KALAMAZOO ? A three-day pass can take its holder back through the fabled history of America?s cartoon legacy and forward to the future of the industry at the 2005 Kalamazoo Animation Festival International.

The event is scheduled for May 13-15 in downtown Kalamazoo. This year?s edition has attracted an Oscar winner as an entry in the competition.

During the long festival weekend, attendees can:

Meet Eric Goldberg, the veteran Disney animator whose credits include ?Aladdin,? ?Pocahontas? and ?Hercules?;

Hear how famed animator Chuck Jones created and gave the world his cadre of Looney Tunes characters;

Learn how two animators with Western Michigan University ties ? John Fountain and Kalamazoo native Brian Tindall — are knee-deep in the industry?s technology age in their duties at the Nickelodeon and PIXAR studios.

Get an inside look at how such successful animated features as ?The Incredibles,? ?Toy Story,? ?Monsters,? and ?Finding Nemo? make it from brainstorming to drawing board to the screen.

Experience a film festival targeted for both adults and children that includes eight screenings of the entries chosen as finalists in the 2005 KAFI competitions in which $15,000 in prize money is on the table.

Take part in professional-development seminars, training sessions for students, and a one-day conference for educators, all targeted to enhance animation skills, prep young people for careers, and use this creative medium as a tool for teaching.

Nearly all of these attractions are available for a $100 pass, $50 for students. Day passes are $40 and $20, respectively. Tickets for individual events are $10 and $5.

In addition to programs targeted for those who view animation as a profession and an art form, the 2005 KAFI offers plenty of free events for people who equate cartoons with fun and entertainment.

For example, scheduled for the State Theater are:

?Saturday Morning Cartoons,? an old-fashioned, big-screen, two-hour anthology of some of the Popeye classics featuring the spinach-loving sailor, girlfriend Olive Oyl, arch-rival Brutus, little Swee? Pea, and hamburger-eating J. Wellington Wimpy ? 10 a.m.

A Sunday-afternoon ?VeggieTales? sing-along as such characters as Larry the Cucumber, Bob the Tomato, and Laura the Carrot deliver moral, biblical and spiritual messages in animated parables ? 2 p.m.

A Friday-afternoon ?School?s Out? showing of the best of the children-oriented animated features that were entered in this year?s festival competition ? 3:45 p.m.

KAFI is organized by Kalamazoo Valley Community College (KVCC), its Center for New Media and the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, with the assistance of the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo and about 20 other supporting businesses and organizations.

All of the activities and events will be held in the museum, the new-media center, and KVCC?s Anna Whitten Hall, with the major screenings booked for the State Theater.

In the 2003 edition of KAFI, 330 student and professional animators from nine nations entered the juried festival. The entrants this May hail from 20 countries ? Australia, Ireland, Austria, Canada, Spain, China, South Korea, The Czech Republic, Scotland, Singapore, Russia, Pakistan, England, India, Uruguay, Kenya, Italy, Germany, France and the United States.

Of the nearly 500 entries, some 100 will be selected as finalists in the categories of competition. One of the Canadian entries won an Oscar for best animated short film at the most recent Academy Awards in Hollywood.

Ten teams from animation programs spanning North America will be engaging in a ?24/4? cartoon-creating competition prior to the convening of the third KAFI.

Entered in the 2005 ?Cartoon Challenge? are five-person teams from the Art Institute of Phoenix in Arizona, Max the Mutt Animation School in Toronto, Bowling Green State University in Ohio, the Illinois Institute of Art in Shaumburg, Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University in Grand Rapids (two), KVCC, Eastern Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Grand Valley State University, and San Jose State University in California.

The 10 teams will arrive at KVCC?s Center for New Media in downtown Kalamazoo on the Sunday preceding festival week and bivouac there. Beginning on the morning of Monday, May 9, their objective will be to conceive, script, design and produce a 15-to-30-second animated feature on a public-service topic over the next four days with the competition ending at 6 p.m. that Thursday as the festival opens.

The teams won?t know the topic until the competition begins. All of the materials, computers, software programs, and production equipment will be furnished at the Center for New Media. KVCC will provide sleeping accommodations and food to the teams that will choose their own work schedules to produce their animated spot.

For more details, click on KAFI.KVCC.edu