An event that brings the people behind some of the top animation characters is back in central Iowa this weekend.
GalaxyCon spokesman Justin Burkhardt says their Animate event also includes the first Nightmare Weekend with the characters from classic horror flicks. “We have cast reunions from Hocus Pocus, the Monster Squad, Friday the 13th, Invader Zim, Adventure Time and The Nightmare Before Christmas,” he says. “And in addition to that, we also have fantasy super cosplay wrestling, which is the galaxy’s number one cosplay wrestling organization.”
He says there’s a long list of stars that fans can meet. “Devin Sawa who’s in final destination. Some of the guys, C.J. Graham, who played Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th, Vanessa Shaw from hocus pocus. We got a lot of great guests this weekend. Judith. Hogg, who’s in Halloweentown. Henry Thomas from ET,” Burkhardt says. There’s also the people who bring animation to life. “You know Charles Martinet, who’s the voice of Mario from all the Mario video games, and the voice of Luigi. We have John DiMaggio, who is from Bender, from Futurama,” he says.
Things kick off today at 2 p.m. at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. Burkhardt says the events are geared toward kids and adults. “We have, you know, families that’ll bring their kids, because we have a kids cosplay competition. We’ll have adults. It’s for anyone we have a kids section there. So there’s a little kid zone where we have some coloring and some activity for the children as well,” Burkhardt says. “You’ll see everyone. I’ve seen babies dressed up at some of these events. There is no age range there. It’s not, you know, because it’s horror-themed. It’s not, you know, adult-themed, or anything that a lot of kids come out.”
Tickets for Animate!/Nightmare Weekend start at $40 and you can get them at the door or online at: galaxycon.com.