The History Of Animation

Animation has been around longer than film itself with evidence being found from as early as the Ancient Greek and Roman times. Animation is described as “…the process of bringing illustrations or inanimate objects to life through motion pictures” (MasterClass, 2021). Others describe it as sketches or drawings being moved in fast succession, that they create the illusion of moving. These definitions can lead us to believe that ancient drawings such as Grecian pottery or paintings could be considered as early animation.

So how did animation come to be what we now know and love? Starting with inventions such as the magic lantern, the thaumatrope, the zoetrope, and the kineograph. The latter of which is Latin, quite literally meaning “moving picture”. There are of course, many other inventions and milestones in the history of animation, but there are a few key ones that we will focus on, that I think truly grasps the history of animation as a whole. Here we break the history down into different eras that we feel capture the key moments in animation’s history.

          The Silent Era (1900s-1920s)

In 1906, J. Stuart Blackton created his film Humorous Phases of Funny Faces. There is debate on whether this was the first animated film, or if Émile Reynaud’s Pauvere Pierrot (1892) is the first, however Blackton’s film used stop-motion animation to showcase a series of pictures with moving characters. This was also the first animated film recorded on actual picture film, so by technicality, it becomes the first animated film. This can be thought of the “Silent Era” (the term credited to motioncue.com) because of the lack of extra details and background. In Blackton’s work, there is only focus on the characters and their faces. There is no background color, images, or details, because there was really no need for it at the time. The animators at this time wanted the viewer to focus on the details of the characters, as they would be moving and changing their facial expressions. The main focal point is the face of the character, and that is all the viewer needs to focus on.

A few other important animators to note would be Émile Cohl, whose 1908 short film, Fantasmagorie, seemed a lot similar to Blackton’s but used a more simplistic style with stick figure-like animation. He is also credited as the first animator to make a hand-drawn animated film. Winsor McCay is regarded as one of the pioneers of animation as we know today. He paid incredible attention to detail, much different from the work of Blackton. His film Gertie the Dinosaur was the first animated character to have detailed and distinct personality traits. His work, along with Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer paved the way animals were created in animation. The style of round heads and large, expressive eyes would become popular for many years to come.

          The Golden Age (1930s-1960s)

This age (again, named by motioncue.com) is where everyone’s favorite Mouse comes to play. Walt Disney took over this Golden Age with his characters and stories. His first of which being Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Mickey Mouse was introduced in 1928 with the infamous Steamboat Willie. This film was revolutionary for animation, as it was the first to incorporate sound effects and music in its films. It brought the animations to life in a way that the silent moving pictures just could not.

In 1930, he introduced the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This film revolutionized the animation industry yet again, as it was the first animated feature length film, and it included technicolor. To make this film possible, Disney invented the multiplane camera. This camera used cutouts placed with different layers for the backdrop, and then used to film through many layers of art. This made the drawings more dynamic and fuller of life. One other important invention to note was Chester Carlson’s xerography. This made the process of animation faster as it did not require every single cell of animation to be hand drawn. It allowed a drawing to be photocopied onto the cell, and then adjusted. This technique was used to create animated films for many years to come.

This era is also one of the first eras to introduce the idea of “adult animation”. This era had cartoons that were more sensual and aimed at a more mature audience. Shows like Betty Boop had characters with very accentuated bodies, particularly the female characters, acted in a very sensual manner, and just had humor that was far too mature for young kids to understand. Betty Boop was created by the Fleischer brothers, who invented the animation technique of rotoscoping. Rotoscoping combines animation with live action, to create a whole new experience.

          The “Chaotic” Era (1940s)

This era was dominated by Warner Brothers Studios. Shortly after the success of Disney and his animation, Warner Brothers purchased Brunswick Records and thought that they could sell more sheet music and records by accompanying the music with animation projects. They hired Leon Schlesinger and Hugh Harman to run the animation studio after seeing their cartoon Bosko, the Talk-Inked Kid. However, instead of being based on animals like Disney had been doing, Bosko was a stereotypical blackface character. While Warner Brothers did not continue this cartoon, the character did make an appearance in the first-ever Looney Tunes cartoon. Warner Brothers incorporated their newly gained record label into animation by creating the Merrie Melodies cartoons. This used music from some of their most famous movies and featured Abe Lyman’s then-most-famous orchestra. However, shortly after this, Harman left Warner Brothers and took his cartoons with him.

Eventually, Schlesinger hired Earl Duvall and Tom Palmer. They would create a series of “lead characters” for the studio, but the first one to stand out was Porky Pig. By 1936, Porky was the last original character made by the new team to still be in use. Of course, Warner Brothers’ sales were being led by the incorporation of famous music and artists into their cartoons. While Disney was creating music for their films, Warner Brothers rode the coattails of the success of established music.

It was during this time that color was becoming the standard in animated film, and so Warner Brothers took a more detailed approach when it came to the backgrounds. As seen here in this Bugs Bunny cartoon, you can see details, although basic, of the background. You can see the palm tree and its shadows, there are light reflections on windows and even signs of a light source on the bushes. However, it is not so detailed that it takes the audience out of the story, it just adds an even greater detail and feeling of realness to it.

          The American TV Era (1960s)

Once again named by motioncue.com, this era broke the standard for animation. Until this point, animated cartoons had really only been shown in cinema, whether they be shorts or feature films. Once cartoons became a staple in the American household, televised animation because more of an easily accessible option. The major studios began to use the technique of limited animation to produce animated television series in the 1960s. This technique allowed animators to create shows faster and with less effort. Some of the most well-known uses of this technique are the cycling of movement. That way the animators can recycle the look of someone walking or a car moving, that way they do not have to draw the same thing over and over again. Stock footage was also a huge part of this technique. Animators would reuse drawing almost in every episode to save them some time. This era of animated TV also went back to the idea of simple backgrounds and a small amount of details. Here in this screencap of The Jetsons, you see that there is little to no background, and the only details are on that of the table, props, and character.

          The Rise of Anime (1980s)

While the United States had begun their animation journey, Japan had also been creating a type of animation of its own. While their use of the word “Anime” is just to simply describe any animation, the world has collectively decided that the word refers to the specific Japanese style of animation. In 1958, Boku no Son Goku (Son-Goku the Monkey King) was created in the first version of the anime style we know now. And in the 1960s, Anime had moved from exclusively in theaters to the television screen. This anime style is heavily based on the popular manga style of books. The animation and highlights of the facial features, the more “comic-book” style of the drawings are what make anime so different from traditional animation. It is also a heavy influence on the current 2D/3D mixed style of the comic book type animation that is popular in today’s animation.

          The Rise of Claymation (1980s)

Claymation actually dates back to 1908. Directed by Wallace McCutcheon, this short combines Claymation and live-action footage to spoof the election of that year. The story follows a sculptor who is tasked with creating the busts of the three presidential candidates. However, he ends up drinking way too much and ends up in jail for the night. He dreams of the three busts magically sculpting themselves, and even engaging in chit-chat and drinking. We see the busts move and speak. This is the first time we have seen Claymation in action. To create these busts and have them “move,” each frame of movement had to be created, and then carefully set in order to be shot. Then, the shots had to be played in quick succession, much like drawings were in animation, to give the illusion of movement.

Claymation would become popular in 1953 with the premier of Gumby created by Art Clokey. He was a loveable green character, who was targeted towards children and taught moral values and lessons. However, as Disney and Warner Brothers animations became more popular, Claymation was not as prominent. That is until the 1980s when Wallace and Gromit took the stage. In 1989, Wallace and Gromit would make Claymation popular again, with their many short films that would play in both theaters and on television. This era of Claymation would pave the way for the future of 3D animation.

CGI and 3D Transition (2008-2020)

As Claymation had started the idea of 3D animation, the technology for creating it had actually begun forming around the 1970s. Frederic Parke created the first 3D model of a human face in 1974, and Edwin Catmull created the first 3D-generated hand. He would even go on to produce the first film that incorporated 3D animation in 1976. Then, of course, came the Hollywood icon Star Wars. The 3D animation of the lightsabers, puppets, and blaster effects was a huge milestone in the 3D animation world. Tron was released in 1982 and was the first film to focus mostly on 3D animation. Entire characters were created with the process, instead of just details and props.

Now of course, 3D animation has evolved immensely. And in 2008, 3D animated television became one of the most popular forms of animated television. One of the most popular shows at this time was Star Wars: The Clone Wars. It even had a feature film debut and would later run for six seasons over the course of six years. The show would become so popular, that it had a final season made exclusively for Disney+ in 2020. 3D animation would almost peak in 2009 with the movie Avatar. 90% of the movie is CGI, which is a feat in its own way, except it is the most realistic and life-like animation in history. 3D animation would also become extremely popular in the video game industry, breaking many feats and introducing the CGI method of motion capture.

The Comic book Era (2018-present)

Television and film have seemed to almost transition back to 2D animation in recent years, but it does incorporate a few of the 3D aspects in this new hybrid form of animation. In 2018, Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse was groundbreaking for this new style of animation. While still technically 2D animation, it incorporated a very comic book feel to it. With focus on line work the animators were able to create the hand-drawn look with 3D animation. They also used a slower frame rate, without making the film look glitchy, this made it look almost like early 2D animation, where several drawings are played quickly and sequentially. The animators also focused on a page-like texture to the film. This added a level of that hand-drawn feel that had never been seen before.

After the success of Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse, this comic book style of animation became an extremely popular style of animation. With television shows like Arcane, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, and even a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film coming in 2023, it does not look like this new style of animation is going anywhere any time soon.

Conclusion

Animation has been around longer than we think. And it is constantly evolving. There is certainly more history of animation to be covered, but these eras we have broken down are some of the most pivotal times in the history of animation.

References

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