2D Animator for Kids YouTube Music Video

We make fun Christian music videos for kids on YouTube. This video is based on an original Biblical educational/comedy song. It is about 3 minutes and 30 seconds (3:30) long. I need a 2D animator to design 12 characters and animate them singing and dancing. I want to work with the same animator for a long time. This first video is just the start. If the work is good, I will give you many more videos. Please read the whole post before you apply. THE ART STYLE The overall video must look like the reference image I attached to this job post. This means: - Flat 2D characters with clean lines (the reference image has the different characters you can use) - Bright, happy colors - Very simple backgrounds (this saves time and keeps the focus on the characters) - Smooth movement that is easy to follow (dancing and singing) - Mouth movement that matches the song (lip-sync) Keep the characters and backgrounds simple like the image reference attached. This keeps the cost low and lets me reuse them in future videos. But they must still look clean and professional. THE WORK — WHAT YOU WILL DO 1. Design and rig 12 simple characters. ("Rig" means you build each character with movable parts so it can be animated.) 2. Give each character the correct mouth shapes for lip-sync. These are called visemes (for example: A, E, O, U, and M/B/P). The lip-sync must match the music well. 3. Design at least 6 different simple backgrounds. You can reuse them across the video. 4. Animate the full 3:30 video to my song. I will send you the song file. 5. Send me the final video as an MP4. The size must be 16:9 (wide, like a normal YouTube video), in 4K. 6. Send me all of your raw, unflattened source files (Adobe After Effects, Photoshop, Moho, Toon Boom, or Adobe Animate). You send these after the last payment. 7. You can use the characters in the reference image as the character concept, so you have a jumping off point. NO AI — THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE Everything must be drawn/designed and animated 100% by hand, by a real person. - No AI character designs (no Midjourney, DALL-E, Stable Diffusion, Firefly, and so on) - No AI backgrounds - No AI movement or AI in-between frames (no Runway, Pika, Sora, and so on) - No template auto-animation tools (no Vyond, Animaker, Powtoon, Adobe Express auto-animate, and so on) I will open your source files and check that the body parts and layers are organized by hand. If I find any AI usage, I will cancel the contract right away and stop all payments. You must also be ready to show a quick screen recording or timelapse of the timeline to verify no AI is being used. PAYMENT ($3,000 USD TOTAL) I pay on a strict bi-weekly schedule using Upwork milestones. You get $250 every two weeks until the full $3,000 is paid. Here is the full schedule: 1. July 1, 2026 — $250 2. July 15, 2026 — $250 3. July 29, 2026 — $250 4. August 12, 2026 — $250 5. August 26, 2026 — $250 6. September 9, 2026 — $250 7. September 23, 2026 — $250 8. October 7, 2026 — $250 9. October 21, 2026 — $250 10. November 4, 2026 — $250 11. November 18, 2026 — $250 12. December 2, 2026 — $250 (last payment) This is 12 payments of $250 each. The total is $3,000. HOW TO APPLY — PLEASE SEND ALL OF THESE To prove you read this whole post and you are a real human artist, please do all of these: 1. Start your message with these words: "Human Animator 2026". (If you do not start with these words, I will not read your message.) 2. Send a link to your past work that looks similar to the reference image I attached. I want to see 2D CHARACTER animation (not just text or motion graphics). 3. Send one screenshot showing the layers of a character you rigged in the past. This proves you build characters by hand. 4. Tell me the software you use. 5. Tell me your timeline (how many days or weeks the project will take). 6. Write one sentence to confirm: you work 100% by hand, with no AI, and you will sign a no-AI agreement. Thank you. I look forward to seeing your work.