‘Animation Academy’ Exhibit Offers Interactive Cartoon History at Comic-Con Museum

Childhood memories will come flooding back to visitors checking out the newest exhibits at the Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park.

“The Animation Academy – from Pencils to Pixels” and “Cover Story: Five Decades of Comic Con” will open to the public Saturday offering a fun and interactive display of the history of animation and San Diego’s popular Comic-Con International.

The “Animation Academy” exhibit tracks the history of animation, from the use of hand-drawn cels to more modern methods, including stop-motion and the use of revolutionary 3D printing and computer animation that make characters come to life.

Those characters seize the spotlight throughout the exhibit, with displays featuring Felix the Cat, one of the first popular animated characters, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Woody Woodpecker and more, including social-media friendly items like a life-sized Gumby statue, a cutout of the Scooby Doo Mystery Van and a statue of Kung Fu Panda.

The nostalgia is heavy at a video display on Saturday Morning Memories that takes viewers on a journey through four decades of cartoons, from The Flintstones to Schoolhouse Rock.

There are plenty of educational displays explaining how animation gets made, showing equipment used in their production and stories of the animators who created popular characters and the places they worked, like Termite Terrace, the nickname for the old Sunset Boulevard location in Hollywood were the legendary Looney Tunes cartoons were created.

But the exhibit won’t only charm wistful adults. Several displays are interactive, allowing children to learn about animation with the push of a button or to actually draw and create their own artworks.

Among the highlights are a 6-foot zoetrope, a device that creates the illusion of motion by displaying a sequence of drawings or photographs. In this exhibit, the zoetrope has figurines of characters like Homer Simpson, Gumby, Felix the Cat and the Pink Panther. As it spins, the still figures seemingly come to life.

The “Cover Story” exhibit is less complex but equally spellbinding and evocative. It features covers of the souvenir program books for the annual Comic-Con, dating from a simple, small pamphlet announcing the very first Comic-Con in 1970 to the more colorful, elaborate covers produced by legendary artists like Jack Kirby, Will Eisner, Frank Miller and Alex Ross.

The new exhibits represent the continuing evolution of the Comic-Con Museum, which opened in 2021 and has so far featured exhibits on Spider-Man, Archie comics and “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry.

“Our second year at the Comic-Con Museum will bring more interactive features, historic art, guest artists and entertainment opportunities for all ages,” said Museum Executive Director Rita Vandergaw.

For Bill Farmer, a voice actor who for 36 years has voiced Goofy, Pluto and other characters, the “Animation Academy” exhibit allows fans to appreciate the people and the magic that goes on behind the scenes of their favorite animation.

“I hope people enjoy it,” said Farmer, who attended a special sneak preview of the exhibits on Friday and will attend Saturday’s opening.

“I’m just blown away by the exhibits and I think people will really get a kick out of it.”

For information on the museum’s hours and ticket prices, visit Comic-Con.org/Museum.