While NW may be a bit better, it is not $200,000 better, or even $120,000 better. NW is also better for acting more than animation.
I agree that NW has a pretty campus, but Berkeley is pretty nice as well, and the weather is far nicer. Remember that film and animation don’t make a lot, and it’s better if your parents have that extra $120,000-$200,000 to help support your for the first two or three years (or more) that you will just be starting, or looking for work.
As somebody who lived in the Chicago area until a few years back, visiting NWU in the spring is indeed deceiving. It sits on Lake Michigan, and the Lake Effect is no myth. Temperatures there are a few degrees lower than even a mile inland, and that includes during the winter. Average Winter low for Evanston, IL is 20. It also is windy and can get lake effect snow. Most midwesterners are perfectly fine with that, and people from Minnesota and North Dakota think that the winters there are mild. However, for somebody from most of California, that can be pretty cold.