MTM College of Animation, Art & Design

I only just completed my first year at Max the Mutt. I decided to attend the school at the suggestion of my friend who works as an animator and attended the school 5 years back. It is a tough program but I have to quote my friend on it, If you didn't know how to draw going in

I cannot in good faith recommend this college to anyone. I've met best friends, great teachers and have had the fortune of becoming an artist due to its fundamentals, but anything beyond that is un-salvageable. The courses are poorly set up, with many feeling like beta tests. I've had two photoshop courses with the exact same material verbatim and I've each had to pay for them separately. The administration is cruel and often unfair to students, verbally mean and they treat you like children, with no mental health support. Students who have to work have it bad, as their schedules are very poorly constructed. you have no breathing space for any sort of life outside of just going to school, and then going home to do work, in general. You will get burnt out, you will lose your love for art.What tipped me over the edge was their lack of communication during the online year. Everyone was stressed due to teachers not properly communicating, the office not properly communicating. It was dysfunctional, and the way the handled it was catastrophic. Every day my peers would break down from the workload and lack of feedback, this should never happen at an educational institution. Not to mention they charged full price for tuition that year, with half of the classes not functioning as intended.

When choosing Max the Mutt, I was looking for a school that had an in depth art program, allowing me to build the artistic foundations right from the grass roots level to the advanced techniques that are currently being used in the industry by many artists. Most importantly, I wanted to be part of an institution that adhered to the discipline of hands on" academic learning. My decision was strongly affected by the portfolios the students were able to produce and also the rich experience of the instructors. Their passion and dedication to teaching is of the highest standard and a great motivator for the student. The community is small but focused giving both the instructors and students the opportunity to address any concerns on a one-to-one basis.I am currently enrolled in the first year of the sequential arts program and it has been a great experience so far. My foundations have improved tremendously and I cannot wait to elevate that experience in the coming years.Your success depends on the way you learn. If you have a strong drive and passion for art and can adapt to the pace of the information taught in the respective programs

I'm a Concept Art student heading into my fourth year at Max.I really appreciate this school as it actually teaches the skills necessary to get employed as an artist, and they DON'T make you listen to endless lectures full of useless info like they did at the University of Waterloo, where I earned a useless bachelor's degree in Architecture.I'm currently employed as an illustrator and comic book artist even though I haven't even graduated from Max yet. I've also received acceptance letters as an Flash animator and background painter. Obviously, the skill sets taught at the school overlap.In my opinion, Max is an excellent school which supports its students and strives to imbue them with a good work ethic and give them the skills and resources they will need to succeed and improve themselves. The school has instructors from all over the world who are excellent in their respective fields, and the curriculum is always in a process of refinement.Every school has its own unique challenges, but if you are patient, ambitious, and willing to work though your frustrations then this school will get you to the point where you can be employed and know how to teach yourself beyond the classroom.

I've attended Max for the past three years (the Animation program for the first year, and then the Sequential program for the last two). From experience I can say that, while Max does have incredible faculty, overall friendly student body, and great classes, the work load can be very intense for those who aren't cut out for it. Personally, it gave me a lot of mental stress. If you want to be able to have a social life outside of school, I would recommend a public school; this will take a lot of dedication and focus. If you thrive in that type of environment, than this school is for you! The administration side of things can be a bit unprofessional at times, though they have been getting better over the course of my time there. I do not regret my time at Max for various reasons- including meeting people I can network with, and learning SO MUCH about art in general. Shoutout to the great teachers as well who provided amazing guidance and feedback.

If I had the chance to, I'd gladly give this college no stars at all. When I first applied to Max the Mutt, I had a lot of ambitions of being one of the school's best performing students on campus; but as time went on, I became more and more jaded towards how they treated me as well as my work. What angered me the most was with the school's advisor telling me that they are against the idea of lying to their students about their performance to prevent their feelings from being hurt and just recently, which has gotten me riled up with rage after dropping out due to personal issues out of control as well as my mental health, I was given nothing but multiple negative grades on all the classes I've taken, with teachers telling me constantly in class that I'm doing decently on them to only pull this on me.Its remarkable how unprofessional this school is, to say one thing to the students and then do the other; my best recommendation? Go to Sheridan or any other public college in Canada or your home country, you're better off doing that than wasting your time in this horribly ran school. To quote off an ex-teacher's post regarding his time at the school, I leave with this, Remember Max the Mutt? That animation/art school run by a couple of people that drove me (and soooo many other instructors

Max the Mutt is the perfect school for someone who wants a familiar environment where you can develop yourself as an artist. The teachers would not just teach you the technical side of art, they will also help you understand the spiritual side and the sensitivity of art itself, furthermore, you are spending time with people who are passionate for the same as you, making it easy to forge great friendship with the people who surround you. Max the Mutt is a great choice for anyone willing to learn and express themselves in the world of plastic arts, animation, sequential and conceptual arts. I will encourage anyone to pay a visit, so you can actually see how easy it is to fall in love with this school.Leonardo.

To be honest when I first heard of Max the Mutt, I was skeptical. I didn't believe that a school with a name like that could be a serious institution. Now, I have finished my second year in Animation, it is safe to say I was wrong. The school is very focused on giving you strong classical drawing skills. The class sizes are small, the teachers are passionate and the workload is intense. A school like Max the Mutt will give you the foundation you need. I recommend Max the Mutt to anyone is serious about pursuing a career in Animation, Illustration, Sequential Arts and Concept Art.

I am a grade 12 student who was interested in this school for animation. I was considering applying until I had a phone call with Maxine. I was told that we will be worked like med students, and have no social life outside of class. For every class (which is 3 hours long), you are expected to do 3-4 hours of homework outside of class. When I told Max that I may not apply anymore because I would enjoy SOME aspects of a social life, due to my mental health issues, she got mad. She then asked me what other schools I am applying to and why, I said I was applying to Seneca, Sheridan, and Algonquin for classical animation, and she got furious.Maxine had the gall to tell me, straight up, that I should quit animation. That if I am not willing to work 24/7 on animation, and have no social life outside of it, then I shouldn't go into animation at all, and rather go into something easier". I was so insulted. I was told I should quit all my dreams of being an animator because I want to take care of my mental health? What the hell.Not to mention

I'm going into my third year of Sequential Arts at Max the Mutt, School of Animation and Design. Having been in a post secondary school a few years prior, I can honestly say that Max the Mutt is where I have felt the most comfortable, being myself. My past two years have been some of the most wonderful years I have ever spent in a school. The students are amazing and highly skilled, with different styles, all unique to them. The teachers, even more so. I feel so honor to be learning from the amazing staff here. I won't lie, it's a tough curriculum. You must be focused and willing to take criticism, otherwise you will never grow as an artist. I have seen such a vast improvement in my artwork since my first year, it sometimes overwhelms me. I know that with hard work and dedication, my skills will continue to grow. My hopes for the future are to one day be on a skill level matching those of my teachers and work along aside these amazing people who I call artists and friends.