Rig 10+ Flat 2D Characters

Project Description

We're producing a flat 2D illustrated animated children's series set in a Caribbean village. All character artwork is already finished — clean, rigging-ready model sheets with separated front/3-4/side views and 4–6 distinct facial expressions per character. We do NOT need an illustrator or designer. We need someone to take completed character art and build functional 2D rigs so the characters can be animated (walk, talk, gesture, expression swaps).

This is rigging work only. Reference character sheets will be provided for every character (human kids, adults, and several animals — dog, monkeys, macaws, a toucan, a raccoon, a sea turtle).

What we need built

For each character:

A working rig with separated, moveable parts: head, torso, upper/lower arms, hands, upper/lower legs, feet (or equivalent for animal anatomy — e.g., wings, tails, flippers)
Correct pivot/anchor points at joints so limbs rotate naturally
Expression swapping set up (mouth shapes and/or full face swaps) using the provided expression panels
One character (Mateo) uses a manual wheelchair — the rig needs to handle wheelchair + seated character as a connected unit, with wheels able to rotate independently of the body
Deliverable in [Adobe Character Animator puppet / Spine project / your preferred tool — see note below] with layers cleanly named
Tools we're open to

Tell us which you're strongest in — we're flexible on tool as long as the output is usable in our animation pipeline:

Adobe Character Animator
Spine (Esoteric Software)
Toon Boom Harmony
After Effects + DUIK or Rubberhead/Rubberhose
Required experience
A portfolio or reel showing PREVIOUSLY RIGGED characters actually moving (a screen recording or GIF of the rig in motion — not just static character art). This is the main thing we're screening for.
Comfort rigging both human and non-human/animal anatomy
Experience with expression/mouth-shape swap setups for lip sync or basic talking animation
Ability to work from provided flat illustrated source art without redrawing or altering the character design
How to apply

Please include:

A link to at least one rigged character in motion (video/GIF), ideally in a flat 2D illustrated style similar to the reference images we'll share
Which rigging tool(s) you use
Your estimated time and cost per character rig
Any questions about the wheelchair character before we award the trial
Trial structure

We'll start with a single paid trial character (a simple human character, no wheelchair) to confirm quality and workflow fit before committing to the full remaining cast (approximately 14–16 characters total, including several animals).

Notes
No illustration or redesign work needed — source art is locked and approved.
No AI-generated rigs — this should be built by a human rigger using standard rigging tools.
Please do not apply if your samples only show static character turnarounds without an actual rig in motion; we can't evaluate rigging skill from a still image.