History of animation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Animation is the process of making the illusion of motion and the illusion of change[Note 1] by means of
the rapid display of a sequence of images that minimally differ from each other.
Humans have probably attempted to depict motion as far back as the paleolithic period. While there
were several predecessors, the 17th century invention of the magic lanternprovided the first
apparatus with which convincing moving images have been created. However, the movement of
these images were the result of moving parts rather than a rapid succession of sequential images.
The introduction of the phenakistiscope in 1833 marks the start of true animation, although it could
only show loops of a limited number of "frames".

Contents
[hide]

1Early approaches to motion in art

2The Magic Lantern
3Animation before film
o 3.1Prelude
o 3.2Thaumatrope (1825)
o 3.3Phnakisticope (1833)
o 3.4Zoetrope (1866)
o 3.5Flip book (1868)
o 3.6Praxinoscope (1877)
4Earliest animations on film
o 4.1Thtre Optique
o 4.2Arthur Melbourne-Cooper
o 4.3J. Stuart Blackton
5Traditional animation
o 5.1The silent era
o 5.2Walt Disney & Warner Bros.
o 5.3Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
o 5.4The television era
6Animation Techniques
o 6.1Stop motion
o 6.2CGI animation
7Firsts in animation
8Asia
o 8.1History of Chinese animation
o 8.2History of Indian animation
o 8.3History of Iranian animation
o 8.4History of Japanese animation (anime)
o 8.5History of Malaysian Animation
9Europe
o 9.1History of British animation
o 9.2History of Czech animation
o 9.3History of Estonian animation
o 9.4History of French animation
o 9.5History of Hungarian animation
 o 9.6History of Italian animation
o 9.7History of Russian animation
o 9.8History of animation in Croatia (in former Yugoslavia)
10Oceania
o 10.1History of Australian animation
o 10.2History of New Zealand animation
11Americas
o 11.1History of Argentinian animation
o 11.2History of Brazilian animation
o 11.3History of Canadian animation
o 11.4History of Cuban animation
o 11.5History of Mexican animation
o 11.6History of United States animation
12Media
13Notes
14References
o 14.1Works cited
14.1.1Bibliography
14.1.2Online
15External links

Early approaches to motion in art[edit]

There are several examples of early sequential images that may seem similar to series of animation
drawings. Most of these examples would only allow an extremely low frame ratewhen they are
animated, resulting in short and crude animations that are not very lifelike. However, it's very unlikely
that these images were intended to be somehow viewed as an animation. It is possible to imagine
technology that could have been used in the periods of their creation, but no conclusive evidence in
artifacts or descriptions have been found. It is sometimes argued that these early sequential images
are too easily interpreted as "pre-cinema" by minds accustomed to film, comic books and other
modern sequential images, while it is uncertain that the creators of these images envisioned
anything like it.[1] The notion of instances smaller than a second that are necessary to break down an
action into sufficient phases for fluent animation would not really develop before the 19th century.[2][3]
Early examples of attempts to capture the phenomenon of motion into a still drawing can be found
in paleolithic cave paintings, where animals are often depicted with multiple legs in superimposed
positions.[4] It has been claimed that these superimposed figures were intended for a form of
animation with the flickering light of the flames of a fire or a passing torch illuminating different parts
of the painted rock wall, revealing different parts of the motion.[5][6]
Archaeological finds of small paleolithic discs with a hole in the middle and drawings on both sides
have been claimed to be prehistoric thaumatropes that show motion when spun on a string.[5]

Sequence of images that minimally differ from each other - from the site of the Burnt City in Iran, late half of 3rd
millennium B.C.

A 5,200-year old pottery bowl discovered in Shahr-e Sukhteh, Iran has five sequential images
painted around it that seem to show phases of a goat leaping up to nip at a tree.[7][8]
An Egyptian burial chamber mural, approximately 4000 years old, showing wrestlers in action.

An Egyptian mural approximately 4000 years old, found in the tomb of Khnumhotep at the Beni
Hassan cemetery, features a very long series of images that apparently depict the sequence of
events in a wrestling match.[9]
The medieval codex Sigenot (circa 1470) has sequential illuminations with relatively short intervals
between different phases of action. Each page has a picture inside a frame on top of each page,
with great consistency in size and position throughout the book (with a consistent difference in size
for the recto and verso sides of each page).[10]
Seven drawings by Leonardo da Vinci (c. 1510) extending over two folios in the Windsor
Collection, Anatomical Studies of the Muscles of the Neck, Shoulder, Chest, and Arm, have detailed
renderings of the upper body and less-detailed facial features. The sequence shows multiple angles
of the figure as it rotates and the arm extends. Because the drawings show only small changes from
one image to the next, together they imply the movement of a single figure.
Ancient Chinese records contain several mentions of devices, including one made by the
inventor Ding Huan, that were said to "give an impression of movement" to a series of human or
animal figures on them,[11] but these accounts are unclear and may only refer to the actual movement
of the figures through space.[12]
Since before 1000 CE the Chinese had a rotating lantern which had silhouettes projected on its thin
paper sides that appeared to chase each other. This was called the "trotting horse lamp" [] as
it would typically depict horses and horse-riders. The cut-out silhouettes were attached inside the
lantern to a shaft with a paper vane impeller on top, rotated by heated air rising from a lamp. Some
versions added extra motion with jointed heads, feet or hands of figures triggered by a transversely
connected iron wire.[13]
These and other occurrences of moving images, like for instance shadow play with jointed puppets
or moving parts in book illustrations (like volvelles), are not considered true animation. Technically
they lack the rapid display of sequential images and the results are usually not very lifelike.

The Magic Lantern[edit]

Main article: Magic lantern
Christiaan Huygens' 1659 sketches for a projection of Death taking off his head

Slide with a fantoccini trapeze artist and a chromatrope border design (circa 1880)

Moving images were possibly projected with the magic lantern since its invention by Christiaan
Huygens in 1659. His sketches for magic lantern slides have been dated to that year and are the
oldest known document concerning the magic lantern.[14] One encircled sketch depicts Death raising
his arm from his toes to his head, another shows him moving his right arm up and down from his
elbow and yet another taking his skull off his neck and placing it back. Dotted lines indicate the
intended movements.
Techniques to add motion to painted glass slides for the magic lantern were described since circa
1700. These usually involved parts (for instance limbs) painted on one or more extra pieces of glass
moved by hand or small mechanisms across a stationary slide which showed the rest of the
picture.[15] Popular subjects for mechanical slides included the sails of a windmill turning, a
procession of figures, a drinking man lowering and raising his glass to his mouth, a head with
moving eyes, a nose growing very long, rats jumping in the mouth of a sleeping man. A more
complex 19th century rackwork slide showed the then known eight planets and their satellites
orbiting around the sun.[16] Two layers of painted waves on glass could create a convincing illusion of
a calm sea turning into a very stormy sea tossing some boats about by increasing the speed of the
manipulation of the different parts.
In 1770 Edm-Gilles Guyot detailed how to project a magic lantern image on smoke to create a
transparent, shimmering image of a hovering ghost. This technique was used in
the phantasmagoria shows that became very popular in several parts of Europe between 1790 and
the 1830s. Other techniques were developed to produce convincing ghost experiences. The lantern
was handheld to move the projection across the screen (which was usually an almost invisible
transparent screen behind which the lanternist operated hidden in the dark). A ghost could seem to
approach the audience or grow larger by moving the lantern towards the screen, sometimes with the
lantern on a trolley on rails. Multiple lanterns made ghosts move independently and were
occasionally used for superimposition in the composition of complicated scenes.[17]
Dissolving views became a popular magic lantern show, especially in England in the 1830s and
1840s.[17] These typically had a landscape changing from a winter version to a spring or summer
variation by slowly diminishing the light from one version while introducing the aligned projection of
the other slide.[18] Another use showed the gradual change of for instance groves into cathedrals.[19]
Between the 1840s and 1870s several abstract magic lantern effects were developed. This included
the chromatrope which projected dazzling colorful geometrical patterns by rotating two painted glass
discs in opposite directions.[20]
Occasionally small shadow puppets had been used in phantasmagoria shows.[17] Magic lantern
slides with jointed figures set in motion by levers, thin rods, or cams and worm wheels were also
produced commercially and patented in 1891. A popular version of these "Fantoccini slides" had a
somersaulting monkey with arms attached to mechanism that made it tumble with dangling feet.
Fantoccini slides are named after the Italian word for puppets like marionettes or jumping jacks.[21]

Animation before film[edit]

Numerous devices that successfully displayed animated images were introduced well before the
advent of the motion picture. These devices were used to entertain, amaze, and sometimes even
frighten people. The majority of these devices didn't project their images, and could only be viewed
by a one or a few persons at a time. They were considered optical toys rather than devices for a
large scale entertainment industry like later animation.[citation needed] Many of these devices are still built
by and for film students learning the basic principles of animation.
Prelude[edit]
An article in the Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature, and The Arts (1821)[22] raised some interest
in optical illusions of curved spokes in rotating wheels seen through vertical apertures. In 1824 Peter
Mark Roget provided mathematical details about the appearing curvatures and added the
observation that the spokes appeared motionless. Roget claimed that the illusion is due to the fact
that an impression made by a pencil of rays on the retina, if sufficiently vivid, will remain for a
certain time after the cause has ceased. [23] This was later seen as the basis for the theory of
"persistence of vision" as the principle of how we see film as motion rather than the successive
stream of still images actually presented to the eye. This theory has been discarded as the (sole)
principle of the effect since 1912, but remains in many film history explanations. However, Roget's
experiments and explanation did inspire some further research by Michael Faraday and also by
Joseph Plateau that would eventually bring about the invention of animation.
Main article: Persistence of vision
Thaumatrope (1825)[edit]
Main article: Thaumatrope
In April 1825 the first Thaumatrope was published by W. Phillips (in anonymous association
with John Ayrton Paris) and became a very popular toy.[24] The pictures on either side of a small
cardboard disc seem to blend into one combined image when it is twirled quickly by the attached
strings. This is often used as an illustration of what has often been called "persistence of vision"
(scientifically better known as positive afterimages). Although a thaumatrope can also be used for
two-phase animation, no examples are known to have been produced with this effect until long after
the phnakisticope had established the principle of animation.
Phnakisticope (1833)[edit]
Main article: phenakistiscope
A phenakistoscope disc by Eadweard Muybridge (1893).

The phenakistiscope or fantascope was the first animation device using rapid successive
substitution of sequential pictures. The pictures are evenly spaced radially around the disk, with
small rectangular apertures at the rim of the disc. The device would be placed in front of a mirrorand
spun. It was invented in November or December 1832 by the Belgian Joseph Plateau and almost
simultaneously by the Austrian Simon von Stampfer. Plateau first published about his invention in
January 1833. The publication included a plate with a phnakisticope with 16 frames depicting a
pirouetting dancer.
The phnakisticope was very successful as a novelty toy and within a year very many sets of
stroboscopic discs were published across Europe, with almost as many different names for the
device - including Fantascope (Plateau), The Stroboscope (Stampfer) and Phnakisticope(publisher
Giroux & Cie).
Zoetrope (1866)[edit]
Main article: Zoetrope
In July 1833 Simon Stampfer described the possibility of using the stroboscope principle in a cylinder
(as well as on looped strips) in a pamphlet accompanying the second edition of his version of the
phnakisticope.[25] British mathematician William George Horner suggested a cylindrical variation of
Plateau's phnakisticope in January 1834. Horner planned to publish this Ddaleum with optician
King, Jr in Bristol but it "met with some impediment probably in the sketching of the figures".[26]
In 1865 William Ensign Lincoln invented the definitive zoetrope with easily replaceable strips of
images. It also had an illustrated paper disc on the base, which was not always exploited on the
commercially produced versions.[27] Lincoln licensed his invention to Milton Bradley and Co. who first
advertised it on December 15, 1866.[28]
Flip book (1868)[edit]
Main article: Flip book
An 1886 illustration of the kineograph.

John Barnes Linnett patented the first flip book in 1868 as the kineograph.[29] A flip book is a small
book with relatively springy pages, each having one in a series of animation images located near its
unbound edge. The user bends all of the pages back, normally with the thumb, then by a gradual
motion of the hand allows them to spring free one at a time. As with the phenakistoscope, zoetrope
and praxinoscope, the illusion of motion is created by the apparent sudden replacement of each
image by the next in the series, but unlike those other inventions no view-interrupting shutter or
assembly of mirrors is required and no viewing device other than the user's hand is absolutely
necessary. Early film animators cited flip books as their inspiration more often than the earlier
devices, which did not reach as wide an audience.[30]
The older devices by their nature severely limit the number of images that can be included in a
sequence without making the device very large or the images impractically small. The book format
still imposes a physical limit, but many dozens of images of ample size can easily be
accommodated. Inventors stretched even that limit with the mutoscope, patented in 1894 and
sometimes still found in amusement arcades. It consists of a large circularly-bound flip book in a
housing, with a viewing lens and a crank handle that drives a mechanism that slowly rotates the
assembly of images past a catch, sized to match the running time of an entire reel of film.
Praxinoscope (1877)[edit]
Main article: Praxinoscope
French inventor Charles-mile Reynaud developed the Praxinoscope in 1876 and patented it in
1877.[31] It is similar to the zoetrope but instead of the slits in the cylinder it has twelve rectangular
mirrors placed evenly around the center of the cylinder. Each mirror reflects another image of the
picture strip placed opposite on the inner wall of the cylinder. When rotating the praxinoscope shows
the sequential images one by one, resulting in a fluent animation. The praxinoscope allowed a much
clearer view of the moving image compared to the zoetrope, since the zoetrope's images were
actually mostly obscured by the spaces in between its slits. In 1879 Reynaude registered a
modification to the praxinoscope patent to include the Praxinoscope Thtre, which utilized
the Pepper's ghost effect to present the animated figures in an exchangeable background. Later
improvements included the "Praxinoscope projection" (marketed since 1882) which used a double
magic lantern to project the animated figures over a till projection of a background.[32]
Earliest animations on film[edit]
Thtre Optique[edit]
Main article: Thtre Optique
Charles-mile Reynaud further developed his projection praxinoscope into the Thtre Optique with
transparent pictures in a long strip wound between two spools, patented in December 1888.[33] On
October 28, 1892 he gave his first public performance of a moving picture show at the Muse Grvin
in Paris. The show, billed as Pantomimes Lumineuses, included three cartoons: Pauvre Pierrot, Un
bon bock, and Le Clown et ses chiens. Reynaud acted as the projectionist and the show was
accompanied by a piano player. Although the films shown by the Lumire Brothers in 1895 eclipsed
it, the show stayed at the Muse Grvin until 1900 and over 500,000 people had seen it.
Arthur Melbourne-Cooper[edit]
Matches an Appeal (1899) by Arthur Melbourne-Cooper is a stop-motion commercial "promoting an
appeal by the Bryant and May match company for donations to allow the supply of matches to British
soldiers serving overseas. The year of production is disputed, with some records (including 'They
Thought it was a Marvel', de Vries & Mul) suggesting the film was created in 1899 to support troops
fighting in the Boer War, whilst others point to a production date as late as the First World War."[34]
J. Stuart Blackton[edit]
The Enchanted Drawing (1900) by J. Stuart Blackton is sometimes stated to be the first film
recorded on standard picture film that included "animated sequences". It shows Blackton doing some
"lightning sketches" of a face, cigars, a bottle of wine and a glass. The face changes expression
when Blackton pours some wine into his mouth and takes his cigar. The technique used in this film
was basically the stop-action effect popularized by Georges Mlis: the camera was stopped and
some change was made to the scene, in this case the drawing was replaced by a similar drawing
with a different facial expression (or a drawn bottle and glass were replaced by real objects).
Blackton had probably used the same technique in a lost 1896 film.[35] The effect can hardly be
considered animation, but Blackton's 1906 film Humorous Phases of Funny Faces is regarded as the
oldest known animation on standard film. It features a sequence made with blackboard drawings that
are changed between frames to show two faces changing expressions and some billowing cigar
smoke, as well as two sequences that feature stop-motion cut-out animation.

Traditional animation[edit]

The first animated film created by using what came to be known as traditional (hand-drawn) animationthe
1908 Fantasmagorie by mile Cohl
The French artist mile Cohl created the first animated film using what came to be known
as traditional animation creation methods: the 1908 Fantasmagorie.[36] The film largely consisted of
a stick figure moving about and encountering all manner of morphing objects, such as a wine bottle
that transforms into a flower. There were also sections of live action where the animators hands
would enter the scene. The film was created by drawing each frame on paper and then shooting
each frame onto negative film, which gave the picture a blackboard look.
The more detailed hand-drawn animations, requiring a team of animators drawing each frame
manually with detailed backgrounds and characters, were those directed by Winsor McCay, a
successful newspaper cartoonist, including the 1911 Little Nemo, the 1914 Gertie the Dinosaur, and
the 1918 The Sinking of the Lusitania.[37][38]
During the 1910s, the production of animated short films, typically referred to as "cartoons", became
an industry of its own and cartoon shorts were produced for showing in movie theaters. The most
successful producer at the time was John Randolph Bray, who, along with animator Earl Hurd,
patented the cel animation process that dominated the animation industry for the rest of the
decade.[39]
The silent era[edit]
Charles-mile Reynaud's Thtre Optique is the earliest known example of projected animation. It
predates even photographic motion picture devices such as Thomas Edison's 1893 invention,
the Kinetoscope, and the Lumire brothers' 1894 invention, the cinematograph. Reynaud exhibited
three of his animations on October 28, 1892 at Muse Grvin in Paris, France. The only surviving
example of these three is Pauvre Pierrot, which was 500 frames long.[40]

mile Cohl's Fantasmagorie

After the cinematograph popularized the motion picture, producers began to explore the endless
possibilities of animation in greater depth.[41] A short stop-motion animation was produced in 1897
by Albert E. Smith and J. Stuart Blackton called The Humpty Dumpty Circus.[42] Stop motion is a
technique in which real objects are moved around in the time between their images being recorded,
so that when the images are viewed at a normal frame rate the objects appear to move by some
invisible force. It directly descends from various early trick film techniques that created the illusion of
impossible actions.
A few other films that featured stop motion technique were released afterward, but the first to receive
wide scale appreciation was Blackton's The Haunted Hotel, which baffled viewers and inspired much
further development.[43] In 1906, Blackton also made the first drawn work of animation on standard
film, Humorous Phases of Funny Faces. It features faces that are drawn on a chalkboard and then
suddenly move autonomously.[44]
Fantasmagorie, by the French director mile Cohl (also called mile Courtet), is also
noteworthy.[45] It was screened for the first time on August 17, 1908 at Thtre du Gymnase in Paris.
Cohl later went to Fort Lee, New Jersey near New York City in 1912, where he worked for French
studio clair and spread its animation technique to the US.
Katsud Shashin

Katsud Shashin, from an unknown creator, was discovered in 2005 and is speculated to be the
oldest work of animation in Japan, with Natsuki Matsumoto,[Note 2][46] an expert in iconography at
the Osaka University of Arts[47] and animation historian Nobuyuki Tsugata[Note 3]determining the film
was most likely made between 1907 and 1911.[48] The film consists of a series of cartoon images on
fifty frames of a celluloid strip and lasts three seconds at sixteen frames per second.[49] It depicts a
young boy in a sailor suit who writes the kanji characters "" (katsud shashin, or "moving
picture"), then turns towards the viewer, removes his hat, and offers a salute.[49] Evidence suggests it
was mass-produced to be sold to wealthy owners of home projectors.[50] To Matsumoto, the relatively
poor quality and low-tech printing technique indicate it was likely from a smaller film company.[51]
Influenced by mile Cohl, the author of the first puppet-animated film (i.e., The Beautiful Lukanida
(1912)), Russian-born (ethnically Polish) director Wladyslaw Starewicz, known as Ladislas
Starevich, started to create stop motion films using dead insects with wire limbs and later, in France,
with complex and really expressive puppets. In 1911, he created The Cameraman's Revenge, a
complex tale of treason and violence between several different insects. It is a pioneer work of puppet
animation, and the oldest animated film of such dramatic complexity, with characters filled with
motivation, desire and feelings.

Gertie the Dinosaur (1914)

In 1914, American cartoonist Winsor McCay released Gertie the Dinosaur, an early example of
character development in drawn animation.[52] The film was made for McCay's vaudeville act and as
it played McCay would speak to Gertie who would respond with a series of gestures. There was a
scene at the end of the film where McCay walked behind the projection screen and a view of him
appears on the screen showing him getting on the cartoon dinosaur's back and riding out of frame.
This scene made Gertie the Dinosaur the first film to combine live action footage with hand drawn
animation. McCay hand-drew almost every one of the 10,000 drawings he used for the film.[53]
Also in 1914, John Bray opened John Bray Studios, which revolutionized the way animation was
created.[54] Earl Hurd, one of Bray's employees patented the cel technique.[55] This involved animating
moving objects on transparent celluloid sheets.[56] Animators photographed the sheets over a
stationary background image to generate the sequence of images. This, as well as Bray's innovative
use of the assembly line method, allowed John Bray Studios to create Colonel Heeza Liar, the first
animated series.[57][58]
In 1915, Max and Dave Fleischer invented rotoscoping, the process of using film as a reference
point for animation and their studios went on to later release such animated classics as Ko-Ko the
Clown, Betty Boop, Popeye the Sailor Man, and Superman. In 1918 McCay released The Sinking of
the Lusitania, a wartime propaganda film. McCay did use some of the newer animation techniques,
such as cels over paintingsbut because he did all of his animation by himself, the project wasn't
actually released until just shortly before the end of the war.[58] At this point the larger scale animation
studios were becoming the industrial norm and artists such as McCay faded from the public eye.[53]

The 1919 Feline Follies by Pat Sullivan

The first known animated feature film was El Apstol, made in 1917 by Quirino
Cristiani from Argentina.[59] He also directed two other animated feature films, including
1931's Peludpolis, the first feature length animation to use synchronized sound. None of these,
however, survived.[60][61][62]
In 1920, Otto Messmer of Pat Sullivan Studios created Felix the Cat. Pat Sullivan, the studio head
took all of the credit for Felix, a common practice in the early days of studio animation.[63] Felix the
Cat was distributed by Paramount Studios, and it attracted a large audience.[64]Felix was the first
cartoon to be merchandised. He soon became a household name.
In Germany, during the 1920s the abstract animation was invented by Walter Ruttman, Hans
Richter, and Oskar Fischinger, however, the Nazis censorship against so-called "degenerate art"
prevented the abstract animation from developing after 1933.
The earliest surviving animated feature film is the 1926 silhouette-animated Adventures of Prince
Achmed, which used colour-tinted film.[65] It was directed by German Lotte Reiniger and
French/Hungarian Berthold Bartosch.[66]
Walt Disney & Warner Bros.[edit]
In 1923, a studio called Laugh-O-Grams went bankrupt and its owner, Walt Disney, opened a new
studio in Los Angeles. Disney's first project was the Alice Comedies series, which featured a live
action girl interacting with numerous cartoon characters.[67] Disney's first notable breakthrough was
1928's Steamboat Willie, the third of the Mickey Mouse series.[68]It was the first cartoon that included
a fully post-produced soundtrack, featuring voice and sound effects printed on the film itself ("sound-
on-film"). The short film showed an anthropomorphic mouse named Mickey neglecting his work on
a steamboat to instead make music using the animals aboard the boat.[69]
In 1933, Warner Brothers Cartoons was founded. While Disney's studio was known for its releases
being strictly controlled by Walt Disney himself, Warner brothers allowed its animators more
freedom, which allowed for their animators to develop more recognizable personal styles.[53]
The first animation to use the full, three-color Technicolor method was Flowers and Trees, made in
1932 by Disney Studios, which won an Academy Award for the work.[40] Color animation soon
became the industry standard, and in 1934, Warner Brothers released Honeymoon Hotel of
the Merrie Melodies series, their first color films.[70] Meanwhile, Disney had realized that the success
of animated films depended upon telling emotionally gripping stories; he developed an innovation
called a "story department" where storyboard artistsseparate from the animators would focus on
story development alone, which proved its worth when the Disney studio released in 1933 the first-
ever animated short to feature well-developed characters, Three Little Pigs.[71][72][73] In 1935, Tex
Avery released his first film with Warner Brothers.[70] Avery's style was notably fast-paced, violent,
and satirical, with a slapstick sensibility.[74]
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs[edit]
Many consider Walt Disney's 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs the first animated feature film,
though at least seven films were released earlier.[75] However, Disney's film was the first one
completely made using hand-drawn animation. The previous seven films, of which only four survive,
were made using cutout, silhouette or stop motion, except for onealso made by Disney seven
months prior to Snow White's releaseAcademy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons. This was
an anthology film to promote the upcoming release of Snow White. However, many do not consider
this a genuine feature film because it is a package film. In addition, at approximately 41 minutes, the
film does not seem to fulfill today's expectations for a feature film. However, the
official BFI, AMPAS and AFI definitions of a feature film require that it be over 40 minutes long,
which, in theory, should make it the first animated feature film using traditional animation.
But as Snow White was also the first one to become successful and well-known within the English-
speaking world, people tend to disregard the seven films. Following Snow White's release, Disney
began to focus much of its productive force on feature-length films. Though Disney did continue to
produce shorts throughout the century, Warner Brothers continued to focus on features.
The television era[edit]
Color television was introduced to the US Market in 1951. In 1958, Hanna-Barbera released The
Huckleberry Hound Show, the first half-hour television program to feature only
animation.[76] Terrytoons released Tom Terrific the same year.[77][78] In 1960, Hanna-Barbera released
another monumental animated television show, The Flintstones, which was the first animated series
on prime time television.[79] Television significantly decreased public attention to the animated shorts
being shown in theatres.

Animation Techniques[edit]
Innumerable approaches to creating animation have arisen throughout the years. Here is a brief
account of some of the non traditional techniques commonly incorporated.
Stop motion[edit]
This process is used for many productions, for example, the most common types of puppets are clay
puppets, as used in The California Raisins, Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep by Aardman,
and figures made of various rubbers, cloths and plastic resins, such as The Nightmare Before
Christmas and James and the Giant Peach. Sometimes even objects are used, such as with the
films of Jan vankmajer.
Stop motion animation was also commonly used for special effects work in many live-action films,
such as the 1933 version of King Kong and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.
CGI animation[edit]
The first fully computer-animated feature film was Pixar's Toy Story (1995).[80] The process
of CGI animation is still very tedious and similar in that sense to traditional animation, and it still
adheres to many of the same principles.
A principal difference of CGI animation compared to traditional animation is that drawing is replaced
by 3D modeling, almost like a virtual version of stop-motion. A form of animation that combines the
two and uses 2D computer drawing can be considered computer aided animation.
Most CGI created films are based on animal characters, monsters, machines, or cartoon-like
humans. Animation studios are now trying to develop ways to create realistic-looking humans. Films
that have attempted this include Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within in 2001, Final Fantasy: Advent
Children in 2005, The Polar Express in 2004, Beowulf in 2007 and Resident Evil: Degeneration in
2009. However, due to the complexity of human body functions, emotions and interactions, this
method of animation is rarely used. The more realistic a CG character becomes, the more difficult it
is to create the nuances and details of a living person, and the greater the likelihood of the character
falling into the uncanny valley. The creation of hair and clothing that move convincingly with the
animated human character is another area of difficulty. The Incredibles and Up both have humans
as protagonists, while films like Avatar combine animation with live action to create humanoid
creatures.
Cel-shading is a type of non-photorealistic rendering intended to make computer graphics appear
hand-drawn. It is often used to mimic the style of a comic book or cartoon. It is a somewhat recent
addition to computer graphics, most commonly turning up in console video games. Though the end
result of cel-shading has a very simplistic feel like that of hand-drawn animation, the process is
complex. The name comes from the clear sheets of acetate (originally, celluloid), called cels, that are
painted on for use in traditional 2D animation. It may be considered a "2.5D" form of animation. True
real-time cel-shading was first introduced in 2000 by Sega's Jet Set Radio for
their Dreamcast console. Besides video games, a number of anime have also used this style of
animation, such as Freedom Project in 2006.
Machinima is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic
production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation. Machinima-
based artists, sometimes called machinimists or machinimators, are often fan laborers, by virtue
of their re-use of copyrighted materials.

Firsts in animation[edit]
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Year Milestone Film Notes

Created with cutout animation; now

1917 El Apstol
considered lost
Feature film
The Adventures of Oldest surviving animated feature film, cutout
1926
Prince Achmed silhouette animation
 Short film; used Lee
DeForest's Phonofilm sound on film process,
1924 Synchronized sound on film Oh Mabel
though none of the characters "speak" on
screen

Short film; used Lee DeForest's Phonofilm

Synchronized sound on film My Old Kentucky sound on film process; a dog character
1926
with animated dialogue Home[81] mouths the words, "Follow the ball, and join
in, everybody!"

Premiering in April 1930, a three-minute

Filmed in Two-color cartoon sequence produced by Walter
1930 King of Jazz [82]
Technicolor Lantz appears in this full-length, live-action
Technicolor feature film.

Released in August 1930, this Ub Iwerks-

Two-color Technicolor in a
1930 Fiddlesticks produced short is the first standalone color
stand-alone cartoon
cartoon.

Feature length puppet

1930 The Tale of the Fox
animated (stop-motion) film

1931 Feature-length sound film Peludpolis

Filmed in three-strip
1932 Flowers and Trees Short film
Technicolor

Feature filmed in three-strip Snow White and

1937
Technicolor the Seven Dwarfs

1940 Stereophonic sound Fantasia

1949 Television series Crusader Rabbit

The Adventures of
1950 Short lived TV show
Paddy the Pelican
 Filmed in stereoscopic 3D Melody Short film

1953
Toot, Whistle,
Presented in widescreen Short film
Plunk and Boom

Feature filmed in widescreen Lady and the

format Tramp

1955 Animated TV series to aired

A Rubovian Legend
outside of USA

Stop-motion television series The Gumby Show[83]

CBS Cartoon
1956 Primetime television series Compilation television series
Theatre

Television series to be broadcast

1957 Colonel Bleep Television series
in color

The Huckleberry
1958 Half-hour television series
Hound Show

Animated series to have its Rocky and His

production outsourced to an Friends/The Television series
overseas company Bullwinkle Show
1959

Syncro-Vox Clutch Cargo Television series

Xerography process (replacing

Goliath II Short film
hand inking)
1960

Primetime animated sitcom The Flintstones Television series

1961 Feature film using xerography One Hundred and

 process One Dalmatians

Long-running TV show Minna no Uta

Feature film based on a Hey There, It's

1964
television show Yogi Bear!

A Thousand and
Adult anime film Lost film
One Nights
1969
A Boy Named
G-rated cartoon film
Charlie Brown

Primetime animated sitcom Sabrina and the

1970 Television series
created for syndication Groovie Goolies

Adult cartoon film Fritz the Cat

1972
Wait Till Your
Adult cartoon TV series
Father Gets Home

The Nine Lives of

1974 R-rated cartoon film
Fritz the Cat

1977 PG-rated cartoon animated film Wizards

Animated feature to be
1978 Watership Down
presented in Dolby sound

3D feature film - stereoscopic

Abra Cadabra
technique
1983

Animated feature Rock and Rule

containing computer-generated
 imagery

Animated TV series to be
Inspector Gadget
recorded in Stereo sound

The Adventures of
1984 Fully CGI-animated film Short film
Andr and Wally B.

Feature length clay- The Adventures of

1985
animated film Mark Twain

First feature film to have live-action and

Who Framed
1988 Cinematography milestone cartoon animation share the screen for the
Roger Rabbit
entire film

Hanna-Barbera's
TV cartoon to be broadcast 50th: A Yabba
1989
in Dolby Surround sound. Dabba Doo
Celebration

Produced without camera

First feature film completely produced with
The Rescuers
1990 Disney's Computer Animation Production
Down Under
System
Feature film using digital ink
and paint

First animated film nominated

Beauty and the As of 2017 no animated film has won the Best
1991 for the Academy Award for Best
Beast Picture award.
Picture

Direct-to-video CGI-animated
VeggieTales
1993 series

CGI-animated TV series Insektors

Half-hour computer-animated
1994 ReBoot
TV series

Fully computer-animated feature

film
Toy Story
1995
G-rated CGI feature film

Animated television series to be Pinky and the

 broadcast in Dolby Surround Brain

Animated series produced for

the Internet The Goddamn
1997 George Liquor
Program
Flash-animated series

1998 PG-rated CGI animated film Antz

1999 IMAX Disney animated film Fantasia 2000

2000 First Aardman Rated-G Film Chicken Run

Motion-capture animation
Final Fantasy: The
Spirits Within
2001 PG-13-rated CGI animated film

First Academy Award for Best Monsters, Inc. and Jimmy Neutron: Boy
Won by Shrek
Animated Feature Genius were also nominated.

2002 Flash-animated television series Mucha Lucha!

Wizards and
2003 First Flash-animated film
Giants

Appleseed
2004 Cel-shaded animation
Steamboy

Feature shot with digital still

2005 Corpse Bride
cameras

2006 Blu-ray release Dinosaur

Feature digitally animated by

Flatland
one person
2007 Ultimate Avengers
Presented in 7.1 surround sound Ultimate Avengers Blu-ray release
2

Feature film designed, created Fly Me to the

2008 and released exclusively in 3D Moon

Adult CGI animated film Free Jimmy

Stop-motion character animated

Coraline
using rapid prototyping

2009 Feature film to be produced in

3D, instead of being converted It was the first animated feature film to be
Monsters vs. Aliens
into 3D in a post-production produced in a 3D format.
process

2010 Animated feature film to earn Toy Story 3

 more than $1,000,000,000
worldwide

Feature film released theatrically

in 7.1 surround sound

Stop-motion film to use 3D

2012 ParaNorman
printing technology for models

Mr. Peabody &

First 3D IMAX film.
Sherman
2014
The First Pixar Sing Along Song
Lava (2014 film)
Short Film

First Cartoon Style in Flash The Mr. Peabody

Animation & Sherman Show
2015
The First Best Cartoon World of
Animated Short Film Tomorrow

2016 R-rated CGI feature film Sausage Party

Asia[edit]
History of Chinese animation[edit]
Main article: History of Chinese animation

1922: first animation in a commercial Shuzhendong Chinese Typewriter

1926: first animation to showcase technology Uproar in the Studio and acknowledge Wan
Laiming and Wan Guchan as pioneers.
1935: The Camel's Dance - first chinese animation with sound.
1941: Princess Iron Fan
1980: Three Monks
History of Indian animation[edit]
Main article: History of animation in India

1974: Ek Anek Aur Ekta

1978: The Hunt
1986: Ghayab Aaya
1992: Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama
2005: Hanuman
2012: Chhota Bheem and the Curse of Damyaan
2012: Arjun: The Warrior Prince
2013: Chhota Bheem and the Throne of Bali
2014: Mighty Raju Rio calling
2016: Chhota Bheem Himalayan Adventure
2016: Motu Patlu: King Of Kings
History of Iranian animation[edit]
Main article: History of Iranian animation
Iran's animation owes largely to the animator Noureddin Zarrinkelk. Zarrinkelk was instrumental in
founding the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA) in Tehran
in collaboration with the late father of Iranian graphics Morteza Momayez and other fellow artists
like Farshid Mesghali, Ali Akbar Sadeghi, and Arapik Baghdasarian.[84]

Circa 3000 BCE: Zoopraxiscope-style animated pottery is produced. This is considered one of
the oldest forms of animation in the world.
1970: Duty, First
1971: A Playground for Baboush
1971: Philipo and a Train from Hong Kong
1971: Seven Cities
1972: Shower of Flowers
1973: Association Of Ideas
1973: I Am He Who
1974: Atal-Matal
1974: The Castle
1975: The Mad, Mad, Mad World
1975: The Sun King
History of Japanese animation (anime)[edit]
Main article: History of anime

Circa 1915: Discovered in Kyoto in 2005, the earliest known Japanese animated film is Katsud
Shashin (Moving Picture), which depicts a boy wearing a sailor uniform performing a salute. The
undated film is considered among the earliest examples of Japanese animation. The discoverer
speculates that it is from as early as 1907. It is composed of 50 frames assembled on 35mm
Celluloid with paste.[85]
1917: Imokawa Mukuzo Genkanban no Maki
1917: Namakura Gatana
1918: Urashima Tar
1921: Kiatsu to Mizuage Ponpu
1922: Shokubutsu Seiri: Seishoku no Maki
1924: Usagi to Kame
1945: Momotaro's Divine Sea Warriors
1958: The Tale of the White Serpent
1963: Astro Boy
1968: Hols: Prince of the Sun
1970: Ashita no Joe
1974: Space Battleship Yamato
1979: Mobile Suit Gundam
1979: The Castle of Cagliostro
1984: Nausica of the Valley of the Wind
1984: Lensman: Secret of The Lens
1986: Dragon Ball
1987: Wicked City
1988: The Adventures of Lolo the Penguin
1988: My Neighbor Totoro
1988: Grave of the Fireflies
1988: Akira
 1989: Dragon Ball Z
1992: Yu Yu Hakusho
1993: Ninja Scroll
1995: Neon Genesis Evangelion
1995: Ghost in the Shell
1996: Dragon Ball GT
1997: Pokmon
1997: Princess Mononoke
1998: Hunter x Hunter
2000: Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
2000: Yu-Gi-Oh!
2001: Spirited Away
2001: Millennium Actress
2002: Naruto
2004: Howl's Moving Castle
2004: Bleach
2006: Paprika
2008: Ponyo
2009: Fairy Tail
2011: Hunter x Hunter
2013: Attack on Titan
2013: The Wind Rises
2014: Noragami
2014: The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
2015: Dragon Ball Super
2015: One-Punch Man
2016: Yuri!!! on ice
History of Malaysian Animation[edit]
Main article: Malaysian Animation
Animation in Malaysia began in 1946 with the establishment of the Malayan Film Unit (now known as
National Film). The first short animated film was the Hikayat Sang Kancil (Anandam Xavier, 1978)
and aired in 1983. Short films that appeared between 1985 and 1987 were: The Mouse & Monkey,
The Mouse & Crocodile, The Crow Rage, the Rabbit Arrogant and the Lion of Haloba made by
Hassan Abdul Muthalib.[86]

1978: "Hikayat Sang Kancil

1985: "Sang Kancil & Monyet"
1985: "Sang Kancil & Buaya"
1986: "Gagak Yang Bijak"
1986: "Arnab Yang Sombong"
1987: "Singa Yang Haloba"
1993: "Usop Sontorian"
1996: "Keluang Man"
1999: "Anak- Anak Sidek"
1999: "Kampong Boy"
2006: "Bola Kampung"
2007: "Upin & Ipin"
2011: "Boboiboy"
 2014: "The Amazing Awang Khenit"
2016: "Ejen Ali"

Europe[edit]
History of British animation[edit]
Main article: History of British animation

1899: Arthur Melbourne-Cooper's "Matches Appeal"

1954: Animal Farm
1978: Watership Down
1982: Plague Dogs
1982: SuperTed
1990: The Dreamstone
1999: Watership Down
History of Czech animation[edit]
The roots of Czech puppet animation began in the mid-1940s when puppet theater operators,
Eduard Hofman and Ji Trnka founded the Poetic animation school, Brat v Triku. Since that time
animation has expanded and flourished.[87][88]

1945: Ddek zasadil epu ("My grandfather planted a beet")

1946: Zvtka to petrovst ("Animals and bandits")
1946: Prak SS ("The jumper and the men of the SS")
1946: Drek ("The Gift")
1947: palek ("The Czech Year")
1949: Romn s basou ("Story of a bass")
1949: ertuv mln ("The Devil's Mill")
1949: Arie prerie ("Song of the Prairie")
1949: Csav Slavk ("The Emperor's Nightingale")
History of Estonian animation[edit]
See also: Cinema of Estonia Estonian Animation, and List of Estonian animated films
Estonian animation began in the 1930s and has carried on into the modern day.[89]

1931 - The Adventures of Juku the Dog, first Estonian animated short film
1950s - founding of puppet animation division of Tallinnfilm by Elbert Tuganov
1970s - founding of drawn animation division, Joonisfilm, by Rein Raamat
History of French animation[edit]
Main article: History of French animation

1908-1925, The work of animation pioneer mile Cohl produces a number of firsts in animation
and animation techniques.
1908: The first animated cartoon
1909: First use of morphing
1910: First use of puppet animation and first color-animated cartoon
1911: First use of pixilation
1916: La journe de Flambeau becomes the first animated series. (also known
as Flambeau, chien perdu)
History of Hungarian animation[edit]
Main article: History of Hungarian animation

1914: Istvn Kat Kiszly first becomes involved in cut-out promotional animations for use during
newsreels.
1932: Gyula Macskssy and Jnos Halsz establish Hungary's first animation studio, Coloriton.
1930-1940: Hungarian animators such as Jean Image, George Pal, and John Halas emigrate
from Hungary due to political instability and settle abroad.
1948: All film-making is nationalized by the Hungarian Communist Party under Magyar
Szinkronfilmgyrt Vllalat (later rechristened as Pannnia Film Stdi).
1951: Gyula Macskssy and Edit Fekete create Hungary's first color animation, A kiskakas
gymnt flkrajcrja.
1962: Gyula Macskssy and Gyrgy Vrnai create Hungary's first animated serial,
the Peti series.
1973: Marcell Jankovics creates the first feature-length Hungarian film, Jnos Vitz.
1981: Ferenc Rofusz wins the 1981 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film with A Lgy.
1981: Jnos Kass' Dilemma becomes the first fully digital animated film[90]
1985 - Hungary holds its first Hungarian Animated Cartoon Festival in Kecskemt.
1990 - Communism ends, and with it state support for Pannnia Film Stdi. Independent
studios like Varga Studio and Digic Pictures emerge.
History of Italian animation[edit]

1949: The first two Italian animated movies are released: La rosa di Bagdad directed by Anton
Gino Domeneghini and I Fratelli Dinamite directed by Nino Pagot
1970: The Italian animated cartoon art and industry (La Linea (cartoon), Calimro...) is born.
1977: The animated Italian classic, Allegro non troppo, is both a parody of and homage to
Disney's Fantasia. This is director Bruno Bozzetto's most ambitious work and his only feature-
length animation, although he also directed several notable shorter works including West and
Soda, an animated spaghetti western.[91]
History of Russian animation[edit]
Main article: History of Russian animation

1910-1913: Ladislas Starevich creates puppet animations

1935: First animated feature film in the USSR, The New Gulliver
1935: Soyuzmultfilm Studio is created.
late 1930s to 1950s: Socialist Realism in cartoons:
1947: The Humpbacked Horse
1952: The Scarlet Flower
1955: The Enchanted Boy
1956: The Twelve Months
1957: The Snow Queen
1967-1971: Adventures of Mowgli series
1969: Gena the Crocodile, the first Cheburashka short is made.
1969: Winnie-the-Pooh.
1969: The Bremen Town Musicians.
1969-1986: Nu, Pogodi! original series.
1973: The Nutcracker
1975: Hedgehog in the Fog
 1978: Three from Prostokvashino
1979: Tale of Tales
1981: The Mystery of the Third Planet
1982: Once Upon a Dog
1987: The Adventures of Lolo the Penguin
1990s: Government subsidies shrink dramatically, while the number of studios grow.
1999: The Old Man and the Sea
since 2001: Internet era in the Russian independent animation: Masyanya, Mr. Freeman and
others
2004-2012: Kikoriki (Smeshariki) series
since 2009: Masha and the Bear series
History of animation in Croatia (in former Yugoslavia)[edit]

1953: Zagreb Film inaugurates the Zagreb school of animation.

1975: kola Animiranog Filma akovec (AF) inaugurates the akovec school of animation.

Oceania[edit]
History of Australian animation[edit]
See: Animal Logic, Yoram Gross, Flying Bark Productions

1977: Dot and the Kangaroo

1979: The Little Convict
1982: The Seventh Match (also known as Sarah)
1984: The Camel Boy
1984: Epic: Days of the Dinosaurs (also known as EPIC)
1991: The Magic Riddle
1992: Blinky Bill: The Mischievous Koala
1992: FernGully: The Last Rainforest
2000: The Magic Pudding (2000)
2006: Happy Feet
History of New Zealand animation[edit]
See: Weta Digital

1986: Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale

2015: 25 April

Americas[edit]
History of Argentinian animation[edit]
The world's first two feature-length animated films and the first film with sound were developed in
Argentina by Quirino Cristiani;[60][62]

1917: El Apstol
1918: Sin dejar rastros
History of Brazilian animation[edit]
Main article: History of Brazilian animation
 1917: lvaro Marins produces Kaiser, Brazil's first animated short film.
1953: Anlio Lattini Filho produces Amazon Symphony, Brazil's first animated feature-length
film.
1996: NDR Filmes produces Cassiopia, considered for some as the first CG movie in the world.
History of Canadian animation[edit]
Main article: History of Canadian animation

1914: Raoul Barr of Barr Studio produces animated segments for Animated Grouch Chaser.
1916: Raoul Barr produces Mutt and Jeff.
1926: Raoul Barr works as guest animator for Felix the Cat.
1941: The National Film Board of Canada's animation department is founded with the addition
of Norman McLaren to the organization..
History of Cuban animation[edit]

1970: Juan Padrn creates the character of Elpidio Valds, star of a long-running series of
shorts and two motion pictures.
1985: Juan Padrn's Vampiros en la Habana!
1992: An animation category is added to the Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine
Latinoamericano.
History of Mexican animation[edit]

1935: Alfonso Vergara produces Paco Perico en premier, an animated short film.
1974: Fernando Ruiz produces Los tres reyes magos, Mexico's first animated feature-length
film.
1977: Anuar Badin creates the film Los supersabios, based on the comic.
1983: Roy del espacio
History of United States animation[edit]
History of animation in the United States

Animation in the United States during the silent era

Golden age of American animation

World War II and American animation

Animation in the United States in the television era

Modern animation in the United States

v
t
e
 Beginning of industrial production of animated cartoon.
The history of Hollywood animation as an art form has undergone many changes in its hundred-year
history, the following lists four separate chapters in the development of its animation:
Animation in the United States during the silent era (1906 through 1929)

1906: Vitagraph produces the first animated short film recorded in conventional
film Humorous Phases of Funny Faces.
The beginnings of theatrical, the earliest animated cartoons in the era of silent film,
ranging from the works of Winsor McCaythrough Koko the Clown and Felix the Cat.
The Bray Studios was the first and foremost cartoon studio, housed in New York City.
Many aspiring cartoonists started their careers at Bray, including Paul Terry of Heckle
and Jeckle fame, Max Fleischer of Betty Boop fame, as well as Walter Lantz of Woody
Woodpecker fame. The cartoon studio operated from c. 1915 until 1928. Some of the
first cartoon stars from the Bray studios were Farmer Alfalfa (by Paul Terry) and Bobby
Bumps (by Earl Hurd).
Disney and Alice Comedies (1923-1927).
Max and Dave Fleischer formed their own studio Fleischer Studios, and created
the Koko the Clown, Out of the Inkwell, and Sound Car-Tunes series.
Disney creates the first cartoons of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Mickey Mouse.
Golden age of American animation (1928 through mid-60s)

Appearance of the first sound synchronized cartoons in 1928 and the appearance
of technicolor in the 1930s.
The dominance of Walt Disney throughout the 1930s, through revolutionary
cartoons Silly Symphonies, Mickey Mouse, and Donald Duck.
Theatrical cartoons of Van Beuren Studios with RKO Radio Pictures (1928-1937).
Theatrical cartoons of Terrytoons with 20th Century Fox (1929-1968).
Theatrical cartoons of Walter Lantz Productions with Universal Studios (1929-1972).
Theatrical cartoons of Screen Gems with Columbia Pictures (1933-1946).
The rise of theatrical cartoons of Warner Bros. (1933-1969) and MGM (1937-1967).
The Fleischer Studios creation of Betty Boop and Popeye cartoons.
Theatrical cartoons of Famous Studios with Paramount Pictures (1942-1967).
Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs marks the start of the "Golden Age"
at Disney's films (1937-1967).
The departure from realism, and UPA (1943-1970).
1938: Chad Grothkopf's eight-minute experimental Willie the Worm, cited as the first
animated film created for TV, was shown on NBC.[92][93]
The first TV animated series from Jay Ward Productions in 1948: Crusader Rabbit.
The emergence of TV animated series from Hanna-Barbera in 1957 and theatrical
cartoons with Columbia Pictures (1959-1965).
Japanese animation, known as anime, arrives to America in 1961.
Theatrical cartoons of DFE with United Artists (1964-1969).
Animation in the United States in the television era (1962 through 1985)

The competition begins in television animation with Filmation (1962) and DFE (1963)
The rise of Saturday-morning cartoons in the mid-1960s.
The decline of theatrical cartoons and feature films.
The start of the "Dark Age" of Disney's films (1967-1988).
The attempts at reviving animated features in the late 1960s.
 The rise of adult animation in the early 1970s.
The onslaught of commercial cartoons in the 1980s.
The rise of anime series in America in the 1980s.
Disney creates his first animated television series in 1985: The Wuzzles.
Modern animation in the United States (1986 through present)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the Disney Renaissance (1989-1999).

Success of Disney animated series (1985-1997).
Steven Spielberg's collaborations with Warner Bros..
The Simpsons marks the resurgence of adult-oriented animation.
The decline of Saturday-morning cartoons in the 1990s.
A flood of newer, bolder film animation studios.
Don Bluth's films appear on the scene, creating potential competition for Disney.
The rise of computer animation, for both 2D and 3D (CGI) animation.
The decline of traditional animation.
South Park mimicks cut-out animation by using computer animation.
Cartoon Network's late-night animation block Adult Swim becomes immensely popular
and leads to a resurgence in short, adult animation.
Disney Post-Renaissance films (2000-2008) and Disney Revival films (2009-present).