Ballmasterz 9009, screening as part of RTX Animation Festival 2018 Credit: Image courtesy of Titmouse

Feeling strangely drawn to the RTX Austin festival taking place next month? That’s because the massive gathering of gamers and more has just dropped the lineup for its fest-within-a-fest, the RTX Animation Festival.

Last week, RTX (running across Downtown Austin Aug. 2-5) announced its nighttime scheduling, including The Weird Place (their collaboration with Santa Fe art weirdos Meow Wolf), and the return of horror-comedy feature film Blood Fest. Now, the animation festival has its lineup planned out. It’s a packed list of screenings and panels (open to all RTX attendees), including:

• Animation studio Titmouse founder and president Chris Prynoski will be setting up the projector for the Emmy-winning Niko and the Sword of Light (with showrunner Rob Hoegee in attendance, plus Ballmastrz: 9009 creator and director Christy Karacas on-hand.

• A Mondo Media panel, led by CEO Brendan Burch, with a big focus on Gary and His Demons, plus the Season 2 premiere of Turbo Fantasy.

• Excitement for Transformers fans, as Machinima screens the final chapter of the Transformers: Prime Wars trilogy, Transformers: Power of the Primes, with showrunner FJ DeSanto on-hand for a Q&A.

That’s just the start, with a list of confirmed panelists and special guests including: sardonic cartoon collective Cyanide & Happiness; the film lovers, haters, and mockers of How It Should Have Ended; last year’s special guests, the massively influential Frederator (The Fairly OddParents, Adventure Time); stop-motion experimentalist Kirsten LePore; UK-based conservators of weirdness Mashed; Studio Yotta (responsible for that awesome Rick and Morty/Run the Jewels collab), and many, many more.

RTX Austin 2018 runs August 3-5 at the Austin Convention Center and assorted Downtown venues. Tickets and passes are on sale now at www.rtxaustin.com.

This article appears in June 29 • 2018.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.