You don’t have to be a cartoonist to have animation be a big part of your life. Animation is everywhere—in our homes, schools, work, and everywhere there’s a screen. And if you grew up in the United States, chances are you’ve witnessed seminal accomplishments in animation history without even knowing it.   Does Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ring a bell? What about Toy Story…or The Flintstones? These works marked important milestones in animation, an art form that continuously challenges its creators to push technology so artists can to bring to life what the mind can imagine. Let’s celebrate it.

Y

ou don’t have to be a cartoonist to have animation be a big part of your life. Animation
is everywhere—in our homes, schools, work,
and everywhere there’s a screen. And if you grew up in
the United States, chances are you’ve witnessed seminal accomplishments in animation history without even

knowing it. Does Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ring
a bell? What about Toy Story…or The Flintstones? These
works marked important milestones in animation, an
art form that continuously challenges its creators to
push technology so that anything that can be imagined
can also be brought to life.

1
30,000 B.C. – 1500 A.D.

Early ways
of showing
motion

Archeological artifacts prove that we’ve been attempting to depict things in motion as long as we’ve been able to draw. Some notable examples from ancient times, as well as an example from the
European Renaissance, include:

3,000 B.C.

Shahr-e Sukhteh

A bronze-age pottery bowl depicts goats leaping
(Shahr-e Sukhteh, Iran).

30,000 B.C.

SHAHR-E SUKHTEH

A bronze-age pottery bowl depicts goats leaping
(Shahr-e Sukhteh, Iran).

1500 A.D.

Vitruvian Man

Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man drawing shows
multiple angles, implying movement.

2
1600 – 1877

ANIMATION
BEFORE
FILM

With the spread of the Industrial Revolution in Europe and North America in the 18th and 19th centuries came experimentation with machines that would make images appear to move.

1603

Magic lantern

The Magic Lantern is an image projector using pictures on sheets of glass. Since some sheets contain moving parts, it is considered the first example of projected animation.

1603
1824
1831
1834
1868
1877
1824

Thaumatrope

The thaumatrope housed a rotating mechanism with a different picture on each side.
When rotated, you saw a combined picture (known as persistence of vision).

1603
1824
1831
1834
1868
1877
1831

Phenakitoscope

The phenakitoscope featured spinning disks reflected in mirrors that
made it seem like the pictures were moving.

1603
1824
1831
1834
1868
1877
1834

Zoetrope

The zoetrope was a hollow drum that housed images on long interchangeable
strips that spin and made the images appear to move.

1603
1824
1831
1834
1868
1877
1868

Flip-book

The flip-book, also known as the kineograph, reached a wide audience and is credited
with inspiring early animators more than the machines developed in this era.

1603
1824
1831
1834
1868
1877
1877

Movieola/praxinoscope

The praxinoscope expanded on the zoetrope, using multiple wheels to rotate images.
It is considered to have shown the first prototypes of the animated cartoon.

1603
1824
1831
1834
1868
1877
3
1900 – 1930

THE
SILENT
ERA

The early 20th century marks the beginning of theatrical showings of cartoons, especially in the United States and France. Many animators form studios, with Bray Studios in New York proving the most successful of this era. Bray helped launch the careers of the cartoonists that created Mighty Mouse, Betty Boop, and Woody Woodpecker.

1906

Humorous phases of funny faces

marks the first entirely animated film, using stop-motion
photography to create action.

1908

fantasmagorie

is the first animated film using hand-drawn animation, and is considered
by film historians to be the first animated cartoon.

1908

GERTIE THE DINOSAUR

A bronze-age pottery bowl depicts goats leaping
(Shahr-e Sukhteh, Iran).

1914

Felix the cat

Musical Mews and Feline Follies introduced Felix the Cat—often
considered the first animated movie star.

1914

Gertie the dinosaur

is considered the first cartoon to feature
an appealing character.

1919

Felix the cat

Musical Mews and Feline Follies introduced Felix the Cat—often considered the first animated movie star.

1928

STEAMBOAT WILLIE

featuring Mickey Mouse—becomes the first cartoon with the sound printed on the film,
and is the first notable success for Walt Disney Studios, founded in Los Angeles in 1923.

Original Sketch

Rare original layout drawing featuring Mickey
and Black Pete from Steamboat Willie.

Original Storyboard

This original page from the script of Steamboat Willie,
was found in Walt Disney’s files years after he died.

If you can dream it, you can do it.

– WALT DISNEY –
FEATURED ARTIST
Walt Disney
D

isney was born on December 5, 1901, in Hermosa
Illinois. He and his brother Roy co-founded Walt Disney Productions, which became one of the best-known motion-picture production companies in the world.
Disney was an innovative animator and created the cartoon character Mickey Mouse. He won 22 Academy Awards
during his lifetime, and was the founder of theme parks Disneyland and Walt Disney World. As an animator and 

entrepreneur, Disney was particularly noted as a filmmaker and a popular showman, as well as an innovator in animation and theme park design. He and his staff created numerous
fictional characters including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy. Disney himself was the original voice for Mickey. In addition to his Academy Awards, Disney won seven Emmy Awards. Today, there are Disney theme parks around the world, including Tokyo, Paris, and Hong Kong.

7
Emmy Awards
22
Academy Awards
19
Animated Features
4
1930-1950s

THE GOLDEN
AGE OF AMERICAN
ANIMATION

During what many consider to be the “Golden Age” of animation, theatrical cartoons became an integral part of popular culture. These years are defined by the rise of Walt Disney (Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Silly Symphonies), Warner Brothers, MGM, and Fleischer (Betty Boop, Popeye).

1937

SNOW WHITE

Walt Disney releases Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first animated
feature to use hand-drawn animation.

FIRST HAND-DRAWN

Did you Know?

The voice of the Wicked Queen, was able to achieve 
the raspy Old Hag’s voice by removing her dentures.

Fun Fact

It took almost two years to come up with 
the final renderings of the Seven Dwarfs.

5
1960-1980s

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.

1960

FlintsTones

Hanna-Barbera releases The Flintstones, the first animated
series on prime-time television.

1961

Yogi Bear

The Yogi Bear Show, a spin-off of Huckleberry Hound
(another Hanna-Barbera production), debuts on national TV.

ACADEMY AWARD WINNER

Best Short Film

1964

The Pink Phink

DePatie-Freleng Enterprises wins the Academy Award for Best Short Film
for The PinkPhink (of the Pink Panther series) and continues to
create shorts for theatrical release.

1964

Fritz the Cat

Fritz the Cat is released—the first animated
adult (X-rated) feature film.

1964

FRITZ THE CAT

Fritz the Cat is released—the first animated 
adult (X-rated) feature film.

6
1980 – 2014

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.

1964

THE ADVENTURES OF ANDRE & WALLY B

The Adventures of Andre and Wally B., the first 
fully CGI-animated film short

1987

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.

LONGEST-RUNNING

American
Animated
Program

FIRST FULLY

Computer Animated Feature

1995

Toy story

Toy Story, the first fully computer-animated
feature film, was released.

2014

BIG HERO 6

Big Hero 6 is the first Disney animated film
to feature Marvel Comics characters

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