The 12 Principles of Animation
James Ritchie
In their 1981 book, The Illusion of Life, Disney animators Ollie Johnston and
Frank Thomas introduced the twelve principles of animation. The pair were part
of Disney’s “Nine Old Men,” the core group of animators who were instrumental
in creating Disney’s animation style. The twelve principles have now become
widely recognized as a theoretical bedrock for all artists working on animated
video production.
In order, they consist of:
Squash and Stretch Ease In, Ease Out
Anticipation Arcs
Staging Secondary Action
Straight Ahead Action and Pose-to- Timing
Pose Exaggeration
Follow Through and Overlapping Solid Drawing
Action Appeal
Squash and Stretch
Squash and stretch is debatably the most fundamental principle. Look at what happens
when a ball hits the ground. The force of the motion squashes the ball flat, but because
an object needs to maintain its volume, it also widens on impact. This what’s called
squash and stretch.
Squash and Stretch
Squash and Stretch
Squash and Stretch
Squash and Stretch
Anticipation
Imagine you’re about to kick a soccer ball. What’s the first thing you do? Do you swing
your foot back to wind up? Steady yourself with your arms? That’s anticipation.
Anticipation is the preparation for the main action. The player striking the soccer ball
would be the main action, and the follow-through of the leg is well… the follow through.
Anticipation
Anticipation
Anticipation
Anticipation
Staging
Staging is the presentation of any idea so that it is completely an unmistakably clear.
This is a very broad principle because it covers so many areas of animation. It can apply
to acting, timing, camera angle, position and setting.
Staging
Staging is one of the most overlooked principles. It directs the audience’s attention
toward the most important elements in a scene in a way that effectively advances the
story. In the clip below, the placement of the character within the scene allows us to
quickly follow his actions and gives us a good sense of the physical layout.
Staging
Staging
Straight Ahead Action and Pose-to-Pose
These are two ways of drawing animation. Straight ahead action is where you draw each
frame of an action one after another as you go along. With pose-to-pose, you draw the
extremes – that is, the beginning and end drawings of action – then you go on to the
middle frame, and start to fill in the frames in-between.
Straight Ahead Action and Pose-to-Pose
Straight Ahead Action and Pose-to-Pose
Straight Ahead Action and Pose-to-Pose
Straight Ahead Action and Pose-to-Pose
Follow-Through and Overlapping Action
When a moving object such as a person comes to a stop, parts might continue to move in
the same direction because of the force of forward momentum. These parts might be
hair, clothing, jowls, or jiggling flesh of an overweight person. This is where you can see
follow-through and overlapping action. The secondary elements (hair, clothing, fat) are
following-through on the primary element, and overlapping its action.
Follow-Through and Overlapping Action
Follow-Through and Overlapping Action
Follow-Through and Overlapping Action
Ease In, Ease Out
When you start your car, you don’t get up to 60 mph right away. It takes a little while to
accelerate and reach a steady speed. In animation speak, we would call this an Ease Out.
Likewise, if you brake, you’re not going to come to a full stop right away. (Unless you
crash into a tree or something.) You step on the pedal and decelerate over a few seconds
until you are at a stand-still. Animators call this an Ease In.
Ease In, Ease Out
Ease In, Ease Out
Ease In, Ease Out
Arcs
Life doesn’t move in straight lines, and neither should animation. Most living beings –
including humans – move in circular paths called arcs.
Arcs operate along a curved trajectory that adds the illusion of life to an animated object
in action. Without arcs, your animation would be stiff and mechanical.
Arcs
Secondary Action
Secondary actions are gestures that support the main action to add more dimension to
character animation. They can give more personality and insight to what the character is
doing or thinking
Secondary Action
Timing
Timing is about where on a timeline you put each frame of action. To see what this
means in action, let’s look at the classic animator’s exercise: the bouncing ball that we
saw earlier when we were talking about squash and stretch. (The reason this is a popular
assignment is that there is a lot of wisdom to be gained from it!)
Timing
Timing
Exaggeration
Sometimes more is more. Exaggeration presents a character’s features and actions in an
extreme form for comedic or dramatic effect. This can include distortions in facial
features, body types, and expressions, but also the character’s movement. Exaggeration
is a great way for an animator to increase the appeal of a character, and enhance the
storytelling.
Exaggeration
Solid Drawing
Solid drawing is all about making sure that animated forms feel like they’re in three-
dimensional space
Solid Drawing
Appeal
People remember real, interesting, and engaging characters. Animated characters should
be pleasing to look at and have a charismatic aspect to them; this even applies to the
antagonists of the story.
