Top 5: Family-Friendly Events at Manchester Animation Festival 2023
8 November 2023
Manchester Animation Festival 2023 is the perfect place to take your family for a day out – with everything from screenings of BBC family favourites to an adaptation of Michael Morpungo’s Kensuke’s Kingdom, there’s something for everyone. Plus, with workshops and screenings galore, your family is sure to get a hands-on experience they’ll remember for years to come.
The family-friendly events listed below allow aspiring animators to get their first hands-on exposure to animating or seeing people their own age create animations that, in turn, can inspire them to do the same. The festival’s various workshops have a big hand in this; allowing families to try stop-motion animation, both with claymation and Lego.
As well as that, MAF’s Family Day also hosts the Young Animator of the Year Awards, allowing children to see people their own age creating animated works and not letting them feel held back by their age. Overall, MAF’s Family Day proves that anyone can be an animator. It’s full of activities for everyone – so let’s take a look at some of them.
BBC Family Box Set
The BBC Family Box Set is a perfect place to start MAF’s Family Day. It’s the first activity on the roster and consists of an hour-long package of various episodes from classic and family-favourite BBC shows. Rest assured, there’s something for everyone here.
This showing is a perfect way to get your kids prepared for a day full of animation fun. It’s also a nice way to get little ones excited about animation and pique their interest before moving on to workshops, award ceremonies and screenings of new short films. In this screening, Hey Duggee and Monster Loving Maniacs make a reappearance following last year’s festival and so does Boy, Girl, Dog, Cat, Mouse, Cheese. This showing also includes the first episode of Ninja Express and episodes of Colour Block, Bluey and Supertato, and other beloved BBC cartoons. The screening starts at 9 am, giving you plenty of time to make your way to the lovely HOME cinema where it’s being hosted. HOME itself offers space for pushchairs (and space to store them) as well as baby changing facilities on its first and ground floors.
This Family Box Set also allows older animation fans to re-experience their love for animation through nostalgia for beloved BBC shows, as well as some that have a new adult fanbase like Bluey. It’s also a perfect way to introduce your kids to new cartoons from the BBC that they haven’t watched before in an exciting environment.
Short Films for Children
Next up, we have a Short Film for Children screening which runs 20 minutes after the BBC Box Set ends so if you want to catch both, it’s good to know you’ll have plenty of time for snacks, drinks or even a bathroom break. If your children are neurodivergent or have access needs that would benefit from a more relaxed screening environment, that’s offered too and starts 10 minutes later at 10.30 am. These relaxed screenings are designed to allow everyone in the family the opportunity to enjoy the short films on offer.
The screening features seven different shorts and is repeated again on Wednesday if you don’t manage to catch it on MAF’s Family Day. The films being shown are Town Hall Square, Snif & Snüf, The Day I Became a Bird, Dewmini, Head in the Clouds, Flutter, and Peter and the Wolf. These short but delightful films are sure to be a treat for all ages.
What’s more, the variety of stories and animation styles provide something for everyone, from the CG animation of Head in the Clouds – which follows a daydreaming girl who literally has her head in the clouds and is determined to keep it there – to the digital 2D animation of Snif & Snüf – the story of two delightful-looking characters discovering a new object and learning how to share. It’s a perfect activity for the whole family, whether you catch it on the Family Day in between workshops and activities, or later in the week.
Young Animator of the Year Award
Later on, we’re hosting the Young Animator of the Year awards. This event celebrates the submissions into the competition and the super-talented young people who have emerged as 2023’s big winners. While this is primarily a celebration of the young people who have won this year’s competition (and anyone in your family who may have won) it’s also an opportunity for young people to see that their animation capabilities are not limited by their age.
This is a perfect opportunity to inspire any young people in your family to take up animation if they have a passion for it. It shows them that their age is not something to hold them back if they have a passion for animation and that they can still pursue their dreams.
It’s also a good place for anyone in the industry to see the full range of new talent emanating from young people and also get a sense of what’s coming up in the animation industry. It’s a positive atmosphere and celebrates where the animation industry is going and the next generation of animators.
Lego Stop Motion Workshop
In the afternoon, we have a hands-on stop-motion animation workshop using Lego. Using these familiar colourful blocks, it will help introduce a new skill and present kids’ creativity in a brand-new way. It’s also perfect to do after watching some of the earlier screenings, helping to get youngsters’ imaginations going and allowing them to act out their own stories and make them into actual animations.
For this activity, attendees get 90 minutes to make their own stop-motion animation using Lego figures, backdrops and an iPad to capture images and bring them to life. This activity is run twice during MAF’s Family Day, so if it overlaps with any showings you intend on viewing you can always visit a later session to not miss out on any of the fun. It’s ideal if you or your kids are interested in animation but you’re unsure if stop-motion is the right medium for you. It also gives you space to try it without having to purchase any of the necessary equipment.
It’ll give kids (and grown-ups) the chance to try out animation – specifically stop-motion – even if you’ve never experienced it before. Hosted in a friendly environment, families can show off their creative abilities and make animations with easy-to-use items and tablet software that they may not have at home.
Kensuke’s Kingdom
Kensuke’s Kingdom is an adaptation of the beloved children’s book by Michael Morpurgo and provides a colourful and touching way to end your time at MAF’s Family Day. It’s likely a story that you or your child know of or have read before but if you haven’t, that won’t stop this from being an enjoyable one to watch.
Using stunning visuals, the film tells the story of a boy called Michael who falls off his parent’s yacht during a storm with his dog and ends up washing up on a remote island. After struggling to find food and shelter, he becomes aware that someone is watching over him and eventually meets Kensuke. However, after being invited into his world, something begins to threaten this fragile kingdom and Kensuke’s remote island home.
This screening is repeated multiple times throughout the festival so if you’re unable to catch it at MAF’s Family Day you still have the chance to see this lovely adaptation on the big screen. The film has been lovingly created by Lupus Films, who you may be familiar with from projects like The Tiger Who Came To Tea, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt and The Snowman and the Snow Dog. The book tackles some slightly dark topics but is handled in a delicate way that’s still suitable for younger audiences.
Words by Alex Price.
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