The Principles of Animation and their Application

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the various animation techniques. It introduces the principles of animation, which can be applied to all techniques. It gives an explanation of the terms of the animation principles as they were first developed by Disney Studios in the 1930s. They are based on the basic aesthetic idea that animation should represent an exaggerated, caricatured version of reality – an aesthetics and mechanics of motion, which renders the acting characters believable, thus eliciting the empathy of the audience. The classic 12 Basic Principles of Animation, written and published by the famous Disney animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston are as follows: squash and stretch; anticipation; staging; straight ahead action and pose to pose; follow through and overlapping action; slow in and slow out; arcs; secondary action; timing; exaggeration; solid drawing; and appeal. The basic principle of wave action is similarly important to animation as the principle of the bouncing ball.