Freelance Animator
Average hourly rate
$53/hr
-13.47% YoY
Updated July 2026
Submissions
93
High confidence
Job description
Animators create motion in images, characters, or objects. They design and produce animation for various media like film, TV, video games, and advertising, using techniques like 2D/3D modeling.
Most common skills
adobe after effects, adobe animate, and motion graphics — see all Animator skill data.
Rate data
The average comes from our open, crowdsourced Animator hourly rates database of 93 verified submissions.
Fun facts
- Walt Disney's 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' was the first full-length animated feature in color and with sound, premiering in 1937. This marked a significant milestone in the world of animation.
- The 1001 Arabian Nights inspired the first known animated feature film. It was created by Quirino Cristiani in 1917 and unfortunately lost to history as no copies have survived.
- The process of creating a single frame in a traditionally animated film can be extremely time-consuming. Depending on the complexity, it might take an artist a full week to create just a few seconds of animation.
Quotes
- Animation is not the art of drawings that move but the art of movements that are drawn. - Norman McLaren
- Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can conceive. - Walt Disney
- The animation is created in the moment, alive and fresh. - Hayao Miyazaki