"Damn the illusion of movement! Damn the illusion of movement to hell!"
Tropes which are exclusive to Animation as a medium, due to the unique freedom inherent in all Graphical Tropes combined with the ability to portray action. Thanks to the rise of CGI, animation can occur within and sometime barely distinguishable from live action, allowing a medium within a medium.
See Also: Japanese Animation Tropes and Animation Genres. Do not confuse with Graphical Tropes, its super-index.
— Don Hertzfeldt's intro for The Animation Show
Tropes:
Categories:
- Absurdly Bright Light
- Absurdly Ineffective Barricade
- Accordion Man
- Acme Products
- Action-Hogging Opening
- Agony of the Feet
- Alertness Blink
- All Animation Is Disney
- Alternate Tooniverse
- Amusing Injuries
- Animal Stereotypes
- Animated Actors
- Animated Music Video
- Animation Bump
- Artistic License – Biology
- Artistic License – Geography
- Artistic License – Physics
- Ash Face
- Banana Peel
- Behind a Stick
- Big Ball of Violence
- Body Wipe
- Born in the Theatre
- Bullet Seed
- The Cameo
- Cartoon Bug-Sprayer
- Cartoon Juggling
- Celebrity Toons
- Clip-Art Animation
- Comedic Spanking
- Comic Book Adaptation (often done, adapted from animated cartoons)
- Comic Book Limbo
- Comic-Book Time
- Conspicuous CG
- Conspicuously Light Patch
- Creator Cameo
- Crush Filter
- Crush Parade
- Deranged Animation
- Detail-Hogging Cover
- Disney School of Acting and Mime
- The Door Slams You
- Double Take
- Dramatic Drop
- Eat the Camera
- Everybody Do the Endless Loop
- Everything Dances
- Explosive Cigar
- Extendable Arms
- Eye Pop
- Face Fault
- Faceless Masses
- Fade Around the Eyes
- False Teeth Tomfoolery
- "Far Side" Island
- Fight Unscene
- Flapping Cheeks
- Floating Clocks
- Funny Animal Anatomy
- Harmless Electrocution
- Harmless Freezing
- Heavy Voice
- Hit Flash
- Idea Bulb
- Inaction Sequence
- Infectious Enthusiasm
- Inkblot Cartoon Style
- Ink-Suit Actor
- Koosh Bomb
- Lantern Jaw of Justice
- Limited Animation
- Live-Action Adaptation
- Lustful Melt
- Mad Scientist
- Medium Blending
- Medium Shift Gag
- Metaphoric Metamorphosis
- Mime and Music-Only Cartoon
- Motionless Chin
- National Stereotypes
- Narrative Shapeshifting
- Non Voyage Party
- No Flow in CGI
- Not Quite Starring
- Ocular Gushers
- Off Like a Shot
- Off Model
- Pastel-Chalked Freeze Frame
- Piano Key Wave
- Picture Drama
- Pigeonholed Voice Actor
- Pintsized Kid
- Polka-Dot Paint
- Roger Rabbit Effect
- Rule of Animation Conservation
- Running Gag
- Running on the Spot
- Scooby Stack
- Screeching Stop
- Shadow of Impending Doom
- Shrunk in the Wash
- Simpleton Voice
- Speed Echoes
- Stewed Alive
- Stuff Blowing Up
- Talking to Himself
- Teenage Mutant Samurai Wombats
- Telephone Teleport
- Temporary Bulk Change
- The Twelve Principles of Animation
- Toon
- Toon Physics
- Toon Town
- Toon Transformation
- Typewriter Eating
- Vacuum Mouth
- Vocal Evolution
- Voices Are Mental
- Voices in One Room
- Wackyland
- Walk Into Camera Obstruction
- Wheel of Decisions
- Wheel o' Feet
Technical terms:
- Adobe Flash
- Animation Lead Time
- Cel Shading
- Line Boil
- Motion Capture
- Mouth Flaps
- Rotoscoping
- Squiggle Vision
- Stick Figure Animation
- Stop Motion
- Synchro-Vox
- Thick-Line Animation
- Three Shorts (animation-specific episode format)
- ToonBoom
- Underlighting
