An introduction to the Principles of Animation
The Principles of animation or Disney's principles of animation became famous in 1981 when they were introduced by then Disney animators; Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas in their book The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation. Even though this is where it was introduced to the world, the principles are based on the works of Disney animators beginning in the 1930s onwards.
What is the purpose of the Principles of Animation?
The purpose of the principles was to produce an illusion that cartoon characters adhered to the basic laws of physics, but they also dealt with more abstract issues, such as emotional timing and character appeal.
How many Principles of Animation are there?
There are 12 Principles of animation. Although, keep in mind that these are not necessarily rules but more like guidelines to follow.
Below is a video created by Cento Lodigiani (motion artist and animation director) which perfectly explains each principle.
The 12 Principles of Animation in words
- Squash and stretch: This action gives the illusion of weight and volume to a character as it moves
- Anticipation: Prepares the audience for a major action the character is about to perform. Each major action is preceded with specific moves that anticipate for the audience what is about to happen.
- Staging: Is the presentation of an idea so that it is clear
- Straight-ahead action and pose-to-pose: Pose-to-Pose is charted with key drawings done at intervals throughout the scene, while straight ahead animation starts at the first drawing and works drawing to drawing to the end of the scene
- Follow through and overlapping action: When the main body of the character stops all other parts continue to catch up to the main mass. Nothing stops all at once
- Slow in and slow out: As the action starts we have more drawings near the starting pose, one or two in the middle and more drawings near the next pose. Fewer drawings make the action faster and more drawings make the action slower
- Arc: All actions with few exceptions follow an arc or slightly circular path. Arcs give animation a more natural action and better flow
- Secondary action: It's an additional action in the scene used as a suppliment of the main one in order to reinforce it and add more dimension
- Timing: Timing maintains the appearance of an object abiding by the laws of physics. More drawings between poses slow and smooth the action, while fewer drawings make the action faster and crisper.
- Exaggeration: Presenting realistic elements in a wilder more extreme form
- Solid drawing: Taking into account forms in three dimentional space giving them volume and weight.
- Appeal: A quality of charm, able to please the viewers eyes. It's the charisma of the action.
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