Best Animation Studios in Melbourne (2026)

Introduction

Melbourne has a small but busy animation scene, with 2D series studios working for US networks and streamers alongside motion design shops that serve local agencies and brands. The 8 studios below were chosen for current work, verified Melbourne studios in 2026 and the range of what they make.

Long-form animation has grown in Victoria over the last few years. Princess Bento, set up in South Melbourne at the end of 2020 by Princess Pictures and Bento Box Entertainment, now animates adult comedy for Adult Swim, Hulu and FOX, and was hiring a hand-drawn series director for early 2026. Studio Moshi’s “Do Not Watch This Show”, backed by VicScreen, had the biggest launch of any new ABC show in the Children and Family category in 2025 and was given a second series. On the commercial side, studios in Cremorne, Collingwood and the inner north make motion design, CGI and explainer work for Australian and international brands.

Every studio here has an active Melbourne studio in 2026. This is a shorter list than some cities get, because we only included studios we could verify. The order is not a ranking: the right studio depends on format, style and budget.

The best animation studios in Melbourne

1. Studio Moshi

Independent · Melbourne · studiomoshi.com

Studio Moshi is an independent animation studio that makes series and features for television, streaming and cinema. Melbourne is its headquarters, and it also runs a studio in Los Angeles. VicScreen describes it as an independent Victorian animation production company.

Its credits include work on “Solar Opposites”, “Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special”, the animated feature “Where Is Anne Frank” and “Monster Beach”. “Do Not Watch This Show”, a 12 x 11-minute series for ABC based on Andy Lee’s books, reached 115 million minutes viewed on ABC iview in three months and was renewed for a second series.

2. Princess Bento

Joint venture of Princess Pictures and Bento Box Entertainment · South Melbourne · princessbento.com

Princess Bento is a 2D studio formed at the end of 2020 by Melbourne producer Princess Pictures and US studio Bento Box Entertainment. It focuses on high-end adult comedy for a global audience, and was recruiting for longform hand-drawn series work in early 2026.

Its series include “Smiling Friends” (two seasons for Adult Swim), “YOLO” (three seasons for Adult Swim), “Koala Man” for Hulu and “Universal Basic Guys” for FOX. It has also provided animation services on “Hazbin Hotel” and “Krapopolis”, and lists an unannounced hand-drawn series for Netflix in production.

3. Pancho

Independent · Collingwood · pancho.com.au

Pancho is a Melbourne studio making motion design, CGI and VFX for campaigns, broadcast, brand systems and entertainment. It works across automotive, retail and media, and offers CGI product worlds alongside more traditional motion graphics.

Clients include BMW, Lexus, Mazda, Honda, Bunnings, McDonald’s, Nike, NAB and Nintendo, as well as work for Foxtel’s coverage of The Ashes and for “Big Brother Australia”. It has also worked on Australian Government public information campaigns. Pancho suits teams that want motion and CGI from the same studio.

4. Jumbla

Independent · Melbourne · jumbla.com

Jumbla is a 2D and 3D animation and motion graphics studio founded in 2011, with studios in Melbourne, London, Madrid and Los Angeles. It works for agencies, corporate and government clients, film and television, and video game publishers.

It shared three Daytime Emmy Awards for “Lost in Oz”, made with Amazon and Axis Animation. Recent work includes a trailer for the 2026 Nike Melbourne Marathon, the series “AYS: The Bible”, and game trailers for Riot Games’ Valorant and Blizzard’s Hearthstone. Other clients include Qantas, ANZ, Netflix and the BBC.

5. Unlisted

Independent · Cremorne · unlisted.tv

Unlisted is a Melbourne production company with a strong animation and design roster, working on commercials, music videos, short films, games and web content. It runs its main studio in Cremorne and has a second office in Shanghai.

Its directors include Julien Vallée, who made Google Maps’ Coachella film, and Jack Zhang, who directed a visualiser for Troye Sivan and Ariana Grande. It has made animated work for Samsung, and its client list includes McDonald’s (with Wieden+Kennedy), RACQ (with VML), MECCA and Pink Floyd.

6. Vidico

Independent · Cremorne · vidico.com

Vidico is an explainer video company founded in Melbourne in 2015, producing animation, motion graphics and live action for SaaS and tech brands. Its Melbourne office is in Cremorne, with others in Sydney and New York, and it works on a subscription model as well as by project.

Clients include Spotify, Square, Uber, Airtable, Airwallex, Koala, Temple&Webster and Movember. It publishes an annual creative benchmark report, “State of Creative 2026”, drawn from more than 230 SaaS and tech brands. Vidico is a practical option for product launches and onboarding videos.

7. Yes Captain

Independent · Brighton · yescaptain.net

Yes Captain is a motion design studio in Brighton, in Melbourne’s south-east, working on title design, motion graphics, explainer films, commercials and live event visuals. Its focus is on making complex or dry subjects clear on screen.

Recent work includes a summer television commercial for Luna Park, event design for NodeFest 2024 and 2025, conference motion design for Uber Freight, and explainers for the privacy apps Session and MySudo. It is a good fit for smaller teams that want senior attention on a contained project.

8. Studio Spud

Independent · Northcote · studiospud.com

Studio Spud is a small 2D animation studio in Northcote founded by creative director Darcy Woodbridge. It runs a custom pipeline in Moho and takes on service work, co-productions and original development, as well as music videos and commercials.

The studio was part of Ausfilm’s animation delegation in 2025, which presents Australian studios to international producers. Its stated approach is “more is more”, and it suits projects that want a bold, hand-crafted 2D look on a series or short-form budget.

What to look for in a Melbourne animation studio

Start with format. Melbourne’s series studios, such as Princess Bento and Studio Moshi, are set up for episodic production with long pipelines and large crews, while motion design shops are built for 15 to 60 second spots, title sequences and explainers. A studio that does one well may need to staff up for the other, so ask what their current mix is.

Check the pipeline and style. Some studios work mostly in 2D (often in Toon Boom Harmony or Moho), others in 3D and CGI, and a few combine both with VFX. Look at recent reels rather than older showcase pieces, and ask which artists and directors worked on the projects you like.

For series work, ask about funding and rights. Victorian projects can draw on VicScreen support and federal offsets, and a studio with experience of co-productions and service work will know how to structure a deal. For commercial work, agree on the number of review rounds and what counts as a change before animation starts.

Finally, ask how the studio handles review and files. Animation runs on animatics, style frames, character sheets and large render outputs, and feedback often arrives from several people at once. Studios that keep one current version of each file and a clear record of approvals tend to hit dates more reliably.

How Fabric helps animation teams

Fabric gives an animation studio one workspace for its files, references and client feedback, with AI search across all of it. The creative teams setup suits studios running several productions at once, with each project’s scripts, boards, renders and call notes kept together.

Render outputs, project files and reference libraries can live in Fabric’s cloud drive, which streams files on demand so they take no local disk space. Heavy files open without a full download, and shared team folders hold the latest versions. There is more on this in your rendering files need a home. Search works by meaning across documents, images and transcribed recordings, and colour search helps find style frames by palette. Similar search surfaces related frames and references by composition, colour and subject.

For pre-production, Canvas is an infinite whiteboard for moodboards and storyboards, with Figma, YouTube and Vimeo embeds. Any folder can become a Kanban board whose cards are the files themselves, which works well for tracking shots or episodes through a pipeline.

For client review, files and folders can be published as web pages with password protection, and clients can leave threaded comments through a shared link without signing up. Highlights and comments on PDFs and documents are available through annotations, which suits scripts and treatments. Reviewers can also leave timestamped comments on video and draw on any image or video frame.

Password protection is included on Pro and Team plans. See plans for teams.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best animation studio in Melbourne?

It depends on the project. For adult animated series, Princess Bento has the strongest recent credits, including “Smiling Friends” and “Koala Man”. For children’s series, Studio Moshi’s “Do Not Watch This Show” was renewed by ABC. For commercial motion design and CGI, Pancho and Jumbla have the broadest client lists.

Which Melbourne studios make animated TV series?

Princess Bento and Studio Moshi both produce long-form series for broadcasters and streamers. Studio Spud also takes on series service work, co-productions and original development in 2D.

How much does an animated commercial cost in Melbourne?

Studios rarely publish rates, and costs depend on length, style and technique. A short 2D explainer from a small studio costs far less than a CGI spot with product modelling and VFX. Ask for a quote broken down by stage (script, design, animatic, animation, sound) so you can compare like for like.

What is the difference between an animation studio and a VFX house?

Animation studios create characters, worlds and graphics from scratch, in 2D or 3D. VFX houses mostly add computer-generated elements to live-action footage. Some studios, such as Pancho, do both. For Melbourne’s VFX specialists, see our list of VFX studios in Melbourne.

Do Melbourne animation studios work with international clients?

Yes. Princess Bento animates for Adult Swim, Hulu and FOX, Jumbla runs studios in London, Madrid and Los Angeles, and Studio Moshi has a Los Angeles studio. Many motion design shops also work for global tech and gaming brands.

Related lists

Animation in other cities: Sydney · New York · London · Los Angeles · Toronto

More in Melbourne: Creative agencies · VFX · Video production · Post-production · Sound design · Design agencies

Run your studio on Fabric: Fabric for creative teams · Fabric for designers · Best creative proofing tool