The statement animation is a distinctly expressionist form of art – spoken by the animator Cesar Coelho – is the starting point for the development of this thesis. The aim is to check if structuring elements of expressionism are indeed verifiable in animation on the following levels: language, genre and style. With this in mind, animation will be understood as a means of communication that offers potentials, which are defining and characteristic of it as a form of expression. Certainly, it is an independent form of expression, but influenced by varied narrative genres and different styles nevertheless. Each of the structuring levels – language, genre and style – is, still, directly influenced by the production infrastructure, which, in turn, forms an ideological superstructure. Next, multiple approaches to expressionism are analyzed in cinema, plastic arts and cartoons in order to identify which structuring elements of expressionism might recur – at least potentially – and support the claim that animation is distinctly expressionist. Lastly, once characteristics of language, genre and style have been identified, as well as certain structuring elements of expressionism have been verified to be plausibly found in animation, the paper will analyze movies that may display the recurrence of such elements. The first point to be checked with this procedure is whether Cesar Coelho s claim is consistent when further investigated. The second point and, possibly, the most relevant is to expand the comprehension of animation as an independent art form, which constitutes a means of communication with its own potentials, but that routinely talks with other forms of expression, as well as with the overarching culture.