activity13_Walt Disney’s 12 Principles of Animation

The twelve principles of animation were created in the early 1930s by animators at the Walt Disney Studios. These principles were used to guide production and creative discussions as well to train young animators better and faster. These twelve principles became one of the foundations of hand-drawn cartoon character animation. The twelve principles, as they are commonly referred to, also helped to transform animation from a novelty into an art form. By applying these principles to their work these pioneering animators produced many of the earliest animated feature films that became classics: Snow White (1937), Pinocchio and Fantasia (1940), Dumbo (1941), and Bambi (1942).

1.    Timing

Timing is the precise moment and the amount of time that a character spends on an action. Timing adds emotion and intention to the characters performance. Timing can also be controlled and adjusted by placing each character on a separate track, and using sub-tracks for parts of the character such as head, torso, arms and legs.

1.    Squash and Stretch

One of the important principles from the original twelve is used to exaggerate the amount of non-rigid body deformations usually with the purpose of achieving a more comedic effect. Many real world objects have little flexibility, such as furniture, however most organic objects have some level of flexibility in their shape.

Take for example a bouncing ball.

BODY BEAUTIFUL an Animated Film by Joanna Quinn

1.    Slow In and Slow Out

Slow-in and slow-out consist of slowing down the beginning and the end of an action, while speeding up the middle of it. A snappy effect is achieved when motion is accelerated and retarded in this way.

1.    Arcs of Motion

Using arcs to animate the movements of characters helps achieve a natural look because most living creatures move in curved paths, never in perfectly straight lines. Non-arc motion comes across as sinister, restricted or robotic.

5. Anticipation

Anticipation is used to prepare the audience for an action, and to make the action appear more realistic. A dancer jumping off the floor has to bend his knees first; a golfer making a swing has to swing the club.

1.    Exaggeration

Exaggeration usually helps cartoon characters to deliver the essence of an action. A lot of exaggeration can be achieved with squash and stretch.

Secondary Action

Adding secondary actions to the main action gives a scene more life, and can help to support the main action. A person walking can simultaneously swing his arms or keep them in his pockets, he can speak or whistle or he can express emotions through facial expressions.

Follow Through and Overlapping Action

Follow-through and overlapping action are two techniques that help make the action richer and fuller with detail and subtlety. Follow-through action consists of the reactions of the character after an action, and it usually lets audiences know how he or she feels about what has just happened or is about to happen.

Straight Ahead & Pose-to-Pose

Straight-ahead action and pose-to-pose are two different animation techniques that yield fairly different results.  In straight-ahead action the character moves spontaneously through the action one step at a time until the action is finished.

Pose-to-pose action became the standard animation technique because it breaks down structured motion into a series of clearly defined key poses.  The extremes of the actual movement are defined first with the in between scenes being installed afterwards.

Staging

Staging the animation means setting the scene – attracting the viewer’s attention and focusing it on a particular subject or area of the screen before the action takes place. You must remember that the viewers don’t have the luxury of knowing what is about to happen in your animation, so if something moves very quickly, they may not have time enough to realize what is going on.

Appeal

Character personality, or appeal as it was originally called, facilitates the emotional connection between character and audience. Characters must be well developed, have an interesting personality, and have a clear set of desires or needs that drive their behaviour and actions.

Traditional Disney went for an aesthetically pleasing look with their Princesses and creatures such as Bambi and Thumper.

Modern day Disney Pixar characters such as Carl and Russell

 Solid Drawing

Solid drawing as it was called in the 1930s emphasizes the clear delineation of shape necessary to bring animated characters to life. Solid and precise drawings helps to convey the weight, depth and balance of the character, and it also simplifies potential production complications due to poorly drawn characters.

 Here is more solid drawing and direct animation by Bob McKimson

How all the wrinkles wrap around the characters' forms and in perspective when they tilt their heads.