Anticipation is a mechanical build up for force. It’s important to understand now that all movement is created by forces, either external or internal.
Theory
Anticipation
is the most natural way to build up internal force in order to execute dynamic motion. Bill Tytla, legendary animator, says Any animation consists of anticipation, action, and reaction. An object in motion will remain in motion unless acted on by an unbalanced force. This Law applies to everything in the universe, including us. It’s precisely because of this law that anticipating left before walking right results in a conservation of energy.
Practice
This is the bk phase of the squirrel bounce animation I made this week. I was inspired by these references.
I was particularly impressed with the final tail reference animation which helped me solve the tail animation problem very well.