Your Child’s Imagination

When I was a young lad, I had all sorts of ideas that I wanted to express through animation. Various characters, stories, locations, and adventures all gathered in my head with no real organization.

Yes, me and my imagination
had a great time!

But I longed for something more. I would have LOVED to have been able to share these ideas with others. To put them into a format with style and structure, humor and drama, adventure and tragedy — all running at the golden rate of 24 frames per second. 

How I would have LOVED
to make a short film!

So, years later when I was developing ideas on what to teach in my online animation & drawing class program, “The Animation Course,” I chose to make the instructional levels not just about animation, making a character move, and giving it life, but also about film-making. 

I designed the course to give students the skills and opportunity to make what I couldn’t when I was their age:  a short film full of their own characters, ideas, and imagination. This became the ultimate goal of the course.

In my youth, even if I could have made a short film, popularly referred to as a “short,” I wouldn’t have been able to show it to very many people. My only option would have been to set up a time and place, a screen and projector, and invite people over to share my vision. 

But now it’s completely different, with a reasonable laptop and tablet, a student can produce a fairly professional looking film. Then, it can either be released on a social media platform like YouTube or submitted to festivals, many of which are geared towards teens and students.

It’s been great fun to see so many students enjoy “The Animation Course” and experiment with animation as an art form. I’ve been inspired by this fresh new enthusiasm from the students and have journeyed alongside in their excitement. 

I tell the students in Level 1, whether they continue with our classes or not, I hope they will continue animating. Even when some don’t come back, I hold out hope that they will perhaps still take on the challenge of making a film of their own.

Making a film, especially on one’s own, can be a daunting task full of pitfalls both technically and emotionally. In the process, questions and doubts will often rise:

“Can I really do this?” 
“Should I just give up and do something else this summer?”
“I’m never going to be any good at this.” 
“Is anyone even going to understand what I’m trying to do here?” 

All of these questions ring in my ears even today, and I’m reasonably certain these anxious abuses echo inside the noggins of my students as well.

For that reason, my goal for “The Animation Course” levels is to walk each student through the landmine-laden journey of making a “short” at least one time. 

Then, at that point, not only will they be able to find their way back through their journey a second or third time on their own, but they’ll be able to experience the confidence that comes with creating something truly unique:  their own imagination memorialized in motion at 24 frames per second.

Chad Stewart has been a professional animator in film and television for over 35 years. He’s animated at studios such as Disney and Sony on such films as: Tarzan,  The Emperor’s New Groove, Fantasia 2000, The Polar Express, Stuart Little 2, and Surf’s Up.

Ten years ago, Chad was inspired to share his knowledge of animation with kids via the wonders of the world wide web, starting The Animation Course, the first online animation class for students ages 11 to 18.

Through this venture, Chad and his wife Kayla have helped over 6000 students explore and learn about animation and filmmaking.

Chad and Kayla's family includes 4 adult birth daughters and 4 adult sons, adopted from Liberia, West Africa. As a family, they completed an over 20-year homeschooling journey.

Chad is offering a 2-day TEEN Program course at the 2026 Homeschool Iowa Conference that will encourage your child's imagination at 24 frames per second!