As Toons are arriving back home after the long weekend, the sun has set on ToonFest Columbus. With the conclusion of this December’s most Toontastic event, it’s time to skate right into an in-depth retrospective on all the happenings at ToonFest Columbus at GalaxyCon!

A Pre-Party of Toony Proportions 

Just like ToonFest: The Great Fanfair, we kicked things off just a tad early with the Tooniest holiday party ever! Attendees mix and a-mingled with one another at our Meet and Greet, as well as Toontown Team Members and Toontown Partners!

 From icebreakers to coloring pages, there was plenty to be excited about. Even Toon Council President Flippy made an appearance, giving a warm welcome to those who attended despite the chilly winter weather. 

Day One: Questions and Creations

Nothing quite compares to the exhilarating experience of walking underneath the ToonFest arch and immersing yourself in the in-person adaptation of Toontown! As the GalaxyCon doors opened, Toons came flooding in, prepared to partake in all the festivities over the weekend. There to welcome them, Flippy and Flunky– who seemed to be on his best behavior– enjoyed a few rounds of Photo Fun. 

As the initial excitement dispersed, so did our Toons! Attendees took out their Portable Holes and teleported to the Hero Stage for our Q&A with the Toontown Team. Panelists Joey, June, John, Susie, and Tony answered the crowd’s burning questions. Did’ya hear that the Under New Management development team once considered having the Cog Disguise upgrades unlock harder versions of bosses? What about how the Clear Coasts team is actively thinking about methods of progression, whether that’s a new gag track or an alternative route. 

At ToonFest, we always have a few surprises up our sleeves. The first to be unveiled was our partnership with Makeship! We’re bringing 2 beloved Toontown characters to life. Soon, you’ll be able to order your very own plushie of Doctor Surlee, as well as a mystery character yet to be revealed. All proceeds from this campaign will be donated to charity. Toontown Rewritten will not receive any profit from our work with Makeship. 

Our final panel of the evening, Backstage Toontown: Creating Brand Art, demonstrated the talent and skill of our amazing Brand Artists. Led by Ellie, June, and Little, this panel taught attendees the processes of how brand art is developed. From thumbnails and redlining to rendering a piece, working on brand art is a serious undertaking, with alterations and new ideas around every corner. 

Brand art is a crucial element of Toontown Rewritten, as it’s used for all sorts of things. For example, Toontown Trading Cards and postcards are all created by Brand Artists! Many blog post images also feature our brand art. It’s truly a staple in how Toontown Rewritten is presented! 

Day Two: Fireside Chats, Fashion, and Fun!

The second day of ToonFest started promptly with a few rounds of Fish Bingo, a fan-favorite activity that sends lucky Toons home with various Toontown goodies. 

As the most anticipated event of the weekend had finally arrived, Toons raced toward the Hero Stage, lining up for Toontown: a Chat with Jesse Schell. Alongside Toontown’s Creative Director, Joey, Jesse walked through various aspects of the creation and inspiration of how Toontown came to be. 

Did you know that Schell Games was created so that Jesse could do contracting work and design trading cards for Disney? Nearly all of the original Toontown Online trading cards were written by Jesse Schell. It’s because of all of his hard work that the Toontown Team decided to commemorate Jesse into the Toontown lore canonically. We revealed our surprise Jaymo trading card, a depiction of Jesse Schell’s original Toon. 

After the panel concluded, attendees were found lined up at the ToonFest booth to take photos and get their new trading card autographed by Jaymo himself!

Dressed to the nines, Toons marched toward the ToonFest booth wearing their most creative costumes for the Cosplay Cavalcade! Even some Cogs participated – an unusual sight, to say the least. 

While this was surely Toontown’s greatest fashion show, only 3 people could take the gold. Congratulations to Kellin, Katie, and Ben! 

Toontown’s silliest panel to date has come back for round two at ToonFest Columbus! Funny Feud returned, eliciting Laffter and ‘good answer!’s from the audience as Team Kooky and Team Zany battled it out to be crowned this ToonFest’s Funny Feud champions! 

This competition left everyone on the edge of their seat. The fight cut down to the wire, but only one could win! Congratulations to Team Kooky! 

Day Three: Stories, Sleuths, and Pies

Embarking on the final day of ToonFest, Toons filed into the booth with fishing rods in hand, ready to compete head-to-head to win Toontown prizes in Fish Bingo! 

We observed some top tier fishing skills. Some fishermen even caught two fish on one line– we didn’t know that was possible! I wonder what Fisherman Freddie would say if he were here to witness it… 

As the fish began to migrate back to Toontown, attendees migrated toward the Hero Stage for our final panel of the weekend, Backstage Toontown: ToonTales. Diving into never before heard Toontown stories, panelists Danny, June, John, Ellie, and Tony guided us through 4 tales of Toontown legend. 

From the transition from alpha to closed beta to open beta, Toontown has grown so much, especially when you take into consideration that a bunch of teenagers were running it at its start! From dealing with technical difficulties at the ToonFest booth (especially during the Under New Management update) to the stress of getting in contact with a foreign company tasked with printing our first lenticular Fissiontons trading card, this panel was nothing short of electrifying. Every Toon was certainly on the edge of their seat for more. 

We did some thorough searching through our inventory and, on the topic of the Fissiontons, attendees of the panel got to leave with the Fissiontons trading card in hand! 

Toons both attending ToonFest and enjoying the activities from home put on their sleuthing hat! Samantha Spade’s Scavenger Hunt put each Toon to the test, decoding 6 hints to find the correct Toons to speak to, as well as the correct SpeedChat phrase to say to them. If all went accordingly, players would be given a code word to type into their Schticker Books. At the ToonFest booth, those who decoded the secret expression won exclusive Toontown merchandise, such as ToonFest Columbus socks and code cards for previous ToonFests’ attendee items. Congratulations to everyone who cracked Spade’s code! If you haven’t yet, worry not! You have until December 19th. Click here to learn more! 

Per Toontown’s most famous tradition, The Great Toontown Pie Toss marked the grand finale of ToonFest Columbus. No Toon was harmed in the making of this pie toss – although perhaps we bruised the egos of the pie toss victims, Max, Brie, Roe, and Kaylee!

While the pie toss happened indoors this time around, that didn’t stop the pies from flying! Toons took the phrase, “let them eat cake!” and ran with it, sending this ToonFest’s pie toss participants to their hotel in a whiteout! 

If you weren’t able to join the festivities in person, fear not! Keep an eye out on our Youtube channel! We’ll have official recordings of our panels coming soon! 

Of course, we’d like to give a huge thank you to the Toontown community. Whether at home or in person, everyone came together to make ToonFest and PartnerFest a marvelous experience. The love and care we all have for this game is immeasurable and extends across generations. It’s because of YOU that all of this is possible.

The page is turning from ToonFest Columbus, but the journey continues! ToonFest Orlando is on the horizon, and we’re skyrocketing towards it! Until next time…

Are YOU Toon enough?