Animated Performance: Bringing Imaginary Animal, Human and Fantasy Characters to Life

Animated Performance shows how a character can seemingly ‘come to life’ when their movements reflect the emotional or narrative context of their situation: when they start to ‘perform’.

The many tips, examples and exercises from a veteran of the animation industry will help readers harness the flexibility of animation to portray a limitless variety of characters and ensure that no two performances are ever alike. More than 300 color illustrations demonstrate how animal and fantasy characters can live and move without losing their non-human qualities and interviews with Disney animators Art Babbitt, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston and Ellen Woodbury make this a unique insight into bringing a whole world of characters to life.

New to the second edition: A new chapter with introductory exercises to introduce beginner animators to the the world of animated acting; dozens of new assignments and examples focusing on designing and animating fantasy and animal characters.

Table of Contents

Chapter One The Basics
Chapter Two Designs That Animate: Character And Story Context
Chapter Three Is Sex Necessary? Masculine & Feminine Character Acting
Chapter Four Animal Actors
Chapter Five Fantastic Performance!
Chapter Six The Performer As Object
Chapter Seven Double Timing: Animating Character Interactions
Chapter Eight Character Development Over Time