Become a better animator

Character animation tips, tricks and tutorials

All about breakdowns

Discover how good breakdowns guide and flavor your animation. This tutorial is part of our big 2D animation class.

[Live] Animation Analysis – The Bad Guys trailer

In this video JK and Ferdinand go frame by frame through some amazing character animation in the trailer for Dreamwork’s The Bad Guys. We expect to find out more about snappy animation timing, awesome posing and design and some fun…

Will you look at that? Animator Island is 10 years old!

This month marks the day in 2011 when JK and Ferdinand began this online adventure to share all their animation knowledge. We hope you’ve enjoyed the ride! There’s plenty more to see and share, so we’re looking forward to continuing…

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2D animation class

Lesson 101

Are you just starting out with 2D animation? This course starts at the very beginning:

Thumbnail of the first video of the 2D animation class with the title "The best way to learn animation"

Latest lesson

Bouncing Monster: Breakdowns

Good breakdowns can bring your animation to a whole new level. We take a close look at how they define the path of a motion and also dive into some advanced tips and tricks that make your animation smooth, fun and believable.

Create better art – build your art intuition

With the right intuition artists and animators can create beautiful designs and character animation poses quicker. For example, once you practiced creating appealing shapes countless times, it will be easier to design something appealing on the spot. Appeal is one…

Live Stream: Kid Cosmic – Animation Analysis

The animation style of the new Netflix series Kid Cosmic is quite unique. Ferdinand has a closer look at the snappy pose to pose animation in this new series by legendary animator and show creator Craig McCracken.

Animation Analysis – The Mitchells vs. the Machines – Frame by Frame

We scrub through The Mitchells vs the Machines frame by frame to see how they managed to pull of such fun and crazy animation: strong poses, goofy follow-through, clear staging and succession of poses. This is a must watch analysis…