I did mention the connection thing, but i don't know if it's still worth getting in debt for it, when social media is a thing (though it sounds like you've got very specific goal in mind).
And while i can see why you'd want the schooling, given the interest in animation (which can be a bit more technical than other artistic fields) it's still abides to the principles of learning to draw: a shit ton of practice.
No school is going to fix that.
All a school can give you, behind connections, is knowledge (which yes, you can realistically get yourself through internet and internet communities), structured assignment (which again, you can give yourself) and, probably more important, instant professional feedback, which is honestly harder to obtain on your own or even with online tutoring.
I'm not saying schooling is pointless for artists, but when you're talking about paying thousands of dollars, it is avoidable (compared to say, medical school or whatever).
90% of being a good artist comes from putting in the hours, and doing the grind, and training your brain to draw.
The knowledge is pretty fucking basic at the end of the day.
As someone who (years ago now) did some years of an art school specialized in comics, my personal experience is that while it was useful to me at the time, because i wasn't really on the internet then, today i'd never suggest to anyone to spend thousands of dollars to be told about perspective, anatomy or how to draw shapes in a 3d space.
This is literally shit you can learn in a week, and then just have to grind out for the next 10 years to get good at.
I don't know about music, but when you say people in art lack "fundamentals" it isn't about lack of schooling, it's about wanting to skip the boring part, and not wanting to put in the grind.
Because rendering a headshot of a pretty anime gurl is fairly easy with photoshop, and gets you a lot of cheap likes, but learning to properly manipulate shapes and value and color etc etc, takes thousands of hours of boring shit, and studies, and exercises, and drawing boxes and mannequins, etc.
But schooling ain't gonna just give you that, either you find it in yourself to spend the time and energy to do it, or it's never gonna happen.
These are just my 2 cents, and again, i'm not trying to tell you "schooling is pointless don't do it", just saying that 90% of getting good at drawing is just in the practice you'll have to do on your own, school or no school.
If you feel like school is the best way to motivate you to do said grind, and you don't mind paying for it, then go for it (i mean that sincerely).