very dangerous dragon.
- Good Heart features a cave family where mum seems to do all the tasks. Finally, everyone has to move into the cave to escape the rain.
- In Cat Lake City (trailer) a mother duck and her two ducklings keep taking over her towel when all she wants to do is to lie beside the swimming pool.
- Senses sets up two scenes side by side - one full of colour and the other black and white. Everything is okay until a brightly coloured and slightly crazy frog arrives.
- How much does the cloud Weight was an interesting silent film with a terrific twist in the final scene.
- Mr Night has a Day off is a clever exploration of night and day. When Night touches things they turn black. We all laughed when he touched a small blue car and it turned into a very large black car!
You can see the 2024 selection here. If this topic interests you here is the 2023 kids event held in London.
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