Timing for Animation, 40th Anniversary Edition, 3rd Edition

Characterization (Acting)

Character animation is the ultimate achievement of animation art. It is a complex combination of craftsmanship, acting, and timing.

Characterization in animation is concerned not so much with what the characters do, as how they do it. The audience is conditioned to look at human characters in human situations. In animation this can only be a starting point. The cartoon character should not behave exactly like a human being. It would feel and look wrong. Human reactions and human actions must be exaggerated, sometimes simplified, and distorted in order to achieve a dramatic or comic effect in cartoon.

For these reasons the features of characters must be kept simple, allowing for maximum facial expression (Fig. 62). The ...