Kansas City’s
Specialty School for Animation Careers
The First Trade School for Animation — Built by Hollywood Animators
A state-certified professional certificate. Real pipelines. Real credentials, without the university debt.
Most four-year university animation programs deliver roughly 800 hours of hands-on training. Hollywood Animation Academy delivers 2,400 in two years or less at half the cost. That is not a small difference. That is an entirely different level of preparation.
HAA is a state-certified private school in Missouri, and that distinction is the reason those numbers are even possible. Unbound by the federal accreditation requirements that force traditional colleges to fill schedules with general education curriculum, every hour here is animation. Not a department. The entire school.
Our experience-crafted curriculum balances traditional Disney animation and modern Anime alongside the most cutting-edge 3D pipeline training available — simulating the real studio environments students will enter as working professionals.
Students don't just study real productions — they learn from the artists and directors actively working on them.
Instruction comes from working professionals with film, game, and television credits who bring current, real-world assignments directly into the classroom. These are directors and senior artists who have reviewed demo reels, supervised productions, and mentored developing talent at the professional level.
Through our focused 1-Year and 2-Year certificate programs and our studio-level Mastercraft Program, students build exactly what studios evaluate: a portfolio that demonstrates proof of skills. Not a diploma. Not a GPA. The exact type of work studios need to see.
Our founder, Gavin Dell, is a Kansas City native who spent decades in professional animation and built HAA to bring serious, studio-caliber training back to the Midwest — the kind that rivals CalArts and SCAD.
April 23 and April 24
Dan Jeup | Pixar Story Supervisor, Animator + Director
We’re thrilled to have Dan on campus in April to work in person with our seniors as they finish their portfolio work
Is ANIMATION YOUR CALLING?
try it and find out
ENROLL BY MARCH 6 FOR OUR SPRING ONLINE COURSES!
Let us show you how we work and experience the magic of bringing characters to life. Our online animation classes provide a structured, professional introduction to industry-level training.
Try our Introduction to Animation courses, available for 2DAnimation and 3D Animation.
Meet live online one night a week for 8 weeks, with hands-on access to industry software, learning directly from Hollywood pros, and see your skills grow fast. It’s the perfect starting point for students, creatives, and career-changers alike. Our next online courses begin in early March.
An ideal starting point to experience professional-level animation training before committing to a full certificate path.
Mentored BY INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS
You won’t just learn animation. You’ll train the way professionals train.
Program Paths
Start where you are with an introductory online class:
Introductory Online Classes- Beginners 15 and up
Creative Edge- Intermediate level with experience in Storyboard Pro or Maya
Advance with purpose with one of our full programs:
One-Year Foundational Certificate
Two-Year Professional Certificate
Mastercraft Completion (Advanced Industry Prep for graduates and professionals)
Each path leads to a studio-ready portfolio, industry connections, and the professional skills studios hire.
Explore your path - and choose your program!
These are student projects developed under professional- level guidance and studio-style critique.
When students are taught by instructors who evaluate portfolios for major studios, they gain direct insight into current industry standards and expectations.
LEARN MORE ABOUT:
REGISTER by April 24th for our Summer Animation courses!
Taught in person and online daily by our founder, Gavin Dell, who has over 30 years of experience at Disney, Warner Bros, Universal, and more!
June 1st thru 24th
Animation Fundamentals and Design - ages 10-14
Mondays and Wednesdays 9:30 to 11:30 am
$1500
June 2nd thru 25th
Rising Artists - ages 15 and up
Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:30am to Noon
$1,995
7 REASONS TO CHOOSE HOLLYWOOD ANIMATION ACADEMY FOR YOUR ANIMATION TRAINING:
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Our staff has more industry experience than any other college animation program in the country. Students need a real professional's experience to help them reach professional levels. Our connections and insight will give you a huge advantage for today's competitive market. Learn about our Faculty
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Studios value potential employees that have experience on their animation and design software.
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Our certificate programs are focused 100% on professional animation skills, and has far more depth than any other college teaching animation today. Check out our programs
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Because our directors were the ones who reviewed portfolios for their teams, they know exactly what you need to succeed.
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Kansas City is one of the nicest and most affordable cities to live in the US. You will be taught by instructors who have taught at top schools in California and New York for a fraction of the cost. Learn more about Kansas City
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HAA gets you ready to work in half the time and for less than half of the cost of most colleges.
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We only allow 12 students per classroom so our students get the quality of attention they deserve.
Congratulations: Our student Savannah Sallee, was recently hired as a storyboard artist at Loud Cloud Animation Studios in Oklahoma City. Go Savannah!