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Maria M. Cuevas-Suarez

Mrs.Ramirez

English Period 7

06 April 2022

The Evolution of Animation

Animation has changed drastically since its beginning in the late 20th century. It is a

medium that allows us to communicate ideas and feelings to all audiences through a distinct

approach. Animation is “the technique of photographing successive drawings or positions of

puppets or models to create an illusion of movement when the movie is shown as a sequence.”

(Oxford Languages). How exactly has animation changed and who are some of the people

behind its ongoing evolution? It is important to start at the beginning when the first fully

animated cartoon was made. If we don’t look back to early technology how will we understand

early animation? Early animators set the standard with their creative storytelling and art.

Currently, we are the most advanced when it comes to animation through the advancement of

technology and the ambition of animators. Animation has changed drastically over the years

since it started out as simple drawings to now where all kinds of animations are made using CGI.

Technology has a lot to do with the progression of animation and how we view it.

French animator Émile Cohl produced the first fully animated cartoon. Fantasmagorie is

the title of the French animated film which was released in 1908(fudgeanimation.com).

Even though the film today wouldn't be as impressive compared to current animation, back then

this film grabbed the attention of many viewers. The cartoon was made from 700 drawings. It is
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two minutes long and is one of the earliest pieces of traditional animation (fudgeanimation). It is

impressive that people can create hundreds of drawings that can turn into a film. This cartoon

was made up of turbulent fast-paced movement with constant morphing for the entire duration of

the film (mymodernmet.com). This film is very excentric and definitely was remembered by

those who viewed it. I couldn’t imagine what animation would look like today if not for early

animation films like this one.

Before the beginning of traditional animation, multiple devices and techniques were

invented in order to make short animations. The magic lantern was developed in 1603. It is an

image projection device that would project light on glass slides. When the slides were together,

they created moving pictures (masterclass.com). Inventors like these were smart and must have

thought of many things to finally achieve the result they wanted. Zoetrope was a spinning

cylinder that showed images in a sequence of motion that people could watch. The cylinder had

multiple vertical slits which allowed the images to mesh into an animation (masterclass.com).

The zoetrope is special because anybody can make one with basic materials. A kineograph was a

small booklet of drawings. When the pages were flipped quickly it would look like a moving

animation (masterclass.com). A kineograph was one of the most simple ways to make an

animation because it only required a booklet and something to draw with. These small inventions

and techniques were only the beginning of what was to come for animation.

Previous inventions inspired people during the 19th and 20th centuries to push animation

even further which led to innovative and unique films. German director, Lotte Reiniger was

fascinated with silhouette puppetry. In 1926, she became the first woman to direct a feature film

called The Adventured of Prince Achmed. Her paper silhouette animation took many months to
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create. After moving to England from Berlin due to WWII, she created over 40 shorts in her

60-year long career (mymodernmet.com). Silhouette puppetry is a beautiful style of animation

and technique that originated hundreds of years ago in China and the Indonesian islands of Java

and Bali. Windsor McCay became famous for his comic strips, specifically one called Little

Nemo. his first animated short was made up of more than 4,000 drawings on rice paper

(mymodernment.com). It must have taken a long time and a lot of meticulous work to achieve

over 4,000 drawings. Ub Iwerks became friends with Walt Disney in 1919. When Walt Disney

started his company, Ub Iwerks was his first employee. They set up their base in Los Angeles

where they created Disney's first character named Oswald The Lucky Rabbit. Since Universal

Studios was their distributor at the time, it gave them the ability to prevent Disney from using

Oswald. Disney responded to this by creating a new character called Mickey Mouse which we all

recognize today (fudgeanimation.com). Who would have thought that Universal Studios was the

reason Mickey Mouse would end up being made. Clearly, a lot of characters and styles wouldn’t

be a thing if it weren't for these people.

In this day and age, animations are produced using much more sophisticated technology

than previously mentioned, when computer technology emerged, animators feared they would

lose their jobs. However, It was realized that technology was not an enemy but a very useful tool.

The technology used today includes augmented reality, virtual reality, after effects, visual effects,

and live character animations (apilama.com). These days it is rare for an animation to not be

made with some type of CGI software. Toy Story was the first computer-animated feature film

released in late 1995. After the success of Toy Story, more studios started making CGI films. In

turn, the industry standard changed. Studios that produce these movies are called
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“Computer-Generated Studios”. They have access to powerful software and state-of-the-art

programs (apilama.com). Another successful CGI movie that came out after Toy Story is Shrek.

Today, studios compete with each other and develop their own software in hopes of making the

next animated hit. An example of technology used would be Renderman. This technology is

award-winning and has been used to render movies like Toy Story, Onward, and Jurassic Park

(apilama.com). With the use of CGI, more audiences will be captivated by the films they watch.

Technology at this point has made it into every aspect of entertainment and will continue to

transform the things we watch and enjoy.

In conclusion, with the innovative minds of people as well as their creative storytelling,

and art, we can recognize just how much animation has progressed with each passing decade.

Animation isn’t done evolving. It is a medium that will continue to evolve and reinvent itself

time and time again. All it took was one person who desired to create the first fully animated

film. New inventions paved the way for even more animated content. Ambitious and creative

animators began to make their mark on the world of animation with their special storytelling and

art styles. The creation of more advanced technology led to the modern animated films we see

everywhere today. Animation is an everchanging medium that has evolved immensely over the

course of a century. As said by William Hanna, co-founder of Hanna Barbera, “In my opinion,

animation will continue to thrive as long as there are children, parents, television, movies, and

the need to laugh.”

Works Cited

The evolution of animation - a timeline - Fudge Animation

"The Evolution Of Animation - A Timeline - Fudge Animation". Fudge Animation, 2018,

https://www.fudgeanimation.com/2018/11/the-evolution-of-animation-a-timeline/.

Accessed 7 Apr 2022.

Your Bibliography: staff, M., 2022. A Guide to the History of Animation. [online] MasterClass

Articles. Available at:

<https://www.masterclass.com/articles/a-guide-to-the-history-of-animation#what-is-the-h

istory-of-computer-animation> [Accessed 29 March 2022].

5 Pioneers of Early Animation Who Influenced the Future of Film

"5 Pioneers Of Early Animation Who Influenced The Future Of Film". My Modern Met, 2018,

https://mymodernmet.com/pioneers-of-early-animation/. Accessed 7 Apr 2022.

Ngu, S.

Ngu, Sabrina. "How Animation Has Changed Throughout The Years". The Fanscotian, 2022,

https://thefanscotian.com/11592/entertainment/how-animation-has-changed-throughout-t

he-years/. Accessed 29 Mar 2022.

How Technology Evolutions changed Animation - APIs & Cloud Tech News -   APILama

"How Technology Evolutions Changed Animation - Apis & Cloud Tech News -   Apilama".

Apilama, 2020,

https://apilama.com/2020/06/29/how-technology-evolutions-changed-animation/.

Accessed 29 Mar 2022.

shadow play

"Shadow Play". Encyclopedia Britannica, 2022, https://www.britannica.com/art/shadow-play.

Accessed 7 Apr 2022.