Animators often referred to the “12 Principles of Animation.” It’s commonly understood the concepts were developed during the 1930s by the “Old Men” of Walt Disney Studios. Among them were Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. They weren’t old men at the time, although they became wise elders. Instead, they were young, at a studio of individuals who are known to have discovered and, through continued practice, articulated and refined the standards that animators employ to express motion with character and personality.
Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson described the principles in their book, The Illusion of Life.
Cento Lodigiani created his own interpretation of the principles, applied to simple cubic shapes:
- On his Vimeo site
- On a Tumblr page
Even though the principles were first expressed decades ago, they continue to be vital today. Animators need to implement the concepts all the time, with all kinds of animation, not just two-dimensional drawn techniques.
The principles are the foundation of animation courses at colleges and universities. Curriculum typically stems from the following list:
- Squash and stretch
- Examples:
- Disney films, from YouTube:
- Warner Brothers films, from YouTube:
- Anticipation
- Staging
- Straight-ahead and pose-to-pose
- Pose-to-pose, key-to-key:
- Breakdown positions
- In-betweens
- Follow through and overlapping
- Slow-in and slow-out
- Arcs
- Secondary action
- Timing
- Exaggeration
- Solid drawings
- Appeal