Disney legend announced for Kilkenny Animated this October

This year’s Kilkenny Animated Festival will take place in Kilkenny City from October 4 to 6 and will feature a stellar lineup including Disney legend, Glen Keane.

Hosted by five-time Oscar ®nominated animation studio, Cartoon Saloon- whose 25th anniversary celebrations will form part of this year’s programme - BAFTA-winning Lighthouse Studios, and Schweppe Curtis Nunn Events, Kilkenny Animated is a celebration of the creativity and craft of animation set against the backdrop of medieval Kilkenny in the heart of Ireland’s Ancient East.

Among the first guests to be announced is Academy Award-winning director, Glen Keane. A 38-year veteran of Walt Disney Feature Animation, Glen created many beloved characters such as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Beast, Tarzan, and Rapunzel. Glen’s collaboration with John Williams and the late Kobe Bryant,Dear Basketball,received the 2018 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

Joining Keane is director and artist, Joanna Quinn, whose films have won numerous international awards, including four Baftas, three Emmys, and three Academy Award nominations. Joanna's uniquely memorable character, Beryl - who made her debut in Joanna's 1987 graduation film, Girls Night Out, has been the focus of three subsequent films. In 2022 the latest Beryl film, Affairs of the Art, earned Joanna and husband, Les Mills, an Academy Award nomination.

Emmy and BAFTA-winner, Les Mills is a writer and producer who first collaborated with wife, Joanna Quinn, on Girls Night Out, which went on to win three major awards at Annecy International Film Festival. Les went on to write and produce the next three Beryl films, along with Wife of Bath, for which he won a Bafta and an Emmy. In 2022, Les received the British Animation Awards Writers Award for Affairs of the Art.

For more programme updates and ticket release dates, be sure to check out Kilkenny Animated on Instagram and Facebook, or sign up to the newsletter over on kilkennyanimated.com

Kilkenny Animated is core funded by Fáilte Ireland and Kilkenny County Council and supported by Coimisiún na Meán and the Creative and Cultural Industries Skillnet.