The 12 Principles
of Animation

Created by Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas in their 1981 book The Illusion of Life, the 12 principles of Animation are a series of rules followed by professional animators to give their work a sense of groundedness. The 12 priciples are as follows: Appeal, Anticipation, Arc, Exaggeration, Follow through and overlapping action, Staging, Secondary action, Slow in and slow out, Solid drawing, Straight-ahead action and pose-to-pose, Squash and stretch, and finally, Timing.

This project showcases each principle through a small animation to serve as an example of what it shows.