Animation is art because it combines drawing, painting, sculpture, design, movement, cinematography, music, sound, storytelling, and technology to create something that could not exist in exactly the same way in any other medium.
An animator does not simply make an image move.
Every frame can involve artistic decisions about:
- Composition
- Color
- Shape
- Light
- Timing
- Perspective
- Emotion
- Movement
- Character
- Environment
- Sound
- Story
Animation can be entertaining, commercial, educational, experimental, technical, abstract, emotional, realistic, or completely imaginary.
A hand-drawn short film and a photorealistic 3D product visualization may appear completely different, yet both rely on artists making intentional visual and temporal decisions.
That is why the statement “animation is art” goes beyond an opinion about cartoons.
Animation is a visual art form built around one element that static images cannot provide on their own: time.
Is Animation Art?
Yes. Animation is an art form that creates the perception of movement through sequences of images, objects, drawings, digital models, or visual compositions.
What makes animation art is not simply the technology used to produce it.
It is the creative decision-making behind the finished work.
An animator decides:
✓ What the audience sees
✓ When the audience sees it
✓ How something moves
✓ How quickly it moves
✓ Where the viewer’s attention goes
✓ How color affects the scene
✓ What emotion a character expresses
✓ How one image transitions into another
✓ How sound changes the experience
✓ What the finished sequence communicates
The Museum of Modern Art describes early film animation as developing from the traditions of newspaper and magazine cartoonists, with early artists using sequential drawings and stop-motion photography to create movement.
Animation has continued to evolve technologically, but the underlying artistic principle remains remarkably similar: artists create individual visual decisions that become an experience when presented through time.
Why Animation Is Different From Static Art
A painting exists in a single visual state.
A photograph captures a particular instant.
A sculpture occupies physical space.
Animation adds another dimension:
Time.
An animation artist controls what happens:
- Before an action
- During an action
- After an action
- Between two expressions
- Between two scenes
- Between stillness and movement
Consider something as simple as a character raising an eyebrow.
The final raised eyebrow is only one part of the performance.
The artist must decide:
- When the eyebrow begins moving
- How quickly it rises
- Whether the head moves with it
- Whether the eyes move first
- How far the eyebrow travels
- How long the expression is held
- How quickly the face returns to neutral
Those decisions can make the same movement communicate:
Surprise.
Suspicion.
Confusion.
Amusement.
Disbelief.
Movement becomes artistic language.
Animation Turns Time Into a Creative Material
Traditional visual artists work with materials such as:
- Paint
- Ink
- Charcoal
- Stone
- Metal
- Clay
- Photography
- Digital pixels
Animators work with those visual materials plus time.
Timing affects almost everything.
A ball dropping quickly feels heavy or forceful.
A character slowly lowering their head may communicate sadness.
A logo appearing in half a second may feel energetic.
The same logo emerging slowly may feel luxurious or cinematic.
A machine component moving immediately may communicate efficiency.
Showing each stage separately may communicate education and precision.
Professional animation therefore involves more than asking:
What should this look like?
It also asks:
How should this unfold?
Drawing Is Still at the Heart of Animation
Many people associate animation art with drawing, and for good reason.
Traditional animation was built around artists creating sequential drawings that changed slightly from frame to frame.
Drawing remains fundamental to many modern workflows.
Artists may create:
- Concept sketches
- Character studies
- Storyboards
- Expressions
- Environments
- Props
- Key poses
- Style frames
- Visual development artwork
Even a project that eventually becomes entirely three-dimensional may begin with a pencil sketch.
Professional 2D animation continues this artistic tradition using digital production methods.
Modern 2D artists can combine illustration, rigging, frame-by-frame animation, digital painting, typography, effects, and compositing without abandoning the basic principles of drawing and visual storytelling.
Animation Is Also Illustration
Illustration communicates an idea visually.
Animation expands illustration by allowing the image itself to evolve.
An illustrator might create a drawing of a city.
An animator can show:
- The city being constructed
- Traffic moving through it
- People entering buildings
- Weather changing
- Infrastructure developing
- Data appearing over neighborhoods
- A future version replacing the current one
The illustration becomes a sequence.
This makes animation especially useful when the audience needs to understand change.
Businesses use animated illustration to explain:
✓ Customer journeys
✓ Products
✓ Services
✓ Social issues
✓ Financial concepts
✓ Technology
✓ Healthcare information
✓ Training processes
✓ Public programs
✓ Brand stories
The artistic value and communication value can exist simultaneously.
Animation Is Graphic Design in Motion
Not every animation involves characters.
Some of the most effective animation is built entirely from:
- Typography
- Shapes
- Lines
- Symbols
- Icons
- Numbers
- Charts
- Brand elements
This is the foundation of motion graphics.
Professional motion graphics take principles from graphic design and introduce movement, sequencing, transitions, and sound.
A static number may communicate a statistic.
An animated number can show the statistic changing over time.
A static diagram shows relationships.
An animated diagram can reveal those relationships one step at a time.
A static logo identifies a company.
An animated logo can introduce personality, energy, precision, sophistication, or playfulness.
Motion does not replace graphic design.
It gives graphic design another expressive dimension.
Animation Is Acting
Character animation is closely connected to performance.
A convincing animated character must appear to:
- Think
- React
- Feel
- Anticipate
- Hesitate
- Observe
- Respond
The animator effectively performs through the character.
Consider two animated characters receiving exactly the same news.
One might jump immediately.
Another might freeze before reacting.
Another may look away.
Another might smile slowly.
The written event is identical.
The performance makes the characters different.
Character animation therefore draws from many of the same principles found in acting:
✓ Motivation
✓ Emotion
✓ Gesture
✓ Body language
✓ Facial expression
✓ Timing
✓ Reaction
✓ Personality
A technically perfect character model can still feel lifeless without convincing performance.
This is why professional character animation requires more than software knowledge.
Our guide to 3D Character Animation: Design, Costs, and Studio Guide explores how modeling, rigging, movement, expression, lighting, and rendering come together in three-dimensional character production.
Animation Is Sculpture in the Digital World
Three-dimensional animation introduces another artistic connection: sculpture.
A 3D artist creates form in virtual space.
The artist considers:
- Volume
- Proportion
- Shape
- Surface
- Material
- Texture
- Depth
- Scale
A digital character must be modeled.
A product must have dimensions.
An architectural environment must occupy space.
A creature needs anatomy.
A machine requires components.
Professional 3D animation then adds movement, cameras, lighting, rendering, and effects to these digital forms.
This creates an unusual hybrid.
A 3D object can incorporate principles from:
Sculpture + photography + cinematography + animation + graphic design.
That ability to combine disciplines is one reason animation is such a flexible art form.
Lighting Makes Animation Feel Like Photography and Film
Light changes how viewers interpret an image.
The exact same 3D environment can feel:
- Comfortable
- Dangerous
- Expensive
- Clinical
- Romantic
- Futuristic
- Mysterious
- Industrial
depending on lighting.
Artists consider:
✓ Direction
✓ Intensity
✓ Color temperature
✓ Shadow
✓ Reflection
✓ Contrast
✓ Atmosphere
✓ Exposure
These are artistic decisions.
For realistic 3D animation, lighting can determine whether a digital object looks convincingly physical.
For stylized animation, lighting may intentionally ignore physical realism to create a specific mood.
Animation Uses the Language of Cinematography
An animator can place a virtual camera almost anywhere.
That means animated productions use many of the same visual principles found in live-action cinematography.
Artists decide:
- Camera angle
- Lens perspective
- Shot size
- Camera movement
- Composition
- Depth
- Focus
- Framing
- Scene transitions
A close-up communicates something different from a wide shot.
Looking down on a character creates a different impression from looking upward.
A slow camera movement feels different from a rapid cut.
A three-dimensional camera can even travel through:
- A machine
- A building
- The human body
- A microscopic environment
- Space
- An imaginary world
Animation removes many physical camera limitations while retaining the artistic language of filmmaking.
Animation Is Storytelling
Story is one of animation’s strongest artistic foundations.
A story does not necessarily require a feature film.
A 15-second commercial has a story.
A product demonstration has a sequence.
An explainer has a narrative structure.
A training animation takes the viewer from one state of understanding to another.
A story can be as simple as:
Problem → Solution → Result.
Professional explainer video animation uses visual storytelling to make products, services, and complicated ideas easier to understand.
The artwork matters.
The movement matters.
But the sequence in which information appears can be equally important.
Animation Can Create Worlds That Cannot Exist
One of animation’s greatest artistic freedoms is that it does not need to reproduce reality.
Artists can create:
- Impossible cities
- Talking animals
- Imaginary planets
- Living machines
- Abstract environments
- Fantastic creatures
- Future technologies
- Historical reconstructions
- Microscopic worlds
- Surreal landscapes
The laws of physics themselves can change.
Gravity can disappear.
A building can fold into itself.
A character can stretch beyond human proportions.
An object can transform into another object.
Time can move backward.
A camera can enter a molecule.
Animation gives artists the ability to construct the rules of an entire visual universe.
That freedom has helped animation become an important part of film, television, gaming, advertising, art installations, education, and digital media.
MoMA’s film collection and exhibitions include animation spanning different eras and approaches, reinforcing animation’s place within the broader history of moving-image art.
2D Animation Is Art
Two-dimensional animation may be:
- Hand drawn
- Vector based
- Painted
- Collage inspired
- Graphic
- Minimalist
- Realistic
- Cartoon styled
- Experimental
There is no single 2D animation aesthetic.
An artist can create a rough pencil appearance or an extremely polished digital illustration.
A business can use 2D animation to visualize technology.
A filmmaker can use it to tell an emotional story.
A nonprofit can use it to communicate social impact.
An educator can use it to illustrate a scientific concept.
The medium does not determine the artistic value.
The choices made within the medium do.
3D Animation Is Art
Some people view computer-generated imagery as primarily technical because computers play such a visible role in production.
But technology does not remove artistic decision-making.
A 3D artist still determines:
✓ Shape
✓ Proportion
✓ Material
✓ Texture
✓ Lighting
✓ Composition
✓ Camera movement
✓ Character performance
✓ Environment
✓ Color
✓ Timing
Software executes instructions.
Artists determine what those instructions should produce.
A digital sculpture is still designed.
A digital character is still performed.
A virtual camera is still framed.
A rendered environment is still lit.
Technology changes the tools.
It does not eliminate the art.
Cartoon Animation Is Art
Cartoons are sometimes dismissed as simple because their visual style may intentionally exaggerate or simplify reality.
But simplification itself requires artistic judgment.
A cartoon artist decides which details matter.
A character might have:
- An oversized head
- Simplified hands
- Unusual proportions
- Exaggerated eyes
- Minimal facial features
Those choices create identity.
Professional cartoon animation combines illustration, character development, storytelling, timing, movement, and performance.
A seemingly simple character can require considerable design work before it feels unique and recognizable.
Motion Graphics Are Art
Motion graphics often exist closer to graphic design than traditional character animation.
They can use:
- Type
- Geometry
- Data
- Color
- Symbols
- Rhythm
- Sound
A beautifully timed typography sequence can be artistic without containing a single character.
The artist is composing visual information through time.
This is particularly valuable in advertising, technology, finance, corporate communication, and media.
Logo Animation Can Be Art
A logo animation may last only a few seconds.
That does not make the creative problem simple.
The animator may need to communicate an entire brand personality through one brief movement.
Consider how the movement might differ for:
A law firm: controlled and precise.
A sports brand: fast and energetic.
A luxury company: restrained and elegant.
A technology startup: clean and innovative.
A children’s brand: expressive and playful.
Professional logo animation turns a static identity into a short motion experience.
When done well, the movement feels inseparable from the identity itself.
Animation Art Exists Beyond Entertainment
Animation is strongly associated with movies and television, but the artistic medium extends much further.
Businesses, companies, enterprises, governments, NGOs, universities, healthcare organizations, manufacturers, and public-sector organizations all use animation.
The creative techniques developed for entertainment can also help communicate real-world information.
Advertising Uses Animation as Visual Art
Advertising combines art with a commercial objective.
A professional advertising animation may use illustration, typography, characters, 3D products, visual effects, or abstract motion to build an audience response.
The fact that an animation has a commercial purpose does not prevent it from involving artistic skill.
Posters are art and advertising.
Photography can be art and advertising.
Graphic design can be art and advertising.
Animation can operate the same way.
Technology Uses Animation to Visualize the Invisible
A technology animation may depict:
- Artificial intelligence
- Cloud computing
- Cybersecurity
- Data transfer
- Software
- Networks
- Automation
- Digital infrastructure
Much of this cannot be photographed meaningfully.
Artists must invent a visual language for concepts that may have no visible physical form.
That requires interpretation.
Should data appear as light?
Particles?
Lines?
Objects?
Maps?
Interface elements?
There is no single correct visual answer.
The artist creates one.
Manufacturing Uses Animation to Reveal How Things Work
Industrial animation demonstrates another side of artistic visualization.
A manufacturing animation can show:
- Machinery
- Internal components
- Assembly
- Robotics
- Production lines
- Installation
- Maintenance
- Engineering processes
Accuracy may be essential.
But accuracy alone does not automatically make an animation understandable.
Artists must still decide:
✓ What to reveal
✓ What to hide
✓ Where to position the camera
✓ Which component to highlight
✓ When to slow the movement
✓ When to separate the machine
✓ How to use color
Technical communication and visual artistry work together.
Entertainment Shows Animation at Its Most Expressive
An entertainment animation studio may create content for film, television, streaming, music, digital campaigns, or title sequences.
Entertainment gives artists enormous freedom to experiment with:
- Characters
- Worlds
- Styles
- Movement
- Narrative
- Emotion
- Music
- Visual effects
Our guide to Animation Movies: 20 Best Animated Films Worth Watching examines animated films that demonstrate how broadly the medium can communicate humor, emotion, imagination, conflict, and complex ideas.
Animation can entertain children.
It can also explore subjects such as identity, loss, technology, society, family, conflict, and mortality.
The medium itself does not determine the maturity of the story.
Government and Public Communication Can Still Be Creative
A government animation may explain:
- Public services
- Safety
- Infrastructure
- Programs
- Policies
- Emergency procedures
- Community initiatives
These projects require clarity and accessibility.
But clarity does not mean the work must be visually dull.
Illustration, movement, typography, characters, diagrams, and color can make public information easier to understand while maintaining an appropriate tone.
Nonprofit Animation Uses Art to Create Emotional Connection
A nonprofit animation may tell stories about:
- Communities
- Research
- Social issues
- Environmental causes
- Fundraising
- Education
- Public awareness
Animation can represent sensitive subjects without requiring a camera to enter someone’s private experience.
Artists can use symbolism and visual metaphor to communicate ideas that might otherwise be difficult to show.
Is Commercial Animation Still Art?
Yes.
Art and commerce have existed together for centuries.
Artists have created commissioned:
- Portraits
- Architecture
- Illustrations
- Posters
- Photography
- Films
- Music
- Graphic design
Animation is no different.
A commercial animation has a business objective.
But reaching that objective may still require:
✓ Original concepts
✓ Artistic style
✓ Illustration
✓ Character development
✓ Composition
✓ Cinematography
✓ Movement
✓ Music
✓ Storytelling
A commercial purpose changes the brief.
It does not automatically remove artistic expression.
Art vs. Decoration in Animation
Not every moving element deserves to be called meaningful animation.
A website can contain dozens of decorative effects without creating a strong artistic experience.
Similarly, adding random movement to a video does not automatically improve it.
Good animation has intention.
The artist understands why something moves.
For example:
Decoration: A shape moves because the screen looked empty.
Communication: A shape moves to direct attention toward the next idea.
Decoration: A product rotates continuously because 3D rotation looks impressive.
Communication: The product rotates to reveal a feature the customer needs to understand.
Decoration: A character waves because animation is expected.
Communication: The character’s gesture establishes personality or directs attention.
Artistic decision-making means giving movement purpose.
What Makes Animation Visually Powerful?
Several artistic principles repeatedly determine whether animation feels effective.
Composition
Where objects appear within the frame influences attention.
Color
Color establishes mood, identity, hierarchy, and contrast.
Shape
Shapes can communicate personality before anything moves.
Timing
Timing creates weight, emotion, humor, urgency, and rhythm.
Contrast
Visual difference directs the eye.
Movement
The path and speed of movement affect meaning.
Rhythm
Movement, editing, dialogue, and music can create visual rhythm.
Sound
Audio can dramatically change how movement feels.
Restraint
Sometimes the most artistic choice is not to animate something.
Sound Is Part of Animation Art
Animation is primarily visual, but sound can transform the experience.
Consider an animated door closing.
The same visual could feel completely different with:
- A soft click
- A heavy metallic slam
- A futuristic electronic tone
- Silence
- A comedic squeak
Sound can communicate:
✓ Scale
✓ Material
✓ Environment
✓ Emotion
✓ Impact
✓ Rhythm
Music creates another layer.
A scene can become uplifting, threatening, emotional, humorous, or mysterious simply by changing its soundtrack.
Professional animation often involves close coordination between image and sound.
The Art of Making Movement Feel Real
Animation does not need to look realistic to feel believable.
A cartoon character can have completely unrealistic proportions but still need convincing movement.
Viewers intuitively understand concepts such as:
- Weight
- Balance
- Momentum
- Anticipation
- Reaction
- Gravity
An artist can exaggerate these principles.
But ignoring them entirely often makes movement feel artificial.
A large object generally should not move like a feather unless there is a creative reason.
A person does not begin sprinting at full speed without acceleration.
A character usually anticipates a jump before leaving the ground.
Understanding these details allows artists to manipulate reality intentionally.
Stylization Is an Artistic Choice
Realism is only one possible animation style.
Animation can intentionally be:
- Flat
- Geometric
- Hand drawn
- Painterly
- Minimal
- Surreal
- Photorealistic
- Retro
- Futuristic
- Cartoon-like
- Abstract
A highly realistic render is not inherently more artistic than a simple drawing.
The question is whether the chosen style communicates effectively.
A few carefully animated lines may express more than thousands of realistically rendered polygons.
Can AI-Generated Animation Be Art?
AI has made this question increasingly important.
Artificial intelligence can now contribute to:
- Concept development
- Image generation
- Scene creation
- Motion generation
- Voice production
- Storyboards
- Effects
- Editing
- Visual experimentation
But the presence of AI does not answer whether the final work is art.
The more useful question is:
Where did the creative decisions come from?
An artist may use AI as one component within a larger creative process.
They may:
- Develop the idea.
- Define the visual style.
- Generate experimental imagery.
- Select useful outputs.
- Reject unsuitable outputs.
- Edit the imagery.
- Animate or composite it.
- Adjust pacing.
- Add typography.
- Build sound.
- Refine the final sequence.
In that scenario, AI is part of the toolset.
Professional AI animation can combine generative technology with human direction, editing, compositing, and established animation techniques.
The Museum of Modern Art has itself exhibited AI-based artwork, demonstrating how contemporary artists can incorporate computational systems into established art contexts.
Technology changes.
Creative questions remain.
Does Better Technology Create Better Art?
Not automatically.
Animation technology has advanced enormously.
Artists now have access to:
- Real-time rendering
- Digital sculpting
- Motion capture
- Physics simulation
- Procedural systems
- AI generation
- Virtual production
- Advanced compositing
- Powerful desktop hardware
These tools expand what is possible.
But greater technical capability does not guarantee stronger communication.
A technically spectacular animation can still fail if it lacks:
- A clear idea
- Good composition
- Good timing
- Appropriate style
- Emotional purpose
- Story structure
Technology gives artists more possibilities.
Artists determine which possibilities matter.
Can Animation Be Fine Art?
Yes. Animation can exist independently of commercial entertainment or advertising.
Artists have used moving images for:
- Experimental films
- Installations
- Abstract animation
- Gallery work
- Projection
- Digital art
- Interactive pieces
MoMA has collected and exhibited animated films and moving-image works as part of its broader art collection, including animation ranging across different periods and techniques.
Animation therefore does not need to belong exclusively to film studios, television networks, or advertising agencies.
It can exist within museums and galleries as an artistic medium in its own right.
Animation Art Can Also Solve Practical Problems
One of animation’s strengths is that artistic expression and practical communication do not need to be opposites.
Animation can be beautiful and useful.
It can:
✓ Explain complicated information
✓ Demonstrate invisible processes
✓ Visualize products before production
✓ Teach employees
✓ Introduce a brand
✓ Tell an emotional story
✓ Support public education
✓ Present scientific information
✓ Entertain an audience
✓ Sell a product
That flexibility is unusual.
The same broad medium can create a feature film, medical explanation, product launch, game character, museum installation, or public-safety campaign.
The Artist Still Matters
Animation software continues to become faster.
AI continues to automate portions of production.
Rendering continues to improve.
But the animator’s role remains important because creative work involves judgment.
Someone has to decide:
Is this the right image?
Does this movement feel believable?
Should this moment last longer?
Is the composition clear?
Does the character communicate the intended emotion?
Does the animation match the brand?
Is this too complicated?
What should we remove?
Tools provide options.
Artists make decisions.
Why Businesses Should Care That Animation Is Art
Businesses sometimes approach animation as if it were merely a technical deliverable.
They may define the requirement as:
“We need a 60-second animated video.”
But duration and format do not describe the creative objective.
A stronger project begins with questions such as:
- What should the audience feel?
- What should they understand?
- What should they remember?
- What visual style fits the company?
- What should happen first?
- Which information deserves emphasis?
- What can animation show better than live action?
Treating animation as an artistic communication process generally leads to better creative decisions than treating it as a commodity measured only by seconds of video.
Why Professional Animators Are More Than Software Operators
A professional animator is not valuable merely because they know which buttons to press.
Software knowledge matters.
But professional animation also requires understanding:
✓ Visual storytelling
✓ Composition
✓ Movement
✓ Timing
✓ Style
✓ Audience
✓ Emotion
✓ Communication
✓ Technical production
That combination separates animation production from simply operating animation software.
Businesses considering professional production can review our guide on how to hire a professional animator for a project for help evaluating portfolios, costs, timelines, revisions, ownership, and production capabilities.
The related Animation Maker: Tools, Costs and Professional Solutions guide also explains the difference between animation tools and the people who use them.
How Just Animations Combines Art and Business Communication
Just Animations creates professional animation for businesses, companies, enterprises, government agencies, NGOs, and public-sector organizations.
Our animation services include:
✓ 2D animation
✓ 3D animation
✓ AI animation
✓ Cartoon animation
✓ Explainer video animation
✓ Logo animation
✓ Motion graphics
✓ Motion picture animation
✓ Social media animation
✓ Video game animation
✓ Whiteboard animation
✓ Video production
A commercial animation project still involves artistic choices.
The difference is that those choices must support an objective.
The objective might be:
- Explaining a product
- Creating brand recognition
- Educating customers
- Training employees
- Visualizing technology
- Demonstrating machinery
- Supporting advertising
- Presenting data
- Telling a story
The art and the communication strategy work together.
Businesses can request an animation quote when they are ready to develop a custom project.
Animation Is Art Because Movement Can Communicate Meaning
Animation has changed dramatically since artists first experimented with sequential images.
The tools have evolved from drawings and physical cameras to digital illustration, three-dimensional environments, motion capture, simulations, real-time rendering, and artificial intelligence.
But animation’s artistic foundation has remained.
An artist still decides:
✓ What appears
✓ What disappears
✓ What moves
✓ What remains still
✓ How fast something happens
✓ What the audience notices
✓ How a character feels
✓ How a scene is composed
✓ How sound changes the moment
✓ What the finished work communicates
Animation can be commercial.
It can be experimental.
It can be educational.
It can be technical.
It can be entertaining.
It can be deeply emotional.
None of those purposes prevents it from being art.
Animation is art because movement itself can become a form of visual expression.
And when drawing, design, sculpture, performance, cinematography, sound, storytelling, and technology converge within that movement, animation becomes one of the broadest artistic mediums available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is animation considered art?
Yes. Animation is a visual and moving-image art form that combines images, movement, timing, composition, color, storytelling, performance, and often sound. Animation may be created through drawing, illustration, stop motion, 2D software, 3D software, motion graphics, AI-assisted tools, or combinations of different techniques.
Why is animation art?
Animation is art because artists make intentional creative decisions about composition, movement, timing, design, color, character, emotion, camera placement, sound, and storytelling. Technology helps execute those decisions, but the artistic expression comes from how the elements are designed and combined.
What type of art is animation?
Animation can be considered visual art, moving-image art, digital art, film art, illustration, graphic design, performance, or a hybrid of several artistic disciplines. Different animation styles emphasize different traditions.
Is 3D animation considered art?
Yes. 3D animation combines digital sculpture, materials, lighting, cinematography, movement, composition, performance, and visual storytelling. Although software is used extensively, artists still make the creative decisions that determine how the final work looks and feels.
Can commercial animation still be art?
Yes. Commercial purpose and artistic production are not mutually exclusive. Advertising, architecture, photography, illustration, graphic design, music, and film have long combined artistic skill with commercial objectives. Professional animation can similarly serve a business purpose while involving original creative direction and artistic execution.