Christian Brantley is better known online as CircleToonsHD. With a distinctive animation style that focuses on strategically simple character designs, he's created a workflow that allows him not only to create cartoons regularly but also to comment on emerging news and trends in gaming, tech, and other areas of pop culture.

With an irreverent sensibility and energetic attitude, the graphic designer turned indie animator earned over a million views on videos like "How AI Killed the Internet" and "How One Item Fractured Elden Ring's Fanbase." Posting videos regularly, he's earned over 500,000 followers on TikTok and 4 million subscribers on YouTube. Plus, he's launched his own video game, a virtual card game called Fool's Blade.

But how did Circle grow from a side project to an indie animation success story? While Brantley was at VidCon 2026, he sat down with Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko to dig into the secrets of success, including how he discovered his "superpower" and when he knew it was time to bet on himself.

What is it you love about content creation?

CircleToonsHD: I think what really brings me to content creation is when it finally becomes like a physical manifestation — where you can see the fans, like VidCon. Because it's really easy to fall into the numbers, likes, and subscriptions. And that's kind of nebulous. But when you can finally make actual tangible impacts, either with my game [Fool's Blade] or my content? People go, "You inspired my work," or "I'm going to college because of the stuff that you put out," you know?

I had someone in my meet-and-greet say that they are going to college for animation, partially because of stuff they watch from me. That's the same feeling I [had] watching animators back in the day, in early YouTube, that inspired me to make my stuff. So, if you can kind of make those impacts and those connections, that's like everything for me.

It makes it tangible, you know? We had a huge meet-and-greet yesterday. We met so many amazing people, and they showed me on their iPads the art they're making. They showed me their channels and stuff, telling me, "I have 300 subscribers — it's so small." And I'm like, "Have you ever seen a room with 300 people? Like, that's huge. That's super cool."

What were some of the animators that inspired you?

Ooh, the early Newgrounds days, early YouTube days, the Egoraptors of the world — he's still around making some amazing stuff with Glitch Productions. Really, those precursor early YouTube days were, like, so pivotal and formative for everything that I make.

Was there a moment when you were like, "I've made it!"?

There's kind of like two modes of "made it."

I had a few videos kind of explode in, like, 2016 or 2017, and they were getting millions of views. And I was like, "Oh my gosh." That was the first time I made it. But I didn't have enough subs or consistency to make it my full-time job. The money wasn't coming in. So it was really mind-blowing that millions of people were watching the content. But I was like, "This can't kind of be a full-time job. It could just like a quick flash in the pan thing." Because it's really easy to have, like, one thing explode and then never again.

So I was really excited about that. I worked a full-time job, where I was a graphic designer and large-format pressman. I was doing YouTube at the same time for about three years. Then one day, the money just ticked slightly above. And I was like, "I'm gonna bet on myself, I'm gonna do this." And I left to do YouTube full time, and it's the best bet I ever made.

I made that bet on myself. It was nerve-racking at first, but when it came through, and now I could pour those kinds of hours into it full time, it really started flowing in. So I hunkered down and built out the style. I built out the production so I could make animations every week, because that wasn't common in the YouTube space, and it still isn't.

I honed in on a different style that was efficient and fun, and that allowed me to get in front of jokes and current pop culture. So I really had this leg up when something crazy happened in the gaming space, or the movie space, or the internet space. I could have something out in three minutes, and all my other animator buddies are like, "Oh my gosh, like, that's a superpower." And so that really is when I knew that could do it full time and bet on it. I had that timing.

What is it you love about working on the internet?

Oh man, the connections you can make over long distances. I have a lot of buddies that — tangible, in-person [relationships] now — but that initially would come from just shooting over a message on Twitter, on Instagram, on Discord, being like, "Hey, I love your stuff, like, do you want to like make something?" And that just can't happen anywhere else.

A lot of times, when I was growing initially, I would be super nervous reaching out to these bigger creators. And now it's the other way around, and so I have, like, a window into how it felt to help out, I guess.

So a buddy of mine that came here, YouTube's GarrettTheCarrot, I've been around him to see him grow from like 70,000 to now something like 6 million subs. He was talking about he was so nervous to reach out to me and I was like, "Dude, your work is awesome; I don't care if you have one follower if you're creative." Meeting other creatives is infectious, and it makes your creative work better, and it makes it easy to work online.

When was the moment where you knew you wanted to be an animator?

I've always had an interest in art. I paint. I do graphic design. I was always sketching in a book. But I think when I realized that indie animation and people putting themselves out there was getting just as successful and fun, and later on lucrative as TV and movie, and it was real, you know? I was like, "I want to give it a whirl," because it became a real thing.

How long did it take before you saw significant growth in followers, and what do you think instigated that?

I tell people that I made over 2000 things before I made a penny. A lot of people post a 10th video, and [if it doesn't go viral are] like, "It's not for me." And I'm like, "You're not even in the flames! You've got to get in there."

My YouTube channel was created in 2012, and there's some fun animations there. But about 2016 or 2017 [I developed the style I use now], so [there were about] five, six years until it started doing something recognizable under the brand. But I was constantly posting stuff on YouTube, and Instagram, and Twitter, and grinding it out.

So I always tell people that don't blow up in their first six months, "You're not even 10% into it yet. You gotta bet on yourself over and over again." And it's important that you enjoy what you're doing. If you're doing it for the only explicit purpose of blowing up or making it big, you're not doing it for the right reasons.

Mashable is reporting live from VidCon 2026 in Anaheim. Follow our coverage for creator interviews, panel highlights, and the biggest moments from the convention floor.

The interview above was edited for length and clarity.