Best Animation Studios in Los Angeles (2026)

Introduction

Los Angeles has more animation studios than any other city in the US, and the 12 below cover the main kinds: series producers for streamers and networks, stop-motion specialists, and design-led studios making commercials and brand systems. They were chosen for recent work, 2025 and 2026 news, and the range of clients they serve.

The local industry spent 2025 and 2026 adjusting to fewer series orders from streamers, and many studios leaned harder on commercial, games and live-event work. Psyop launched Psyop Media Group in June 2026, an independent collective of around 20 studios with no private equity or holding-company owner. Titmouse signed a creative partnership with Meow Wolf in July 2026, covering animated series and the animation for Meow Wolf’s Los Angeles exhibition. Stoopid Buddy Stoodios spent part of the spring animating an NFL schedule release in stop-motion.

Every studio here has an active office in the Los Angeles area in 2026, from Burbank to Echo Park and the Arts District. The list runs in no fixed order of merit, since the right choice depends on whether you need a series partner, a commercial studio or a design team that animates.

The best animation studios in Los Angeles

1. Titmouse

Privately held · Los Angeles · titmouse.net

Titmouse is one of the largest independent animation producers in Los Angeles, run by co-founder and CEO Chris Prynoski. Its long list of adult and genre series includes Big Mouth, The Venture Bros. and the revived Beavis and Butt-Head. In July 2026 it announced a partnership with Meow Wolf to co-develop animated series and to produce and direct animation for Meow Wolf’s Los Angeles exhibition, due to open in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Recent and current productions include The Legend of Vox Machina season 4 for Prime Video, Mating Season and Dang! for Netflix, Kevin for Prime Video and Golden Axe. The studio also takes commercial and music video work, so it suits brands that want a series-level look on a short project.

2. BUCK

Independent, certified B Corp · Arts District · buck.co

BUCK is a design and animation company with five studios, and its Los Angeles office on South San Pedro Street is one of the founding locations, alongside New York, London, Amsterdam and Sydney. It is a certified B Corporation and has added a games arm, BUCK Games, to its animation and design work.

Current work shown on its site includes branding for J.P. Morgan Payments, an identity for Kia’s AI assistant and a holiday campaign for Dunkin’ Munchkins. BUCK works directly for brands as well as through agencies, and it covers 2D, 3D, character work and interactive projects under one roof.

3. Psyop

Independent · Los Angeles · psyop.com

Psyop is a 26-year-old animation and design studio with offices in Los Angeles and New York. On 1 June 2026 it launched Psyop Media Group, a collective of about 20 studios worldwide, including Golden Wolf and Take Your Medicine. CEO Matt Hunnicutt has described the model as running without private equity or holding-company agendas.

Recent work includes the title graphics for the 2026 AICP Show, made across several studios in the group, and campaigns for Apple’s App Store. Psyop is a good fit for large commercial projects that need a mix of CG, 2D and live action, and the group structure lets it bring in specialist partners.

4. Six Point Harness

Mondo Media group · Echo Park · sixpointharness.com

Six Point Harness has made animation for broadcast, film and the web since 2003, and has been part of Mondo Media since a 2016 merger that kept Six Point Harness as the production brand. It works from a studio in Echo Park. Its short The Whistle qualified for the Academy Awards and won three awards at the Los Angeles Animation Festival in December 2025.

Recent projects include the “Death Dealer” spot for Supreme, the series OMG Yes! for Adult Swim and HBO Max, Yo Gabba Gabba shorts for Apple TV+, animated sequences for The Boys on Prime Video, and commercials for MetLife. It is a sensible choice for brands that want a comedy or character-led tone.

5. Stoopid Buddy Stoodios

Privately held · Burbank · stoopidbuddy.com

Stoopid Buddy Stoodios is a stop-motion studio formed in 2011 by Seth Green, Matthew Senreich, John Harvatine IV and Eric Towner. It is best known for Adult Swim’s Robot Chicken and Hulu’s Crossing Swords, and recent productions include Mickey’s Spooky Stories for Disney Jr. and MrBeast Lab.

In May 2026 it released a stop-motion video announcing the Green Bay Packers’ 2026 schedule, directed by Harvatine and made in one month by 15 artists, with two browser games attached. That project shows how quickly the studio can turn around a handmade piece for a brand.

6. Bento Box Entertainment

Owned by Fox · Los Angeles · bentoboxent.com

Bento Box is an Emmy-winning animation studio owned by Fox, and it also runs a studio in Atlanta. It is the production house behind Bob’s Burgers, along with Housebroken, Paradise PD, Bordertown, Brickleberry and The Awesomes.

The studio works mainly on long-running series for Fox and other networks and streamers. For brands, its value is its depth in character comedy and its experience with pipelines that run for many seasons.

7. Scholar

Independent · Elysian Valley · helloscholar.com

Scholar, formerly Gentleman Scholar, is a creative production company that combines animation, live action and VFX. It has studios in Los Angeles, on Clearwater Street, and in New York. The old Gentleman Scholar domain now redirects to the Scholar site.

Clients include Apple, Google Play, Target, Taco Bell, Uber, Chevron and Okta. Its work runs from product visualisation and character animation to experiential pieces, including a planetarium film for the US Space Force.

8. Blur Studio

Independent · Culver City · blur.com

Blur Studio was founded in 1995 and is known for high-end CG cinematics and animated shorts. It produced episodes for Netflix’s Love, Death & Robots volume 4 and Prime Video’s Secret Level, and worked on the feature Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

Most of its commercial work is for games publishers, including cinematics for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Valorant and League of Legends, and for clients such as Riot Games, Activision and Bethesda. Blur suits projects where photoreal or stylised CG has to hold up at trailer quality.

9. Laundry

Independent · Los Angeles · laundry.studio

Laundry is a design and animation studio with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, led by CEO and managing director James Sweigert. Its directors include PJ Richardson and Tony Liu, and it covers motion design, animation, live action, branding and AI-assisted production.

Clients include Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Uber, Adobe and Airbnb. Much of its work is campaign and motion brand systems for tech companies, so it is a natural choice for product launches and keynote-style content.

10. Brand New School

Independent · Mid-City · brandnewschool.com

Brand New School is a design-led creative company with studios on South La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles, in New York and in London. Founded by Jonathan Notaro, it works across strategy, design, animation and production, and runs a roster of in-house and affiliated directors.

Recent projects on its site include “Vibecon, Made in Its Own Language” and “Code As A Creative Act”. It suits brands that want one partner to take a project from idea to finished animation and design.

11. ManvsMachine

Part of Landor & Fitch · Elysian Valley · mvsm.com

ManvsMachine is a design, film and visual arts studio with bases in London and Los Angeles, where it works from a studio on Gilroy Street. Its site lists it as part of Landor & Fitch, and it counts more than 64 awards.

The studio is known for precise CG product films and motion work for sportswear, technology and consumer brands, often working directly with brand teams as well as through agencies. Its Los Angeles office gives US clients a local team with access to the London studio.

12. MakeMake

Independent · Santa Monica · makemake.com

MakeMake is the unified studio formed from Rock Paper Scissors and its sister companies, including the title and design studio Elastic, whose web address now leads to MakeMake’s design and animation work. It covers design and animation, editing, VFX, colour, music and film and TV marketing for advertising and entertainment.

Elastic’s background in main title sequences makes MakeMake a strong option for series titles and entertainment marketing. Having editing and finishing in the same company also suits brands that want animation and post-production handled together.

What to look for in a Los Angeles animation studio

Start with the kind of studio you need. Series producers such as Titmouse, Bento Box and Six Point Harness are built for long pipelines, large crews and network delivery specs. Design-led studios such as BUCK, Laundry and Brand New School are set up for shorter commercial schedules and brand systems. Many take both kinds of work, but their processes, rates and staffing reflect where most of their revenue comes from.

Match the technique to the brief. Los Angeles has specialists in stop-motion, CG cinematics, 2D character animation and mixed media. Ask to see work in the exact style you want, made recently, and ask which director and lead artists made it, since freelancers move between studios often.

Be clear about rights and reuse. Animation built for a single spot often ends up in social cuts, out-of-home and events. Agree up front who owns characters, rigs and project files, and what it will cost to adapt the work later. This matters more as studios adopt AI-assisted tools, so ask how they use them and how that affects ownership.

Finally, ask how review works. Animation goes through many stages, from script and animatic to layout, lighting and final render, and each one needs clear feedback. Studios that keep files, versions and comments in one place, and give clients a simple way to see the latest cut, tend to hit dates with fewer surprises.

How Fabric helps animation teams

Fabric gives an animation team one workspace for project files, client feedback and production knowledge, with AI search across all of it. The setup for creative teams works well for studios running several productions at once, with a space per project for scripts, boards, animatics and renders.

Render sequences, project files and reference video can sit in Fabric’s cloud drive, which streams files on demand so they take no local disk space, and heavy files open without a full download. There is more on this in where your rendering files should live. Search works by meaning across documents, images and transcribed recordings, and similar search finds frames or style references that look alike in composition, colour and subject.

For development, the canvas is an infinite whiteboard for moodboards and storyboards that can embed Vimeo, YouTube and Figma. Recorded client calls and voice direction can be transcribed so notes are searchable by timestamp. A folder can also become a Kanban board whose cards are the shot files themselves.

For client review, any file or folder can be published as a web page and protected with a password. Clients can leave threaded comments through a shared link without creating an account. Timestamped comments and drawing on video are coming soon to annotations; for how Fabric compares with dedicated review tools today, see the best creative proofing tools.

Password protection is included on Pro and Team plans. See plans for teams.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best animation studio in Los Angeles?

There is no single answer, as it depends on the project. For adult and genre series, Titmouse and Bento Box have the longest track records. For brand and commercial work, BUCK, Psyop and Laundry are among the most active, and studios such as Stoopid Buddy Stoodios lead in stop-motion.

What is Psyop Media Group?

Psyop Media Group is an independent collective launched by Psyop on 1 June 2026. It brings together about 20 studios around the world, including Golden Wolf and Take Your Medicine, with Psyop’s Los Angeles and New York studios at its centre.

What happened to Gentleman Scholar?

Gentleman Scholar now operates as Scholar, with studios in Los Angeles and New York. Its old web address redirects to the new site.

How much does it cost to hire an animation studio in Los Angeles?

Studios rarely publish rates. Cost depends on length, technique and how many rounds of revisions are needed. Stop-motion and high-end CG usually cost more per second than 2D motion design, and a fixed scope with agreed review stages helps keep budgets steady.

Should I hire an animation studio or a VFX house?

If the project is mostly animated, an animation studio is the better starting point. If animation has to be combined with live-action footage, a VFX house may suit it better; see our list of the best VFX studios in Los Angeles.

Related lists

Animation studios in other cities: New York · London · Chicago · San Francisco · Toronto

More in Los Angeles: Creative agencies · Design agencies · VFX · Video production · Post-production · Sound design

Run your studio on Fabric: Fabric for creative teams · Fabric for designers · Best creative proofing tools