Nine Old MenDisney’s Nine Old Men were the main animators that created Disney’s most famous animated films from Snow White to The Rescuers. They were responsible for inventing the 12 basic principles of animation, and for basically creating the process used to create animated films.

Woolie Reitherman, Milt Kahl, Les Clark, Marc Davis, Ward Kimball, Eric Larson, Frank Thomas, John Lounsbery, Ollie Johnston

12 Principles Of Animation

(1) Squash and Stretch

(2) Anticipation

(3) Staging

(4) Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose

(5) Follow Through and Overlapping Action

(6) Slow in and Slow Out

(7) Arcs

(8) Secondary Action

(9) Timing

(10) Exaggeration

(11) Solid Drawing

(12) Appeal

Squash And Stretch

Squash and Stretch gives the illusion of weight to an action. For realistic animated characters squash and stretch is subtle, but for stylized characters squash and stretch can create extreme distortion.

Anticipation

Anticipation prepares the viewer for an action that the animated character is about to perform. When an animated character is going to make a long jump for example they wind up and and move backward before they make a move forward toward the jump.

Staging

Staging is the “presentation of any idea so that it is completely and unmistakably clear.” An animated characters location and position should clearly communicate to the viewer the attitude and mood of the character in that particular scene. Staging directs the viewer’s eye toward the intended action or “story point”.

Straight Ahead and Pose to Pose Animation

There are two main approaches to animation, Straight Ahead and Pose to Pose. Straight Ahead animation involves creating the first frame of animation and continuing frame by frame until the end of the animated shot. Straight Ahead animation is more practical for traditional animation that computer animation. Pose to Pose animation is more planned out and involves creating key poses need to perform the animated shot, and then filling in the frames in between.

Follow Through and Overlapping Action“Things don’t come to a stop all at once, guys; first there’s one part and then another”

-Walt Disney

When a characters main body comes to a stop, there is still movement in other parts of the character like hair and arms. This is follow through.

Slow In and Slow Out

In order to animated action more life-like, animators put more frames at the beginning and end of an action with fewer in the middle during the main action. This allows the viewer to clearly see the strong poses during an action.

Arcs

The actions of most organic objects follow an arc or circular path rather that an linear path. Arcs create a visually pleasing action with better flow. When a character’s head turns, arm moves or jumps the motion is created in a circular path

Secondary Action

Secondary action reinforces the main action. When a character is walking the basic walk is the main action and arm swings, head, hair, and neck movement are thought of as secondary action.

Timing

The amount of key frames in an animation determines the amount of time needed for the action to take place. It is important for the action to not be too fast or too slow or it will not read correctly. The length of time needed for an action take place can also be used communicate a characters attitude or personality.

Exaggeration

Exaggeration is the caricature of realism. In order to convey that a character is performing an action, an animator needs to create a convincing performance by exaggerating the action. This involves pushing the action to extremes without distorting it from its original intention.

Solid Drawing SkillsIn traditional animation, an animator needs to be able to draw a character in any position from all angles. This same principle can be applied to computer animation. Being able to put a character in any position will help the animator create specific performances in any situation. A animator needs to be able to create weight, depth and balance.

Appeal

An animated character needs to be visually believable and appealing. Which means that the characters actions and shape need to effectively communicate the character’s personality and attitude. The viewer is supposed to want to see that a character is doing.