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Putting Yourself into Your Work

“Would anyone other than mother care to look at this?”

—Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, The Fourteen Points of Animation, 1975

Your experiences and adventures can be grist for an animated character or story. An experience that you would like to have can also provide rich material for an animated story. Did you ever fantasize about being an animal, or being able to fly? Animation makes it possible for you to do both.

Animation means “creation of life.” Life is the animator's reference book. You've met literally thousands of people in your lifetime. You have had adventures in your own home and at school, perhaps with a sister or a brother. You have had parents and real or imaginary friends. Maybe you owned a ...

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