Until this year, the festival took place biannually, focusing on short and feature films, but this has changed because of the growing number of animated productions, Animafest producer Vjera Matkovic told reporters this past week.
This year, nearly the same number of films were submitted as for the biannual editions - 1,605 from 77 countries, including 83 feature films, she added.
This year, 17 Croatian films will compete in the festival.
The short film programme, with 38 productions selected from 758 submitted, remains the festival's central programme.
The event again features established and new animators, including Paul Driessen, Priit Parn, Theodor Ushev, Torill Kove, Riho Unt, Jalal Maghout, Allison Schulnik and Cezar Diaz Melendez.
The feature film competition will comprise eight selections, while the student programme will bring 43 selections out of nearly 700 submitted.
French animator Michel Ocelot will be a special guest of the event.
The festival will also mark the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland".
The films will be shown in the Europa, Tuskanac and Cineplexx Centar Kaptol cinemas.