The term independent animation refers to animated shorts, web series, and feature films produced outside a major national animation industry.
Eugene Merril Deitch was an American illustrator, animator, comics artist, and film director who was based in Prague from the 1960s until his death in 2020. Deitch was known for creating animated cartoons such as Munro, Tom Terrific, and Nudnik, as well as his work on the Popeye and Tom and Jerry series.
Mark Dindal is an American filmmaker, animator and voice actor known for his work in Disney classics including the direction of The Emperor's New Groove (2000), which was nominated for several awards, notably an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a Grammy and two Critics’ Choice. Working for Disney, he was also responsible for animating feature films that became animation classics such as The Little Mermaid (1989), Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992) and Aladdin (1992). In 1997, after he had moved to Warner Bros, his directorial debut Cats Don't Dance won the Annie Award for Best Animated Film.
Mary Jo Catlett is an American actress. She is a main cast member on the animated series SpongeBob SquarePants, providing the voice of Mrs. Puff. She is also known for originating the role of Ernestina in the 1964 Broadway production of Hello, Dolly! and for playing Pearl Gallagher, the third housekeeper on Diff'rent Strokes.
Ashton Brannon is an American Emmy Award-winning writer, director, visual artist, animator, and producer. He was a story artist and directing animator on Toy Story and co-director of Toy Story 2. He also directed and co-wrote the Sony Pictures Animation film Surf's Up. He also served as co-executive producer, story co-creator and writer on the Netflix animated series Arcane.
Christopher Mason Savino is an American writer, comic book artist, and former animator. He is well-known as the creator of the animated series The Loud House. Savino has also worked on The Ren & Stimpy Show, Rocko's Modern Life, Dexter's Laboratory, Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel, The Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, My Gym Partner's a Monkey, Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Mickey Mouse and Johnny Test.
Susan E. Dietter, usually credited as Susie Dietter, is an American director, known primarily for her work on television cartoons. She has directed episodes of the popular series Futurama, Baby Blues, The Simpsons, Recess and The Critic. She also worked as an animator for the modern-day Looney Tunes "Museum Scream" and "My Generation G... G... Gap".
Ralph Eggleston was an American animator, art director, storyboard artist, and production designer at Pixar Animation Studios. He won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for For the Birds.
Jennifer Yuh Nelson is an American story artist, character designer, television director, illustrator, and film director. She is best known for directing the films Kung Fu Panda 2, Kung Fu Panda 3, and The Darkest Minds. Yuh is the first woman to solely direct and the first Asian American to direct a major American animated film, and has been recognized as a commercially successful Asian American director.
Paperman is an American black-and-white computer-cel animated romantic comedy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Directed by John Kahrs, it blends traditional and computer animation, and features the voices of Kahrs and Kari Wahlgren in the leading roles.
"Adventure Time" is an animated short film created by Pendleton Ward, as well as the pilot to the Cartoon Network series of the same name. The short follows the adventures of Pen, a human boy, and his best friend Jake, a dog with magical powers to change shape and grow and shrink at will. In this episode, Pen and Jake have to rescue Princess Bubblegum from the antagonistic Ice King.
Steven Universe is an American animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It tells the coming-of-age story of a young boy, Steven Universe, who lives with the Crystal Gems—magical, mineral-based aliens named Garnet (Estelle), Amethyst, and Pearl —in the fictional town of Beach City. Steven, who is half-Gem, has adventures with his friends and helps the Gems protect the world from their own kind. The pilot was first shown in May 2013, and the series ran for five seasons, from November 2013 to January 2019. The TV film Steven Universe: The Movie was released in September 2019, and an epilogue limited series, Steven Universe Future, ran from December 2019 to March 2020.
Mickey Mouse is an American animated television series produced by Disney Television Animation. Featuring Disney cartoon characters Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy and Pluto in contemporary settings such as Paris, Venice, Tokyo and New York, the series has the slapstick feel of the earliest Mickey Mouse shorts while providing a modern update, and "presents Mickey in a broad range of humorous situations that showcase his pluck and rascality, along with his long-beloved charm and good heartedness". The animation is provided by Mercury Filmworks.
Rebecca Rea Sugar is an American animator, screenwriter, producer, director and musician. She is best known for being the creator of the Cartoon Network series Steven Universe, making her the first non-binary person to independently create a series for the network; prior to coming out as non-binary, Sugar was described as the first woman to do so. Until 2013, Sugar was a writer and storyboard artist on the animated television series Adventure Time. Her work on the two series has earned her seven Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Sugar is bisexual, non-binary, and genderqueer, using both she/her and they/them pronouns. Sugar's queerness has served as the inspiration for her to stress the importance of LGBT representation in the arts, especially in children's entertainment.
Uncle Grandpa is an American animated television series created by Peter Browngardt for Cartoon Network that ran from September 2, 2013 to June 30, 2017. It is based on Browngardt's animated short of the same name from The Cartoonstitute. Uncle Grandpa is also a spin-off of Secret Mountain Fort Awesome, which was in turn a spin-off of The Cartoonstitute short. It was produced by Cartoon Network Studios.
Lynne Rae Naylor is a Canadian animator, artist, designer, director, and producer for television. She is best known for co-creating DreamWorks' The Mighty Ones, co-founding the animation studio Spümcø with John Kricfalusi, Bob Camp, and Jim Smith, and co-developing The Ren & Stimpy Show for Nickelodeon. She also worked on Batman: The Animated Series, The Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, My Life as a Teenage Robot, and Wander Over Yonder.
Thomas Herpich is an American artist who is best known for being a writer and storyboard artist on the animated television series Adventure Time.
Ramsey Ann Naito is an American producer of animated films who currently serves as the president of Nickelodeon Animation and Paramount Animation. She is best known for her 2017 production The Boss Baby; it earned her several awards and nominations including an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature. Her mother was a painter and her Japanese father came from a long line of haiku artists.
Mila is a 2021 CG animated short film written and directed by Cinzia Angelini and produced by Andrea Emmes. It follows the story of a little girl whose life takes an unexpected turn during World War II. The film is a volunteer-based project that features the largest independent virtual animation studio ever created consisting of 350 animation professionals from 35 countries. After the announcement of the new partnership with Cinesite Studios, the film was released in 2021. As of May 2022, the short film has won more than 40 awards and has collected more than 50 nominations to festivals world-wide besides qualifying to the Oscar 2022 in the category Best Animated Short Film.
Vivienne Medrano, also known by her online alias VivziePop, is an American YouTuber, animator, writer, director, producer, and voice actress. She is best known as the creator of the musical television series Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss. She also created the webcomic ZooPhobia.
