Hamill to Judge Nicktoons Film Festival

If you want to win the second-annual “Nextoons: The Nicktoons Film Festival,” you’d better be ready to impress Luke Skywalker.

Mark Hamill will judge Nickelodeon's 24-hour animation network’s on-air animated film festival, Nicktoons said Thursday.

“The week-long festival showcases the diversity of independent animated filmmaking and features original animation shorts submitted by independent cartoon filmmakers around the globe,” the network added.

Hamill joins: Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, co-creators of Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender; Mike Gabriel, Academy Award-nominee for best animated short and director of Walt Disney Productions' Lorenzo; and Elizabeth Ito, last year's Nextoons “Producer's Choice Award” winner.

“We are excited to have Mark Hamill join our acclaimed slate of judges for Nextoons," Nicktoons general manager Keith Dawkins said in a prepared statement. "With this next film festival, we look forward to again celebrating the talented pool of animated filmmakers from around the world."