RTX at Home Announces Animation Festival

Rooster Teeth lives online, that's for sure. The Austin-based nerdtastic media mini-empire has always been a streaming pioneer, and now it's taking its annual gathering of the fans, RTX, online for a second year. Today's opening announcement? The full lineup for the Animation Festival, its celebration of all things cartoony.

As streaming experts, the team at Rooster Teeth were better positioned than many festival organizers to make the jump to the virtual space last year (even if there was still a lot to the transfer from in-person to online). That could explain how they managed 1.77 million views over all platforms during the 11 day fest. For the second year in a row, RTX stays virtual, with the full fest running July 8-17, and the Animation Festival happening within that, July 9-16.

Obviously, the event concentrates on Rooster Teeth properties, with previews for the upcoming season of fan favorite action fantasy RWBY, the new season of Red Vs. Blue: Zero, a glimpse at season two of gen:LOCK (the star-studded mecha anime developed by Rooster Teeth and currently streaming on HBO Max), and a look at RT's new anthology show, Neon Konbini, which debuts today. However, the focus does pull out to broader issues, such as a panel hosted by industry nonprofit Women in Animation.

Here's the full line-up for the animation strand: expect the full festival schedule soon.

July 9

Noon: RWBY Volume 9 A preview of the upcoming season of Rooster Teeth's monster success American anime, RWBY, with writers and directors Kerry Shawcross, Eddy Rivas, and Miles Luna, Supervising Producer Laura Yates, and lead voice actresses Lindsay Jones (Ruby Rose), Kara Eberle (Weiss Schnee), Arryn Zech (Blake Belladonna), and Barbara Dunkelman (Yang Xiao Long).

4pm: WEBTOON: Webcomic to Animation with Annie LaHue.

July 10

Noon: The Animated Adventures Panel of Adventure focusing on RTAA, Achievement Hunter Animated, and Face Jam Animated!

1pm: From Art to Story: Story Artists in Animation Elizabeth Ito (creator, Netflix's City of Ghosts), Emi Yonemura (director and board artist for Crunchyroll Original Onyx Equinox) Dan Duncan (supervising director, gen:LOCK season 2) and Cecilia Aranovich (supervising director Harley Quinn) in conversation with Rooster Teeth Animation Director Yssa Badiola (Recorded by Arizal).

2pm Neon Konbini A look at RT's new anthology series.

July 12

1pm RWBY Beyond: Beyond the new episodes, with a look at new tie-ins, video games, toys, and more.

3pm: Women in Animation A conversation with industry leaders from the Women in Animation non-profit.

4pm: RTX Virtual Cosplay Contest What's RTX without cosplay? Prizes for Best Re-Creation, Best Original Design, Best Workmanship, Best Prop Skills, and the Overall 2021 Winner.

July 13

1pm Red vs. Blue: Zero A cast-and-crew look behind the new era for the original RT animated show.

4pm The Ship-it Show LIVE Ah, the bane of fandom gets a friendly makeover as Tara Strong and Greg Cipes bring professionals and fan together to celebrate shipping.

July 15

2pm: A Decade of Death Battle Wiz and Boomstick look back on past and forward to the future of the fantasy fight matchup show.

July 16

3pm Recreyo LIVE The freeform not-quite-a-roleplaying-game.

Plus, for the major fans, RTX is now taking bookings for virtualized meet-and-greets and personalized video messages from Rooster Teeth regulars including Gustavo Sorola, Blaine Gibson, and more. They're available for RT First members exclusively until May 29, and then open up to the general public.

RSVP at rtxevent.com now.