The Kansas Children’s Discovery Center will host the nationally-traveling Animationland from May 19 to August 20, 2026! Animationland explores the art and science of animation with a behind-the-scenes look at the animation process. The exhibit is included in the cost of regular admission.

Developed and produced by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), Animationland offers a fully immersive, interactive exhibit where guests learn to incorporate animation skills into the creation process. This enables guests to understand the interplay that occurs between art and science and how they can apply those skills to tell their own stories in unique and dynamic ways. In order to create a fully immersive environment, OMSI collaborated with expert creative studio Jolby & Friends to develop original characters, illustrations, and animation.

In Animationland, visitors will:

• Step into a bright, irresistible entryway that welcomes visitors into an animation studio with work tables, sketches, studios, and inspiration everywhere!
• Star in your movie in Animationland’s Plan and Pose interactive experience.
• Explore a fantastical land where the funny, endearing characters Tracey the pencil dog and her crew, Rooth, Drop, Inky, Uno, and Kari, guide you through the art of storytelling.
• Learn the basic animation process with Tracy the pencil dog and her quirky friends, creating storyboards, shaping characters, and sharing your ideas.
• Play with a replica of an early animation tool – the mutoscope – and watch as a seemingly static story comes to life.
• Use a variety of noise-making tools to add sound effects to an original animation in Animationland’s Foley Studio.