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30,000 BCE
Early ways of showing motion
In 30,000 B.C - 1500 A.D. Archeological artifacts prove that we’ve been attempting to depict things in motion as long as we’ve been able to draw.
3,000 B.C. -A bronze-age pottery bowl depicts goats leaping
1500 A.D. -Leonardo DA Vinci's Vitruvian Man drawing shows
multiple angles, implying movement. -
Period: to
Animation Before Film
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. -
The Magic Lantern
The name “magic lantern” comes from the experience of the early audiences when light appeared on the wall, as if by magic. Even in the earliest period, performances contained images that moved created with moving pieces of glass. -
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). Peter Roget made the first book about animation named "The Persistence Of Vision With Regard To Moving Objects". -
PHENAKITOSCOPE
The phenakitoscope featured spinning disks reflected in mirrors that made it seem like the pictures were moving. Belgian Scientist Dr Joseph Antoine Plateau made a machine that gave an animated ab effect the machine contained 2 discs. -
ZOETROPE
The zoetrope was a hollow drum that housed images on long interchangeable strips that spin and made the images appear to move. -
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. -
Eadweard Muybridge
Eadweard Muybridge Started research in moving animal. -
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. -
Thomas Edison
Started his research on motion pictures -
Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison announced his creation on the kinetoscope which projected a 50ft length of film in 13 secs. -
George Eastman
George Eastman began the manufacture of photographic film strips using a nitro-cellulose base. -
Louis and Augustine Lumiere
Louis and Augustine Lumiere issued a patent for a device called Cinematograph capable of projecting moving pictures. -
Thomas Armat
Thomas Armat designed the vitascope which projected the films of Thomas Edison. -
Period: to
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. -
HUMOROUS PHASES OF FUNNY FACES
marks the first entirely animated film, using stop-motion
photography to create action. -
FANTASMAGORIE
is the first animated film using hand-drawn animation, and is considered
by film historians to be the first animated cartoon. -
GERTIE THE DINOSAUR
is considered the first cartoon to feature
an appealing character. -
FELIX THE CAT
Musical Mews and Feline Follies introduced Felix the Cat—often considered the first animated movie star. -
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. -
Merrie Melodies
Warner Brothers cartoon founded. -
Period: to
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). -
Snow White
Walt Disney releases Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first animated
feature to use hand-drawn animation. -
Flinstones
Hanna-Barbera releases The Flintstones, the first animated
series on prime-time television. -
Period: to
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. -
Yogi Bear
YOGI BEAR
The Yogi Bear Show, a spin-off of Huckleberry Hound
(another Hanna-Barbera production), debuts on national TV. -
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. -
Fritz the Cat
Fritz the Cat is released—the first animated
adult (X-rated) feature film. -
Period: to
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 ADVENTURES OF ANDRE & WALLY B
This short film was the first fully CGI-animated film,
created by The Graphics Group, the precursor to Pixar. -
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. -
Toy Story
Toy Story, the first fully computer-animated
feature film, was released. -
Big Hero
Big Hero 6 is the first Disney animated film
to feature Marvel Comics characters
