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Early History of Animation
The Old Times
Cave Paintings (16,000-9,000 BC): Cave paintings depicting leaping deers and other animals appear to be in motion.
Shahr-e Sukhteh (3,000 B.C.): This was created in Iran and it was a bronze-age pottery bowl that showed goats leaping as it turned.
Vitruvian Man (1500 A.D.): Created by the great artist, sculptor, and polymath Leonardo da Vinci which showed a man’s body in multiple angles, showcasing the pathway of the movement of the man’s limbs.
Shadow Play (900 CE): Figures were created through shadow-lighting and a dialogue and a storyline were coupled with the animation to bring the animation to life. Shadow Play first appeared in Asia, and spread to the Ottomon Empire. It further spread in Europe and reached France where François Dominique Séraphin started his own theatrical shadow in 1771, performing until his death in 1800 (“History of Animation'').
Animation Before Film (1600 - 1877)
Magic Lantern (1603): used pictures shown on sheets of glass so it could act as an image projector. As the sheets move, moving shadows of light will be created. Its significance is that it was the first recorded device of projected animation.
Thaumatrope (1834): This was a rotating mechanism that had two opposite pictures that, when rotated, showed a continuous and combined picture to give a perception that the image was moving.
Flipbook (1868): Pictures are drawn inside pages of a book. Then, as the pages of the book are turned, the images flash before the eyes, giving the perception of movement.
Fleischer Studios: In 1915, Max Fleischer--born in Krakow, Poland--created the technique of rotoscoping. Rotoscoping is done by tracing over pictures frame by frame to create realistic animated movements. The technique began to gain popularity soon after Fleischer applied for patency and it was used in the Out of the Inkwell series (1918–1929) by John Bray Productions (“History of Animation”).
1917: Japan began producing animation based on animated shorts from France and the United States. People started talking about the high quality of Japanese “manga films.” But Japanese anime were more costly to produce than Western animations and were overshadowed by the popularity of Disney cartoons. The animation industry faced a great struggle with the Great Kantō Earthquake in 1923 (Rose).
The Era of Hand-Drawn Animations
The First-Ever Animation
In the early 20th Century, many animators began experimenting by creating “animated shorts,” and one of the most prominent of these was Gertie the Dinosaur released in 1914 (Zeke). Eventually, the first full-length animated film using traditional methods was El Apóstol, a 70-minute long movie that ran at 14 frames/sec (Zeke). The political satire was released in a South American theatre, but the only copy of the animation was lost in a “house fire” (Zeke). The movie’s significance lied in the fact that it was the first commercially profitable animation.
The Golden Age of American Animation (1930s - 1950s)
Walt Disney: Many believe that Walt Disney was responsible for the innovations of the 20th century and that animation began with his reign. Although a falsehood, Disney did set an unprecedented era of American success in animation, hence the title “The Golden Age.” the 1937 release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was a full-length hand-drawn animation that is not a “lost movie” (Zeke).
Achievements (1930s - 2015): Disney was a symbol of prestige for America, especially at a time when American has assumed its place in international affairs as the world power. Disney, a name that millions of people are familiar with and a company that has a whole Amusement Park named after it currently, allowed America to take a lead in animation. With Mickey’s creation, several processes such as the two-color strip, multiplane cameras, and the stereotipical processes were used and popularized throughout the country (“History of Animation”). Regardless of its breakthroughs, Disney had previously been an advocate for White supremacy (in regards to the main leads of princesses who had stereotypical features), which changed after Disney’s creation of The Princess and the Frog.
JAPAN: The Start of Tōei Dōga (Now Tōei Animation)
Ōkawa Hiroshi, president of the Tōei film company, saw Disney’s Snow White, taking inspiration and opening a new company. His ambition was to become the “Disney of the East.” In order to achieve so, he had Americans come as mentors to teach them the assembly line production
The Dawn of Computer-Generated Animations
The Television Era (1960s - 1980s)
CARTOONS: The Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, cartoons were famous on TV. Some of the more famous and awe-inspiring cartoons of the era are: Flintstones (1960s), The Pink Phink (1964), and Fritz the Cat (1964). The main purpose of the cartoons were to compliment the ever-increasing entertainment industries for those were the types of industries that had gained a boom during the 1960s. With leisure activities spreading around the world and the elitist system losing its influence to a more proletariat-based society (middle class), TV entertainment became a commonalty as more children and young teens began to indulge in cartoons.
Tetsuwan Atomu: The First Japanese Television Anime
On January 1, 1963, Fuji Television launched the television series Tetsuwan Atomu, Astro Boy. The show was an instant success and started a period of anime prosperity that created competition for other TV industries of the time. Also, Doraemon’s manga and later, animation, was created during this time period.
The Era's Significance
The CGI (computer-generated imagery) revolutionized animation by making animation focused on 2D to 3D modeling (combined with 2D).
Modern Era
Spreading Reach
The creation of the show The Simpsons, released in 1987 by Sitcom, marked the start of this revolution. Later on, the first computer-generated animation was created when Pixar released Toy Story in 1995, revolutionizing the production process of animation. In 2009, Avatar, directed by James Cameron, combined CGI with real-life actors to create life-like emotions while introducing a new way of animating and film-making. Avatar was symbolic to the two industries because it furthered the bonding between the two. Lastly the release of Big Hero 6, produced by Don Hall and Chris Williams in 2014. The film, similar to Avatar, had a more symbolic success than its capital success: it marked the partnership between Disney and Marvel; it allowed Disney a chance to create diverse characters, and it combatted the theme of sexism through one of the more prominent lines of the movie, “woman up.”
Global Animation History and Trends
Asia
Japan
Japanese animation usually dominated the East Asian Animation trends with the developments of Manga. They used exaggerated expressions and movement to create symbolic meaning, as compared to creating realism. Thus, storytelling is prioritized over conveying realism in mangas. Similar to how America is the hotspot for animation in the Western world, Japan is the hotspot for animation of the Eastern world. That is where the different ends. Japanese animation often incorporates the theme of technology, with main characters featuring as cyborgs and having hidden talents, and the level of “daring, complexity and creativity” found in Japanese animation is not found in American animation (Yasuo).
India and China
Indian and Chinese animation follows close behind. For instance, the movie Ne Zha (directed by Yu Yang and released in 2019), created in China, is quite famous for its 3D animated fantasy adventure. The movie conveys the animation style of China with “sweeping landscapes and intense fight sequences'' that many viewers would look forward to so they can engage in the “all-encompassing” Chinese myth and legend (Yasuo). Although Indian animation is not renowned for its films, the shows and cartoons, on the other hand, are sensational. Indian animation often revolves around its folktales and some examples of its famous cartoon shows are Chotta Bheem (produced by Pogo since 2008) and Mighty Raju (produced by Pogo since 2015).
Latin America
Latin America is called the “rising star” of the animation world (Rose).
Colombia
The Colombian government has supported and still supports animation projects, allowing the freedom to explore wider-ranging ideas without the financial pressure of their works having a popular appeal. Instead of running after success, the artists have the opportunity to explore their passions. Here, artists incorporate various art styles and storyline structures, gradually creating new animations from combined tools. Instead of using extreme realism, they choose the “artistic representation” that best conveys the story, leading to fantastical scenes and shifting perspectives with room for character growth (Rose).
Argentina
Argentina hosts the elite studio, Le Cube. The country reached out to other animation studios worldwide by hosting ANIMA, the Córdoba International Animation Festival every two to four years.
Africa
Nigeria
One of the most prominent countries that have renown animators is Nigeria, and similar to Columbia, the government has supported animation since 2017. Nigerian animators rely on hyper realistic animation to showcase the culture, folktale, legends, history, of Nigeria. Like all animators, Nigerian animators are passionate about their works and ready to overcome any challenge obstructing their way. For example, Ridwan Moshood learned how to make cartoons by spending hours in internet cafes watching Youtube lessons and was eventually recognized by the Cartoon Network Africa Creative Lab for his animation Garbage Boy and Trash Can (Nunis and Treanor).
Pan-African Production
In the Pan-African production, Africa partnered with Latin America to create animations. For instance, the educational series for Africal children and teens, My Better World, was a result of this collaboration which ended with 55 short films that were available in many languages. Ultimately the African Animation Network gained popularity and was propelled forward in industry.
Europe
The 1800s and On
Prominent animation-learning countries in Europe are France, Britain and Poland. Pauvre Pierrot, produced by Pantomimes Lumineuses in 1892, was a pathbreaking animation of its time and helped set the style of the animations that followed it. Another famous example is Chicken Run, produced by British studio Aardman Animations in 2000. European animation has struggled with being an international success for some of them cannot even get fame continent-wide. Despite the struggles, Europe is striving to catch up to the animation world nowadays.
North America
United States of America
They were several renowned artists who helped propel America into is Golden Age before Walt Disney; James S. Blackton, whose works introduced new methods in the film media and Winsor McKay, whose works made him the father of “true” or cartoonist animation, are just two of the many.
Disney’s works essentially marked a new era in global animation history that introduced revolutionary methods that modernized the animation process. The development of the Disney industry and the creation of the first full-length animated movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) are just a few of the examples. Disney pioneered these process and introduced “contemporary” innovations--technicolor and multiplance motion picture camera are just two of the many--that helped establish the “Twelve Basic Principles of Animation” (Motalova)
The creation of Pixar Animation Studios by Edwin Catmull and Alvy Ray Smith in 1968 marked the development of CGI, and ultimately led to 3D animated movies. Shrek (2001) and Zootopia (2016) are some of the more prevalent examples. The development of 3D animation allowed significant advancements in the film industries, and more specifically in the science-fiction and fantasy genres where 3D animation brought to life mystical characters.
Canada
Canadian animation was established in 1939, with the founding of the National Film Board of Canada (“Canadian Animation”). Unlike its American counterpart, Canadian animation struggled for recognition and in fact, only in the 1970s was Canada able to make its mark with the development of Nelvana studios.
Nelvana studios allowed Canadian animators to make prominent animations such as The Raccoons (1985-1992) and The Wonderful World of Disney (1954-Present). Although CGI was attempted to be incorporated by Canadian animarots, flash animation eventually became more prevalent because it proved to be a cost-effective method that allowed the Canadian market to compete against Japan and America.