Squash and Stretch

This principle is usually exaggerated the most within cartoons and is usually used for added comedic affects. That does not mean to say that it is not essential for more dramatic animation, as it is still relevant in most cases and can enhance any animation. It gives a feeling of weight to the object that is being animated and therefore a misapprehension of mass. It is where the physical form of any character or object is altered to look more malleable than it actually is to enhance the illusion of movement when animated. For example fast moving objects may seem slightly elongated when travelling past and falling objects when landing may also seem slightly squashed. It works on the apprehension that a squash provides an anticipation of thrust and stretch shows the power of that thrust, as it appears to accelerate. Some animators took this one step further by making characters appear to twist and double-over and drawing stripes on objects so that you can see them spin as they fly through the air from pure momentum.
‘Eisenstein effectively equates the apparent freedom of the animated form with personal and ideological freedom,’ (P. Wells, 2006 p.22) such freedom of expression deemed as an attractive thought towards audiences, as the ability to show your own utopia on page was extremely desirable. Without squash and stretch a drawing when animated would appear very rigid and lifeless, even in real life this only happens to the most inflexible objects, such as wooden furniture. Even humans squash and stretch when it comes to our muscles expanding and contracting, such as when we breathe. This is more than relevant when it comes to facial expressions as we have the largest amount of muscles, out of all our limbs, in our faces.
Even if the animation is supposed to be extremely exaggerated it can never seem as if the subject is gaining or loosing mass, you just have to draw the object scarily thin in the direction of the force applied. However if you want realistic animation you cannot take this into such extremes especially if the object is supposed to resemble a very dense mass, and be sure to emulate any material animation. ‘The best advice for keeping the distended drawings from looking bloated or withered, was to consider that the shape or volume was like a half- filled flour sack,’ (F. Thomas and O. Johnston, 1981 p.49). Squash and stretch is an extremely useful tool to create character and personality, as nearly no organic forms are rigid. It can work well when applied to an object that you want to add character to such as say a car or a book.