The 9 Old Men of Animation

Beginnings of animation as we know it today were the collaborative genius of what are known as "The Nine Old Men." These members were the core animators for Disney.  Walt Disney called this group of animators the nine old men after President Roosevelt's name for the nine supreme court justices at the time.  All of the "Nine Old Men" are now deceased but there techniques to animation are still supreme even into this digital era. As of 2008 the last of the nine old men passed away. Although they are all deceased, the techniques created by them are used to this day to create believable motion.

The nine old men are:

• Eric Larson - Known for animal characters such as Peg from "Lady and the Tramp" 
• Frank Thomas - Created characters such as Captain Hook.
• John Lounsbery - Refined the style for loose organic material such as the belly dancing alligator
• Les Clark - Mickey's Original Artist
• Marc Davis - Artist for Bambi, Thumper, and Cruella De Vil
• Milt Kahl - Made many characters for "The Jungle Book" and "The Rescuers"
• Ollie Johnston - Developed the character Mr. Smee, along with Cinderella's step sisters
• Ward Kimball - Known for the Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat from "Alice in Wonderland"
• Wolfgang Reitherman - took over the director spot after Walt Disney's death.

These nine old men created the twelve basic principles of animation:

• Squash and Stretch 
• Anticipation
• Staging
• Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose
• Follow Through and Overlapping Action
• Slow in and Slow out
• Arcs
• Secondary Action
• Timing
• Exaggeration
• Solid Drawing
• Appeal

References:
Disney Resource Unknown Author, Published April 2008.
Image credit "My So-called Animated Life" in March 2012