Nancy Phelps coverage of the animation festival circuit is both brilliant and entertaining.
Bill Plympton, Academy Award-nominated animator.
There has never been a book like this before: an animation festival travel book! Animation journalist Nancy Denney-Phelps documents more than 20 years of travel to festivals large and small around the world. If there was ever an expert on all the secrets of the animation world, Nancy is the one.
Signe Baumane, is a multi-award-winning Latvian animator, artist, illustrator and writer, currently living and working in New York City.
Among other things, several pages are dedicated to the beloved Krok and Irina Kaplichnya. Nancy is an amazing person, tireless traveller, involved in countless projects from creating the legendary Burning Man to working in ASIFA. This book is highly recommended to all animators!
Sergey Kapkov, animation critic and author.
Nancy Denney-Phelps brings to us the history of animation festivals over the previous 20 years. She has documented not just the films displayed but also the people and what makes each festival special, from Annecy, the world's oldest animation festival, to Beirut and the birth of the festival in Peja, Kosovo. An amazing experience that she generously shares with us throughout the book's pages.
Eliane Gordeeff is a Brazilian animator (known as Gordeeff), professor, researcher of animation, and collaborator researcher at CIEBA/FBAUL, Portugal.
Its a wonderful read for all of exciting news of festivals to add to your go-to-visit list. But dont forget to take notes on the travel experiences for sightseeing and restaurants along the way.
Dot Janson, ASIFA-San Francisco Newsletter, February 2025.
When animation know-it-all Nancy Denney-Phelps writes a book with stories and insights from twenty years of animation festival history, with front and back covers drawn by Joanna Quinn, you know youre in for a treat. Denney-Phelps lives and breathes animation. In this new book, she not only records the films and festivals attended, but also the people and what makes each festival unique.
KABOOM Animation Festival.
"By virtue of being told through such a personal lens, On The Animation Trail feels refreshingly informal whilst remaining informational throughout. An especially valuable quality of a book such as this is that it provides an answer to one of the most frequently asked questions from students and industry newcomers whats the point of festivals?"
Ben Mitchell, writing for Skwigly Online Animation Magazine.
"Each page of her book is filled with wanderlust; Nancy takes a marvelous dive into not only the splendor of animation and its festivals, but the magic of those brave enough to create the works of art these special events feature and celebrate."
Victoria Davis, writing for Animation World Network.
"The book delivers what it promises: an authentic and generous testimony of 20 years in a road movie book (as the author herself defines the book) on animation festivals, with many adventures through the eyes of an experienced person."
Eliane Gordeeff, writing for Zippy Frames.