A method for generating a facial animation from a single image is provided. The method is mainly divided into four steps: generation of facial feature points in an image, global two-dimensional deformation of the image, optimization of details of a facial area, and generation of texture of an oral cavity area. The present disclosure can generate a facial animation in real time according to a change of the facial feature points, and the animation quality reaches a level of current state-of-art facial image animation technology. The present disclosure can be used in a series of applications, such as facial image editing, portrait animation generation based on a single image, and facial expression editing in videos.