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1880 - Photochemical Process
Johannes Stark created the photochemical process. This is a chemical reaction initiated by the absorption of energy in the form of light. Printers started using this process in the 1880s, this made prints of artist's work look closer to the original. -
1900 - "The Electric Hotel"
Segundo de Chomón in Spain engineers a new and more ambitious stop-motion picture. The movie was called "The Electric Hotel," it uses stop-motion to create a better sense of realism than previous stop-motion films. This is an early use of pixelation. -
1920 - The First Color Cartoon
Bray Picture Corporation debuts "Thomas Cat." This is the first color animation. They made it using a 2-Color process called Brewster Color, this was a process that was created to compensate for previous methods that had issues with contrast. -
1930 - First Woman Animator
Lillian Friedman was promoted to an animator's position, becoming the first female animator in U.S. history. She worked for the Fleischer Brothers' studio in primarily inking. She eventually moved on to animate various Betty Boop cartoons. -
1940 - Fantasia
Disney debuts "Fantasia," this is the first picture using Fantasound. At the time only 6 theaters were equipped to play movies using Fantasound. Fantasound was a multi-channel stereo sound system, "Fantasia" was also one of the first films with a soundtrack. -
1950 - The First International Animation Festival
Annecy was formed, the oldest animation festival that was open internationally. It takes place in Annecy, France and was originally to only happen every two years. Now the festival is annual and takes place at the beginning of June. -
1960 - The First Story-Telling Animation
"The FIintstones" was the first cartoon to tell a story, rather than a series of random animations. It set the tone for today's animations. It was also the first series that used all new animation material specifically designed for the animation of a half-hour show. -
1970 - Computer-Generated Images
2D computer generated images were first used in the 1973 movie "Westworld." CGI basically uses computer graphics to add 3D images or special effects in movies or animations. This first use of CGI paved the way for it to be used in movies involving real people, not just animations. -
1980 - Pixar
Lucasfilm comes out with a division of computers in 1980. Only 6 years later, Steve Jobs buys the division and calls it Pixar. Pixar becomes a separate corporation with Jobs as chairman of the board. -
1990 - The Simpsons
"The Simpsons" was the first animation intended to appeal to a mature audience by swearing. This show inspired other companies to create animations that appealed to adult audiences. "The Simpsons" is also the longest running cartoon. -
2000 - First Animation in IMAX
Disney's Fantasia was the first animation that was shown in IMAX. It had to be blown up to 70mm when the film was originally only made to be shown at 35mm. Rather than being shot on special IMAX cameras (since it's an animation) they had to use special IMAX Digital Media Remastering. -
2010 - First 3D CGI World
In 2009 "Avatar" was the first movie to use all CGI to create a 3D photorealistic world. The film was created by James Cameron. It is considered "groundbreaking" for being the first completely computer-generated film.
