The 12 Principles are
the foundational building blocks behind every animation
ever made. Developed by the animators
that worked with Walt Disney in the 1930s, they are considered
the rules of the game. But we would have to wait
until 1981 for them to be first printed
on The Illusion of Life. The Illusion of Life. The Illusion of Life,
and its magnificent book. Would you welcome
Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. It was a quote from this book
that inspired this video. In 1923,
when it came to animation, people felt that everything
had been done that was possible. That was 100 years ago
when animation looked like this. But how can these principles
remain constant in a medium
that is always changing? Could this be why animators
are struggling to learn The 12
Principles of Animation. You have entertained all of us
for so many years, and yet the general public never gets to see the guys
behind the scenes. In the 1920s,
there was an exodus of newspaper comic artists into a new medium. But how did they learn? There was a single book on
what was considered animation. Animated Cartoons by E.G Lutz. It explained
very rudimentary techniques to make a drawing move. From the beginnings of cycles. Effects using symbols and text. You could really feel
the influence that comics had on early animation. But it was enough for Walt and his team
to create films like this. And this was called the Rubber
Hose School of Animation. There were no solid limbs,
and when they showed emotions, lines would float in the air. To keep striving
for innovation, Walt created the Silly Symphonies
to massive success. They had a more
artistic approach, and he instructed his animators to use them as a playground
to find the next breakthrough. Animators like Frank Thomas
and Ollie Johnston, who would co-write The Illusion of Life
and who joined Disney in 1934. They were a part of a select group of artists in their 30s, who Walt jokingly called The Nine Old Men, and who became the supervisors
and directors of all their following
productions. Through the Silly Symphonies,
these men were responsible for innovations
like cycles and repeat actions. Nobody knew anything, really. They just continued to search
for better methods of relating drawings
to each other. And as each of these processes
acquired a name, it was talked about
and analyzed, and without them knowing,
the principles were born. With studios heavily
relying on rotoscoping live action footage, thanks to Max
Fleischer's invention, they noticed something
they didn't expect. Even though
humans are very solid, body proportions
just seemed to change on film, so they started adding this
to all their animations to make them
look more realistic, and thus Squash and Stretch
was born. Looking for ways to test what they were finding in
a faster way, they developed the bouncing
ball. This would be a training
passed on from generation to generation, as it is surprisingly rewarding
for what can be learned. By trying to understand squash and stretch with this exercise, they ran into the secrets
of timing. However much time
each bounce lasted in the air gave a completely
different effect. They also noticed
if the timing didn't match, then the ball stayed
on the ground too long. However,
this created a sort of hop, giving the illusion
that the object was alive. This was the key
to anticipation. Otherwise
they would miss the gags when they came, which happened
often in the early days. When animation was black
and white, it was easy for limbs
to get lost. For example, Mickey's hands on top of his chest
would just disappear. This made them start paying
attention to silhouette. Nothing was drawn
that was not part of the idea. Slowly, character actions became something that either
‘reads’ or it ‘doesn't read’. So audiences could see
the beautiful poses that animators had crafted, when they filled
in the in-betweens, they started to draw them
very close to the first and final poses. This was the base
for acceleration and deceleration
and allowed them to control the spacing
of drawings. One day, almost by accident, someone made a series
of drawings that looked far better
than anything done before. He was using motion
arcs in his actions. Imaginary lines
flowed through each drawing of the series,
creating a pleasing smoothness. Most animators had adopted
the pose to pose method of animation. They were just concerned
about the actions that needed to happen in a scene, with no attempt
to relate one pose to another. They were not aware of this
method’s brilliant future. With the discovery
of breakdowns, it allowed things to drag, others to lead, and overlap
was added to characters, making them
feel flexible and believable. This allowed them to tackle
complex actions where there was a main action
and a secondary action supporting the main one. But what was the limit? They needed a character that allowed them to test
just how much is ‘too much’. Thus, Goofy was born. Turns out, in animation,
exaggeration is a spectrum that can be pushed infinitely. Having learned
so much from these tests while polishing their skills
gave birth to appeal, placing things
not where they are anatomically correct,
but where they look the best. Solid drawing
combined with squash stretch also gave another dimension,
no pun intended, to the characters on screen. Since the first Silly
Symphonies, they tried to portray 3D volume
in a 2D space. This was not uncommon
in animation, but needed incredibly solid
basis of perspective drawing
to imitate a camera movement. And holy- did they take it
to a level never seen before. Each one of these shots
would take weeks to complete
for a mere few seconds, but they weren't
thinking of budgets or awards. They wanted to push the medium
because they could. I made video guides on each of
the 12 principles in my Patreon, so consider checking them out
if you're interested. What I want to talk about is what they discovered
through the principles. Since
it changed animation forever. What's wrong Penny, honey? You tell old Rufus. Well, it was the adoption day
at the orphanage. What happened? A man and lady came
and looked at me, but they choose
a little red haired girl. She was prettier than me. Oh. She-she couldn't be. No longer were these just
drawings on the screen. No. These characters were alive. The principles gave birth
to personality in animation. The reason why
these movies marked our lives and even our parents
lives was not just the animation being good. Nobody was thinking, wow,
that was a good motion arc. To us
these characters were real. I want you to think for a moment
that these are drawings, thousands of individual
drawings, and behind those drawings,
a person. Once you see the film of your drawings,
then you're hooked on animation. None of it can give you that same feeling of life that you get out
of seeing this doggone little character
projected up on the screen. I want you to understand that
it took them ten years to go from Steamboat
Willie to Snow White. Then five years to go from Elmer
the Elephant to Dumbo. This principles allowed them
to become actors. The timing of each action,
the deceleration so they cushioned into each beautiful drawing
with a masterful silhouette, anticipations blend into smooth
arcs of movement, while parts of the character
lag behind so you can feel their energy. Without these principles
and these unsung heroes who fought for decades
to develop them. It wouldn't be possible. But what would happen
if we pushed the principles to their very limit? If we were to name the
best animator who ever lived, what would they need to achieve
to earn that title? How about working
on a single film for 31 years? A true
masterpiece of the medium. All 2D animated. Or dominating the animation
style of every cartoon character,
mixed with live action and no constraints
on the camera. How about creating the ultimate
resource that could teach every animator in the world
how to animate? Well,
Richard Williams did all three. I don't think I can do justice
to this man's entire life in this video, so I won't try. But I do want to talk about his legacy
because it affects all of us. He hired
some of the best animators who worked with Chuck Jones
and Disney to be able to learn from them. After 2500 commercials and his studio winning over 100 international awards. In 1964,
he finally decided to animate his masterpiece,
a 2D animated movie called The Thief
and the Cobbler. When you master a medium
in the old days, if you were a master painter,
then you did your masterpiece and I'm
going to do a masterpiece. I hope, if I can ever finish the thing. In the end,
the movie he envisioned never saw the light of day. But as for him creating his
masterpiece. I believe he did. He poured all of that knowledge
and experiences into the true bible of animation,
the Animator’s Survival Kit. While the book is truly
a wonderful resource, he went one step above this
and recorded a master class for a group of students
condensed into 16 videos. The amount of work
that went into this is just unparalleled. Just look at the animated intro. It took nine months to make
because when he chose
the cover illustration, he didn't think that one day
he'll have to animate it, but he and his team did,
because they can. He covers from the very basics
of timing and spacing, literally a bouncing ball and charts,
all the way to highly advanced concepts such as successive
breaking of joints, to create fluidity
without it being cartoony. Principles like overlap
were broken down into systems that allow full
control of the characters. He mastered the cycles to create
complex walks. Squash and stretch with anticipation,
creating powerful emotions. And everything is built
upon the same 12 principles. Everything I've ever done, and I
was considered an innovator. It was all based on the basics. And the more
I learned about the basics from these old birds, the more my sophisticated
invention would occur, solidly on the basics. I really don't think
there is anymore. You would struggle to find an animator
in today's industry who would not recommend
these lectures. From all the top 3D studios,
all the way to the Indies scene. Even in Japan,
Anime has been impacted by it. Is the survival kit perfect? No, of course not. The reality is,
some of these lessons are meant to teach you
a style of animation that can be too expensive
for most productions nowadays. It's always better on ones. Saying that twos is better is an economic answer
to an artistic question. It's always better on ones. Always. The main problem
with these video lectures is they're really hard to find. They do sell a 16 DVD set,
but it costs almost $1,000. So yeah, no. There are other ways
that, you know, as a YouTuber, I can not publicly suggest,
but what I need to say is this: We cannot let
this videos become lost media. This is one of the reasons
why I wanted to make this video. If you are an animator
looking for resources, there is a third book that
I deem worthy of mentioning. The Character Animation
Crash Course by Eric Goldberg. It is the best resource
I have seen in allowing you to understand breakdowns, lipsync,
and other very practical advice. With the rise of computer
animation, the entire industry transformed. 3D graphics and cut out animation software
allowed to stop and analyze, to easily test new things
and replay them. This accelerated new ways to
create the illusion of movement. Yet the 12 principles remained. How can these 12 principles
remain unchanged for so long? Lately, I've noticed
lots of animators are struggling to make the leap between learning these principles to applying them and creating
acting in animation. The problem is not in the principles,
but rather our approach to them. They don't change
because fundamentals are not meant to change,
but they can expand. When Frank
and only wrote this book, the principles were not meant
to be taken as commandments. Rather, they were hoping
the next generation will use them as their springboard
and continue to develop them. And many of them are. There's some people say
there's 28 principles. And by, you know, 30 years in the industry,
I know 27 principles. I'm not trying to argue if there should be more
or less principles. I personally
stick to the original 12 because I find them in
everything I do. I still read
The Illusion of Life because I find out something
new, you know, every time I do. But in this video,
I focused on the origins so you can understand the mentality
that this animators had when they created
and perfected them. Just like the Silly Symphonies
were a playground to test anything and everything,
you need to give yourself the chance
to experiment by taking them
not as an exact science, but rather
pushing them to the limit, bending them,
and even breaking them. That is the only way
they can be learned and that they can evolve. I feel my channel
will never be complete unless I make a video
with my personal take on how to animate characters
based on my own experience. So just give me
a little more time because I have to animate
a bunch. Going back
to the first quote on the video. I think most people nowadays
on 2024, probably feel that everything that is possible in terms of animation
has been done already. It is our responsibility
to prove them wrong. We are the next link in the chain
that goes back over 100 years. And like I said in my video on
how I made my first short film, making a living out of drawing
silly cartoons is a privilege, and we need to work
hard to earn that privilege. So we have to know the rules of the game
in order to break them. That's all I know,
and there really isn't anymore. Behind
every animation that you love. There's not only the 12 principles,
but also 100 years of experience that allowed that animator to
talk directly into your heart. You consider
yourself a romantic? Yes. Don't you? Aren't we all? In animation,
we are truly standing on the shoulders of giants. Thank you,
Frank and Ollie, and Richard, for making animation
what it is today. They're only drawings,
but they create the illusion of life itself.
