How to Make an Animated Commercial (and Who to Hire)
How to make an animated commercial: when animation beats live action, the production process, what it costs, and how to choose the right studio to make yours.
An animated commercial is not a lower-cost version of a live-action one, and treating it that way is the first mistake. Animation is a deliberate creative choice that does specific things film cannot: it makes the impossible achievable, softens a serious subject, gives a brand an ownable look, and carries a story with pure feeling and no crew, no location, no reshoots. I run a creative studio, so this is the practical guide to deciding whether animation is right for your commercial, how it actually gets made, and who to hire to make it. If you just want to watch great animated ads, our roundup of animated advertisements collects the best ones; this piece is about making your own.
When animation is the right call
Reach for animation over live action when one of these is true.
- The idea is impossible or expensive to film. Talking food, abstract concepts, fantastical worlds, a softened shark. Animation makes whimsy achievable and lets you show things a camera never could.
- The subject is heavy. A handmade, animated look can carry a difficult or dry message (finance, healthcare, food systems) without lecturing, because the warmth of the style disarms the viewer.
- You want an ownable visual world. A distinctive animation style gives a brand a recognisable identity competitors cannot copy, which compounds across a campaign.
- You need to explain something complex. For intricate products, animation can strip away everything but the idea, which is why explainers are almost always animated.
If your commercial is fundamentally about real people and real emotion in the real world, live action usually wins. If it is about an idea, animation often does.
A perfect example of the second point: John Lewis told a complete, tender Christmas story with two animated animals and not a word of dialogue, using animation to carry pure feeling in a way a live shoot never could.
The main styles, and what each is for
“Animated” is not one look. The style you choose drives both the feel and the cost, so it is worth knowing the main options before you brief anyone.
- 2D animation. The most common and most flexible: flat characters and graphic worlds, from simple explainer styles to rich illustrated films. The default for most brand and explainer work.
- Motion graphics. Animated type, shapes, icons, and data rather than characters. The right choice for a message-led or product-led ad where clarity matters more than a story.
- 3D and CGI. Dimensional, lit, and textured. The most premium and the most costly, used for product visualisation, photoreal work, and high-end brand films.
- Stop-motion. Real objects or puppets shot frame by frame. Slow and craft-heavy, but it has a tactile, handmade charm that reads as authentic and stands out against slick digital work.
- Mixed media. Combining live action with animation, or several styles at once. Distinctive and flexible, and an increasingly common way to feel fresh.
If you are unsure, most brand and explainer projects land in 2D or motion graphics; reach for 3D or stop-motion when the look itself is the point.
How an animated commercial gets made
The process shares a spine with live action but replaces the shoot with the build.
- Concept and script. The single idea, written as a tight script. This matters even more in animation, because everything after it is expensive to change.
- Storyboard and style frames. The board maps the shots; the style frames lock the look. This is your lowest-cost chance to fix problems, on paper, before any animation begins.
- Design and illustration. Characters, backgrounds, and assets are drawn in the chosen style. The art direction set here defines the whole film.
- Animation. The assets are brought to life, frame by frame or rig by rig. This is the longest, most craft-intensive stage.
- Sound and finishing. Voiceover, music, and sound design, which carry far more of the emotional weight than most people expect, plus final colour and delivery.
The big difference from live action is where the cost sits. There is no expensive shoot day, but the design and animation stages are labour-heavy, so the cost scales with complexity, length, and style rather than cast and location.
What drives the cost
Three things move the price of an animated commercial: the style (simple 2D costs far less than photoreal 3D or intricate frame-by-frame), the length, and the amount of custom design (bespoke characters and worlds cost more than a clean graphic style). A short, clean 2D explainer sits at the accessible end; a character-driven or 3D brand film runs to serious money. For a full breakdown of what video costs across formats, our 30-second commercial cost guide is a useful reference point.
Who to hire
The teams that make animated commercials split by style, and the best in each lane rarely overlap, so the real task is matching the maker to the look you want.
- Character-driven, story-first animation for warmth, humour, and emotion.
- High-end brand craft and idents for a few seconds of unforgettable brand motion.
- Photoreal or stylised 3D for product and dimensional work.
- Strategic 2D explainers when clarity matters more than spectacle.
- A distinctive illustration-led look when the art direction is the whole appeal.
Decide which of these your commercial is before you brief anyone, then judge any reel on that one thing. From there you have two routes: a specialist studio hired per project, or an embedded creative team that makes your animation on an ongoing basis, which is what we do at Moonb. If you want to weigh up specialist studios first, our roundup of motion graphics companies lays them out with real pricing, and 3D video production companies covers the 3D end.
Common questions
Does an animated commercial cost less than live action? Not necessarily. There is no shoot day, cast, or location, but the design and animation are labour-heavy, so a high-end 3D or frame-by-frame film can cost as much as a live shoot. A clean 2D explainer sits at the lower end.
How long does an animated commercial take? Usually a few weeks to a few months, depending on style and length. Simple 2D is faster; bespoke character or 3D work takes longer because every asset is built from scratch.
2D or 3D? 2D for most brand, explainer, and character work, and for a distinctive illustrated look. 3D when you need photoreal product shots, dimensional worlds, or a premium finish, and the spend to match.
The judgment that makes it work
This is the part that matters, and it is where I sit. The tools to generate rough animation are getting better and lower-cost every month, and for throwaway work they may be all you need. What still separates a memorable animated commercial from a forgettable one is the same thing that always did: choosing the one idea, choosing the style that serves it, and controlling the timing and performance frame by frame so it feels alive. That is human judgment, and it is what a real animation team is for.
At Moonb we make animated commercials as part of an embedded creative team, with a senior Creative Director protecting the idea and the style from script to final frame. Here is a Moonb animated piece for Jumo Health:
I co-founded Moonb, so weigh the framing accordingly. If you want an animated commercial made with that kind of care, see how Moonb works.
Frequently asked questions
There is no single right length, but most brand and explainer pieces run 15 to 90 seconds, with 30 seconds the common broadcast and paid-social slot. A shorter cut forces you to protect the one idea, which usually helps. You can justify 60 to 90 seconds when the goal is to explain an intricate product, though every extra second of custom animation adds cost, so earn the length rather than default to it.
A rough idea is enough to start the conversation, and a good studio will help sharpen the concept and write the script with you. What matters is arriving with a clear objective and one message you want to land, not polished copy. Because everything after the script is expensive to change, the writing and storyboard stages are where a studio earns its keep, so do not feel you have to lock it alone first.
Yes, and that is one of the strongest arguments for a custom look. Once the characters, palette, and art direction exist, later pieces reuse those assets and move faster because the world is already built. Agree upfront on who owns the source files and design assets, since that ownership is what lets you extend the style across a whole campaign instead of paying to rebuild it each time.
