4 Musical Animatics You Need To Check Out

I always like sharing works from animators I find over on YouTube. These are very talented people, who spend hours sometimes even weeks working on their own to create some pretty amazing videos, just because. Being an animator is probably one of the most thankless professions – so I wanted to share and celebrate these creators’ works.

For this round, I wanted to share animatics of musical numbers. I do enjoy the occasional Broadway show (I was a theater kid in high school, don’t judge me) and I’ve come across A LOT of simply amazing animations from amateur animators…

Szin’s Hamilton 

YouTuber Szin has animated several numbers from the musical Hamilton. She actually has a relatively large audience, with 713K subscribers, but the fact is Szin has made 24 videos using the soundtrack from the hit musical, and one abridged version of the musical. 

These videos are older (made around 2018) so they aren’t the best example of her current skills. I haven’t watched them yet but she also has an original series called Hybrid Heroes that she’s created – so definitely check that as well.

Dreylerie’s “The Ballad of Sara Berry” from 35 MM: A Musical Exhibition

There are A LOT of animatics of this song, but Dreylerie’s version is definitely one of my favorites. Especially considering that according to their bio, they’re only 15 years old. I love the care and diversity they put into the incidental characters, as well as the detail in the backgrounds. It seems like every time I watch it, there’s a new little detail.

One of my favorite parts is how Dreylerie actually animates the murders that happen in the song. It’s a nice addition that really emphasizes the darkness of the song.

According to the description, Dreylerie completed this animatic in a little over a month…which I don’t recommend doing. That doesn’t sound healthy.

Anidoodles’ “I was Meant to be Yours” from Heathers: the Musical

Again, this is a song that has more than its fair share of animatics – but this one is definitely my favorite of them all. The characters are expressive – and I love the fantasy sequence where J.D. talks about bombing the Pep Rally.

I also like the choice to use a blue background for most of the video – it just adds something nice. There’s a lot of little character tics and actions that probably took a long time to add that they didn’t have to – but they really add more personality to the characters.

Arminsito.h’s “No Control” from Spongebob: The Musical

Like the musical – the characters are depicted as humans, with some interesting features. But I like how you can recognize some of the incidental and lesser-known characters in this new form. It gets really intense and the animation is well-timed to the music.

I’m sure aspects of it were taken from the musical itself, but the animation allows more creativity with angles and expressions and just little details: like a TV camera running low on battery, a ticking clock…It’s just a lot of fun.