Joel Valdez uses AI to Animate his Characters

Charles Z - Jul 22, 2026
Joel Valdez was a student with us years ago and then became one of our instructors. He has since gone on to a successful career in many disciplines of art.
 
We've both been experimenting with AI for a while now and have been keeping abreast of its developments. One of the things that has particularly intrigued us is the possibility of using the technology to animate our own characters. Something I've termed as non-generative AI. In other words we use our own images and designs instead of generating them from an AI program and then animate them using AI as a motion medium.
 
That's exactly what Joel has done here with his project called "Joey".
 
Joel used AI to animate the first episode of his project. These are his characters. The background is designed from his concept sketch. He didn't need to have AI generate images of the characters and the environment. He just used AI to make his own designs move.
 
This is copyright safe / copyrightable content. He's already finished episode 2 and is creating a series with the greatest of ease and efficiency.
 
This is a whole new direction. Joel is utilizing and guiding AI to produce his original character based video content. He is keeping pace with the studios who are all developing AI based production pipelines with this rapidly advancing technology.
 
EDIT [July 28 2026} - Joel's second episode of "Joey" is now on YouTube. 
 

 

We're Heading in a New Direction

Charles Z - Jun 10, 2026

There are significant and astonishing changes happening in animation and it's progressing very fast. We're exploring a new way of doing things that will be very beneficial to creative individuals. Especially if you are a character designer.

Stay tuned and Keep Creating !!

Academy's Aaron Horvath / Co-Director of "Super Mario Galaxy Movie"

Charles Z - Apr 06, 2026

In the news today ... "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" co-directed by the Academy's very own Aaron Horvath is #1 in the world with a $372.5 million global box office 5 day opening weekend. Here he is on April 3 2007 when we were honoring him at an Academy sponsored event.

Use Your Creative Power

Charles Z - Mar 01, 2026

This is ArtShark. He's the Academy's mascot. I've been drawing him for over 26 years. Here he is dressed like He-Man with a message for everyone. This is his mission. To spread a word of positivity and encouragement to artists everywhere.

So to those aspiring to new heights and everyone who loves creativity and imagination and all the good things that come from it ... You have the power ... Put that power to use. All you have to do is get busy and start creating. And once you've got that going ... then Keep Creating !!

Happy 2026

Charles Z - Jan 07, 2026

Wishing our students and former students and all of our associates and people of goodwill everywhere a Happy and Creative New Year! 

Animation Academy Strong

Charles Z - Dec 03, 2025

Our students continue to progress. We're celebrating Molly Heady-Caroll of the Netherlands who has recently landed a position with Wacom Tablets as their Community Expert at their European HQ In Germany. Molly is the creator behind Zenibeasts. Her project has opened many doors. A big congratulations to you Molly!  

Drawing Crash Bandicoot on Procreate

Charles Z - Jun 05, 2025

One of the great features of the Procreate app is the video recording aspect of your creative process. This is my first drawing of Crash Bandicoot using Procreate on an iPad. It's a short 55 second view. I'm the original Co-Creator / Character Designer of Crash and I always enjoy drawing him. You can see how and pick up a lesson through this quick demonstration ...

Tags: 
Crash Bandicoot

Montgomery Thump - Season 1

Charles Z - Apr 15, 2025

This is the entire series for the first season of Montghomery Thump and Timbuk Too. The project that started The Animation Academy. Running time is 54:32. There are 20 indfividual videos that have been edited into a single timeline. Enjoy the series and thank you for followng the Academy on YouTube by suscribing to our channel.

Montgomery Thump - Pilot Episode - The video that started the Academy

Charles Z - Mar 25, 2025

This is the project that led to the creation of our school The Animation Academy. Authoring your own character based properties has been at the core of what we teach and a direction we have long encouraged our students to head towards. This is the era we have fully entered in the modern animation industry. 

The video is a great accomplishment. It was among the very first videos to utilize digital animation production for hand drawn animation. Many of our earliest students got their break into the biz by assisting with it. For a comprehensive history of the pilot episode of Montgomery Thump and Timbuk Too you're invited to read the description in the link to the YouTube video. You'll find all the links to the other chapters in this story there as well. 

Keep Creating everyone! It's your ticket to the future! 

Be an Artist and a Storyteller

Charles Z - Feb 22, 2025

For generations artists have trained for the animation industry in preparation for studio employment and rightly so. That's where the great majority of creative activity and opportunities were. There was a genuine need for massive amounts of creative labor.

Now that time has passed. We're entering an age where creative labor is supplemented by great advances in production technology making content creation accessible to all. We've been focusing on that here at The Animation Academy way before it had become a reality. Artists creating their own original content is the way of the future. Author your own properties which you own. Structure your education around the art of visual storytelling while focusing on the development of your fundamental skills. Create your own characters and tell a unique story. Get started and Keep Creating!

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