Formatting dates for {closest_state} output in r (bar chart race)

Question

In this bar chart race, with a Y-m-d date format ("2010-11-30… etc"), the gif (below) runs through the dates fine...

...but when I convert those same dates to a %Y %b format ("2010 Nov… etc"), months are missing throughout the animation, as shown in this second gif, below

Furthermore, I’d ideally like the date to be displayed as %b %Y format (Nov 2010… etc). I've spent weeks trying to sort this out but to no avail. Any help would be appreciated.

Here's the code

df <- read.csv(file="Data/Carmakers market caps monthly.csv")

# Renames headings
df<-rename(df, c(General.Motors = "General Motors", Toyota.Motor = "Toyota Motor"))


meltdf <- melt(df,id="Date")
names(meltdf) <- c("Date", "Company", "Value")


meltdf$Date <- as.Date(meltdf$Date, "%d/%m/%Y")


meltdf$Value <- as.numeric(as.character(meltdf$Value))

meltdf = meltdf %>% 
  group_by(Date)%>%      
  mutate(rank = rank(-Value),
         Value_rel = Value/Value[rank==1],
         Value_lbl = paste0(" ",Value/1000000000)) %>%
  group_by(Company)


meltdf$Value_lbl <- as.numeric(as.character(meltdf$Value_lbl))

meltdf$Value <- as.numeric(as.character(meltdf$Value/1000000000))

meltdf$Value_lbl <- sprintf(meltdf$Value_lbl, fmt = '%#.1f')

strftime(meltdf$Date, format = "%Y %b") -> 
  meltdf$Date


#plotting graph
anim <-ggplot(meltdf,aes(rank,
                            group=Company,
                            fill=as.factor(Company),
                            color=as.factor(Company))) +
  geom_tile(aes(y = Value/2,
                height = Value,
                width = 0.9), alpha = 0.8, color = NA) +
  geom_text(aes(y = 0, label = paste(Company, " ")), vjust = 0.2, hjust = 1)+
  geom_text(aes(y=Value,label = Value_lbl, hjust=0)) +
  coord_flip(clip = "off", expand = TRUE) +
  scale_y_continuous(labels = scales::comma) +
  scale_x_reverse() +
  guides(color = FALSE, fill = FALSE) +
  theme_minimal() +
  theme(
    plot.title=element_text(size=23, hjust=0.5, face="bold", colour="grey", vjust=-1),
    plot.subtitle=element_text(size=18, hjust=0.5, face="italic", color="grey", 
margin = margin(t = 15, r = 0, b = 0, l = 0)),
    plot.caption =element_text(size=8, hjust=0.5, face="italic", color="grey"),
    axis.ticks.y = element_blank(), 
    axis.text.y = element_blank(), 
    plot.margin = margin(1,1,1,2, "cm")) +
  transition_states(states = Date, transition_length = 12, state_length = 1, wrap = FALSE) + 
  ease_aes('cubic-in-out') +
  #view_follow(fixed_x = TRUE) +
  labs(title = 'Largest car companies in the world {closest_state}', 
       subtitle = "Market capitalization",
       caption = "Data source: Refinitiv",
       x="", y="$ billion")

#Create gif
animate(anim, nframes = 400,fps = 8.1,  width = 550, height = 350,
        renderer = gifski_renderer("car_companies_2.gif"), end_pause = 15, start_pause =  25)

And here's a sample of the data that created this chart.

        Date      Tesla Toyota Motor General Motors     Daimler
1 30/11/2010 3295253866 132694537161    51300000000 52944591823
2 31/12/2010 2483798768 136160803584    55290000000 53967411400
3  31/1/2011 2247823894 142843809831    54735000000 56926590672
4  28/2/2011 2277562013 161097730179    52331714768 54401346072
5  31/3/2011 2645556545 138915112426    48429857121 53122249064
6  30/4/2011 2639462630 136650698149    50084659687 55615851126

118  31/8/2020 464338876502 215889700906    42403389651 45497228943
119  30/9/2020 399755220356 214500698099    42346145790 49249966873
120 31/10/2020 367823400433 212138493292    49423051428 47500782647
121 30/11/2020 538028456051 219024834051    62748525184 60564258296
122 31/12/2020 668905110256 250711385128    59599648464 61825906062
123  31/1/2021 668905110256 250711385128    59599648464 61825906062

Answer 1

I have performed all the manipulation in the same pipe using tidyverse functions. You can try :

library(tidyverse)
library(gganimate)
library(lubridate)

df %>%
  pivot_longer(cols = -Date, names_to = 'Company', values_to = 'Value') %>%
  mutate(Date = dmy(Date)) %>%
  group_by(Date)%>%      
  mutate(rank = rank(-Value),
         Value_rel = Value/Value[rank==1],
         Value_lbl = paste0(" ",round(Value/1000000000, 2)), 
         date_format = format(Date, '%b-%Y')) %>%
  arrange(Date) %>%
  mutate(date_format = factor(date_format, unique(date_format))) %>%
  group_by(Company) %>%
  ggplot(aes(rank,
                    group=Company,
                    fill=as.factor(Company),
                    color=as.factor(Company))) +
  geom_tile(aes(y = Value/2,
                height = Value,
                width = 0.9), alpha = 0.8, color = NA) +
  geom_text(aes(y = 0, label = paste(Company, " ")), vjust = 0.2, hjust = 1)+
  geom_text(aes(y=Value,label = Value_lbl, hjust=0)) +
  coord_flip(clip = "off", expand = TRUE) +
  scale_y_continuous(labels = scales::comma) +
  scale_x_reverse() +
  guides(color = FALSE, fill = FALSE) +
  theme_minimal() +
  theme(
    plot.title=element_text(size=23, hjust=0.5, face="bold", colour="grey", vjust=-1),
    plot.subtitle=element_text(size=18, hjust=0.5, face="italic", color="grey", 
                               margin = margin(t = 15, r = 0, b = 0, l = 0)),
    plot.caption =element_text(size=8, hjust=0.5, face="italic", color="grey"),
    axis.ticks.y = element_blank(), 
    axis.text.y = element_blank(), 
    plot.margin = margin(1,1,1,2, "cm")) +
  transition_states(states = date_format, transition_length = 12, state_length = 1, wrap = FALSE) + 
  ease_aes('cubic-in-out') +
  #view_follow(fixed_x = TRUE) +
  labs(title = 'Largest car companies in the world {closest_state}', 
       subtitle = "Market capitalization",
       caption = "Data source: Refinitiv",
       x="", y="$ billion") -> anim


animate(anim, nframes = 400,fps = 8.1,  width = 550, height = 350,
        renderer = gifski_renderer("car_companies_2.gif"), end_pause = 15, start_pause =  25)

From the limited data that I could copy from what you have shared the animation looks like this. The important part is that the dates are in order.

data

df <- structure(list(Date = c("30/11/2010", "31/12/2010", "31/1/2011", 
"28/2/2011", "31/3/2011", "30/4/2011", "31/8/2020", "30/9/2020", 
"31/10/2020", "30/11/2020", "31/12/2020", "31/1/2021"), Tesla = c(3295253866, 
2483798768, 2247823894, 2277562013, 2645556545, 2639462630, 464338876502, 
399755220356, 367823400433, 538028456051, 668905110256, 668905110256
), Toyota_Motor = c(132694537161, 136160803584, 142843809831, 
161097730179, 138915112426, 136650698149, 215889700906, 214500698099, 
212138493292, 219024834051, 250711385128, 250711385128), General_Motors = c(5.13e+10, 
5.529e+10, 5.4735e+10, 52331714768, 48429857121, 50084659687, 
42403389651, 42346145790, 49423051428, 62748525184, 59599648464, 
59599648464), Daimler = c(52944591823, 53967411400, 56926590672, 
54401346072, 53122249064, 55615851126, 45497228943, 49249966873, 
47500782647, 60564258296, 61825906062, 61825906062)), 
class = "data.frame", row.names = c(NA, -12L))