The history of animation is rich and varied, spanning over a century from the earliest experiments in novelty animation devices to the multi-million dollar animated blockbusters of the modern day. Read on to learn about how animation has changed over time.            

Early Animation

Unbeknownst to many, the history of animation extends well before the invention of film. Early animation was created in the form novelty items such as flipbooks and zoetropes. A flipbook is a small booklet which depicts a short animation when its pages are flipped through rapidly. A zoetrope, on the other hand, is a cylindrical drum containing a strip that spins at high speed to create looping animations.

Although the earliest animations were only a few seconds at most, these innovative means of creating the illusion of motion provided great inspiration to animators of later eras.

1900s-1920s: Silent Era

Felix the Cat was a popular character of the silent era

It didn't take long after the advent of film for animators to start experimenting with the medium. This era marked the beginning of many trends for animation, such as its humorous tone inspired by vadueville shows of the time and penchant for animal characters. Sadly, a note must be made of the inspiration these cartoons took from minstrel shows as well, a topic with its own long and complex history.

Though the animation industry was budding, cartoons were still seen as a simple novelty. It wasn't until the advent of sound when audiences began to take a greater interest in animation.

1930s-1950s: Golden Age

The thirties, forties, and fifties mark what is considered by many to be the Golden Age of animation. Animation became an essential part of mainstream culture, being used in everything from feature films to advertisements to war propaganda. This era saw the foundation of many of the most influential studios in animation history such as Disney, Warner Brothers, and Fleisher. The talented (not to mention well funded) animators of this era produced hundreds of great works that are beloved to this day.

Havoc in Heaven, an animation classic by Shangai Animation     

While the American animation industry was by far the largest, other countries across the world produced cartoons rivaling even the best America had to offer. Studios established in this era such as Soyuzmultfilm from Russia, Shanghai Animation Film Studio from China, and Toei Animation from Japan are all legendary in their own right.

1960s-1980s: TV Animation

Shows like Alvin and the Chipmunks used a limited animation style    

Television changed the course of animation history more than perhaps any other invention. Among the most influential studios of this era was United Productions of America (UPA). UPA pioneered a style known as limited animation which featured simple designs and reused frames with minor changes. While initially intended as a stylistic choice, this technique was adopted by other studios such as Hanna-Barbera and Filmation as a way to cut costs and produce animations more quickly for TV.

1990s-Present: Digital Era

The digital era has brough many innovations to the world of animation. As technology continues to improve animation gets cheaper and easier to produce, lowering the barrier for entry and ushering in a wide variety of new forms of animation. Of particular note is the advent of computer generated imagery (CGI), a "3D" form of animation which has grown to dominate the theatrical side of the industry with studios like Pixar and Dreamworks.

Additionally, the creation of the world wide web has introduced millions of people to the art of animation, allowing young artists to try their hand at the medium with widely available and easy-to-use tools. A whole culture of independent web-based animation has developed over time, with many animators making a name for themselves on sites such as YouTube. As this new generation of animators and animation fans continues to grow, animation is bigger now than it ever was before.