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In motion picture animation, a model sheet is a document used to help standardize the appearance, poses, and gestures of an animated character. Model sheets are required when large numbers of editors are involved in the production of an animated film to help maintain continuity in characters from scene to scene, as one animator may only do one shot out of the several hundred that are required to complete an animated feature film.

Contents 1 Purposes 2 Structural guidance 3 Specific annotations 4 Examples 5 Unintended uses

Model sheets have also been used in the past to maintain graphic continuity over the years for long lasting cartoon productions of short or very short features (around seven minutes or less) such as the ones produced in the Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies series for several decades.

Model sheets are drawings of posed cartoon or comic strip characters that are created to provide a reference template for several artists who collaborate in the production of a lengthy or multiple-edition work of art such as a comic book or a full-length animated movie. Model sheets usually depict the character’s head and costumed body as they appear at various angles (a process known as “model rotation“), includes sketches of the character’s hands and feet, and shows a several basic facial expressions.

Model sheets ensure that, despite the efforts of several or many artists, their work exhibits unity, looking as if one artist alone created the drawings (that is, are “on model”). They show how the character is structured, proportioned, dressed, and acts. Often, several sheets are required to depict a character’s subtler emotional and physical attitudes.

Typically, a character is modeled on one of three basic shapes: ball, triangle, or a combination of the ball and triangle. Hair and fur are usually treated as a layer, such as carpet, that is to be draped over the character’s head or body.

Model sheets also provide notes that present specific information about how to develop particular features of the character, such as his or her head shape, hair length and style, size and position of the eyes and the mouth, and whether to show the character’s ears.

Disney provides many model sheets online [http://animationarchive.net/Model%20Sheets/index.php ]. Some of these are specific to particular completed or ongoing projects, whereas others are more general and inclusive of a studio’s entire collection of characters. Animation studios besides Disney and fans also post model sheets on their Internet Web sites. Larry’s Toon Institute provides a generic model sheet for the purpose of introducing the concept of model sheets [1].

There is also an online model sheet for DC Comics' Superfriends [2] and Archie Comics. In some cases, these sheets may have been posted by fans or others rather than the company or studio that owns the characters.

Although model sheets originally are intended for artists who work for the studios that own the characters for which these templates are developed, other artists, such as those who create shemale art, profit from them by adapting their characters to their own uses. In addition, parents often download and print model sheets as free coloring books for their children. Individuals should remember that the characters depicted on such model sheets are owned by their creator and are protected by copyright.