Steve Cline, who lives east of Mesa and close to Apache Junction, is a funeral and cemetery pre-planner by day.
But when he’s not on the clock at his day job, he spends his free time animating for his TikTok channel, Legitzanimations.
Cline’s animations use an internet meme called countryball which portrays countries as anthropomorphic balls with eyes that are decorated with their national flags. Cline’s animations are educational with a humorous angle, with him using countryballs to educate viewers on international relations, cuisines and more.
“I create a 3D animated series of spherical balls that are textured with different country flags,” Cline said. “It’s for humorous purposes but also just a fun way to show how different countries interact with each other.”
Cline’s TikTok has over 171,000 followers since he started the page in late 2023, but he’s been doing animation for a lot longer. He was making stop-motion animations using Legos on YouTube for a while, but decided to switch platforms and formats, which helped him cultivate a much larger audience.
“I did Lego animations for kids, but then I noticed that there was a huge demand for this countryball trend. I tried shifting to that but YouTube didn’t work out too well,” Cline said. “TikTok started coming along and so I switched platforms and it just became an overnight success. The first two videos that I posted just went viral immediately, and I got millions of views on them.”
One of the highlights of Legitzanimations is posts focused on local cuisine that advise tourists what toppings should not be put on signature dishes. Examples include not putting mayonnaise on an American hot dog, or the grave mistake of putting ketchup on an Italian pizza. These videos will often feature a countryball disapproving of said behavior, with humorous results.
For Cline, the humor plays on the dislike locals would have for a tourist putting the wrong topping on a regional dish.
“I had seen somebody create a video of putting ketchup on pizza, and the common perception of how Italy sees their foods is that you don’t put Americanized food on an Italian pizza because an Italian pizza is supposed to be good as is,” Cline said. “So I think people really enjoy watching it, where people put weird things on their food and seeing people who both disagree and agree with that in the comments.”
What makes TikTok the ideal platform for Cline is that it attracts a larger international audience than other content platforms he’s used in the past.
Cline said he curates his content to include as little dialogue as possible, relying on the physical motions and expressions of his characters to get the message across. This mitigates any issues from a possible language barrier, so his content can be enjoyed from all over the world.
“There’s people from all across the world that go and watch these videos on TikTok. One of the things that I think makes my account so unique is that I try not to use a lot of words from a specific language, so that way, everyone can enjoy,” Cline said. “I have people from Russia, Ukraine, Indonesia, Malaysia, Canada, the UK, Europe, pretty much anywhere in the world where there is internet access, people can watch my videos.”
This cultural crossover is something that Cline wants to keep doing. He hopes to continue to grow his channel so he can learn more about the world while teaching others.
He hopes to one day get a million followers and become verified on TikTok.
“I’m trying to be more well known internationally, because I would love to go around the world and meet all of those people who like different types of food,” Cline said. “It’s me creating the videos to give something for people to enjoy around the world.”
Connor Van Ligten Reporter | Fountain Hills/Scottsdale
After graduating from Arizona State University's Cronkite School in spring 2022, Connor Van Ligten spent a little over year as a reporter for WWL-TV in New Orleans before finding themselves back in Phoenix in October of 2023. Now back in the Valley and writing for the Mesa Independent and the Daily Independent, Connor is ready to tell meaningful stories and report on important civic issues facing Mesa. Connor is a big fan of the 49ers, Warriors, pro wrestling, anime, dogs and fighting video games.
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