Animation: How It Has Evolved in the Past One Hundred Plus Years

949 Words2 Pages

When people hear the word 'Animation' the first thing that may come to mind would be cartoon. Although this is partially the correct answer, what many people don't realize is that without animation's history many things we take for granted today would not exist. A lot of the inventions and innovations in the industry of animation would have prevented the film, gaming, graphics, and even the computer industry to almost being non-existent. The story of animation is far from their famous kid-friendly fairy tales and colorful worlds, in fact many animated films and short films are too dark or sexual for children to even view. From Mainstream to Avant-Garde, the story is filled with hundreds of companies across the world rising and falling from fame, animators and film directors working years on films then destroying them in their downfall. It may be a bit surprising to find out that this massive and intricate story started over 29 years before Disney was even born.

When people hear the word 'Animation' the first thing that may come to mind would be cartoon. Although this is partially the correct answer, what many people don't realize is that without animation's history many things we take for granted today would not exist. A lot of the inventions and innovations in the industry of animation would have prevented the film, gaming, graphics, and even the computer industry to almost being non-existent. The story of animation is far from their famous kid-friendly fairy tales and colorful worlds, in fact many animated films and short films are too dark or sexual for children to even view. From Mainstream to Avant-Garde, the story is filled with hundreds of companies across the world rising and falling from fame, animators and film direct...

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... in the public domain. Much of them have been restored and released on DVD for collectors and animation/film enthusiasts.

Works Cited

Cavalier, Stephen. The World History of Animation. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2011. Print.

Solomon, Charles. Enchanted Drawings: The History of Animation. New York: Knopf, 1989. Print.

Maltin, Leonard. Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1980. Print.

Beckerman, Howard. Animation: The Whole Story. New York: Allworth, 2003. Print.

"The Big Cartoon DataBase Animated Film Directory and TV Series Episode Guides." Big Cartoon DataBase RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.

"Oldest Animation Discovered In Iran." Animation Magazine RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.

"The History of Animation." The History of Animation. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.

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