Point-light walker (PLW), produced by eight lights attached to the back of a walker, is perceived as a vivid image of human gait. In each of the PLWs made from eight walkers, correlation with the movements of their heel and shoulder, opposite to each other, is calculated to generate plotgraph. Their plot-graphs reveal the pattern, considered to be characteristic of the actor's performance, shaped variously each in his or her own way. In the animated cartoons, the plot-graphs are also calculated with the PLW of image-characters. They appear to be shaped very simply as in a roughly triangular form. Those findings that the live-action images generate a very intricate form of plot-graphs, whereas the animated images indicate a very simple form of them, are considered as that fine movements of the actor need for the audience to recognize his/her intended action. In the animation, however, the animated character need not be moved finely and completely, because the animator elaborates to produce the incomplete images for the audience to make the incomplete complete mentally yielding the deeper impression of living dynamics in the mind of audience.

The major aim of this study is to clarify the historical reasons behind education concerning animation in primary and secondary art education in Japan. This paper surveys how animation subjects were treated in school textbooks for art in junior high school education focusing on their education purposes. This research surveyed a total of 309 textbooks published from 1951 to 2016 and identified 49 animation subjects, which were divided into four periods of time for comparison. This diachronic research reveals the origin and the changes of the animation subject in the field. The oldest example was found in a textbook published in 1955 from a publisher that focused on constructive education which came from Bauhaus. The results of text analysis show 3 educational purposes for animation subjects: Constructive Education, Media Education and Education for Creativity. From the 1960s to the 1970s the number of examples was increasing and a new educational purpose, Education for Visual Communication, emerged in the 1970s. After that in the 2010s one more educational purpose, Education for Collaborative Communication, was added and currently animation subjects have become diverse and encompass in total 5 multi-faceted purposes.