World Animation Day!👾

So, how did International Animation Day come about? In 2002, the International Animated Film Association (Association Internationale du Film d’Animation) created this 'unofficial' holiday to commemorate the day when animation had its first public appearance.

This was October 28, 1892, at the Grévin Museum in Paris, when Charles-Émile Reynaud and his Théâtre Optique presented his first production, “Pantomimes Lumineuses.” It was a collection of three cartoons, ‘Pauvre Pierrot,’ ‘Un bon bock,’ and ‘Le Clown Et Ses Chiens.’

Animation started with the french, and has developed into an incredible industry that has kept us all entertained for many decades. The UK Animation industry truly has set itself apart, with popular features including Shaun the Sheep, Peppa Pig, Danger Mouse, Early Man and Ethel & Earnest.

There are lots of roles available in the Animation industry! Whether you want to work in production, distribution or development, there's room for many different types of creatives.

Roles in Animation:

• Producer

• Production Coordinator

• Runner

• Concept Artist

• Writer

• Art Director

• Background designer

• Character designer

• Head of story

• Modeller/model maker

• Storyboard artist

• Rigger

• Layout artist

• Lighting artist

• Animator

• Compositor

• Composer

• Edit assistant

• Sound designer

• Marketing executive

And now you're probably thinking, that's great, but how do I get to these roles? A good majority of the roles available do require some experience, but don't despair, if you've got no experience then you can start right at the beginning, possibly with an organisation like Aardman Academy, who have courses that will build your animation knowledge.

Sometimes some companies have trainee roles available as well, which usually request some experience in tech programmes such as the adobe suite (photoshop, indesign etc). If this has piqued your interest in the animation industry, check out our microsite which has a full run down of the animation industry!👏