"I received my incredible big pencil award yesterday, thank you so much! I'm incredibly happy and honoured, it has a special place in my room." ~ Michelle Brand, 2019 Golden Pencil Winner from the UK.

Sponsored by the "2D ACADEMY" and the "MY ANIMATOR'S SKETCHCLUB" network, the "DRAWTASTIC GOLDEN PENCIL AWARDS 2020-21" celebrates animation from all over the world - but has a core underlying mission is to honor, support and showcase traditional hand-drawn animation in an increasingly challenging digital age.

Founded in 2005 the inaugural festival was opened by the late, great ROY E. DISNEY, nephew of Walt. DRAWTASTIC has grown tenaciously ever since and is now hosted by the online "Museum of 2D Animation".

DRAWTASTIC has attracted major speaker visits by many of the top names in the industry - including twice Oscar-nominated TOMM MOORE, legendary Disney producer DON HAHN, 'Mulan' director BARRY COOK, industry legend RICHARD WILLIAMS, 2DFX & graphic novel genius MICHEL GAGNE and 'Simpsons' animator SILVIA POMPEI, among many others.

The highlight of the festival program is always the announcement and presentation of DRAWTASTIC's respected "Golden Pencil Awards". Pencils have been won by many talented animated filmmakers from all around the world.

Awards & Prizes

* All accepted films for online screening will receive a digital 'Laurel of Merit’ award.
* All category winners will receive a coveted 'Golden Pencil Award'.
* The ‘Roy E. Disney Award’ is occasionally presented to a person, or organization, the festival believes has made a significant contribution to the furtherance of traditional 2D animation in this digital age.

Rules & Terms

Films need to have been completed after January 1st 2017, unless otherwise stated in any particular category.

Submitted films must have all presentation rights cleared and approved for online and public screening by the festival organizers prior to their submission.

DRAWTASTIC accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any film screened on behalf of the festival that has not been previously approved.

All submitted films will pre-screened by the festival organizers for suitability and judging, prior to the event.

Should festival judges consider a film not suitable for the category it is entered into, they reserve the right to transfer that film to a more suitable category, or else withdraw it entirely.

Should there be less than 3 entries in any particular category, that category will be cancelled and any films entered into it will be assigned to another category if possible.

If the judges feel that none of the entries in any category do not achieve the "Golden Pencil Award" standard, then no award will be given. However, non award-winning films may still be screened at the festival regardless.

Golden Pencil Award-winning films will be announced in September 2020 and all finalist films screened online over the 4-day Thanksgiving weekend in November 2020. The "Museum of 2D Animation" reserves the right to privately screen all selected films to members only at any time after that.

Filmmakers will be informed 1 week ahead of the announcement of their winning film, so they have time to prepare social media promotion material that can coincide with the announcement. They are required not to announce their success however until DRAWTASTIC formally announces the results.

In addition to award winning films being screened on the DRAWTASTIC website, they will also can be privately screened at various not-for-profit school, community and library venues as part of the festival's pre-2021 festival promotional initiative.

Submitting filmmakers additionally agree that the festival may use stills and/or short video clips from their films for promotional purposes.

The festival organizers retain the right to modify any of these rules, should a need arise - although they will not do so until all festival entered filmmakers have been informed first.

Animators entering films for the 2020 event confirm their agreement to the rules by doing so.
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  • Joe Chang

    This is a very good film festival and I am honored to join it. Thank you for your contribution!

    November 2019
    Helpful
  • Han Zhang

    Thank you for supporting 2D animation!!!
    It is fantastic that the DRAWTASTICON blog was updated day by day, and introducing the film, filmmakers and production process.
    Very Good!

    March 2017
    Helpful
  • Paul Johnson

    Thanks to Tony for making the festival happen, Seattle is lucky to have him!

    March 2017
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  • Jason Zhang

    Great festival! It was a great honour to be given the award. Thank you!

    June 2016
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