In 1981, two animators at Disney presented the 12 principles of animation. In their book The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation, which was released that year, Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas mentioned them.

For all animators, the 12 principles of animation are a priceless resource. Leading Disney employees summarized their methodology to develop the foundations of animation.

Here, we examine each stage in greater depth and go into the history of these fundamental animation concepts.

The work done by Disney animators during the 1930s, when they aimed to create realistic cartoon character animations, serves as the foundation for these animation principles. Disney's characters were made to appear to obey the fundamental rules of physics by using these ideas. Also discussed were abstract topics, such as emotional timing.

The 12 principles of animation still hold true in a variety of contexts, from web design to movies, despite the fact that animation has changed over the decades since The Illusion of Life was first published.

You may produce animation that gives the impression that your works are real, breathing things if you follow each step.

1. Squash and Stretch 

Possibly the most basic of the animation's twelve guiding concepts. Applying squash and stretch gives things—or even people—a sensation of weight and/or flexibility. You may animate a simple object, such as a bouncing ball, by squashing it flat and making it wider as it hits the ground.

2. Anticipation 

When you want to get your audience ready for action, use anticipation to add a little realism. Think about the actions people take to get ready for an action. Before kicking, a football player would swing their foot back or use their arms to steady oneself. A golfer must swing their arms back first in order to hit a golf ball.

3. Staging 

You are acting as a theater or movie director when it comes to staging. It is important to consider the camera's location, focus, and the planned actions of the "actors." Whether they are realistically rendered humans or amusing cartoon creatures, staging is important and occasionally underappreciated.

Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose 

In a way, Straight Ahead and Pose to Pose are two guiding concepts that deal with various methods of drawing. In straight-forward action scenarios, every frame must be animated from start to finish. If you want to make precise postures while maintaining proportions, do not use this. Instead, do it to create a fluid illusion of movement for action sequences.

Follow-Through and Overlapping Action 

Due to the force of forward momentum, pieces of a moving item, like a person, may continue to move in the same direction after stopping. These areas could be an overweight person's jowls, hair, clothes, or jiggling flesh. This is when overlapping activity and follow-through are evident. Hair, clothes, and fat are examples of secondary elements that overlap and carry out the core element's actions.

Ease In, Ease Out 

You don't immediately reach 60 mph after starting your car. Acceleration and reaching a constant speed take some time. We would refer to this as an Ease Out in the context of animation.

Similarly, braking does not immediately bring you to a complete stop. (Unless you run into anything, like a tree.) After pressing the pedal, you slow down for a few seconds until you come to a complete stop. This is known as an Ease In by animators.

7. Arcs 

Arcs provide the appearance of life to an animated object in motion by moving along a curved trajectory. Your animation would be rigid and robotic without arcs.

An arc's timing and speed are very important. An arc can occasionally move so quickly that it becomes unrecognizable.

8) Secondary Action 

In order to give character animation greater depth, secondary actions are movements that complement the primary action. They can add depth and personality to the actions or thoughts of the character.

9) Timing 

The placement of each frame of activity on a timeline is known as timing. Let's examine the traditional animator's exercise—the bouncing ball that we saw before while discussing squash and stretch—to see what this implies in practice.

10) Exaggeration 

There are instances when more is more. Exaggeration creates a dramatic or humorous effect by presenting a character's traits and behaviors in an excessive manner. This can involve changes to the character's movement as well as facial features, body kinds, and expressions. An animator can improve the plot and make a character more likable by using exaggeration.

11) Solid Drawing 

One of the more challenging concepts to master in animation, particularly in traditional animation, is solid sketching. This is due to the fact that you must give your works weight and volume in order to make them feel 3D. You can learn more about weight, balance, gravity, light, shadow, and other topics by taking art classes.

12) Appeal 

One of the most crucial of the 12 animation principles is the final one. In theater, television, and movies, directors want their actors to be charismatic. Regardless of whether they are heroes or villains, the characters should captivate the audience and compel them to follow the plot.