Walk Cycles

This chapter examines the use of walk cycles in animation practice. Walk cycles—frames of characters’ actions that can be repeated in loops—have been important in animation not only for portraying coordinations of moving parts to convey lifelike movement but also for saving labor. However, if a cycle is noticed by the viewer, the figure’s movement will appear imposed and not self-directed, leaving the figure lifeless. Through a study of Norman McLaren and Grant Munro’s film Canon (1964), this chapter further argues that cycles can be layered to create a living, open system of cyclical parts.