History and Use: 12 Principles of Animation
Updated September 17th, 2026.
When you think of wildly successful animation, one of the first studios that comes to mind is Disney. From the original Mickey Mouse all the way through their newest feature film, Disney knows how to create successful animations. While their creative teams are brilliant and new talent gives Disney and its affiliates fresh takes on animation, Disney has a strong foundation with 12 guiding principles of animation.
What are Disney’s 12 Principles of Animation?
Walt Disney called the original animators the “Nine Old Men.” They were the core animators, the hands behind some of the most famous animation films created — films like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Lady and the Tramp, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, the classic Disney movies audiences have loved for generations.
Two of the core animators, Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas, created the 12 principles of animation, making it “an essential must-learn for all aspiring and working animators.” The principles first appeared in their book The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation in 1981, but all of the “Nine Old Men” agreed that these principles had been part of their work since the 1930s.
Animators at Disney have been subscribing to these principles ever since. That’s almost a century of these principles living and breathing behind every one of Disney’s animated projects.
While there is a lot to be said about each of these principles, we’ll give you the nutshell version.
Squash and Stretch
This is an illusion that helps us as the audience visualize the impact gravity has. A character is expanded and compressed, making them appear as if they are moving naturally. In the Pixar Short Day and Night, the two characters are clearly stretched and squashed as they move across the screen, helping us see their movement and dancing.
Anticipation
As an animator, you want to give your audience clues that something big is going to happen — not necessarily a big moment in the story, but a big “action.” It’s like taking a deep breath before a plunge or like Hercules pulling his arm back before he punches Hades in the face.
Staging
Every movement, every pose, should “convey a clear intention.” Freeze the frame on any character, and you should be able to determine what they are feeling. For example, when Belle is talking to Gaston about reading, freeze the frame. You can instantly tell she’s annoyed.
Straight Ahead and Pose to Pose
We’ll break this down into two parts. First, straight ahead. This is when an animator draws one frame after another, creating the movement as they go. This is used when an animator wants to create something fluid, like when Cinderella’s dress is magicked onto her by the Fairy Godmother.
Second, pose to pose. Think of this as taking a character from one position to another that is drastically different, and then filling in the movement in-between. Prince Phillip leans over Aurora’s bed then kisses her. The poses would be leaning over the bed, then him meeting her lips. Pose to pose fills in the movement between.
Follow Through and Overlapping Action
When a character is moving and then stops, their whole body doesn’t stop at once. Some parts of a character will move faster than others, like clothes. When a princess twirls in her dress, the dress moves faster than her body and continues spinning even after her body has stopped.
Slow-In and Slow-Out
Also essential for adding realism, this is important when characters are moving. An animator will “draw more frames at the start of the action, less frames in the middle, and more frames at the end.”
Arc
This is the idea that almost all actions have a slightly circular motion to them. When you turn your head, you don’t just go straight in or straight out. It curves around.
Secondary Action
Smaller actions are used to support the main action. For example, when Pocahontas runs through the forest, her body is performing the main action, but her hair flapping in the wind is secondary. It enhances the primary action through more movement.
Timing
Many cartoons destroy the laws of physics. But it’s an animator’s job to trick their audience into thinking that it does. Adjusting the timing of a scene—making it slower or smother with more frames, or faster and crisper with less frames—adds to this dimension. Like Dash running on water in The Incredibles.
Exaggeration
Overstating a movement helps prove a point and increase the emotion of a scene but without destroying believability. Like when a character raises their eyebrows or drops their jaw in disbelief.
Solid Drawings
This one is an important reminder that while your medium is 2D, it needs to look 3D to your audience. Keep the same perspective and stay consistent. This helps your believability.
Appeal
While not every character is going to look lovely and cuddly (you need a nasty villain once in a while), it’s still important to create something beautiful. This almost feels like a “duh,” but remember that you want to turn out something clear, easy to read, and personable.
Bring Your Animations to Life
The 12 principles have stood the test of time and millions of frames because they’re the foundation of believable, beautiful animation, the difference between drawings that simply move and characters an audience truly connects with. Learning to apply them takes practice, feedback, and guidance from people who’ve mastered the craft.
That’s exactly what The L.A. Film School’s Animation program is built to provide. Explore it on campus or online and develop the skills to transport audiences into worlds of your own creation.
Request Info to explore our programs, or Apply Now and start turning principles into performances.
FAQs: Disney’s 12 Principles of Animation
What are the 12 principles of animation?
They’re a set of foundational guidelines that underpin believable, appealing animation: squash and stretch, anticipation, staging, straight ahead and pose to pose, follow-through and overlapping action, slow-in and slow-out, arc, secondary action, timing, exaggeration, solid drawings, and appeal. Together, they help animators create movement that feels natural and characters that feel alive, and they’ve remained essential for aspiring and working animators alike.
Who created the 12 principles of animation?
They came from Disney. Two of Walt Disney’s core animators, part of the group he called the “Nine Old Men”, Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas, formalized the 12 principles. They first appeared in the 1981 book The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation, though all of the Nine Old Men agreed the principles had been part of their work since the 1930s, meaning they’ve guided Disney’s animation for nearly a century.
What is “squash and stretch,” and why is it so important?
Squash and stretch is the illusion that helps audiences visualize the impact of gravity, a character expands and compresses so their movement reads as natural. It’s often considered the most important principle because it underlies so much believable motion. A clear example appears in the Pixar short Day and Night, where the two characters visibly stretch and squash as they move and dance across the screen.
What’s the difference between “straight ahead” and “pose to pose”?
They’re two approaches to drawing a sequence. Straight ahead means animating one frame after another in order, creating movement as you go, which is ideal for fluid, unpredictable motion like Cinderella’s dress being magicked onto her. Pose to pose means drawing key positions first, then filling in the frames between them, well suited to deliberate action like Prince Phillip leaning over Aurora’s bed and then kissing her.
How do principles like follow through, arc, and secondary action add realism?
Each captures how movement actually behaves. Follow through and overlapping action reflect that a body doesn’t stop all at once; a princess’s dress keeps spinning after she does. Arc recognizes that most natural actions curve rather than move in straight lines, like turning your head. Secondary action adds supporting motion, such as Pocahontas’s hair flapping as she runs, that enhances the main action and makes a scene feel fuller and more lifelike.
Do the 12 principles still apply to modern 3D and computer animation?
Yes. Although they were developed for hand-drawn animation, the principles are about the fundamentals of movement, which remain the same regardless of medium. Many of the examples that best illustrate them, from Pixar’s The Incredibles (timing, as when Dash runs on water) to CG features, come from computer animation. The principle of solid drawings, making 2D work read as 3D, translates directly to maintaining consistent, believable form in any style.
How can I start applying the 12 principles as a student?
Three habits help. Review them often, treating the list as a checklist before, during, and after each project to see which you did or didn’t use. Look for examples by watching a Disney (or other studio) film regularly and spotting the principles in action, even keeping a journal of what you notice. And ask others to check your work, requesting feedback specifically on the 12 principles from peers or a mentor, then improving on the ones you missed.
