The 12 principles of animation were coined by Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas in their book The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation published in 1981 (Johnson and Thomas, 1981).
These principles are:
- Squash and stretch:
Considered the most important, this action gives the illusion of gravity, weight, volume, and flexibility to a character when it moves. (Note, When using squash and stretch, it’s important to keep the object’s volume consistent. So when you stretch something it needs to get thinner, and when you squash something it needs to get wider.) - Anticipation:
Prepares the audience for a major action the character is about to perform. Each major action proceeds with specific moves that anticipate the audience what is about to happen. This principle gives the animation a natural and realistic effect. - Staging:
It’s the presentation of an idea so that it is clear. Staging uses motion to guide the viewer’s eye towards what is important in the scene. - Straight ahead and pose to pose:
Pose to pose is charted with key drawings drawn at intervals throughout the scene. This technique provides more control within the scene. Straight ahead animation starts at the first drawing and works drawing to drawing to the end of the scene. This action form is ideal for fluid, realistic movements. - Follow through and overlap:
This is when the main body of the character stops all other parts continue to catch up to the main mass, nothing stops all at once. (Note, not everything on an object will move at the same rate, this is overlapping action. When hair continues to flow after a character runs for example – this is follow-through. - Slow in and slow out:
As the action starts, we have more drawings at the starting pose, one or two in the middle and then more drawings nearer the next pose. Fewer drawings make the actions faster and vice versa. An example is a car starting, slow to start then increasing speed. - Arcs:
All actions with few exceptions follow an arc or a slightly circular path. Arc’s give animation a more natural action and better flow. For example, when you toss a ball into the air, it follows a natural arc as the effects of the Earth’s gravity act upon it. - Secondary action:
It’s an additional action used in the scene used as a supplement of the main one in order to reinforce it and add more dimension to the scene (Note, this secondary action should not distract from the primary one.) - Timing:
More drawings between poses slow and smooth the action, fewer drawings make the actions faster and crisper. Timing maintains the appearance of an object abiding by the laws of physics and makes it believable. this can be toyed with but the key is in being consistent. - Exaggeration:
Remain true to reality, just presenting it in a wilder more extreme form allowing the animation to push limits and really pop! - Solid drawings:
It means taking into account forms in three-dimensional space, giving them volume and weight. Limits can be pushed here too but there needs to be consistency. - Appeal:
It is a quality of charm, able to please the viewer’s eyes, its the charisma of the action. This includes having an easy-to-read design, solid drawing, and a personality. Start with strong character development and being able to tell the story through the art of animation.
Video of 12 principles (Coron, 2019):
Word count: 68 words
References:
Johnston, O. and Thomas, F. (1981) The illusion of life: Disney animation. Disney Editions. New York.
Oh my Disney, Disney (2016) THE 12 PRINCIPLES OF ANIMATION AS ILLUSTRATED THROUGH DISNEY AND DISNEY PIXAR FILMS. Available at: https://ohmy.disney.com/movies/2016/07/20/twelve-principles-animation-disney/ (Accessed: 01st February 2020)
Coron, T./ Creative Bloq (2019) Understand Disney’s 12 principles of animation. Available at: https://www.creativebloq.com/advice/understand-the-12-principles-of-animation (Accessed: 13th March 2020)