Based on Robert Kirkman’s other long-running comic book series, the third season of Invincible has just wrapped up on Prime Video. The quality of the show’s animation has long been a topic of dispute among the fanbase, so how many animators work on Invincible? Let’s have a look and find out.
How Many Animators Worked on Invincible Season 3?
As it stands, 188 different animators have worked on Invincible‘s three seasons.
According to the show’s IMDb page, this number includes character designers, background designers, storyboard artists, animators, and more. Many of these 188 animators have only worked on one or two individual episodes, so it seems that the crew of animation professionals on Invincible is pretty broad.
The Debate Around Invincible’s Animation
So, why do people care how many animators are working on Invincible? It’s mostly due to the extended hiatus between the first two seasons and ongoing debates around the show’s overall animation quality.
When the show first debuted in 2021, it was notable for its comic-accurate animation style that closely resembled the DC Comics animated movies that released in the 2010s. While never particularly groundbreaking, fan debate around the animation only emerged during season 2.
For whatever reason, the production of Invincible season 2 was particularly troublesome. The first season ended in April 2021, and it took well over two years before it returned in November 2023. Even then, it was split into two parts, with the second half releasing five months later in March 2024.
Kirkman, in an interview with Polygon, attributed this to challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Making a cartoon is like assembling a factory and letting it run. And because of COVID, we had to shut the factory down. So to get into season 2 and 3, we had to rebuild the factory and get it up and running again, and that took a lot of time,” he said.
Notably, seasons 2 and 3 of Invincible use significantly less CGI, focusing on hand-drawn animation. This is more time-consuming, especially because most episodes get close to an hour, but it also means that fans have been somewhat less impressed with the animation since this change was made.
While not everybody agrees, some feel the animation is too stilted and not fluid enough to convey the fast-moving pace of its superpowered characters. However, the recent season 3 finale, featuring Invincible and Atom Eve going toe-to-toe with the Viltrumite enforcer Vanguard (voiced by Jeffrey Dean Morgan), was praised for its fluidity and intense gore.
Fortunately, the animators themselves have also been able to poke fun at this fan criticism, including a gag about the challenges of producing hour-long animated episodes in a joke from the latter half of season 2:
That’s just about everything you need to know about how many animators work on Invincible, and why it’s such a hot topic. For more articles like this, check out where to watch Secret Mall Apartment, the Mad Square release date, and the Gog and Magog release date.
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