AGI – John Musker, Leslie Iwerks, Juanio Guarnido, Sara Pichelli: these are just some of the guest stars of this year’s edition of Cartoons On The Bay, the international festival of animation, transmedia and meta arts promoted by Rai and organized by Rai Com is scheduled in Pescara from 29 May to 2 June.
Yesterday the presentation press conference at the Rai headquarters in Viale Mazzini, present among others, with the artistic director of the festival Roberto Genovesi and the top management of Rai Com (the president Claudia Mazzola and the managing director Sergio Santo), the governor of Abruzzo, Marco Marsilio, the director of Rai Kids, Luca Milano, the director of RaiPlay, Elena Capparelli, the director of Radio2 Rai, Simona Sala, the head of the Department for Sport of the Prime Minister’s Office, Flavio Siniscalchi. The poster of this 28th edition is entrusted to the illustrator and designer Silvia Ziche and her character Lucrezia.
There are more than 300 works in competition from almost fifty countries that will compete for the prestigious Pulcinella Awards. Sport will be the theme of the year to celebrate the upcoming Paris Olympics, while Spain, the host nation, will be the protagonist in collaboration with the Instituto Cervantes.
And Cartoons On The Bay increasingly becomes a Rai festival, given the collaboration of the main partners Rai Kids, RaiPlay, Rai Radio Kids, Rai Radio 2 and Rai Libri. Over one hundred guests including directors, producers, artists and managers from the world of animation will take turns at the Aurum in Pescara for three days of panels, key notes and masterclasses while concerts by Antonella Ruggiero, Emanuela Pacotto and the Ensemble of the Santa Cecilia Conservatory.
The latter will feature some of the most famous theme songs from the cartoon series. And there will also be the national premiere for the film ‘The Animal Kingdom’ by Thomas Cailley, winner of five Ce’sar awards. The festival is organized in collaboration with the Abruzzo Region, the Municipality of Pescara and the Minister for Sport and Youth through the Department for Sport.
Meetings with the great masters of animation, with their art and their projects, will be at the center of the professional program. Cartoons on the Bay is therefore ready to celebrate 40 years of animation by director John Musker (“The Little Mermaid”, “Aladdin”, among the two works) who will receive the Pulcinella Award for Lifetime Achievement; the talent of the director and producer Leslie Iwerks (“Recycled Life”) and the cartoonist Juanjo Guarnido (“Blacksad”), both of whom will be honored with the Pulcinella Special Award.
Sara Pichelli, one of the most appreciated Italian cartoonists in the world, will receive the Sergio Bonelli Award. The exhibition “Stefano Bessoni. Stop-motion and other inexact sciences” will be dedicated to the art of Stefano Bessoni, open to the public from 30 May to Saturday 1 June from 10am to 6pm. The mascots of the Olympic Games and Winter Paralympics Milan Cortina 2026, Tina and Milo. The Audience, Cinema and School programs are also rich. Along with the concerts, Piazza della Rinascita will host the live broadcast of “Il Ruggito del Coniglio” (Rai Radio 2) with Marco Presta and Antonello Dose.
The appointments with sport in the square, with the shows of Rai Radio Kids and Armando Traverso and the live shows of Rai No Name Radio are unmissable. Rai Kids will bring all the stars of Rai Yoyo to the stage, from Masha and the Bear to Pinocchio. Cineteatro Massimo will host screenings of the feature films in competition, the retrospective dedicated to John Musker as well as the preview of “The Animal Kingdom”. Furthermore, for three days students from primary and lower secondary classes will be guests of the festival to develop original educational paths.
Volleyball champion Andrea Lucchetta will also liven up the matches. In her speech, the president of Rai Com underlined that this festival not only rewards the excellence of animation, “it is fundamental for the search for new languages”, and explaining new trends and contributing to the production of content “is precisely part of the tasks of the service public”.
Mazzola also recalled that the so-called ninth art “has rightfully entered the great works. The cartoon market is not just a market for the little ones or just for the very young, it is not a niche phenomenon, and it is no coincidence that a The Uffizi hosts works from this sector.” In turn, the head of the Sports Department of Palazzo Chigi, in bringing the greetings of Minister Abodi (involved this morning in the Council of Ministers), highlighted that having chosen sport as the main theme “is a source of pride and pride for us. The historical moment in which this choice was made is auspicious”, given that for a few months sport has also been indicated in the Constitution as a factor and right which cannot be ignored. Siniscalchi recalled that in Italy 35% of young people do not practice sport or in any case stop it suddenly, and therefore an event like Cartoons which puts sport at the center has great relevance in the future.
“Sport and culture must be increasingly connected to each other. Sport – added Siniscalchi – lends itself well to being represented through animation. Sport is an extraordinary vehicle of positive values, starting with that of inclusion. The minister has believed in this edition from the beginning and we hope that in the future the attention for sport will remain high, which can be a driving force for many other initiatives”. For artistic director Genovesi, this is “one of the best editions we can offer to the public and professionals, thanks to a staff of the highest level”.
And it was started – as governor Marsilio himself confirmed – “a great project with Abruzzo which becomes more important every year”. Genovesi also expressed thanks to Minister Abodi for his patronage and financial support, and underlined that for the first time Rai Libri will also be there.
