Q&A for How to Write a Script for an Animated Cartoon

Don't try to write a cartoon like "Rick and Morty". Instead, think about the aspects of Rick and Morty you love, ask yourself why you love them, and apply that to an original idea.

Look at your own life. What is something funny that's ever happened to you? Maybe you could plant that into the story at some point.

To write about something that inspires you, look at your life. Look at your past, present, and speculate about the future. Consider your dreams. Think about the stories, the movies, and friendships that have moved you most, emotionally.

If making a cartoon doesn't work, write a song or novel. If the cartoon does work, keep going. If you can't animate, attempt to sell your ideas to movie companies - however, this is very complicated.

Try to play it out in your mind as you read it and time yourself. It will give you more or less of an idea.

First, try to make a simple story or comic and show it to your family or friends. If they like your way of making up the story, continue doing it and it will get more popular and you never know what will happen.

It's as simple as adding a new line formatted like this: SFX: *Your sound effect*

The process looks simple, yet it's quite complicated to do.1. Plan out the characters, setting and genre of the show (also a name, but you can do that later). 2. Make outlines of episodes. 3. Write scripts on the outlines. 4. Storyboard the scripts. 5. Record voices. 6. Animate the storyboards - add voices and lip-sync. 7. Edit animations. 8. Upload.

Using pictures to show examples of how the script would transfer over to film, and can be hand drawn, using photos, or specialized software. Storyboards are an essential element in film making, but even more so in animation, since the animators need a constant source to remain on style.

Yes, it can be done in any color that you choose to do it in.

Make a list of what you like about the other cartoon, and what aspects of it you want to bring over to your work. To make it original, add your personal experience or a story that's important to you. Mix what you like from the other show with who you are.

Take some classes or tutorials on how to draw furries first. Then once you master this skill, animate a person like a human, but add the animal elements to it. If you're trying to get a certain angle, then find some sketch references, that are from that angle and use that.

An easy way to get ideas is to take inspiration from other shows, and see what episodes went well and what didn't. Read reviews to see how the audience took these episodes, and research how to create captivating and engaging stories. However, these factors vary depending on your genre.

You could write it in first person, or add a note above their dialogue that says "out of view". The best way to understand it though is to read scripts for films and shows that do this so you can get an idea of how to write it.

Your plot can be many things, but it does heavily rely on how the world in the story works. Are there anthropomorphic animals and humans in the same world? Are there no humans left? After you've come up with this idea, you can build a protagonist the cartoon will follow. The writing also depends on the genre (comedy, kids shows, drama, etc...), so it could help to do a little research on that genre to get an idea of how they are usually structured.

What you're talking about is an anime. Manga are Japanese graphic novels, whereas anime are usually adaptions to manga, and turn them into shows or movies. They're both know for their distinct style. If you wish to use Japanese media as an inspiration, you can learn more about them through reading and watching them, YouTube video essays on how they work, or behind the scenes clips on the media. Therefore you can use principles and characteristics of anime to your animated cartoon, since these choices are about personal preference.

The two things you would have to know about is the genre of fantasy and the insect of bees. Consider watching or reading documentaries on bees, and watch fantasy media to further understand how to write. Generally though, fantasy scripts require a lot more world building if it's set in a place other than our world, therefore you could spend the first act of your script fleshing out the world your story is set in, whilst introducing the characters.

There are many animation software out there. A free software is Animation Desk (easy to use for beginners, however has features locked behind a paywall - found in Microsoft Store), and Krita (difficult to learn but many features - found on the internet). For a much more professional animation software that costs money, these include Adobe Animate (specialises in rigging, but can still be used for 2D animation - found in Adobe Creative Cloud), TVPaint (made specifically for 2D, used by a lot of animators - found on the internet), and Harmony 21 - Toon Boom Animation (it's very widely used - found on the internet).

It's completely up to personal preference. If you feel like you have the ability to carry a serial format (a continuous story), then go ahead. The other way is episodic (a different story each episode), which is good for starting out. But, it's up to personal preference.

The general rule of thumb is that one page is equal to one minute in terms of script writing. So therefore you would need 22 pages of script.

As a rule of thumb, one page on a script equates to about one minute of content. This can vary depending on how fast the script is performed. In essence, a ten-minute video will have a ten-page script and vice versa.

Don't try to write a cartoon like "Steven Universe". Instead, think about the aspects of "Steven Universe" you love, ask yourself why you love them, and apply that to an original idea.

Do research! If it's a problem you have experienced, take from your own experiences to give the issue a sense of realness. If you don't personally know what dealing with the problem is like, do research and make yourself aware of the struggles/tensions that come from that problem. Also, make sure you leave room for pauses in your script. If something major happens, your characters shouldn't be talking through it. Write in time for moments of tension, music building, slow camera pans, and give your characters the space to feel their emotions like a real person would.