Animator (2D / Character)
🐾Brings cartoon and game characters to life: draws motion frame by frame or animates rigs, sets facial expressions, gestures and timing.
Prospects & pay
What the work is like
💼 Job market
🇺🇸 -0.3% jobs by 2035 · 4,200 openings a year
Special Effects Artists and Animators — US: Census ACS 2020–24 (full-time), BLS projections 2025–35
🇬🇧 £32.6k median a year · 44,000 jobs
Graphic and multimedia designers — UK: ONS ASHE 2025 (full-time)
🤖 AI & automation
AI is getting better at in-betweens and simple animation; a character's acting and the direction of movement are still human work.
Who it suits
Interests: 🎨 Drawing and design, 📱 Media, content, advertising, 🎭 Music, theatre, dance.
Key strengths: artistic taste, manual dexterity, organisation.
Where to study
- Bachelor's BA Animation / BFA Character Animation (e.g. Gobelins, CalArts)
- Course Online animation schools (Animation Mentor, iAnimate)
Key school subjects (A-level / IB / AP): Art & Design, Drama.
🧗 An animation degree at an art or film school (Gobelins in France, CalArts in the US, BA Animation in the UK) or online schools like Animation Mentor. Studios hire on your showreel.
Universities
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- National Film and Television School Beaconsfield
No bachelor's: only master's, diplomas and certificates; no funding for international students - London Film School London
MA Filmmaking only (2 years, £34,626 + £34,326); portfolio; IELTS 6.5 (6.0 each); no bachelor's - Abertay University Dundee · €20.6k/yr
Computer Arts £17,950/yr; ePortfolio required; International Scholarship up to £3k/yr
🇺🇸 United States
- University of Southern California (School of Cinematic Arts) Los Angeles · €65.6k/yr
creative portfolio; TOEFL 100 / IELTS 7 / DET 130; SAT/ACT optional; merit scholarships - University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles · €47.7k–49.9k/yr
UC Application; TOEFL 80 (new scale 4.5) / IELTS 6.5 / DET 115; SAT/ACT not considered; film: extra creative application - California Institute of the Arts Valencia, CA · €54.8k/yr
portfolio or audition; $31.5k per semester; TOEFL/IELTS/DET for non-native speakers
🇩🇪 Germany
- Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf Potsdam · free
No tuition; creative selection (tasks, interview); German for most programmes * - Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg Ludwigsburg
Creative selection by work samples and interview; taught in German; non-EU fee not confirmed * - University of Television and Film Munich Munich · free
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film only, 7 tracks; application tasks; German B2, taught only in German
🇳🇱 Netherlands
- Netherlands Film Academy Amsterdam
Dutch-taught bachelor (NT2-II), multi-stage artistic selection * - HKU University of the Arts Utrecht Utrecht
Artistic selection; the Film bachelor is mostly Dutch-taught *
🇫🇷 France
- La Fémis Paris
Concours after 2 years of higher education; French; separate international programmes * - Gobelins Paris Paris · €15.8k/yr
Portfolio + interview (shared concours with the Prépa); animation Bachelor fully in English; non-EU €15,800 - École nationale supérieure Louis-Lumière Saint-Denis
Concours after 2 years of higher education (film, photo, sound); in French *
🇮🇹 Italy
- Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia Rome
Competitive entry by specialisation (portfolio, exams), 3 years, taught in Italian * - Luchino Visconti Civic School of Cinema Milan
Competitive selection, 3-year course in Italian * - NABA – Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti Milan · €22.3k/yr
Private academy: admission test/portfolio, programmes in English or Italian; non-EU fee €22,250 a year
🇪🇸 Spain
- ESCAC – Film and Audiovisual School of Catalonia Terrassa
Own admission process; official film bachelor's (UB) * - ECAM – Madrid Film School Pozuelo de Alarcón
Private school, own diplomas (not an official grado); interview-based selection * - U-tad University Center of Technology and Digital Art Las Rozas
Private centre: own selection, portfolio for art programmes *
🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- FAMU – Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague Prague · free
Talent exams/portfolio; free in Czech (Czech ≈B2); English programmes charge fees, not checked * - Tomas Bata University in Zlín (Faculty of Multimedia Communications) Zlín · free
Talent exams/portfolio; free in Czech (Czech ≈B2); English programmes charge fees, not checked *
Things to know
🪑 Sitting at a computer all day
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