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Roundhay Garden Scene
Although only two seconds long, Roundhay Garden Scene is technically the world's first movie. It was directed by French inventor Louis LePrince, and is the world's earliest surviving motion-picture. -
Nickelodeon
The Nickelodeon was the first theater in the world made exclusively for film. The theater was the combined creation of Harry Davis and John P. Harris. It opened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It had 96 seats and charged a nickel for admission. -
Nestor and Universal Studios
In October, 1911, Nestor became Hollywood's first permanent movie studio and produced the first Hollywood films. But the next year, Nestor merged with its distributor, the Universal Film Manufacturing Company. Until mid-1917, Nestor was a brand name of Universal. -
The Jazz Singer
The Jazz Singer was first introduced as a "talkie". Unlike past films, The Jazz Singer had sound. It utilized Vitaphone, which was the leading brand of sound-on-discs at the time. In the future, however, sound in movies would become a standard in films. -
The Wizard of Oz
Released in 1939, The Wizard of Oz has proven to be a timeless classic that is lovable for people of all generations. The movie had astounding special effects and was one of the first films to be presented in color. Rendered in Technicolor, The Wizard of Oz raised the bar and the standards for future movies. -
Fantasia
Walt Disney's Fantasia is Disney's third animated film. It consists of eight animated segments set to follow classical pieces of music. What made Fantasia unique, however, was that it was the first film to use surround sound through Disney's Fantasound system. -
Distant Drums
Distant Drums is a "Florida Western" following the story of an Army captain during the Second Seminole War of the 1840s. It was one of the top box office hits of 1952 and raised $2.85 million in the box office. What makes the film notable is that it is the source of the Wilhelm scream, a sound effect now used in over 400 films and can still be heard today. -
Introduction of Animatronics
Mary Poppins is an American musical fantasy directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Walt Disney. Based on the book series Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers, the movie introduced animatronics in the film through a bird. Animatronics would become more commonplace in the future in films such as Jaws and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. -
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
The beginning of what is now a staple of pop culture, the film was written and directed by George Lucas. When released, it became the highest grossing film of all time until E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was brought to the public. With earth-shattering visual effects, literally in one scene, A New Hope pioneered the usage of visual effects and shaped the future of film. -
First CGI Human Character
Looker is an American science-fiction film released in 1981. However, the film raked in less than $4 million in the box office and was spare when it came to visual effects. However, it was the first commercial film to attempt to create a realistic computer-generated character, which was a model named Cindy. It was also the first film to use 3d shading with a computer, but the achievement and the film was overshadowed by the release of Tron months later. -
Toy Story
Toy Story was Pixar's first feature film and was released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film released three Academy Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Song, and Best Original Score and also won a Special Achievement Academy Award. It was the first feature film to be created entirely with computer animation. -
Motion Capture For Actors
The Polar Express was an American animated film released in 2004. It was based off the book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg and was directed by Robert Zemeckis. For the first time in film history, its characters were animated through live-action motion capture.
