Animator in 1926: Lotte Reiniger's Prince Achmed

Do you need a degree to become an animator? No country licenses animators or requires a degree. Studios hire on the strength of a demo reel, and plenty of working animators are self-taught or came through a studio's in-house training rather than a university. A degree mainly buys three things: structured life drawing, enforced deadlines, and a cohort of classmates who will hire each other for the next twenty years.

How long does it take to become a working animator? Typically three to four years of training followed by one to three years on a junior rung — in-between and clean-up work in 2D, blocking passes and background characters in 3D. Being trusted with a shot that carries real acting usually comes five to seven years after starting, and animation directors are normally a decade in.

What is the difference between an animator and an illustrator? An illustrator makes one image work. An animator makes the space between images work, which is a different skill entirely: the drawings are only the evidence of a decision about timing. Many excellent draughtsmen animate badly, and some superb animators draw roughly. Norman McLaren's formulation is that animation is the art of movements that are drawn.