Meet Rachel Bheandaruji: An Early Love for Animation
In the 90s, animated movies like Disney’s The Lion King became favorites for many kids. For Rachel, it was an inspiration to draw her own characters and imagine they were alive.
“I would watch The Lion King like 5 times a day,” Rachel said. “I remember drawing as I watched, and making up my own stories with my drawings. Basically, I was storyboarding at the age of 7 without even knowing it.”
Eventually, at 11 years old, Rachel started making her own frame by frame animations using a Windows Computer from the 2000s.
“It would take hours, or days even, just to have a few seconds of animation,” Rachel said. “It was always worth it to see my siblings laugh.”
From Animation Intern to Animation Manager
Throughout grade school, Rachel was known as “the girl who could draw” and used her talent to draw pictures for her friends and create school spirit banners. After high school, Rachel was determined to become an animator. She worked, went to college, and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in 2016. The IMG Studio hired her as an animator shortly after! Rachel is now the animation manager at The IMG Studio. Over the last decade, she has worked on animations for many clients including Cervey, CPS Energy, and the City of San Antonio.
“In 2023, we created a brand animation for Cervey. I was really proud of this project’s entire animation process,” Rachel said. “I think this was because the project was challenging and we had the majority of the creative control. I enjoyed every bit of it from creating the storyboard to animating the juggling shapes.”
Before Rachel was the Animation Manager she started as an intern at The IMG Studio for class credit in 2016. She was very eager to learn about the video production industry and the opportunities it could lead to.
“What started as a requirement turned into many new experiences and pushed me out of my comfort zone,” Rachel said. “What’s kept me here for over 10 years is the open communication and work life balance. Overall, I’m grateful to get paid for doing what I enjoy.”
Learning Through Every Animation Project
Working on animation projects carries both opportunities for success and potential risks throughout the process. As an animator, you make a storyboard, create draft animations and more for preparation. This method can become a place for learning new applications and techniques with each project.
“I always expect to learn something new with every project,” Rachel said. “Since I have to fully understand the subject before I can try to explain it through animation, I end up learning a lot of information unrelated to animating. For example, the Deconstruction Animation is a project where I learned about combining 2D and 3D animation software. At the same time, I learned about deconstruction and its benefits.”
Creating Animations With Clients in Mind
Here at The IMG Studio we love creating and pride ourselves in delivering not only high quality productions but building strong, collaborative relationships with our clients.
“I hope clients remember the work we do as clear, efficient and helpful whether it’s communicating and planning with them for pre-production or delivering a final animation that exceeds the client’s goals and expectations,” Rachel said.
Rachel’s perspective aligns with The IMG Studio’s values when it comes to client relationships and quality work. If you need to explain a complex service, visualize a product, train an audience, or create a distinctive brand campaign, animation can do those things and more. We can guide your animation project from initial concept and script development through design, production, and final delivery. We would love to hear about your audience, timeline, and creative goals. Contact us today!
Written by Alexandra Cubeta, The IMG Studio Intern, Summer 2026
Left to Right (Heather Angel Chandler, Founder, The IMG Studio | Alexandra Cubeta, The IMG Studio Intern, Summer 2026 | Birdie, The IMG Studio office puppy | Rachel Bheandaruji, The IMG Studio Animation Manager.
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