Looking at the 12 Principles of Animation

Classical animator pioneers Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas, both veterans from Disney, describe twelve vital aspects of animation in their 1981 book 'The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation'. This week we will explore armatures and look at two of these twelve principles ; squash/stretch and anticipation. From wikipedia:
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Squash and stretch

Animated sequence of a race horse galloping. Photos taken by Eadweard Muybridge. The horse's body demonstrates squash and stretch in natural musculature.

The most important principle is "squash and stretch",^[4] the purpose of which is to give a sense of weight and flexibility to drawn objects. It can be applied to simple objects, like a bouncing ball, or more complex constructions, like the musculature of a human face.^[5][6] Taken to an extreme point, a figure stretched or squashed to an exaggerated degree can have a comical effect.^[7] In realistic animation, however, the most important aspect of this principle is the fact that an object's volume does not change when squashed or stretched. If the length of a ball is stretched vertically, its width (in three dimensions, also its depth) needs to contract correspondingly horizontally.^[8]

[edit]Anticipation

Anticipation is used to prepare the audience for an action, and to make the action appear more realistic.^[9] A dancer jumping off the floor has to bend his knees first; a golfer making a swing has to swing the club back first. The technique can also be used for less physical actions, such as a character looking off-screen to anticipate someone's arrival, or attention focusing on an object that a character is about to pick up.^[10]

Anticipation: A baseball player making a pitch prepares for the action by moving his arm back.

For special effect, anticipation can also be omitted in cases where it is expected. The resulting sense of anticlimax will produce a feeling of surprise in the viewer, and can often add comedy to a scene.^[11] This is often referred to as a 'surprise gag'.^[12]

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