Staff Report
“Animated Nights” is the theme of this year’s free summer film series sponsored by UCSB Arts & Lectures and the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts & Culture.
The series runs July 6 through Aug. 24, with outdoor showings on Friday evenings at 8:30 p.m. at the Courthouse Sunken Garden and indoor screenings at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays in UCSB Campbell Hall.
The series includes critically acclaimed and beloved animated movies, ranging from Academy Award-winning favorites to newly discovered gems.
The eight animated films to be shown are the “19th Animation Show of Shows,” “The Triplets of Belleville,” “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” “Ratatouille,” “The Iron Giant,” “Persepolis,” and “Loving Vincent.”
For courthouse screenings, patrons are invited to bring blankets or low-backed beach chairs (seats must be no more than six inches above the ground) and picnic dinners.
The schedule of films is:
19th Animation Show of Shows; July 6 at the courthouse.
The “Animation Show of Shows” selects the best in animated short films from the world’s most renowned animation festivals.
The Triplets of Belleville; July 11 at UCSB, July 13 at the courthouse.
The film is a wildly inventive and highly original animated feature crowded with colorful characters and fantastic imagery.
Wallace and Gromit; July 18 at UCSB, July 20 at the courthouse.
The duo’s latest business venture – a pest-control outfit called Anti-Pesto – is booming when Wallace and Gromit are hired to stop a giant rabbit from destroying the town’s crops.
Fantastic Mr. Fox; July 25 at UCSB, July 27 at the courthouse
Wes Anderson’s urbane Mr. Fox cannot resist returning to his sneaky, farm-raiding old ways and plots the greatest chicken heist the animal world has ever seen.
Ratatouille; Aug. 1 at UCSB
A rat named Remy (Patton Oswalt) dreams of becoming a renowned French chef who can create and enjoy culinary masterpieces to his heart’s delight.
The Iron Giant; Aug. 8 at UCSB, Aug. 10 at the courthouse
An inquisitive young boy named Hogarth Hughes forms a powerful friendship with a gentle robot visitor from outer space.
Persepolis; Aug. 15 at UCSB, Aug. 17 at the courthouse
Based on Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel about her life in pre and post-revolutionary Iran and then in Europe, the French-Iranian animated film traces Satrapi’s growth from a precocious and outspoken 9-year-old to a rebellious, punk-loving teenager in Iran.
Loving Vincent; Aug. 22 at UCSB, Aug. 24 at the courthouse
The world’s first fully oil-painted feature film, this biopic examines the life and controversial death of Vincent Van Gogh, told by his paintings and by the characters that inhabit them.
For more information, call UCSB Arts & Lectures at 805-893-3535 or go to www.artsandlectures.ucsb.edu.
