Animation Learning Resources

Books - Library for free, Ebay/used for cheap. Support your local bookstore!
Movies - Hooplah or Kanopy apps, libraries, or streamers for a premium price.
  • 2D/Classical: The Lion King (‘94), The Iron Giant, Secret of Kells, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Aladdin, The Red Turtle, Lilo & Stitch, 101 Dalmatians
  • Stop-Motion: The Nightmare Before Christmas, ParaNorman, Coraline, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Shawn the Sheep, Chicken Run, Pinocchio
  • 3D: Inside Out, Tangled, How to Train your Dragon, The Peanuts Movie, Big Hero 6, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Toy Story 3, Zootopia, The Lego Movie, Encanto, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Turning Red, Frozen, Moana, Encanto, Kung Fu Panda, The Incredibles, Wreck-It Ralph
  • Hybrid: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Prince of Egypt, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The Little Prince, The Lion King (‘19)

YouTube
Websites/Resources
Apps & Programs
  • FlipAClip (Free digital flipbook program)
  • ProCreate (iPad drawing app, $$$)
  • Pencil2D (animation app)
  • Blender (free 3D program, many YouTube tutorials)
  • Gimp (free image editor) or Adobe Photoshop (paid) or Canva.com or Pixlr.com
  • Cinema4D (3D program, paid)
  • Mixamo  Free mocap library. Requites an Adobe account.

Habits
  • Draw every day! Make stick-figure flipbooks in the corners of your sketchbook, or stapled scratch-paper
  • Draw as you watch your favorite animated movies or videos.
  • Trace pictures of characters you like from books or tablets.
  • Make your own characters and write your own stories. Collaborate with friends! (one writes, one draws)

Goals
  • Find like-minded kids at school. Share your work, inspirations, books, tutorials, etc. Encourage each other and find ways to collaborate! The more you build yourself up and those around you, the more you can all help each other improve and stay focused.
  • Create instead of consume. Remove electronics if they distract you too much. Consider making a social media account that you can post your pieces on, but be careful about  how much it can distract.
  • Make a flipbook (paper or digital)
  • Don’t get down on yourself. Sometimes a drawing or piece doesn’t end up how you wanted it to, but no one piece will define you. Remember that you are always learning. If you keep practicing, a year ago you'll be blown away by how far you've come. Learn what you can from "failed" drawings and move on.
  • Develop a good attitude. This is the #1 advantage when it comes to getting future opportunities.
  • Find what you like! You might not know where you want to go at first and that's ok. Take stock in what shows, games, etc. you enjoy and look into who makes them, and how they do it. This is important.
  • Keep a journal. Observe your thoughts as you begin on your journey towards computer animation, modeling, filmmaking, etc. See how your interests change as you take in more content.
  • Build a portfolio. You'll start out with rough sketches, but keep improving your skills and collect the very best selections into a paper portfolio or website like Artstation.

Schools
Your parents may want you to pursue a degree, but no one should go into massive debt to get educated so beware of overspending on your education. Employers only care about the skills you can show on a demo reel, not whether you have a degree.