Cartoon Animation Services
Motifmotion is a 2D animation studio offering cartoon animation services: original cartoons, from a single short to a pilot to a full series. We handle the whole build: story and script, character design, storyboards, animatics, backgrounds, animation, voice and sound. If you have a property, a book, a script, or an idea for a show, we can produce it.
What we mean by cartoon animation
When we talk about cartoon animation services, we mean story-driven animation: characters with personalities, environments they live in, and a narrative that runs across scenes or episodes. It is not motion graphics, and it is not an explainer with a character dropped into it. That distinction is what separates a cartoon animation company from a general video vendor. A cartoon has a world, and the story carries from scene to scene, or across a whole series.
If your project is really a product walkthrough or a concept explainer, that is different work; see our explainer video production.
- Characters with personalities
- Environments and a world they live in
- A story that runs across scenes or episodes
- Continuity, not a one-off shot
Original cartoons, pilots, and animated series
If you have an original property, a book, or an idea for a show, we can produce it, and we can adapt existing books or characters while keeping the original style intact. Most originals start with a pilot, the first episode where the characters, world, and pacing get locked in. From there, animated series production is built on reuse: once characters are rigged and the backgrounds exist, every new episode gets faster and more consistent. We have produced multi-part series, including a 26-part animated letter program held consistent from the first episode to the last. Episodic work is where cartoon animation services get tested, because the look has to hold across every episode.
To see episodic work we have produced, take a look at our case studies.
- Original properties, adaptations, and existing IP
- Pilots that lock in characters, world, and pacing
- Recurring casts and reusable rigs across episodes
- Consistency from episode one to episode ten
Children's cartoon animation
Children's cartoons are their own craft: a clear visual language, the right pacing, and characters a young viewer recognizes and returns to. We produce children's animation for education, family, and publisher properties. Our children's literacy work, a full animated alphabet series and a stroke-by-stroke handwriting course, had to make every letter and character clear enough for an early reader to follow and remember. Children's work is the application our cartoon animation services get asked for most.
- Preschool, family, and publisher properties
- Age-appropriate pacing and visual language
- Recurring characters children come to know
- Kids animated series for classroom and streaming
Storyboards, animatics, and visual development
Before a frame is animated, the story gets planned. A storyboard is the shot-by-shot drawing of the whole piece. An animatic is that storyboard timed to a rough soundtrack, so pacing and staging are decided before the expensive animation begins. This is the stage where a real cartoon studio shows itself, and it is what keeps a cartoon feeling like one coherent world.
- Shot planning, staging, and composition
- Storyboards for the full piece
- Animatics that lock pacing and timing
- Background and production art
Our cartoon production process
2D cartoon animation
Our technique is 2D. Most of our cartoon work is rigged character animation and cutout-style puppet animation, with frame-by-frame added wherever a performance calls for it. 2D gives you a warm, hand-made look and a production that scales across episodes, which is why it suits story-driven and children's work so well.
To see how 2D cartoon animation compares with other looks, read our animation styles guide.
- Rigged and cutout character animation
- Frame-by-frame for key performance moments
- Character acting, lip sync, and effects
- Compositing and scene-to-scene continuity
Cartoon character design and development
Every cartoon starts with its cast. We design characters from the ground up, keep them visually consistent, and build them as animation-ready artwork, so the character you approve on paper is the one that ends up on screen.
- Character design, expressions, and poses
- Full turnarounds for any angle
- Visual consistency across a production
- Animation-ready artwork
What determines the cost of cartoon animation services
Cartoon animation services are scoped, never sold off a rate card. No two cartoons are the same size, so there is no flat rate. These are the factors that move the scope. Tell us what you are picturing and we will scope it and give you a quote.
- Runtime and number of episodes
- Number of characters and environments
- Visual style and level of detail
- How much can be reused across episodes
- Rigged versus frame-by-frame animation
- Voice acting, music, and sound
- Revisions and delivery schedule
- Original property versus adapting existing artwork
Educational cartoons
Some learning projects work better as a character-driven cartoon than as a straight instructional video, and our cartoon animation services are often commissioned for exactly that. When the lesson has a story in it, a cartoon is often the right format. For curriculum, instructional content, and full educational programs, see our educational animation, which is built for exactly that.
Cartoon animation services FAQ
Yes. We produce children's animation for education, family, and publisher use, including a full animated alphabet series made for early readers.
Yes. A pilot is usually where an original property starts, and it is where the characters, world, and pacing get locked in before a series is committed.
Yes. We have produced multi-part animated series, including a 26-part letter program kept consistent from the first episode to the last. We scope a series to what we can produce well.
Yes. Character and visual development is a named phase of every cartoon we produce, from look and expressions to full turnarounds.
Yes. We adapt existing artwork or book illustrations into animation-ready designs and keep the original style intact.
Yes, and they are not optional. Storyboards and animatics are where a cartoon's pacing and staging get decided before animation begins.
We are not locked into one look. Our cartoon animation services cover rigged 2D character animation, cutout-style puppet animation, and frame-by-frame where a performance calls for it, and we pick the approach from what the story needs and what you want it to feel like. The work is built in the standard 2D animation toolset, including Toon Boom Harmony, Adobe Animate, After Effects, Moho, and TVPaint, so we staff each project around the style you want rather than fitting your cartoon to a house template.
Yes. Characters, rigs, environments, and props carry across episodes, which is what makes a series affordable to produce.
Yes. When a learning project works better as a story than a lesson, a cartoon is the right format. For curriculum and instructional programs, see our educational animation page.
It depends on length and complexity more than anything else. As a general rule, a five-minute animated cartoon runs somewhere in the range of eight to fifteen weeks from kickoff to final delivery. A short one-off moves faster. A pilot, or a series with a full cast, new environments, and original music, takes longer. Once we know the runtime and the scope, we give you a real schedule.
Runtime, episode count, the number of characters and environments, the visual style, and how much can be reused across episodes.
Yes. Voice casting, music, and sound design are part of the production, not a separate vendor.
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Have a cartoon, a pilot, or a property in mind?
Let's talk about producing it. Tell us about your story, your characters, or your show idea, and we'll scope the cartoon animation services it needs and what the next steps look like.