There is a specific moment in every animator’s career that changes them forever.

You don’t need to be a draftsman to be an animator. You need to be an observer. You need to watch how a friend holds a coffee cup when they are exhausted. You need to notice that a dog wags its tail before it sees you, not after. You need to understand timing.

Grab a sticky note pad. Draw a bouncing ball. Frame 1: Top left. Frame 2: Slightly lower. Frame 10: Squashed on the ground. Flip the pages.

It’s not the first paycheck. It’s not the film festival screening. It happens late at night, hunched over a tablet or a lightboard, when you draw frame 47 of a walk cycle. You flip between frame 47 and frame 48, and suddenly— magically —the character breathes.