In this very short sequence only eleven drawings – Ginger Nutt does not simply move, he is made to ACT his movement with every drawn line.
It is not a simple head turn from left to right, it is elaborated by expressions of surprise, fear and anger. The quick rise to the final key position effectively accentuates the action.
ACTION PRECEDED BY ANTICIPATION.
It takes four frames of hand and eye movement BEFORE Ginger’s head begins to turn.
The tail unfurls from its relaxed position (1) and rises as Ginger ducks forward in surprise (4-5), following the curve of the letter S.
The tail and left hand movements are quite broad, complimenting one another either side of the body; while the right hand movement (after frame 4) is slight; delicately preserving the balance between the rising head, the falling tail, and the extended left hand.
NOTE THE TIMING: the head ducks but does not turn (1-4), followed by five spaced turn movements (5-9), before shooting the head well forward (10) into the hold position (11).
An abrupt start and finish to the move is avoided by the four anticipatory frame at the beginning and the two ‘thrusting forward’ frames at the end.
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Originally printed in Animator’s newsletter Issue 7 (Winter 1983)