12 Principles of Animation: Anticipation

The 12 Principles of Animation is a set of concepts regarding the movement of animation introduced by the Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas. The principles had been established for the sake of animation development, and to this day are vastly adapted by animators throughout the world.

One of the principles is anticipation. Anticipation communicates what is about to happen as through visual assisting movements the expectation of a certain action that is about to occur is foreshadowed. In other words, anticipation informs the audience what is going to happen, and it is almost always fluctuating in the opposite direction of the main action. This technique is frequently used in the Warner Bros. cartoon " Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner" where the destructive fate of Wile E. Coyote's dysfunctional plans to capture The Road Runner are foretold.

Compilation of "Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner" best scenes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd_41tM6H2Y

For an example, during the 4:26 mark of the compilation, Wile E. Coyote enters a pipe along with a stack of dynamite with the detonator elongating through the ground, and with the technique of anticipation we are able to comprehend what is about to happen next as the trajectory of the detonator's movement is aligned with a stone that is sure to set it off.