Not sure if this is interesting for you guys.
Around 6 years ago (gasp) I did a bunch of lectures on animation theory. One subject was how textures of movement have evolved over the years, alongside the more obvious progression of design.
I made these videos to illustrate more clearly how contrast in timing was something that has a clear progression from the 30s to the 90s. The timechart below each clip represents relative change in space between drawings – from the ultra linear early animation – to the soft bouncing of Classic era Disney – to the exaggerated Warner Bros style – brought to it’s peak by John K (in my opinion).
Sorry about the quality on these gifs. I’ll post more stuff like this if theres any interest.