{"id":786782,"date":"2026-09-29T21:54:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T21:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/786782\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T21:54:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T21:54:12","slug":"varietys-pixels-and-pencils-2026-brad-bird-travis-knight-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/786782\/","title":{"rendered":"Variety’s Pixels and Pencils 2026: Brad Bird, Travis Knight and More"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tVariety\u2019s \u201cPixels and Pencils\u201d panel returns to the SCAD Savannah Film Festival<\/a> for a fifth year, spotlighting the directors behind the year\u2019s standout animated features.<\/p>\n

\n\tSix filmmakers will join this year\u2019s conversation which include: Brad Bird for Netflix\u2019s \u201cRay Gunn<\/a>\u201d; Daniel Chong for Pixar\u2019s \u201cHoppers\u201d; Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado for DreamWorks Animation\u2019s \u201cForgotten Island\u201d; Travis Knight for Laika\u2019s \u201cWildwood<\/a>\u201d; and Leah Nelson for Independent Film Company\u2019s \u201cTangles<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCrawford returns four years after appearing on the inaugural 2022 panel with \u201cPuss in Boots: The Last Wish.\u201d He is only the second filmmaker invited back, following Domee Shi, who appeared in 2022 with \u201cTurning Red\u201d and again in 2025 with \u201cElio.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn four editions, the panel has become an essential stop for animated contenders on the road to the Oscars. Four of the five best animated feature nominees at the 98th Academy Awards came through the 2025 lineup, led by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, whose Netflix phenomenon \u201cKPop Demon Hunters\u201d went on to win the category. They shared the stage with Ugo Bienvenu (\u201cArco\u201d), Shi (\u201cElio\u201d) and Ma\u00eflys Vallade (\u201cLittle Am\u00e9lie or the Character of Rain\u201d).<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 2024 panel featured eventual winner \u201cFlow\u201d alongside fellow nominees \u201cInside Out 2,\u201d \u201cMemoir of a Snail\u201d and \u201cThe Wild Robot.\u201d In 2023, Peter Sohn (\u201cElemental\u201d); Nick Bruno and Troy Quane (\u201cNimona\u201d); and Joaquim Dos Santos, Justin K. Thompson and Kemp Powers (\u201cSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse\u201d) all launched Oscar-nominated runs from the Savannah stage. The inaugural 2022 edition set the template with three eventual nominees: Crawford, Dean Fleischer Camp (\u201cMarcel the Shell With Shoes On\u201d) and Shi.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis strengthens the relationship and expands the partnership between Variety and SCAD, following the hosting of the 2026 class of 10 Animators to Watch at SCAD AnimationFest at its Atlanta campus earlier this month.<\/p>\n

\n\tVariety will also present its fifth annual 10 Artisans to Watch at the festival, honoring standout talent in cinematography, costume design, editing, hair and makeup, production design, sound editing and design and visual effects. Jazz Tangcay, Variety\u2019s senior artisans editor, will moderate that conversation.<\/p>\n

\n\tPresented by the Savannah College of Art and Design, the SCAD Savannah Film Festival draws more than 63,000 attendees over eight days, showcasing work from award-winning professionals and emerging student filmmakers alike.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe festival\u2019s 29th edition runs Oct. 24-31. Festival passes for the 2026 SCAD Savannah Film Festival are on sale now. Individual event tickets go on sale Friday, Oct. 2.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe full \u201cPixels and Pencils\u201d lineup:<\/p>\n

Brad Bird: \u201cRay Gunn\u201d (Netflix)<\/p>\n

Daniel Chong: \u201cHoppers\u201d (Pixar)<\/p>\n

Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado: \u201cForgotten Island\u201d (DreamWorks Animation)<\/p>\n

Travis Knight: \u201cWildwood\u201d (Laika)<\/p>\n

Leah Nelson: \u201cTangles\u201d (Independent Film Company)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Variety\u2019s \u201cPixels and Pencils\u201d panel returns to the SCAD Savannah Film Festival for a fifth year, spotlighting the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":786783,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[96,2839,221883,259165,259166,56,54,55,97207],"class_list":["post-786782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-ray-gunn","tag-scad-savannah-film-festival","tag-tangles","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wildwood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=786782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/786783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}