Pixar’s Soul: Jerry & Terry Character Animation Analysis

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These characters are from another dimension… Pixar’s latest film Soul had some very creative character designs and animation. Let’s learn from a scene with Jerry and Terry about character animation, acting for animators, rhythm and the struggle of tucking away edge points.

In this video we have a look at the following character animation topics:

00:00 – Intro
01:45 – Acting for Animators: Changing Objectives
06:34 – Exaggerated and abstract animation
10:00 – Leading the eye
14:05 – Rhythm
19:00 – Line of action
22:07 – Technology: Struggling with bezier curves

Some lessons and tips from the video:

Acting for animators

Characters try to achieve an objective until it’s achieved or replaced

Intention CueGesture that reveals what a character is thinking about doing (next). More: A body part is indicating what a character really wants to or is about to do next.

Characters are in the middle of something before they are shown.

Composition and Timing

Lead the eye by moving one element or character after the other.

Vary the rhythm in which poses are hit to follow the energy of the scene.

Posing in animation

Use a variation of subtle and strong changes in the line of action to tell a progression.