diff --git a/plotly/plotly/plotly.py b/plotly/plotly/plotly.py
index 250764295f3..c754cfb5467 100644
--- a/plotly/plotly/plotly.py
+++ b/plotly/plotly/plotly.py
@@ -1586,15 +1586,24 @@ def create_animations(figure, filename=None, sharing='public', auto_open=True):
 
     api_url = _api_v2.api_url('plots')
     r = requests.post(api_url, auth=auth, headers=headers, json=json)
-    r.raise_for_status()
 
     try:
         parsed_response = r.json()
     except:
         parsed_response = r.content
 
-    if 'error' in r and r['error'] != '':
-        raise exceptions.PlotlyError(r['error'])
+    # raise error message
+    if not r.ok:
+        message = ''
+        if isinstance(parsed_response, dict):
+            errors = parsed_response.get('errors')
+            if errors and errors[-1].get('message'):
+                message = errors[-1]['message']
+        if message:
+            raise exceptions.PlotlyError(message)
+        else:
+            # shucks, we're stuck with a generic error...
+            r.raise_for_status()
 
     if sharing == 'secret':
         web_url = (parsed_response['file']['web_url'][:-1] +