diff --git a/1.4/Source/Animations/AnimationStage.cs b/1.4/Source/Animations/AnimationStage.cs
index 7a1304e..6f0f709 100644
--- a/1.4/Source/Animations/AnimationStage.cs
+++ b/1.4/Source/Animations/AnimationStage.cs
@@ -15,14 +15,17 @@ namespace Rimworld_Animations {
         public List<BaseAnimationClip> animationClips;
         public List<string> tags = new List<string>();
 
-        public void initialize() {
-            foreach (BaseAnimationClip clip in animationClips) {
-                clip.buildSimpleCurves();
+        public int Initialize(List<bool> isGenitalAngleMandatory) {
+            var brokenClips = 0;
+            for (var i = 0; i < animationClips.Count; ++i) {
+                var clip = animationClips[i];
+                if (clip.BuildSimpleCurves(isGenitalAngleMandatory[i]))
+                    ++brokenClips;
                 //select playTimeTicks as longest playtime of all the animations
-                if(clip.duration > playTimeTicks) {
-                    playTimeTicks = clip.duration;
-                }
+                if (clip.duration > playTimeTicks)
+                   playTimeTicks = clip.duration;
             }
+            return brokenClips;
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/1.4/Source/Animations/Clips/BaseAnimationClip.cs b/1.4/Source/Animations/Clips/BaseAnimationClip.cs
index aa35b31..119fbf3 100644
--- a/1.4/Source/Animations/Clips/BaseAnimationClip.cs
+++ b/1.4/Source/Animations/Clips/BaseAnimationClip.cs
@@ -12,9 +12,18 @@ namespace Rimworld_Animations {
         public Dictionary<int, string> SoundEffects = new Dictionary<int, string>();
         public List<ThingDef> types; //types of participants
         public int duration;
-        public abstract void buildSimpleCurves();
+        /** <returns>failure - if 'true', this clip should not be used</returns> */
+        public abstract bool BuildSimpleCurves(bool isGenitalAngleMandatory = false);
         public string soundDef = null; //for playing sounds
         public int actor;
         public List<string> tags = new List<string>();
+
+        protected bool EmitMandatoryCurveEmptyError(SimpleCurve curve, string name) {
+            if (curve.PointsCount <= 0) {
+                Log.Error($"Mandatory curve '{name}' is empty in an animation clip!");
+                return true;
+            }
+            return false;
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/1.4/Source/Animations/Clips/PawnAnimationClip.cs b/1.4/Source/Animations/Clips/PawnAnimationClip.cs
index e9d2489..e4e2f67 100644
--- a/1.4/Source/Animations/Clips/PawnAnimationClip.cs
+++ b/1.4/Source/Animations/Clips/PawnAnimationClip.cs
@@ -21,9 +21,9 @@ namespace Rimworld_Animations {
         public SimpleCurve BodyOffsetZ = new SimpleCurve();
         public SimpleCurve HeadFacing = new SimpleCurve();
         public SimpleCurve BodyFacing = new SimpleCurve();
-        
 
-        public override void buildSimpleCurves() {
+
+        public override bool BuildSimpleCurves(bool isGenitalAngleMandatory) {
 
 
             int duration = 0;
@@ -109,7 +109,18 @@ namespace Rimworld_Animations {
 
             }
 
+            // check whether all mandatory curves have been filled
+            bool invalid = false;
+            invalid |= this.EmitMandatoryCurveEmptyError(this.BodyOffsetX, "BodyOffsetX");
+            invalid |= this.EmitMandatoryCurveEmptyError(this.BodyOffsetZ, "BodyOffsetZ");
+            invalid |= this.EmitMandatoryCurveEmptyError(this.BodyAngle, "BodyAngle");
+            invalid |= this.EmitMandatoryCurveEmptyError(this.HeadAngle, "HeadAngle");
+            if (isGenitalAngleMandatory)
+                invalid |= this.EmitMandatoryCurveEmptyError(this.GenitalAngle, "GenitalAngle");
+            invalid |= this.EmitMandatoryCurveEmptyError(this.BodyFacing, "BodyFacing");
+            invalid |= this.EmitMandatoryCurveEmptyError(this.HeadFacing, "HeadFacing");
+            invalid |= this.EmitMandatoryCurveEmptyError(this.HeadBob, "HeadBob");
+            return invalid;
         }
-
     }
 }
diff --git a/1.4/Source/Animations/Clips/ThingAnimationClip.cs b/1.4/Source/Animations/Clips/ThingAnimationClip.cs
index 26f4d4c..c3661de 100644
--- a/1.4/Source/Animations/Clips/ThingAnimationClip.cs
+++ b/1.4/Source/Animations/Clips/ThingAnimationClip.cs
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ namespace Rimworld_Animations {
         public SimpleCurve Rotation = new SimpleCurve();
 
 
-        public override void buildSimpleCurves() {
+        public override bool BuildSimpleCurves(bool unused = false) {
             int duration = 0;
             //getting the length of the whole clip
             foreach (ThingKeyframe frame in keyframes)
@@ -69,6 +69,13 @@ namespace Rimworld_Animations {
                 }
 
             }
+
+            // check whether all mandatory curves have been filled
+            bool invalid = false;
+            invalid |= this.EmitMandatoryCurveEmptyError(this.PositionX, "PositionX");
+            invalid |= this.EmitMandatoryCurveEmptyError(this.PositionZ, "PositionZ");
+            invalid |= this.EmitMandatoryCurveEmptyError(this.Rotation, "Rotation");
+            return invalid;
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/1.4/Source/Defs/AnimationDef.cs b/1.4/Source/Defs/AnimationDef.cs
index 395ff83..2b13680 100644
--- a/1.4/Source/Defs/AnimationDef.cs
+++ b/1.4/Source/Defs/AnimationDef.cs
@@ -19,8 +19,12 @@ namespace Rimworld_Animations {
 
         public override void PostLoad() {
             base.PostLoad();
+            // FIXME: I could not figure out how to map between controlGenitalAngle and PawnAnimationClip. This is brittle AF! -Zsar 2023-04-16
+            var controlGenitalAngle = this.actors.ConvertAll(actor => actor.controlGenitalAngle);
             foreach(AnimationStage stage in animationStages) {
-                stage.initialize();
+                var brokenClips = stage.Initialize(controlGenitalAngle);
+                if (brokenClips > 0)
+                    throw new Exception($"AnimationDef '{this.defName}', stage '{stage.stageName}' contained {brokenClips} broken Clips. The animation has been dropped.");
                 animationTimeTicks += stage.playTimeTicks;
             }
         }