'Animate!' started after GalaxyCon success, makes Raleigh debut
The creators of GalaxyCon, an annual summer convention of all things nerd, are back in Raleigh with their newest convention.
Animate! Raleigh starts Friday afternoon at the Raleigh Convention Center.
The con was started after the success of GalaxyCon in multiple cities across the country, according to GalaxyCon President and Founder, Mike Broder.
"We used to do Animate! in south Florida years ago when we had been doing SuperCon down there," Broder said. "When we did that, we retired the anime brand for a while. We retired it until we were going to bring back. It's a very good complimentary show to GalaxyCon."
Broder said Raleigh has become a second home for GalaxyCon faithful. Dana Snyder, one of the voice actors in attendance, will feel like specialty hotel for fans of the summer convention.
"If GalaxyCon is like the big Hilton, Animate! is like the boutique hotel," he said.
Broder said the GalaxyCon brought in over $8 million in economic impact to the city of Raleigh and had 55,000 people in attendance for the convention in 2023.
“We’ve grown the annual convention to the point where it’s now the biggest event in our series, which stretches across the country,” Broder said.
Broder said he expects the economic impact of Animate! Raleigh to be around $2 million.
"I think we're looking about 10,000 [or] 12,000 unique attendees," he explained. "I know we sold out our hotel rooms downtown. It's not as many as GalaxyCon, but I know we sold them out."
The full economic impact of Animate won't be known until organizers meet with city leaders to discuss, but Broder says he expects the conventions to grow.
"We are known in Raleigh, Columbus and Des Moines," Broder said. "We are looking at one other city, but we haven't pulled the trigger."
Voice actors reunion
Animate!, according to GalaxyCon organizers, celebrates all things animation from Spider-Man to Tinkerbell.
Snyder, most known for playing “Master Shake” in the Adult Swim show “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” said he treats the cons like opportunities to reconnect and catch up with fellow voice actors.
"We're all kinda friends," he explained. "So it's nice to see everyone and say hi to everyone and talk for 15 minutes."
Snyder said he is looking forward to seeing his ATHF costars, who he hasn't shared a stage with since "A south Florida show a long time ago."
"I think once or twice we've been at a show together," Snyder said.
Snyder will not be the only voice actor in attendance. Eric Vale from hit anime shows “My Hero Academia” and “One Piece” will also be at the convention all three days.
Here are more voice actors who will be in attendance.
- Max Mittleman - Saitama in One Punch Man, Sabito in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, and Plagg/Gimmi/Ivan Bruel/Minotaurox in Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir
- Robbie Daymond - Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Spider-Man Animated, River Ward in Cyberpunk 2077 & Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, Dorian Storm in Critical Role
- Ray Chase - Noctis Lucis Caelum/Wiz Forlane in Final Fantasy XV, B. Mitch Reed in Licorice Pizza, Ryomen Sukuna in Jujutsu Kaisen
- Paige O’Hara - Belle in Disney's Beauty And The Beast, Princess Aleta in The Legend Of Prince Valiant, Angela in Enchanted
- Richard White - Gaston in Disney's Beauty And The Beast, Gaston in House of Mouse, Whisper in King's Quest
- Nadji Jeter - Miles Morales/Spider-Man in Insomniac Games' "Spider-Man," "Spider-Man: Miles Morales" and "Spider-Man 2"
- Lindsay Jones - Ruby Rose in RWBY, Space Kid in Camp Camp, Kimball in Red vs. Blue
- Kara Eberle - Weiss Schnee in RWB
- Arryn Zech - Blake Belladonna in RWBY, Ashlynn in Honeymoon For One, Emily Grey in Red vs. Blue
- Barbara Dunkelman - Yang Xiao Long in RWBY, Nerris in Camp Camp, Cosmos in Fairy TailRoger Clark - Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption II, Sgt. Jack Griffin in Shellshock 2: Blood Trails, Additional Voices in Tactics Ogre: RebornRob Wiethoff -
- John Marston in Red Dead Redemption & Red Dead Redemption II, Lazarus in Codename Cygnus, Detective Fitzgerald in Double Tap, Turk in The Outside
- Stephanie Young - Nico Robin in One Piece. Sylvia Sherwood in Spy X Family, Nana Shimura in My Hero Academia
- David Errigo, Jr. - Ferb in Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe, Hamton J. Pig/Plucky Duck in Tiny Toons Looniversity
- Vincent Martella - Phineas Flynn in Phineas and Ferb, Greg Wuliger in Everybody Hates Chris, Artonius in Role Models
The convention will also have fan expos, actors and other celebrities. Fans are encouraged to cosplay their favorite characters for the convention, which lasts until Sunday.
Single-day and multi-day passes are still available for purchase.
