Timeline: The History of Animation from 1824 to the Present

Unlike many arts, animation isn't something that has grown organically from the beginning of time. If
you trace the history of painting for instance, you can look back to Neanderthal man and see his soot
and earth drawings on cave walls. Animation, on the other hand, is an art form that evolved out of
science first. People had to understand how series of pictures could be flashed quickly in succession
to give the illusion of motion and then create the machinery to do that before they could even think
about creating cartoon characters and movies. Even though ancient man had paper, pencils and all of
the items to make a machine that would project an image or create a flipbook, they didn't simply
because before 1824 it never occurred to anyone to do that.
An animation historian can divide the emergence and history of animation into distinct periods.
They are:
The Age of Discovery
The Age of Invention
The Age of Creation
The Golden Age of Animation
Atomic Modern
The Dead Years
The New Golden Age
A quick note: Many of the older animations are available online and in the public domain and can
be found with a quick Internet search. Many are still under copyright. As a teacher, you might
want to search for trailers of animation feature films to show your students as examples of the
movie. Try to find the original trailer, as they give a better view of that time period. If we watched
the full movies, it would take all year to get through this section! If you have commercial discs to
watch, make sure you check out the "making of" sections on the discs. They include interviews
with directors and animators, sections on how the movie was made and quite a bit of technical
information that beginning animators love to learn.

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I. The Age of Discovery

For all intents and purposes, the history of animation starts in 1824 with Peter Roget's observation
that images that flash by very quickly somehow manage to stick in people's brains and if you watch a
lot of these images flash by in a row it gives the illusion of motion. Between 1824 and 1875 animation
wasn't an art or an entertainment, it was a scientific oddity of interest only to a few individuals
interested in optical illusions. The machinery invented at the time wasn't invented to entertain, but
to demonstrate scientific concepts. To the surprise of scientists, people enjoyed looking at the
demonstrations and animation became a home parlor entertainment for the scientific-minded upper
classes.
A. In 1824, Peter Roget presented his paper 'The persistence of vision with regard to moving objects
to the British Royal Society.
B. In 1831, Dr. Joseph Antoine Plateau (a Belgian scientist) and Dr. Simon Rittrer constructed a
machine called a phenakitstoscope.
1. A phenakitstoscope produced an illusion of movement by allowing a viewer to gaze at a
rotating disk containing small windows, behind the windows was another disk containing a
sequence of images. When the disks were rotated at the correct speed, the synchronization
of the windows with the images created an animated effect.
C. In 1872, Eadweard Muybridge started his photographic series examining the positions of animals in
motion.

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II. The Age of Invention

In the Age of Invention, which is roughly between 1875 and 1895, animation benefits from the Industrial
Revolution. This is the time of inventing machinery and technological processes that trickle down from
the laboratories of scientists to the drawing rooms of the elite and on to benefit the middle and working
classes. Geniuses like Thomas Edison, George Eastman and Louis Lumiere invent machinery and systems
that were specifically created to produce a moving image. At this point, animation is still considered a
silly parlor trick. Thomas Edison didn't think there was any utility to "moving pictures" at all, because
why would anyone want to sit in a room and watch a story?

A. In 1887, Thomas Edison transformed his research work into motion pictures.
1. H.W. Godwin invents nitrate celluloid film.
B. In 1889, George Eastman began the manufacture of photographic filmstrips using a nitro
cellulose
base.
1. Nitro cellulose is flexible and transparent, but highly flammable. It degrades and one
of the chemicals that come out of this degradation is nitroglycerin. In the 1930s, many
old films of the period spontaneously combusted, causing huge fires. As a safety
precaution, many old films were destroyed and because there was no value in old
films and no way to reproduce them in other media, this means that films of this era
are very, very rare. Today you might see film clips with burn and scorch marks on the
edges, and it's from the film stock burning up spontaneously.
C. In 1892, Emile Reynaud combined his earlier invention of the praxinoscope with a
projector and opened the Theatre Optique in Musee Grevin, Paris. It displays an animation of
images painted on long strips of celluloid.
D. In 1893, Thomas Edison invented the Kinetoscope, a device that projected a 50ft length of
film in approximately 13 seconds.
1. The Kinetoscope was a machine that allowed one viewer at a time to watch a movie
through
a viewfinder.
E. In 1894, Louise Lumiere invents the Cinematograph, which projects an image onto a wall.
1. The Cinematograph system used a claw movement and perforated film that was
synced to an intermittent shutter movement. These mechanics were used,
essentially unchanged, up untilthe digital era.
2.Edison copyrights his first motion picture, "THE RECORD OF A SNEEZE." He opens his
Kinetoscope Parlour in New York City, the earliest instance where people pay to go out
to watch a movie.

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III. The Age of Creation

In the Age of Creation, which starts about 1885 and goes to about 1925, individuals begin to look beyond
the parlor tricks and experiments and are beginning to think about what they are going to DO with the
technology. The public is no longer satisfied with watching a horse walk in moving pictures, now they
want to see images that entertain and instruct. To get those images, the new art of animation is
developed with its own rules and systems. It can't be emphasized enough how difficult this process was.
Animators had to be artists with good drawing skills, writers had to know how to write a script that
entertained, actors had to understand how to convey action and emotion to an audience, and at the
same time technicians had to understand the physics of optics and motion.

A. In 1895, Louis and Augustine Lumiere issued a patent for a device called a
cinematograph that was capable of projecting moving pictures.
1. Auguste and Louis Lumiere project their film, "WORKERS LEAVING THE LUMIERE
FACTORY IN LYON-MONTPLAISIR" at the Hotel Scribe in Paris, on December 28th. This
is the first public screening of a motion picture and is regarded as the "birth of film."
2. The first American comic strip, "Hogan's Alley" is published. "The Yellow Kid" was the
lead character.
a. Comic strips are the source of many characters and heavily influence
animation style. They also foreshadow the technique of making storyboards
and sequential art.
B. In 1899, the first magnetic recording of sound is created.
C. In 1900 in France, a live action film of Cinderella used animation techniques as the first use
of special
effects in live action.
D. In 1906, James Stuart Blackton made the first animated film he called "HUMOROUS PHASES
OF FUNNY FACES".
1. Blackton's method was to draw comical faces on a blackboard and film them. He
would stop the film, erase one face to draw another, and then film the newly drawn
face. The 'stop-motion' provided an illusion of motion as the facial expressions
changed before the viewer's eyes. This film is the first known animation the way we
think of animation, which is a drawn sequence of frame-by-frame drawings. It is
considered the first truly animated film. There was no sound.
E. In 1907, the first Japanese animation was produced (between 1907-1911) as a private
project.
1. The identity of the creator is unknown. This strip of film was discovered very recently
at a flea market.
F. In 1911, Winsor McCay produced a short animation using his comic strip character, "LITTLE
NEMO."
1. McCay developed many animation techniques and his animations hold up in
technical quality to anything produced today.
G. 1912: Cinema as a public entertainment medium explodes in popularity worldwide.
1. About 5 million people attend the cinema in the U.S. every day.
2. London has 400 cinemas.
3. It has been 88 years since the concept of a series of individual frames creating the
illusion of motion was first discussed in scientific circles.
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H. 1914, Winsor McCay produced a "GERTIE THE DINOSAUR" cartoon, which is comprised
of 10,000 drawings.
1. McCay does not use transparencies or layers and draws each complete cell by hand.
This film was the first animation to show a character with personality and was a major
hit of its day.
2. A Canadian, Raoul Barre, starts his own animation studio and was probably the first
person to produce animation for advertising and commercials.
3. The U.S. animation industry was centered in New York until the late 1920s and early
1930s.
a. New York was the center of American theater, music, vaudeville and the new
movie industry. Animators used all of these arts in their work.
I. In 1915, Max Fleischer, an immigrant from Austria, and his brother Dave Fleischer,
patented the Rotoscope process, which traces drawings over live action film; when the war
ended the United States had the strongest animation industry in the
1. World War I decimated European animation production. In the U.S., animation
production
continued at full throttle.
a. Because the U.S. animation industry was allowed to grow and develop
unhindered, world. Its huge backlog of animated films was available for
international distribution as soon as the war was over. The same situation
happened at the end of WW2 and is the reason the U.S. animation industry
was dominant worldwide for so long.
J. In 1917, Chicago becomes the world's jazz center, starting "The Jazz Age."
1. Soon many animation films feature jazz music, help popularize the art form and
introduce this African American music form to the entire world.
K. In 1918, Winsor McCay finishes an animation about the sinking of the Lusitania.
1. It is animated with cells, washes, and paintings in a very striking and realistic style.
This was the first propaganda film done in animation. Unfortunately, the Lusitania
sank in 1915 and WWI ended in 1918, so its use as a propaganda tool was doubtful
and points up the problem of doing topical events in animation.
L. In 1920, 19-year-old Walter Elias Disney begins learning about animation and starts his
first company, the Kansas City Slide Company. His partner is his friend Ubbe Iwerks, who
later becomes one of the greatest animation artists of all time.
1. Goldwyn Bray creates the first color animation "THE DEBUT OF THOMAS CAT." The
process was deemed too expensive for commercial use.
2. "FELIX THE CAT" becomes the most popular character and series of this period. The
merchandising of the cat's image for dolls, watches, etc. was very successful and paved
the way for the later merchandising of animated characters.
M. In 1921, Several European artists start exploring abstract animation.
1. There will always be a subset of fine artists who produce non-commercial,
experimental animation. Often these artists are from countries with no animation
industry and are individual attempts to learn the craft and start a business. At this
time, none make money.
N. In 1923, Walt Disney's studio in Kansas goes bankrupt.
1. Disney follows the movie industry and relocates to Los Angeles, California and opens
a new studio in his uncle's garage in Silverlake, CA.
2. Starevitch makes FROGLAND, a 3D stop motion film in France.
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O. In 1924, The "FELIX THE CAT" and "KO-KO THE CLOWN" series were the most
popular and well-made shorts of this period. "AESOP'S FABLES" and "COLONEL HEEZA
LIAR" were not well received and reflected the lack of quality common in most
animation of the period. In May 1924, Fleischer invented the "follow the bouncing
ball" technique for his Song Car-Tunes series of animated sing-a-long shorts.
1. In fact, some people in the theatrical and movie industry had written animation off,
claiming the audience booed when animation came on the screen.
2. Disney creates a semi-animated series of a young girl, "THE ALICE SERIES." a.
The animators who did this series were originally from Kansas City. They
included UbIwerks, Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising, and Friz Freleng. When you
do the math you see that these animators were all in their early twenties,
with Freleng only 18.

N. In 1925, "THE LOST WORLD," Willis O'Brien's 3D stop motion that animated
prehistoric dinosaurs and other creatures, is released.
1. This film, along with McCay's Gertie character, crystalized how people thought
of dinosaurs. It took a long time to get their unscientific depictions of dinosaur
movement, skin color, etc. out of people's heads. Moviemakers learn that the
audience can think of animation and special effects as real.
2. "THE GOLD RUSH" by Charlie Chaplin is released, which was the first live-action
feature comedy. Chaplins images begin to show up in animation soon after.

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IV. The Golden Age of Animation

In the Golden Age of Animation, animation grows from an amusing trick to an art form (the old German
word for animated film is trickfilm). This era, which lasts from roughly 1925 to just after WWII, is a
period of fantastic growth in both the art and the science of animation. The craft reaches new technical
heights in both short films and new feature length films and incorporates the latest technology from
the motion picture industry. The artistic and entertainment values are exemplary.

Major motion picture studios all have animation departments and the U.S. industry consolidates
around a few great studios. The U.S. film industry leads the world with the animation industry
following along. The great movie studios are willing to invest the time and the money needed to make
this art form flourish, and it does. There are burgeoning studios in Europe, and in Japan animation is
just in the incubation phase. Elsewhere in the world, there is no animation to speak of. This is the time
when American culture and art are spread worldwide. All eyes are on Hollywood.
A. 1926, "EL APOSTOL," the first feature-length animated film is created in Argentina.
1. The film was written by Alfonso Laferrere and directed by Quirino Christiani. It was
filmed at 14 frames per second and was 70 minutes long with over 58,000 frames. The
film was a political satire and was a hit in Argentina at the time. There is no known
copy that has survived.
2. Lotte Reiniger, from Germany, creates her own one-hour shadow puppet film.
a. This film is claimed by some to be first animated feature. However, full-length
feature films are usually considered to be longer than 75 minutes.
3. Eastman Kodak produces the first 16mm film.
B. 1927, Warner Brothers released the live-action movie, "THE JAZZ SINGER," which introduces
combined sound and images.
C. 1928, Walt Disney creates "STEAMBOAT WILLY" with synchronized sound.
1. The movie features a mouse as the main character and is considered the forerunner
of the famous mouse character.
a. Disney's mouse cartoon was not the first sound film; Terry's animation was
released on Sept. 1st (Disney saw it and said it was terrible). But Disney's was
the first successful sound animated film; it made "the mouse" an international
star, and launched the Disney studio of today. It also ushered in the new age of
sound for animation.
D. 1929, Walt Disney's "SKELETON DANCE" is the first Silly Symphony. Prerecorded music is
used in this animation and leads to a very tight synchronization of sound and picture, which
sets the standard in animation when using sound.
1. During this period, animation studios find that they can't distribute their
films without a major live-action studio as a partner. The major studios all have
subcontracted or animation departments and control the entire industry.
E. The Academy Awards is first given out for live action films.
1.The ceremony takes 15 minutes and the cost for a ticket is $5.
F. 1930, "THE KING OF JAZZ' is produced by Universal. In it is a short animated sequence done
by Walter Lantz. It is the first animation done with the two-strip technicolor process.
1. The Warner Bros. Cartoons is born with Leon Schlesinger as the producer.
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a. A condition by the studio was for each short to contain a Warner Bros.
song, which is why the word "tunes" is on the title page of their animations
and not "toons." Schlesinger said, "Our policy has always been laughs, the
more the better," and that becomes the Warner's philosophy.
G. 1931, The first Academy Award for animation is given for movies produced in 1931.
1. Warner Bros. introduces "MERRIE MELODIES" as one-shot shorts.
H. 1932, Walt Disney wins his first Academy Award for "FLOWERS AND TREES." This
film was the first to use three-strip technicolor (full color) in animation. It is also the
first animated film to win an award under the new Animation category.
I. 1933, Walt Disney wins his second Academy Award for "THE THREE LITTLE PIGS."
1. Masaoka releases the first Japanese anime with sound and a year later the first
anime was made
entirely using cell animation.
2. Max Fleischer animates "POPEYE" from Elzie Segar's comic strip, "POPEYE THE
SAILOR." Jack Mercer's muttering voice was used later. While originally billed as a
Boop cartoon character, in "Popeye the Sailor," Popeye is the main character.
J. 1934, Walt Disney's "THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE" wins the Academy Award.
1. Walt Disney, in a four-hour staff meeting, lays out his vision for a full-feature length
animation based on the fairy tale, "Snow White."
2. Warner Bros. first cartoon is produced in color.
a. The previous cartoons were animated in B&W. Much of these cartoons were
re-filmed in color during the sixties by a Japanese studio. This required recreating all of the cells as Warner Bros. had burnt all the original cells from this
series to free up storage space.
K. 1935 Walt Disney's "THREE ORPHAN KITTENS" wins the Academy Award.
1. Hollywood Production Code comes into effect.
2. In the UK, the General Post Office (GPO) funds a film division to produce
documentary and informative films about the post office operations. Unwittingly,
these films become classics when they hire young geniuses to write, film and animate
them. They use poetry by Auden and music by Benjamin Britten. Norman McLaren
joins the GPO unit as an animator. He strips away everything but action, because he
feels the most important thing is what happens between frames, not what is on the
frame. Later, in the U.S., Tex Avery said, It's not what the character looks like but what
the character does that matters.
L. 1936, Walt Disney's "THE COUNTRY COUSIN" wins the Academy Award.
1. Warner Bros. produces Tex Avery's first film.
a. Tex Avery learned animation working at Walter Lantz's studio from1930 to
1935. Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett, and Bo Cannon also work at Warner Bros.
They dub the animation unit "Termite Terrace." Carl Stalling joins the studio
and sets the style of "cartoon music" going on to compose music for over six
hundred films. Mel Blanc, the voice of many iconic characters, joins the studio
as well.
M. 1937, Walt Disney's "THE OLD MILL" wins the Academy Award
1. Walt Disney produces "SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS," his first animated
feature, which was set for general release in 1938. "Whistle While you Work" is one
of the most popular songs of the day.
N. 1938, Walt Disney's "FERDINAND THE BULL" wins the Academy Award.
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O. 1939, Walt Disney's "THE UGLY DUCKLING" wins the Academy Award. It is also the last Silly
Symphony produced at Disney Studios.
1. The Disney Studios begin their move to Burbank from Hyperion Ave. in Los Angeles.
2. The Film Act is passed in Canada by Parliament. This creates The National Film Board
of Canada to "interpret Canada to Canadians through the medium of film."
P. 1940, MGM's "THE MILKY WAY" wins the Academy Award.
1. This is the first time since the awards started that the Disney Studios did not win it.
2. Tex Avery directs animations with Bugs, the famous rabbit, for Warner Bros.
where he defines the character's personality. There were three previous versions of
this character, but this time he produces a film where the real character was born. This
was the start of Warner Bros. supremacy in animated humor.
Q. 1941, Walt Disney's "LEND A PAW" wins the Academy Award.
1. The first Asian animation of notable length ever made is produced in China, "THE
PRINCESS IRON FAN."
2. In Japan, anti-American propaganda films are made where an "evil Mickey" attacks
Japan.
3. Walt Disney releases "DUMBO."
R. 1942, Walt Disney's "DER FUEHRERS FACE" wins the Academy Award.
1. The subject of Disney's film in an anti-Nazi propaganda theme.
2. Fort Roach, the old Hal Roach studios, becomes the military animation/film studio in
Hollywood. The 18th Air Force Base Unit is based there, along with Lt. Ronald Regan.
3. Tex Avery leaves Warner Bros. and directs a pilot for Paramount Pictures. However,
the series is quickly taken away from him. He then moves to MGM where he stays
until 1955.
4. Director Fred Quimby, upon seeing Tex Avery's caricature of Hitler as a wolf in an
animation for MGM, advises Avery to tone it down because "afterall, no one knew
who was going to win the war."
5. The Private Snafu animation series for the U.S. Army is introduced and is made in the
style of a coming attraction. It's named for the acronym "Situation normal. All fouled
up." Snafu is described as "licentious, lazy, envious of every duty but his own, a shirker
and a positive genius at doing things the wrong way." This character is used in Army
training animations for years.
6. The first electronic brain or automatic computer is developed in the U.S.
7. Magnetic recording tape is invented.
S. 1943, MGM's "YANKEE DOODLE MOUSE" wins the Academy Award.
T. 1944, MGM's "MOUSE TROUBLE" wins the Academy Award.
1. "HELL BENT FOR ELECTION" is an independent short done for the Democrats for
the 1944 presidential election. It was so effective that both political parties made an
unwritten agreement not to use animation for election films.
2. Mitsuyo Seo's Japanese Navy wartime animated feature film is produced,
"MOMOTARO'S GOD BLESSED SEA WARRIORS." It's Japan's first real feature-length
animated film. In the film, the main character and his cute little bunny, monkey and
elephant friends, happily clear an airstrip and oil machine guns, and fly their Zeroes
to victory while singing happy songs.
3. In Europe, anti-allies and anti-Jewish propaganda films are completed by Dutch
Nazis.
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U. 1945, MGM's "QUIET PLEASE" wins the Academy Award.

1. UPA (United Productions of America) is formed.
V. 1946, MGM's "THE CAT CONCERTO" wins the Academy Award.
1. Walt Disney produces "SONG OF THE SOUTH" combining live action and animation.
Years later this film is seen to have racist overtones, but at the time was a hit and
considered acceptable by both black and white communities. This film is a classic
example of how social norms can change over decades and what was acceptable
during one period is considered unacceptable later on.
2. The Xerography process invented.
W. 1947, Warner Bros.' "TWEETIE PIE" wins the Academy Award. This is the first short
featuring Tweetie and Sylvester together, and the first animated short to win the Academy
Award for Warner Bros. It was directed by Friz Freleng.
1. Around this time, new contracts are made for animators, which almost doubled their
wages. However, the contracts do not include residuals. This is a big mistake.
X. 1948, MGM's "THE LITTLE ORPHAN" wins the Academy Award.
1. Supreme Court makes ruling on "Sherman Anti-Trust Act" declaring motion picture
companies monopolies and forcing them to break up.
2. A special department of cartoon and puppet films comes into being as part of the
Bulgarian State Film Industry.
Y. 1949, Warner Bros.' "FOR SCENT-IMENTAL REASONS" wins the Academy Award.
1. "CRUSADER RABBIT," the first cartoon series made for TV is introduced on NBC. Done
by Alex Anderson, nephew of Paul Terry. They were paid $250.00 per five-minute
episode. Looking like an illustrated radio show they were TV's first example of
limited animation.
.

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V. Atomic Modern
After WWII, the Atomic Modern Era of Animation starts and goes on until about 1965. The troops
came home and both the U.S. and Europe stood down from a war economy and began to rebuild
their civilian economy. Of course, in the U.S. this was a lot easier to do since there was very little
wartime damage. Because of the massive damage to their infrastructure and economy, it would be
several years before the Japanese and the Europeans could invest in something as frivolous as
animation. In the U.S., the young men that worked in the animation studios came back and started
right back where they left off, creating high-quality, extremely funny, cartoons.
However, try as they might, everything wasn't all the same. The cost of creating an animation was high
and the demand for more and more cartoons to play worldwide drove the animation studios to the
breaking point. The new medium of television was just starting to be seen in the average person's home
and TV had an insatiable appetite for cartoons. A movie shows for two hours and would have one
animated short as a preview. A TV airs 24/7 and needs a lot more media to fill up that time.

Studios began to cut quality. At first they moved to a new, abstract, modern style of drawing that
was influenced by modern art and they rejected the time consuming, hand-drawn, realistic look of
the past for a hard-edged style that spoke to the Space Age. This was called the UA (United Artists)
style and was adopted by all of the studios. In order to cut costs and speed up production, they also
began to skimp on quality by lowering the frame rate and reducing the movement sequences and
layering, a process called limited animation. By the end of the Atomic Modern era, animation quality
was in tatters and the industry wasn't far behind.
A. 1950, UPA's "GERALD MCBOING-BOING" wins the Academy Award.
1. The first computer animation is created (that we know of); it was an animated
"BOUNCING BALL" done at MIT by Saxenian.
2. Animation for TV commercials becomes an important segment of the animation
industry.
B. 1951, MGM's "THE TWO MOUSEKETEERS" wins the Academy Award.
C. 1952, MGM's "JOHANN MOUSE" wins the Academy Award.
1. Norman McLaren's pixilation film, labeled by some as "one of the most
controversial films the NFB ever made" because there was too much violence, wins
an Oscar for best documentary. The level of cartoon violence is what we consider
acceptable now, another example of changing social norms.
D. 1953, Disney: Walt Disney's "TOOT, WHISTLE, PLUNK AND BOOM' wins the Academy Award.
It is a return to Silly Symphonies but done in a UPA style.
1. Most U.S. movie theaters are adapted for Cinemascope projection.
2. "THE SIMPLE THINGS," Disney's last Mickey Mouse short is released.
3. Walt Disney's "PETER PAN" is released.
E. 1954, UPA's "WHEN MAGOO FLEW" wins the Academy Award.
1. The major studios started selling their library of animated shorts to TV for
syndication.
2. Twenty-nine million homes have TVs in U.S., or 60% of all households.
3. Halas and Batchelor create first British animated feature, "ANIMAL FARM."
F. 1955, Warner Bros. "SPEEDY GONZALES" directed by Friz Freleng, wins the Academy Award.
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1. Disney starts phasing out shorts as the cost rises to $75,000 each.
2. Disneyland opens in California.
3. Bernard Buffet paints "Circus." His painting style influences the UPA style.
G. 1956, UPA's "MR. MAGOO'S PUDDLE JUMPER' wins the Academy Award
1. Disney Studios stop releasing their shorts on a regular basis.
2. Annecy, the first major international animation festival, begins within the
framework of the Cannes Festival. In 1960, it becomes an independent festival at
Annecy under the auspices of the Association Francaise pour la Diffusion du Cinema.
3. UPA produces "GERALD MCBOING BOING SHOW" for TV.
H. 1957, Warner Bros.' "BIRDS ANONYMOUS" wins the academy award.
1. John Whitney used 17 Bodine motors, eight Selsyns, nine different gear units and
five ball integrators to create analog computer graphics.
2. Warners Bros. releases "WHAT'S OPERA DOC?" directed by Chuck Jones. This Bugs
cartoon was voted by professional animators to be one of the best cartoons ever made.
3. "GUMBY" TV series premiers on NBC.
I. 1958, Warner Bros. "KNIGHTY KNIGHT BUGS" wins the Academy Award.
1. Richard Williams (Canada) creates "THE LITTLE ISLAND" (Stan Hayward, writer).
2. Hanna-Barbera introduces "HUCKLEBERRY HOUND" the first half-hour all cartoon TV
program.
3. CBS Terrytoons introduces "TOM TERRIFIC" for TV, directed by Gene Deitch and
written Jules Feiffer.
J. 1959, "MOONBIRD" created by Storyboard Inc. (Hubley Studio) wins the Academy Award.
1. Jay Ward's "ROCKY AND HIS FRIENDS" premieres on TV.
K. 1960, "MUNRO" by Rembrandt Films wins the Academy Award.
1. Hanna-Barbera introduces "THE FLINTSTONES" (as a homage to the Honeymooners)
the first primetime animated TV series.
L. 1961, "ERSATZ (THE SUBSITUTE)" by Zagreb Film wins the Academy Award.
1. John Whitney used differential gear mechanisms to create film and television title
sequences.
2. Start of the "Nine Old Men" era at Disney. Walt Disney releases "ONE HUNDRED
AND ONE DALMATIANS" the first Disney feature to use Xeroxed cells.
M. 1962, "THE HOLE" by Storyboard Films (Hubley Studio) wins the Academy Award.
1. Warner Bros. Animation closes. (Will re-open in the 1990s)
N. 1963, "THE CRITIC" by Pintoff-Crossbow Productions wins the Academy Award.
1. Ivan Sutherland invents SKETCHPAD at MIT/Lincoln Labs. In computer animation,
Ivan Sutherland's doctoral dissertation at MIT opens the way to interactive
computer animation.
2. TETSUWAN ATOMU (ASTRO BOY), Japan's first television animation series begins.
Created by Osamu Tezuka.
O. 1964, "THE PINK PHINK," a Panther cartoon by DePatie-Freleng wins the Academy Award.
1. The Panther cartoons were created from a character that was developed for the
opening credits of live-action movie, "The Pink Panther." The character was so popular
that the Depatie-Freleng Studio was formed to develop animations of it. It's a
premiere example of the UA style.
2. Ken Knowlton, working at Bell Laboratories, starts developing computer techniques
for producing animated movies.
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3. "THE ADVENTURES OF JOHNNY QUEST" airs on primetime TV.

VI. The Dead Years

Between 1965 and 1985, it was pretty dismal in the animation world. The costs of producing a quality
animation just about killed the entire field in the U.S. The big studios had almost 60 years of high
quality shorts stockpiled in their library and didn't see the need to produce new work. Animation was
seen as something for little kids to watch after school and on Saturday mornings, not as a media that
the whole family could enjoy. U.S. studios started sending their animation overseas, usually to Japan
but sometimes to Europe, where it was cheaper to find the painstaking labor it need to create even
the limited animation that was used. Animation was a dead field and there was serious talk about it
dying out altogether and becoming an esoteric art for a small group of fans, like opera or ballet.
While a feature film was occasionally produced by the big studios, most of the quality work was
created by independent artists, many of whom worked out of their homes.
A. 1965, MGM's "THE DOT AND THE LINE" (Chuck Jones) wins the Academy Award.
B. 1966, Hubley Studio's "HERB ALPERT AND THE TIJUANA BRASS DOUBLE FEATURE" wins the
Academy Award.
1. James Whitney does "LAPIS" in motion control animation.
2. The Superhero vogue is started on Saturday Morning TV by Fred Silverman.
C. 1967, "THE BOX" Murakami & Wolf Films (Fred Wolf) wins the Academy Award.
D. 1968, Disney's "WINNYIE THE POOH AND THE BLUSTERY DAY" wins the Academy Award.
E. 1969, Disney's "IT'S TOUGH TO BE A BIRD" wins the Academy Award.
1. The Internet is born at UCLA, although there are several other countries from Russia
to the UK who claim to have invented the Internet.
2. Debut on TV of "SCOOBY DOO, WHERE ARE YOU."
F. 1970, "IS IT ALWAYS RIGHT TO BE RIGHT?" wins the Academy Award. Stephen Bosustow.
G. 1971, "THE CRUNCH BIRD" wins the Academy Award. Maxwell-Petok-Petrovich Productions
1. Robert Abel and Assoc. Studio starts first by doing motion control and in a few years
begins doing high quality computer animation commercials.
2. First computer animation is used in "THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN" as a special effect.
Special effect animation during this period played a major role in the amount of
animation produced.
H. 1972, Richard Williams' "THE CHRISTMAS CAROL" wins the Academy Award.
1. "MARCO POLO JR. VS. THE RED DRAGON," Australia's first feature animated film is
released.
2. Japanese animation genre, known as Mecha, comes into being at this time.
3. University of Utah, Ed Catmull develops an animation scripting language and creates
ananimation of a smoothly shaded hand.
J. 1973, "FRANK FILM" wins the Academy Award. Frank Mouris, USA.
K. 1974, "CLOSED MONDAYS" wins the Academy Award: Bob Gardiner - Will Vinton, USA.
1. National Research Council of Canada releases a film directed by Peter Foldes,
which features Burtnyk and Wein using interactive wireframe and keyframing
techniques. This film earns an Academy Award nomination and is the first animated,
computer-generated film nominated.
L. 1975, "GREAT" wins the Academy Award. Bob Godfrey. England.
1. Industrial Light and Magic is founded by George Lucas.
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2. "CAROSELLO," an Italian advertising program on the state-owned television

station, begins a 20-year run that gave life to many hand drawn, stop-motion
characters and ingenuous experimental techniques.
M. 1976, "LEISURE" wins the Academy Award, National Film Board of Canada.
1. Single-frame videotape animation systems were introduced. Used for pencil testing,
they were a major development in the production of animation.
2. First anime fan club started in Los Angeles.
N. 1977, "SAND CASTLE" wins the Academy Award. National Film Board of Canada.
O. 1978, "SPECIAL DELIVERY" wins the Academy Award, National Film Board of Canada.
1. Peter Lord and Davis Sproxton establish Aardman Animation in England that
specializes in stop-motion clay animation.
P. 1979. "EVERY CHILD" wins the Academy Award. National Film Board of Canada.
1. Turnkey systems are first introduced in computer animation.
Q. 1980, "THE FLY" wins the Academy Award. Pannonia Studios, Hungary, Ferenc Rofusz.
1. Pacific Data Images (PDI) founded.
2. Fred "Tex" Avery dies (1908 - 1980) USA. Fred Bean Avery was related to Judge Roy
Bean (who was known as the "law west of the Pecos; give you a fair trial and hang
you"). Roy Bean's real name was Roy Boone and he was descended from Daniel
Boone. There is a story that Disney did not want his animators to see Tex Avery films,
as they were too extreme in their humor and animation.
R. 1981, "CRAC" wins the Academy Award. Frederic Back, Canadian.
S. 1982, "TANGO" wins the Academy Award. Zingier Rybczynski, Poland. He was arrested after
winning the Oscar when he went outside for a smoke and spent his Academy Award night in a
Los Angeles jail so much for respecting animation Oscar winners.
1. A Disney science-fiction, live-action "TRON" is made with 15 minutes of computer
animation for 235 scenes at a cost of $1,200 per second. Almost all computer
animation by now is digital except effects done on tape using the analog system.
2. Disney starts selling home videos of their old short and feature- length animations.
3. 28 million U.S. households have cable TV.
4. UK's fourth TV channel (Channel 4) begins broadcasting.
T. 1983, "SUNDAE IN NEW YORK" wins the Academy Award. Jimmy Picket USA.
1. Syndication, as a new form of distribution for children's TV, starts.
2. The Disney Channel begins broadcasting.
3. The compact disc is launched.
U. 1984, "CHARADE" wins the Academy Award. John Minnis, Canada.
1. One of the most influential anime of all time, "NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE
WIND" is made. The film gives more respect to the anime style, allowing for more
projects to be funded. It also allows director Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata to
set up their own studio under the supervision of former Animage editor, Toshio
Suzuki. This studio would become known as Studio Ghibli and its first film was
"LAPUTA: CASTLE IN THE SKY" (one of Miyazaki's early ambitious films).
2. The success of Dragon Ball Z introduces the martial arts genre and becomes
influential in the Japanese animation industry.
3. Porter and Duff at Lucusfilm publish a paper on digital compositing, using an alpha
channel.
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VII. The New Golden Age

Then something wonderful happened. Just when everything was looking as grim as it could for the art
of animation, technology came to the rescue. Here was an art form born only because technology
made it possible, almost died when the human costs in time and effort became too high, and now
was rescued by technology again. The computer age saved animation.
Since computers first came on the scene in the 50s, there have been people who have tried to create
machinery and programs to make animation faster, easier and cheaper to both make and distribute.
From machines like copiers and scanners, to computers that can draw and render, to the distribution
of animation by cable, Internet, phones, tablets and video games - as one character says, To infinity
and beyond - animation has been totally reborn.
As the old animators of the Golden Age were dying off, the new technologies created a huge
demand for the old craft. Fortunately, many of the old men were able to pass on their skills to a
younger generation, which has helped the quality of today's animation meet and exceed the
animation of the Golden Age.
A. 1985, "ANNA AND BELLA" wins the Academy Award. Borge Ring, Holland.
1. Girard and Maciejewski at OSU publish a paper describing the use of inverse
kinematics and dynamics for animation.
2. The first live-action film to feature a complete computer-animated character is
released, "YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES."
3. Ken Perlin at NYU publishes a paper on noise functions for textures. He later applied
this technique to add realism to character animations.
B. 1986, "A GREEK TRAGEDY" wins the Academy Award. Nicole Van Goethem, Belgium.
C. 1987, "THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES" wins the Academy Award. Frederic Back, Canada.
1. Red Photon Zillion (1987) and the subsequent release of its companion game is
considered to have been a marketing ploy by Sega to promote sales of their newly
released Master System in Japan and is the first time an animation is used as part of
a computer game.
2. John Lasseter at Pixar Studios publishes a paper describing traditional animation
principles.
3. "THE SIMPSONS" begin as spots on The Tracy Ullman Show. This cartoon will soon be
a stand alone weekly feature and will continue on to become the longest running TV
show of all time.
4. In Japan, 24 anime features are produced as well as 72 anime features for video
release.
D. 1988, "TIN TOY" wins the Academy Award. John Lasseter and William Reeves. Pixars first
computer-animated film to win in U.S.
1. "WILLOW" uses morphing in a live-action film.
E. 1989, Wolfgang and Christopher Lauenstein "BALANCE" wins the Academy Award. Wolfgang
and Christopher Lauenstein, Germany .
1. "WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT" is released. It grosses over $300 million and
proves that animation, at least when combined with live action, is not limited to a
children's audience.
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2. Internet computer virus designed by U.S. students jams over 6,000 military
computers across the U.S.
F. 1990, "CREATURE COMFORTS," a stop motion animation by Britain's Aardman Productions
wins the Academy Award. Nick Park animates.
1. Richard Williams is presented with a Special Achievement Oscar for directing the
animation. The only time this award had been previously given for animation was to
Walt Disney.
2. Mel Blanc "the man of a thousand voices" dies (1908 -1989). His gravestone in the
Hollywood Memorial Cemetery reads, "That's All Folks." He was the first voice talent
to receive screen credit.
G. 1991, Daniel Greaves, "MANIPULATION" wins the Academy Award for Animation.
1. Disney's "BEAUTY AND THE BEAST" becomes the first animated feature to be
nominated for the Academy Award as Best Picture.
2. "REN & STIMPY" premieres. Its drawing style harks back to the Atomic Modern era
but its characters acting and story line is modern.
H. 1992, Joan Grantz, "MONA LISA DESCENDING A STAIRCASE" wins the Academy Award for
Animation. Grantz is the first woman to win an Academy Award for Animation as a solo artist.
1. A Cartoon Network on cable broadcasts in 2 million homes; by 1995 it's in 22 million
homes.
I. 1993, Aardman Productions "THE WRONG TROUSERS" wins the Academy Award. Nick Park
for Aardman Productions, UK.
1. "JURASSIC PARK" uses computer graphics for realistic living creatures, further
blurring the line between live-action movies and animated movies.
2. "NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS" by Tim Burton is released.
J. 1994, "BOB'S BIRTHDAY" wins the Academy Award. Alison Snowden and David Fine, Canada.
1. "LION KING" is one of Disney's highest grossing pictures to date.
2. DreamWorks studio is formed.
K. 1995, Aardman Productions "A CLOSE SHAVE" wins the Academy Award. Nick Park for
Aardman Productions, UK.
1. "TOY STORY," the first full-length 3D CG feature film is released and it takes in more
money at the box office than any other film in 1995.
2. "GHOST IN THE SHELL," a major anime feature influences many movies, including the
Matrix series.
L. 1996, "QUEST" wins the Academy Award. Tyron Montgomery, Thomas Stellmach, German.
1. "BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD," animated feature based on the series is released and
makes over 60 million dollars.
2. "MARS ATTACKS" by Tim Burton is released. During its production, the Manchester
studio Bare Bones spends nine months animating stop-motion aliens for the film, only
to be told that computer-generated images (CGI) would be used instead.
3. Shamus Culhane dies at 88. Max Fleischer once told him, "you know what your
problem is Culhane? You're an artist!" His book, "Talking Animals and other
People" has a good view of the early years of animation.
4. The merger of Time Warner and Turner brings Warner Bros. Feature, TV, Classic
Animation, Hanna-Barbera, Cartoon Network, plus a couple of others under one roof.
5. Pokmon spawns an anime television show that is still running, several anime
movies, a trading card game, toys, and much more.
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M. 1997, "GERI'S GAME" wins the Academy Award for Pixar. Directed by Jan Pinkava.
1. Hayao Miyazaki's "PRINCESS MONONOKE," released in Japan, becomes its
biggest motion picture hit of all time, animated or live action. In 1997, it was the
most expensive animated film up until that time, costing $20 million to produce.
Miyazaki personally checked each of the 144,000 cells in the film, and is estimated
to have redrawn parts of 80,000 of them.
N. 1998, "BUNNY" wins the Academy Award for Blue Sky. Chris Wedge animates.
1.The first TV stations in U.S. begin broadcasting in high definition (HDTV).
O. 1999, Alexander Petrov "THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA" wins the Academy Award for
Alexander Petrov, various countries .
1. "THE PRINCESS MONONOKE" is released in the U.S. Hayao Miyazaki, Director.
2. "TOY STORY 2" released by Disney/Pixar.
P. 2000, Michael Dudok de Wit "FATHER AND DAUGHTER" wins the Academy Award for
Michael Dudok de Wit.
1. Beginning with this year's films, the Academy Award for animation is split into two
categories. Now there is an Academy Award for Short Films (starting in 1931) and one
for Best Animated Feature (starting in 2001).
Q. 2001, Pixar "FOR THE BIRDS" wins the Academy Award for Short Films.
1. "SHREK" from Dreamworks Feature Animation wins the first ever Academy Award
for Animated Feature.
2. "MONSTERS, INC." is produced by Pixar.
R. 2002, Sony Pictures Imageworks "THE CHUBB CHUBBS!" wins the Academy Award for Short
Films.
1. "SPIRITED AWAY" by Hayao Miyazaki wins the Academy Award for Animated
Feature.
2. "ICE AGE", "LILO AND STITCH" also nominated this year.
3. Chuck Jones passes away in the spring of 2002.
S. 2003, The Australian Film Commission "HARVEY CRUMPET" wins the Academy Award for
Short Films, Australia.
1. Pixar Studios "FINDING NEMO" by Andrew Stanton wins the Academy Award for
Animated Feature.
2. "THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE" by Sylvain Chomet of France is also nominated.
T. 2004, The National Film Board of Canada RYAN" wins the Academy Award for Short Films.
1. Pixar "THE INCREDIBLES" by Brad Bird wins the Academy Award for Animated
Feature.
U. 2005, John Canemaker and Peggy Stern "THE MOON AND THE SUN, AN IMAGINED
CONVERSATION" wins the Academy Award for Short Films.
1. Aardman Studio "WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT" by Nick
Park and Steve Box wins the Academy Award for Animated Feature.
2. "CORPSE BRIDE" by Mike Johnson and Tim Burton and "HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE" by
Hayao Miyazaki are also nominated.
V. 2006, The National Film Board of Canada "THE DANISH POET" wins the Academy Award for
Short Films.
1. Warner Bros. Studios and Animal Logic Studios "HAPPY FEET" by George Miller wins
the Academy Award for Animated Feature.
2. "CARS" by John Lasseter and "MONSTER HOUSE" by Gil Kenan were also nominated.
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W. 2007, Break-Thru Films "PETER AND THE WOLF" wins the Academy Award for Short Films.
1. Pixar Studios "RATATOUILLE" by Brad Bird wins the Academy Award for Animated
Feature.
2. "PERSEPOLIS" by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud was also nominated.
X. 2008, Robot Communications "LA MAISON EN PETITS CUBES" wins the Academy Award for
Short Films.
1. Pixar Studios "WALL-E " by Andrew Stanton wins the Academy Award for Animated
Feature.
Y. 2009, Autour de Minuit Productions "LOGORAMA" wins the Academy Award for Short Films.
1. Pixar Studios "UP" by Pete Docter wins the Academy Award for Animated Feature.
2. "CORALINE" by Henry Selick, "THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX" by Wes Anderson, "THE
PRINCESS AND THE FROG" by John Musker and Ron Clements were also nominated.
Z. 2010, Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann "THE LOST THING" wins the Academy Award for
Short Films.
1. "TOY STORY 3" by Lee Unkrich wins the Academy Award for Animated Feature.
AA. 2011, Moonbot Studios wins the Academy Award for Short Films.
1. "RANGO" by Gore Verbinski wins the Academy Award for Animated Feature.
BB. 2012, Walt Disney Studios "PAPERMAN" wins the Academy Award for Short Films.
1. Pixar Studios wins the Academy Award for Animated Feature.
CC. 2013, Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares "MR. HUBLOT" wins the Academy Award for
Short Films.
1. Walt Disney Animation Studios "FROZEN" by Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del
Vecho wins the Academy Award for Animated Feature.
DD. 2014"FEAST" by Walt Disney Animation Studios Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed wins
the Academy Award for Short Films.
1. "BIG HERO 6" by Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli wins the Academy Award for
Animated Feature.

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