We're 20 Years Old Today !!

Charles Z - Jan 19, 2018

The Animation Academy in Burbank California celebrates our 20th anniversary today! We conducted our first class on January 19 1998 with a group of 20 students in the back room of a local restaurant. Twenty years later the legacy of our school still plays a significant part in the history of the animation industry and more importantly in the lives of the many students we've had who've gone on to great creative careers.

THANK YOU to all the wonderful people and all the talented artists who've made this possible!

Academy's Jason Perdue graduates from CCA

Charles Z - Jan 09, 2018

Jason Perdue is another of our exceptional students who went on to a degree granting program. He's recently graduated from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco with a BA. Take a look at his website and view his Traditional Animation demo reel from 2016 below. You can also see more of Jason's videos including his CG animation on his Vimeo channel. 

John Burroughs HS Burbank - Christmas Show 2017

Charles Z - Dec 21, 2017
Greetings from The Animation Academy in Burbank California!
 
Our hometown is renowned as a creative community and a supporter of the arts. You can really see the great level of talent that young people in Burbank have at John Burroughs High School which is the local school in the Academy's neighborhood.
 
Burroughs' first graduating class was in 1948 and since that time it's become one of the most remarkable high schools in America with many graduates who went on to great careers in entertainment including Debbie Reynolds and Ron Howard among others. Their annual Christmas Show is a long standing tradition. Here's some video footage of this year's show on December 9 2017. You'll be impressed with the amazing student performances.  Please forgive the image quality as I was on the balcony but you'll still get a good idea as to how marvelous the show was.
 
Songs featured here are only a small part of the overall show. They include the opening song of "The Christmas Waltz" followed by a rousing rendition of "White Christmas" as the closing. Then there's "Silent Night" as the encore. The carol that's sung as the last song since 1972.
 

At Walt Disney's Grave On His Birthday - December 5 2017

Charles Z - Dec 06, 2017

The tenth year in a row visiting Walt Disney's grave site on the occasion of his 116th birthday. I made the mistake of saying it's his 106th birthday in the video. He was born on December 5 1901 in Chicago.

 

Hannah Smith's Latest Showreel 2017

Charles Z - Nov 21, 2017

The talented Hannah Smith - student and assistant Character Design instructor at the Academy - has updated her latest animation showreel highlighting a big leap forward with her skill level. Hannah is proficient in ToonBoom which is an industry standard software for creating traditional hand drawn animation. Take a look at her wonderful work and visit her YouTube channel for more.

Share The Lesson 9 - Molly's Monster

Charles Z - Oct 10, 2017

Molly is a talented artist in Europe who has the distinction of being our very first signup on Patreon. She's a freelance artist who creates video game apps and is active in the art scene in the Netherlands. Molly's been taking classes online and always conjures up highly imaginative content. She has unusual design sensibilities when it comes to her original and unique concepts. In this episode of Share the Lesson we take a look at one of her characters and find ways of enhancing the design appeal through fundamental analysis.

Academy's Jose Lopez - Mariachi Mural - Disney XD

Charles Z - Oct 04, 2017

In the summer of 1996 about 1 1/2 years before The Animation Academy I had a student by the name of Jose Lopez. He was fresh out of high school and employed part time at an art supply store. I could see he had talent and I worked with him to develop his fundamental skills. In January 1998 when the Academy began Jose was a student in our very first class. He stayed with us for several years and eventually became an instructor. His experience at the Academy lead to his break in the industry. Today he is one of the most accomplished character designers in animation. He is currently at Disney working on the "Big Hero 6" TV series. He's also completed a huge mural in East Los Angeles that celebrates his family's mariachi heritage. Watch the Disney XD video below to see what Jose has to say about his great accomplishments. You can follow Jose Lopez on Instagram and see more of his art on his blog.

The Animation Academy - Share the Lesson 8

Charles Z - Sep 29, 2017

Fundamentals are very important when it comes to designing characters for animation. In this latest episode of Share The Lesson we take a look at how a fundamental approach to character design affects the quality and appeal of the image. Sign up with The Animation Academy on Patreon and be among the first to see video lessons that can help move you forward with your animation art.

The Animation Academy on Patreon - 2

Charles Z - Sep 26, 2017

We're progressing with Patreon and welcoming our first subscribers! Plus an update as to where we'll be heading with our educational program on Patreon.

The Animation Academy on Patreon

Charles Z - Sep 20, 2017

We're happy and excited to share the news that The Animation Academy in Burbank is now on Patreon! Patreon is a popular crowdfunding site that gives creative individals and groups a resource for developing content and revenue generation. We're bringing our program to Patreon and welcomeour community to join us in this new adfventure! Follow this link to the The Animation Academy on Patreon. 

Pages