What are the responsibilities and job description for the Animator position at Walt Disney Animation Studios?
About The Role & Team
Animators, grab your reels and prepare to do the best work of your life and join us in making timeless, inspiring films!
Be part of the longest running animation team in history. Work alongside legends. Use your animation powers for good and touch the hearts and inspire generations of audiences around the globe.
We want versatile CG Character Animators who show outstanding understanding of acting, appeal, entertainment, weight, locomotion, anatomy, and dialogue. If you're funny too, that's a plus. We want artists who will bring a distinctive point of view to every shot and bring characters to life with timing, truth, and a touch of surprise. Learn more about our filmmaking process here.
All positions are based in our Burbank, California studios starting in April 2026.
What You Will Do
Animators, grab your reels and prepare to do the best work of your life and join us in making timeless, inspiring films!
Be part of the longest running animation team in history. Work alongside legends. Use your animation powers for good and touch the hearts and inspire generations of audiences around the globe.
We want versatile CG Character Animators who show outstanding understanding of acting, appeal, entertainment, weight, locomotion, anatomy, and dialogue. If you're funny too, that's a plus. We want artists who will bring a distinctive point of view to every shot and bring characters to life with timing, truth, and a touch of surprise. Learn more about our filmmaking process here.
All positions are based in our Burbank, California studios starting in April 2026.
What You Will Do
- Effectively tell the story in a meaningful way through vibrant and compelling character acting and movement, reinforcing and pushing on the established style of the film
- Develop a solid understanding of vital digital tools (such as Presto) to create quality animation for feature films and other related projects
- Receive assigned shots in sequence review with the Directors providing general guidance
- Plan shots with an understanding of story/character context
- Block animation using audio dialog track
- Clearly show performance ideas and shot blocking in Director review (animation dailies)
- Closely collaborate with and take direction from Directors and Animation Supervisors, regularly communicating progress, issues, and solutions with leadership and collaborators
- Implement changes and completely finish shots in accordance with production schedule
- Adapt to different stages within a production (development, production, etc)
- Maintain an open and professional demeanor regarding direction, changes, and shifting requirements, supportively and thoughtfully collaborating with others
- The ability to instill appeal into character mechanics, posing, and motion appropriate to the character and style of film
- The ability to design contrast, texture, and rhythm into your timing and spacing
- The ability to uniquely art direct and exaggerate shapes, poses, emotions, and ideas that best suit the character, scene, and overall film
- The ability to instill inventive choices into your performances that feel sincere and believable; choices that always feel specific and true to what a character is feeling and makes them feel like they’re living and thinking. Your acting should engage and surprise the audience and elevate the entertainment value of the scene and film
- The ability to adapt and contribute new approaches, thoughtful solutions, and risk failure responsibly
- A reel that is no longer than 2 minutes in length of character animation that illustrates visual storytelling, believable expressions, emotional states, personality, appeal, entertainment, clear timing, weight, physics, balance, and staging
- Proficiency in Presto, Maya or equivalent software required
- Background in traditional hand-drawn, computer, or stop-motion animation a plus
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
Salary : $61 - $72