Top - Animsquad Master Class Disney S Zach Parrish Brent Homman

This was my favorite part.

Zach shared a directing principle he uses for every shot: What is the ONE big feeling you want the audience to feel?

Not two. Not three. One.

He walked through his Short Circuit film Puddles. Every single shot of the elderly man was designed around longing—even the funny beats came back to that core emotion. Brent added that in Encanto, Isabela’s “What Else Can I Do?” sequence is about liberation—not happiness, not anger—liberation.

Challenge: Before you touch your next shot, write down ONE word. If your animation doesn’t scream that word, rework it. This was my favorite part

While many schools offer individual great teachers, what puts the "AnimSquad master class Disney s Zach Parrish Brent Homman top" ranking so high is the contrast and synergy between these two instructors.

Students who take both master classes report a "right brain/left brain" transformation. Parrish cleans up the technical mess; Homman injects the magic dust. This is why professional reels created under their tutelage have a distinct "Disney polish" that recruiters notice immediately.

Near the end, they opened up for Q&A. Someone asked: “What do Disney recruiters look for in a demo reel today?”

Their answer was blunt:

Zach added: “I’d rather watch a simple shot with honest emotion than a complex shot that’s empty.”

Since directing Us Again, Parrish has brought a unique "cinematic eye" to AnimSquad. He doesn't just critique the animation; he critiques the staging. He teaches students to ask: Where is the camera? How does the silhouette read against the background?

In one famous master class clip (often cited in top animation forums), Parrish took a student’s dialogue shot and flipped the entire pose structure because the character’s energy was leaking out the back of the rig. He forced the student to "cheat" the spine toward camera, sacrificing anatomical realism for emotional readability. That is the Disney secret Parrish shares.

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The hardest shot in animation is the reaction (listening shot). Homman’s solution: "The Reverse Squash." He teaches that a character listening should animate against the dialogue. If the voice is loud, the listener squints and pulls back. If the voice is soft, the listener leans in. It is a counter-intuitive lesson that instantly upgrades mediocre scenes.

If you enroll in this specific track, here is a snapshot of the top lessons you will encounter: