York High Student Gets 200K Likes For Animation

ELMHURST, IL – A York High School sophomore has drawn more than 210,000 likes on TikTok for an animated piece called "Girls of Paradise."

Deaghan Connell posted the two-minute piece a couple of days ago. It has logged more than 1,000 comments.

Some of the commenters expressed surprise that Connell was 15, saying the work appeared to be college-level or from a studio.

"Girls in Paradise" is cel animation, which contains characters drawn on transparent sheets and posted on painted backgrounds.

"Deaghan has been approached by an animation company and has now been asked to commission an animation piece for someone else," Deaghan's father, Sean Connell, said in an email to Patch.

Deaghan has entered other works of art in state-level competitions and is contemplating animation as a career, Sean Connell said.