animator

American  

[an-uh-mey-ter] / ˈæn əˌmeɪ tər /

Sometimes animater

noun

1. a person or thing that animates.

2. Graphic Arts. an artist who produces animation from drawings, objects, or computer models: a video game animator;

   a cartoon animator;

   a video game animator;

   a stop-motion animator.

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animator British  

/ ˈænɪˌmeɪtə /

noun

1. an artist who produces animated cartoons

2. a person who coordinates or facilitates something, esp a television or radio presenter

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Etymology

Origin of animator

First recorded in 1565–75, and in 1915–20 animator for def. 2; from Late Latin animātor; see origin at animate, -tor

Explanation

If you're an animator, you're an artist who makes a drawing, clay figure, or digital image appear to move. Animators draw the images that make your favorite cartoon character seem to walk and talk. It used to be that an animator drew a series of images on paper that would appear as continuous movement when they were viewed in quick succession. Now there are many different kinds of animation, including claymation, in which clay figures are repeatedly filmed, adjusted, and filmed again, seeming to move independently thanks to animators. The Latin root word is animare, "give breath to," from anima, "life."

Example Sentences

Animator John Whitney used an early computer to produce images for Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” in 1958, but the breakthrough into cinematic world-building came in the 1990s with “Terminator 2” and “Toy Story.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 14, 2026

Animator Kevin O’Donnell worked on the voice, look and personality of Ed, who is represented as a sun with sunglasses.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 21, 2024

Animator and producer Walt Disney created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in 1927 for Universal, introducing the mischievous character to audiences in the short film “Trolley Troubles”.

From Reuters • Dec. 2, 2022

Animator Leonid Shvartsman created Cheburashka as a small toddling creature with huge ears on the side of his head that droop when he is discouraged.

From Washington Post • May 28, 2020

Hence, though the universe displays the geometry of its Constructor or Animator, yet nature was eminently defined as the µίµησις τῶν ἀριθµῶν--the imitation of numbers.

From Christianity and Greek Philosophy or, the relation between spontaneous and reflective thought in Greece and the positive teaching of Christ and His Apostles by Cocker, B. F. (Benjamin Franklin)

Related Words

• artisan
• craftsman
• illustrator