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beginning of animation
1900s: The first animated short film. Although a few other films had been created in the years prior, Fantas magorie is widely considered the first true animated film. Created by Emile Cohl, the short film follows a stick figure who encounters other characters and transforming objects. -
1910s: Rotoscoping adds more realism
In 1915, Max Fleischer developed the rotoscope technique, where projection equipment is used to trace figures from stills of live-action footage. This method allowed animators to get a better understanding of the finer aspects of a moving form to create realistic, fluid motion in animated pieces. Fleischer’s patent on rotoscoping expired in 1934, allowing other animators to swoop in and freely use the technique. -
1920s: Traditional animation picks up steam
nimator Walt Disney founded his own studio in California which (as his name suggests) would later become Walt Disney Studios, a titan in the industry. Although it was the third instalment of the Mickey Mouse series, it was the 1928 classic, Steamboat Willie, where Mickey Mouse finally captured the hearts of the public. Recurring characters from the series such as Minnie Mouse, Goofy, and Donald Duck are still around today! -
Animation takes to television
n previous decades, you could only find animation in movie theatres, where most people sought out their dose of animated entertainment. As home TVs became more popular, the very first animated TV series debuted in the form of Crusader Rabbit, a series of 4-minute long satirical cliffhangers which would continue to air as late as the 1970s. One of its creators, Jay Ward, would later go on to create The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show. -
Helping out in horror flicks
In the days long before computer-generated images (CGI), traditional animation methods such as stop-motion were used as an alternative to having someone dress up in a monster costume, which could look cheesy and a little less scary. Following the example of the original King Kong, “creature features” such as The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and It Came From Beneath the Sea used stop-motion animation for many of their monster scenes. -
THE AMERICAN TELEVISION ERA
The animation industry began to adapt to the fact that television continued its rise as the
entertainment medium of choice for American families. Studios created many cartoons for TV, using a “limited animation” style. By the mid ‘80s, with help from cable channels such as The Disney Channel and Nickolodeon, cartoons were ubiquitous on TV. -
Space operas are big in Japan
There’s no doubt that Japanese animation, more commonly known as anime, is a huge part of animation today. In the decades prior, however, the Japanese animation industry had shrunk due to increased competition from television. Inspired by the commercial success of the Star Wars franchise, however, space operas Mobile Suit Gundam and Space Battleship Yamato were revived as theatrical films, sparking the beginning of the 1980s “anime boom” that would spread throughout Japan, the USA -
MODERN AMERICAN ERA
The CGI (computer generated imagery) revolutionized animation. 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. -
THE SIMPSONS
The Simpsons is an American adult animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is the longest-running American sitcom, the longest-running American animated program, and in 2009 it surpassed Gunsmoke as the longest-running American scripted primetime television series. -
The age of computers
Rapid advancements in computer technology revolutionised animation production throughout the nineties. Walt Disney’s Rescuers Down Under was the first feature film created using a Computer Animation Production System that removed the need for a traditional animation camera. Released in the same decade, Toy Story was the first fully computer-animated film, utilising artistic techniques such as transparent shading and blended colours that weren’t possible using older forms of animation. -
Scooby-Doo
cooby-Doo is an American animated franchise, comprising many animated television series produced from 1969 to the present day. Writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the original series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, for Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1969. -
The Flash craze
At the dawn of the new millennium, Flash was installed on the vast majority of desktop computers to display interactive web pages, games and video. The Macromedia Flash software (what we now know as Adobe Flash) grew in popularity both inside and outside of the professional industry and communities formed around websites such as Newgrounds and YouTube where anyone was free to share their creations with the world.
