'Animationland' at the Children's Museum of Atlanta introduces the joys of animation

July 9th, 2024

The new exhibition “Animationland” is on view through Sept. 8 at Children's Museum of Atlanta. (Courtesy of Children's Museum of Atlanta)

An adventure behind the scenes in the art of animation awaits families at the Children’s Museum of Atlanta. The new exhibition “Animationland,” on view through Sept. 8, invites young and curious minds to discover, and even try their own hand at, the methods behind the magic of animation.

Children’s Museum of Atlanta’s director of exhibits and education Karen Kelly joined Lois Reitzes on “City Lights” to explain this fully interactive new experience.

According to Kelly, the experience features a myriad of ways to explore the medium of animation.

“One of them is where you get tiles related to a story and you create the story any way you want,” she said. “You slot it into a tab and then it animates the story you have just created, then the computer turns your story into a little video.”

Another favorite of hers is an area where families can create their own, personalized mini video.

“You can sit there as a family, create a story, and then get on the stage and do the story, and then the video will play back for you,” Kelly says.

The exhibition also features a Foley studio, allowing participants to create their own sound effects and then attach them to a pre-made story. Included in the exhibition is an area dedicated to stop-motion, “where you can put the characters out and then move them slowly and create your own little stop-motion video. Something like a ‘Wallace and Gromit,'” says Kelly.

“It’s fun to watch the adults kind of bringing out their inner child and creating characters and working with their [own] children; I see the fun and delight of going through the exhibit and having a great time — as an educator, it’s a great deal of fun to watch.”