Communication Technology Notes Series
Animation Principles
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The Background:
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The Principles:
Originally developed in the 1920’s by Walt Disney, these fundamental principles of animation have
remained the basis for animated sequences - whether rendered by hand or with the aid of a computer.
• Squash & Stretch
This is regarded as the most important animation principle because it
conveys a sense of substance to a two-dimensional object. Squash & Stretch
is seen when an object contacts a surface and distorts (squash) to imply it is
pliable, and when it elongates after bouncing back (stretch). Animators use
this principle to add both exaggeration and realism to their work.
• Timing
Timing gives meaning to movement. For example a heavy character would
naturally move more slowly than a smaller character - unless the comic effect
called for an inappropriate speed. It is a subtle attribute of a character that
can also convey emotion. If a character is quickly moving around he/she may
be nervous or excited. Conversely a slow-moving character may be tired.
• Anticipation
Borrowed from comedy and drama, anticipation is a device that helps tell the
audience something is about to happen. For example a character looking offscreen may indicate something is about to enter the frame. Waiting for the
sound of a rock to fall at the bottom of a cliff is another example.
• Staging
Staging reveals personality and mood by focusing on the movements of the
character. The audience sees that a character moving slowly with his head
down seems to be moping or sad. The staging sets the character’s mood.
Follow Through, and the resultant overlapping action, occurs naturally in real
• Follow Through life: when we walk our body is swaying in motion briefly even after we stop. In
animation it adds realism and avoids the visually jarring jerky movement of a
character completely stopping (unless it is part of comic effect).
Straight Ahead Action refers to the animator building the sequence frame-by• Straight Ahead frame until the action is completed. Pose to Pose Action describes the
practice of drawing key action points in the sequence and someone else
vs Pose to Pose produces the ‘in-betweens’ to join the sequence of movement together. This
is how most cartoons are produced.
• Slow In & Out/
Eases
Slow In & Out or Eases refers to the spacing of action or movement between
drawings. If a slow action is desired, a greater number of frames will be
inserted to slow the action (due to the constant frame rate). To speed up the
action, fewer frames would be used. Variable rates (speeding up) can be
used
• Arcs
Arcs is simply a visual path of action from the first drawing to another in one
©2004-Tingle
• Exaggeration
action. As arms and legs pivot, rendering arcs is a frequent animation task.
One great benefit of animation is the ability to render extraordinary and
dangerous action harmlessly. Exaggeration is the main principle used to
create this. It can be used to emphasize important moods or emotions (i.e.
gallons of tears pouring from a crying baby’s eyes), indicate an extreme
reaction (ie: steam bursting from ears) or super strength (think of Popeye
after eating spinach). A word of caution: unless the action calls for
exaggerated movement, use reasonable movement or the credibility of the
action may be ruined.
• Secondary
Action
Secondary Action results from another action: A baseball changes direction
after it contacts a swinging bat because the illusion of it being hit is created
by the animator using this principle. Another example is multiple action where
several movements are executed simultaneously. This is the sign of more
complex and skilled animation because it involves more detailed planning to
execute.
• Appeal
Appeal is a very subjective term. Appeal describes the appropriate quality of
the drawing to please the audience. Various styles of animation feature
characters deliberately drawn for the audience: Japanese anime characters
differ from the familiar Disney characters and from the Stan Lee superheroes
such as Spiderman. Computer generated animation is starting to develop
more individual style - and appeal - as the software evolves.
©2004-Tingle