How are 2D and 3D animated movies and games made, and can anyone learn animation without being a natural artist?

I am fascinated by animation and would like to understand how it actually works from the inside. How do studios create animated films and games, and what is the difference between 2D and 3D animation techniques? How did iconic characters like Mario and Luigi evolve from simple pixel art in the 1980s to the fluid 3D animation we see in modern games like Super Mario Odyssey, and what does this tell us about how animation technology has changed over the decades? What made Toy Story such a landmark moment in animation history and how did Pixar actually make the first fully computer-generated feature film in 1995? What challenges did they face animating things like cloth, plastic, and human-like movement for the first time? How is animation for video games different from animation for films, given that game animation must run in real time while film animation can take hours to render a single frame? Do you need to be a natural artist or good at drawing to learn animation, or is it more about understanding movement, timing, and physics? What are the 12 principles of animation and why do they still matter today? What free or affordable tools like Blender can a complete beginner use to start learning 3D animation, and what is a realistic step by step learning pathway from zero to making a short animated clip?