Animate the World

The Barbican's annual festival of animation is aimed at families with children aged 5-11, and this year there's a new strand, 'Animate Advanced', for adult animation fans. The festival features new and classic films and shorts from all over the world as well as a range of workshops which complement the themes and animation styles of the featured films. The first week is family-centered, and the opening screening this Saturday is the new animation, 'Monsters vs Aliens' (2009, Robe Letterman, Cert: PG). On Sunday families can join in with a sing-along showing of Disney modern classic 'Aladdin' (1992, Ron Clements, John Musker, Cert: U). At the workshops children can make an animation in a day or try out techniques such as claymation and Special FX. Booking advised. Next weekend's adult films include new features such as Bill Plympton's 'Idiots and Angels' (2008, Cert: 15), alongside recent releases such as 'Waltz with Bashir' (2008, Ari Folman, Cert: 18).