We are an in-person college program in Kansas City with character design, storyboard classes, and much more. Although our program is primarily in-person, we also offer 2 fantastic introductory online courses for students to see if animation is right for them.

Intermediate drawing skills are needed to attend.  You may request a full catalog with your email inquiry. 

HAA is a certified school with the state of Missouri. Our animation certificate program has more depth and courses than a bachelor's degree in animation. Because the animation industry does not require a college degree, and degrees offer no advantage to applying to jobs, we have eliminated unnecessary academic curriculum to focus on what students need to learn to prepare for the jobs they want.

We offer our animation courses in Kansas City, and are located on Stateline Rd and 92nd St in KCMO with Leawood, Kansas on the other side of the street from us.

INTRODUCTION TO ANIMATION- with director and animator Gavin Dell (Disney, Warner Bros., Activision)

Starts Tuesday Feb 6th, 2024 for 8 weeks  (Sign up for the next class coming soon!)

7:30 to 9pm weekly

This fun introductory course will introduce students to the animation industry and how it works as well as learning to animate in 2D. Students will learn the principles of animation and many inside secrets to how professional animator's work. As well as animation, students will learn how to design characters and basic storyboarding so they can get an overall perspective of different jobs in the industry.

This 8-week animation course, offered at our Kansas City academy or online, will give students a great introduction to the entire animation process on a real Hollywood production. Intermediate drawing skills are required for this class.

BIO- Gavin Dell

Gavin Dell began his career as a traditional animator for Steven Spielberg and Tim Burton, Looney Toons, The Simpson's, and Warner Bros. He began to expand his career opportunities by working as a character designer for Warner Bros. on The Zoo which later became Madagascar, and then to be the lead designer for Disney's Hercules the tv series and Pirates of the Caribbean for Disney Home Video Features. As the industry began to evolve it led Gavin into 3D animation for gaming. Gavin animated all of the Nightcrawler for the X-Men Movie Game and then went on to do cinematics for Silent Hill, Dirty Harry, Gears of War 2, Saint's Row 4 and more. He spent the last 20 years as a director for Family Guy, Scooby Doo, and Central Park as well as a story artist for Disenchantment and Futurama. 

Gavin is one of the few artists who has worked at director level positions in both 2D and 3D animation. His understanding of the pipeline process of animation for film, games, and television will be a great benefit for students seeking to enter the industry. 

INTRODUCTION TO STORY- with Disney story artist and director Jason Lethcoe (Disney, Sony, Paramount)

Sign our contact form for next class start date.

7:30 to 9pm weekly

In this foundational course we introduce students to the process of building and refining a story using the Hollywood studio method. Learn what it is like to be on a Disney story team, including how to pitch, how to contribute ideas, how to tell a story visually, and much more. Students will learn how to write a screenplay, analyze and develop stories of their own and the basics of acting, staging and composition for storyboards.

This 8-week course will give students a great introduction to the moviemaking process from an insider's perspective on a real Hollywood production. Intermediate drawing skills are required for this class.

BIO- Jason Lethcoe

Jason Lethcoe has worked as a writer, director, and storyboard artist for the past 36 years at Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures and Dreamworks SKG. His work has been included in such features as The Little Mermaid, The Tigger Movie, Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas, The Pagemaster, Disney’s Home On The Range, Tom and Jerry, Surf's Up, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Monsters at Work.

He is the recipient of several awards including the Worldfest Houston Gold Jury Award for his animation of Bugs Bunny at Warner Bros. Studios and nominated for Best Debut of a new comic book title by the 2001 Lighthouse Awards. More recently, he was nominated for the 2012 Retailer's Choice award and the Lesserpries in Germany.

He is also an internationally published author of several critically acclaimed books. Amazing Adventures From Zoom’s Academy, his first foray into juvenile fiction, was adapted for the screen by Revolution Studios and made into the movie Zoom starring Tim Allen.