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Gen AI & the prospect for Animation Jobs

The creative industries have witnessed a seismic shift in recent years—but few areas are as acutely affected as animation, specifically at the entry-level production roles that once functioned as the career gateway for emerging talent. The explosion of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools in animation workflows is reshaping how studios hire, assemble teams and manage production pipelines. Veteran animator Uli Meyer, with his new proof-of-concept trailer Tricky & The Cereal Killers, offers a poignant artistic reflection on those anxieties, while labor organisations such as the The Animation Guild (TAG, IATSE Local 839) provide data that crystallise the extent of the disruption. This article explores the collapse of entry-level production roles in animation, places it in the context of Meyer's work and the union’s research, and considers what it means for the next generation of animation practitioners. --- 1. The role of entry-level production in animation and why it ...
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Acting in Animation: Bringing Characters to Life

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 When we watch a great animated film, we often forget that the characters on screen are just drawings, sprites, or digital models. They feel alive because animators use the principles of acting in animation . Animators are sometimes called “actors with pencils” because they communicate thoughts and emotions through poses, timing, and exaggeration rather than spoken words. This week’s assignment focuses on learning how to show emotions and reactions in your animations. The key to acting in animation is clarity. The audience must be able to instantly read how a character feels, even if the sound is off. To do this, animators use poses and silhouettes . A strong pose shows emotion through the whole body, not just the face. If you filled the character in with solid black, the pose should still tell you whether the character is scared, happy, or surprised. That’s called the silhouette test . Another important idea is exaggeration . In real life, emotions may be subtle, but in animat...
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From Spinning Discs to Storyboards: How Animation Began

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 When we watch an animated movie or play a video game today, it’s easy to forget how far the art of animation has come. Smooth characters, dramatic camera moves, and expressive faces are the result of centuries of experimentation. To understand animation, it helps to look back at the earliest attempts people made to bring still images to life. Pre-Cinema Inventions Long before film or digital tools existed, artists and inventors were fascinated with the illusion of motion. Three devices stand out: T haumatrope – This was a small disc with a picture on each side, attached to strings. When spun quickly, the images seemed to blend together. For example, a bird on one side and a cage on the other would appear as a bird inside a cage. This was one of the first toys to show how persistence of vision works—the way our eyes and brain hold onto an image for a fraction of a second, making pictures appear to move. Zoetrope – Invented in the 1800s, the zoetrope was a cylinder with slits al...
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🎬 From Flipbooks to Pixels: A Short History of Animation

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The Wild Robot promotional still ( SOURCE ) When most people think of animation , they imagine colorful movies, TV shows, or video games. But animation has much older roots, beginning with simple experiments to create the illusion of movement. ( SOURCE ) The magic of animation works because of something called persistence of vision . Our eyes and brains hold onto an image for a fraction of a second after it disappears. When we see a series of still images quickly, our brains connect them together as movement. That’s the foundation of every animation you’ve ever watched. 2-Frame Flipbook animation ( SOURCE ) Flipbook Animation ( SOURCE ) One of the earliest forms of animation was the flipbook . By drawing slightly different pictures on each page and flipping them quickly, people could see a ball bounce or a stick figure walk. It was simple, but it proved that pictures could move. Mickey Mouse cartoon, Walt Disney Studios ( SOURCE ) As animation developed, artists invented new techniqu...
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