Triangulation of Research

When dealing with aesthetics within animation, it is important to remember that there are a great deal of elements that could be referred to and focused upon, however, not all of those elements are as significant as others. One element that could be considered to have a significant impact on aesthetics, particularity in 2D animation, is character performance. "Many people have considered continual, fluid movement to be of critical importance to animation aesthetics" (Furniss, M. 2007: pg 78) suggesting that character movement and personality play a major role in how entertaining an animation is perceived to be. This could potentially be due to the notion that "animated acting goes beyond realism" (Beiman, N. 2010: pg 104), by using the 12 principles of animation to create actions that are beyond and "transcend the limitations of the human body or the laws of physics" (Beiman, N. 2010: pg 12). Art Babbit maintained the belief that "it is not necessary to rely on reality when it is so easy to suggest it" (Babbit, A in Beiman, N. 2010: pg 10) validating Beiman's argument that animation "is not meant to simulate live-action" (Beiman, N. 2010: pg 8) or reality, but rather create the sense and feel of a character rather than creating just its movements.
One principle of animation in particular, known as squash and stretch, allows for fluid movement of a character and helps to create a strong sense of personality for the viewer by enabling the character to be distorted and metamorphosed. Hand drawn animation lends itself to these techniques quite well as it "easily distorts, squashes and stretches" (Beiman, N. 2010: pg 64) enabling the creation of a sense of movement. Andreas Deja argues that "by distorting the character's face and overall body mass, the illusion of life suddenly became more believable" (Deja, A. 2015: pg 3) when talking about Disney's Pinocchio (1940), validating the idea that squash and stretch allows for a more believable, enjoyable performance within animation. Similarly, Sergei Einstein suggested that our enjoyment of animated imagery could be increased by metamorphosis, as it can "provide a means of connecting to areas of the subconscious" (Furniss, M. 2007: pg 77). Einstein felt that the shape-shifting that occurred within metamorphosis "created 'attractiveness' in a work" (Furniss, M 2007: pg 77). Furthermore, Wells states that metamorphosis enables a "sometimes literal space to become an emotional space or even the realm of fantasy or dream" (Wells, P. 2006: pg 98), affirming Einstein's theory that metamorphosis can be beneficial to the aesthetics of 2D animation, as it helps to create a more pleasurable viewing experience. Through the use of techniques such as squash and stretch and metamorphosis, character performance reaches beyond that of reality, thus creating a performance that generates a sense of personality and life within a character forging a more emotional, relatable relationship between the viewer and the animation.

BibliographyBieman, N. (2010). Animated Performance, AVA Publishing SA, Switzerland.
Deja, A. (2015). The Nine Old Men: Lessons, Techniques and Inspiration from Disney’s Great Animators, Focal Press, USA. Furniss, M. (2007). Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics Revised Edition, John Libbey Publishing, UK. Wells, P. (2006). The Fundamentals of Animation, AVA Publishing SA, Switzerland.