Nicktoons Hits The Road On Cross-Country Mobile Tour
Nicktoons Network, Nickelodeons 24-hour animation network, hits the open road this summer with the Nicktoons Network Mobile Tour, a five-city tour helping to celebrate its third annual NICKTOONS NETWORK ANIMATION FESTIVAL (NNAF).
Beginning Saturday, July 15, the five-city tour will drive cross-country in its branded Nicktoons Network Tour Truck stopping in New York, Boston, Detroit, Houston and Burbank for five consecutive weekends in a row. The tour will culminate at the Nicktoons Studios in Burbank, California, inaugurating the channels very first NICKTOONS NETWORK ANIMATION FESTIVAL two-day live event: Kids Day on Saturday, Aug. 12 and Creators Day on Sunday, Aug. 13 in which the festival will announce this years Student Award, Diversity Award and Producers Choice Award winners.
The Nicktoons Network Mobile Tour is a one-of-a-kind interactive experience for kids and animation fans alike and were excited to be bringing this event to cities across the country for the first time, said Keith Dawkins, vp/gm, Nicktoons Network. We are extremely thrilled to partner locally with our affiliates and provide them with this unique opportunity to connect with their customers.
The Nicktoons Network Mobile Tour will travel to the following cities:* New York/New Jersey on Saturday, July 15 Sunday, July 16* Boston on Saturday, July 22 Sunday, July 23* Detroit on Saturday, July 29 Sunday, July 30* Houston on Friday, Aug. 4 Sunday, Aug. 6* Burbank on Saturday, Aug. 12 Sunday, Aug. 13
Each stop will encompass three interactive play stations: * Animator Meet & Greet Fans can meet the animators that bring their favorite Nicktoons Network series to life and have their picture taken with Nicktoons characters via green screen. The photos will automatically be posted online and will be available for immediate download.
* The NICKTOONS NETWORK ANIMATION FESTIVAL: Tips and Tricks This station illustrates the building blocks of animation at various kiosks, including: the Sound Stage giving fans the chance to create their own sound effects to live video; the Art Studio teaching storyboard design from an actual KAPPA MIKEY storyboard, animation flip books and motion capture tutorial about The Making of Skyland; NNAF Video Wall featuring entries from previous festivals demonstrating different types of animation; and the Animation Browser allowing fans to play clips at different speeds showing frame by frame of how animation is created.
* Thumb Wrestling Competition Fans will be able to compete in thumb wrestling matches disguised as their favorite THUMB WRESTLING FEDERATION characters. Each match will be recorded so fans are able to download their personalized video which automatically enters them into the TWF Sweepstakes for a chance to win a guest thumb spot on Nicktoons Network.
The festival will premiere on-air and online Saturday, Aug. 26, through Thursday, Aug. 31.
Six highly esteemed judges, including: comedic brothers Shawn and Marlon Wayans, FAMILY GUY creator Seth MacFarlane, Disneys Andreas Deja, famed independent animator Bill Plympton and last year's Producers Choice and Student Award Winner JG Quintel will screen the films submitted and will rate them based on story, animation, design, entertainment value and fun factor, in order to find this years $10,000 Grand Prize winner, which will be revealed on air Thursday, Aug. 31.
Viewers can see which shorts have been selected for this years festival, view creator information and biographies and download the NNAF program at www.nicktoonsnetwork.com starting Aug. 1. Viewers can also watch the animated shorts and vote for their favorite submissions at www.nicktoonsnetwork.com from Saturday, Aug. 26 through Friday, Sept. 15. The NNAF Viewers Choice Award will be announced online Sept. 18.
Nicktoons Network offers a 24-hour schedule featuring animated programming. Nicktoons Network is a part of the MTV Networks expanded suite of channels available for digital distribution. The new channels include MTV Hits, MTV Jams, Nicktoons Network and VH1 Mega Hits, expanding and strengthening MTV Networks digital offerings to thirteen services. Nicktoons Network reaches 39 million homes via cable, digital cable and satellite, and can be seen on Cablevision, Charter Communications, Comcast Cable, Cox Communications, DirecTV, DISH Network and Time Warner Cable. Nicktoons is property of Viacom Inc.