There are 68 drawings in this animation. When I give this assignment to my students, they always complain about the huge number of drawings they have to do. Up to this point they have only had to do about 20 for each assignment. I tell them to get used to it, they''ll have to do a lot more than that in most of their animation at a later point.

The additional drawings really add to the timing of the balloon as it floats to the ground. The bouncing action also creates the illusion that this really is a balloon and not a rubber ball.

I don't know if you noticed the first time you watched this, but did you see the subtle rotation that I put on the balloon at the end of the roll?

I added this in to give it a more realistic look. The knot would be the heaviest part of the balloon, so when it is on the surface after it has stopped bouncing, I stopped the knot but continued the rolling action of the balloon. This creates a much more three dimensional feel to it as well as a more accurate representation of what would happen. This comes through observation of the things around you. If you're an animator, that's what you have to do: replicate movement through your drawings.

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