Twelve basic principles of animation

<a href="/facts/Disney%27s/R8kCbAVc">Disney's</a> twelve basic principles of animation were introduced by the Disney <a href="/facts/Animator/A1yVPjVn">animators</a> <a href="/facts/Ollie_Johnston/gIfIEv1A">Ollie Johnston</a> and <a href="/facts/Frank_Thomas_(animator)/yJKG9w5R">Frank Thomas</a> in their 1981 book <a href="/facts/The_Illusion_of_Life:_Disney_Animation/JhxoY46I">The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation</a>.[a] The principles are based on the work of <a href="/facts/Disney%27s_Nine_Old_Men/q2FJhvLs">Disney animators from the 1930s onwards</a>, in their quest to produce more realistic animation. The main purpose of these principles was to produce an <a href="/facts/Illusion/Wp52FHKV">illusion</a> that <a href="/facts/Cartoon/24v34f3m">cartoon</a> characters adhered to the basic <a href="/facts/Physical_law/aVtc4wpk">laws of physics</a>, but they also dealt with more abstract issues, such as emotional timing and character appeal.
The book has been referred to by some as the "<a href="/facts/Bible/SqkRTKCh">Bible</a> of animation", and some of its principles have been adopted by <a href="/facts/Traditional_animation/CqPeCPBY">traditional</a> <a href="/facts/Animation_studio/9AUg9v8W">studios</a>. In 1999, The Illusion of Life was voted the "best animation book[...] of all time" in an online poll done by <a href="/facts/Animation_World_Network/hg7WwSfJ">Animation World Network</a>. While originally intended to apply to traditional, <a href="/facts/Traditional_animation/CqPeCPBY">hand-drawn animation</a>, the principles still have great relevance for today's more prevalent <a href="/facts/Computer_animation/rPW63nm0">computer animation</a>.

Twelve basic principles of animation open-in-new

Twelve basic principles of animation