And now for a delightful reminder about the pure, unadulterated magic of moving line drawings. This little bouncer above is demonstrating the ol’ “Squash & Stretch”, one of the 12 basic principles of animation laid out in the 1981 book The Illusion of Life, by two of Disney’s Nine Old Men.
NY-based designer Vincenzo Lodigiani broke down each of the tenets into its own GIF, and they are totally hypnotic (no joke, I’ve been staring at them all morning).
It really is remarkable how these super straightforward forms can be imbued with such strong personalities based on the way they bounce, or shapeshift, or slide across a screen.
The full-length clip is pretty great as well — complete with a retro-styled voice-over explaining everything. Fun stuff for a Friday afternoon, for sure. [Creative Review]