Many consider that the predecessor of the modern day comic strip originated in an Egyptian wall embellishment approximately 2000 B.C ago. Eventually, when Thomas Edison developed the projector and motion camera, the first reasonable convenient means of creating animation was finally obtainable. In 1906 Stuart Blackton presented a short film entitled “Humorous Phases of Funny Faces” where he outlined comical faces on a blackboard, took pictures of them, and afterward expunged it to sketch a new segment of the facial expression (James). Equally, Winsor McCay, acknowledged as the father of the animated film, had revealed to the world the true potential of animated cartoon in his 1914 milestone film entitled “Gertie the Dinosaur” (Crando). Nevertheless, during the early period, Felix the Cat developed the strongest screen persona among the animated film characters, but was unsuccessful to expand any further since it relied mostly on unrefined visual tricks in entertaining the viewers.
An enormous change came over the animation industry in the middle of 1920s, when large studios had set standards for animation that eventually displaced the smaller studios (James). Cartoons during this time were produced in quantity and inexpensively. In 1928, Walt Disney Studio with its film “Steamboat Willie” starring Mickey Mouse exploded onto the scene. Because of the film’s recognition, many believed that finally an animation industry has created what may be regarded as true art.
The symbiotic nature of relationship between Walt and his employees resulted to Disney Studio’s creative success. In the early 1930s Walt influenced his artists to develop a naturalistic, realistic style of animation that pushed animations away from the “rubber hose” trend of the soundless era (Crando). He shaped the first full-length animated feature “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” as well as “Pinocchio,” a film whose complex levels of technical vividness is believed by several animators that are thus far unsurpassed. Without a doubt Walt Disney is a creative thinker in cinema, and can be appropriately credited for instituting the most up-to-date innovations in animation history.
Works Cited
Crando, Michael. n.d. “The History of Animation: Advantages and Disadvantages of the Studio System in the Production of an Art Form.” Digital Media FX. 20 January 2009 <http://www.digitalmediafx.com/Features/animationhistoryp.html>.
James, Patrick. n.d. “History of Animation.” Department of Visualization. 20 January 2009 <http://www-viz.tamu.edu/courses/viza615/97spring/pjames/history/main.html>.
