Animation History Timeline
We often think of animation being exclusively tied to film and television. Before actual fim and projection in general, animation concepts were being explored. In 1868 for example, the first flip book (which was called a kineograph) was invented by John Barnes Linnett.
The Praxinoscope was unveiled in France in 1877 by it's inventor Charles-Émile Reynaud, and is noted as the first known animation projected on a screen.
Animation history really picks up with the production of Emile Cohl's Fantasmagorie in France in 1908. The animation timeline then starts to progress with several films being produced during the next twenty years;
Gertie the Dinosaur, produced by Winsor McCay and distributed to commercial movie theaters in 1914 being a land mark during this period.
In the 1920s and 1930s Warner Brothers Pictures, MGM and Disney studios developed cartoon techniques, producing more and more sophisticated cartoons using traditional animation techniques of producing complex backgrounds and then imposing moving figures on them with celluloid, a transparent film.
 Disney was especially innovative, adding sound in 1928 and producing the first full length animated film in 1937 - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Computer animation started to change animation techniques and animation history during the 1970s and 1980s. In 1982, the Star Trek Film "the Wrath of Khan used computer animation techniques to generate the Genesis Effect scene.
In 1988, the film Willow uses photo-realistic morphing for the first time in a film, thanks to Industrial Light and Magic.
In 1991, Terminator 2: Judgement Day brought morphing and 3d computer graphics in general to a whole new level in a film with the T-1000 Termnator character and the 3d chrome effects used.
 The 1990s really saw the beginning of the impact of computer animation, with different techniques being developed.
Jurassic Park in 1993 blew away audiences with its blend of convincing CGI dinosaurs and actual actors and scenery.
Toy Story in 1995 was the first computer animated feature done exclusively with CGI. This blockbuster really ushered in the entire genre of CGI only films that we still see to this day. Toy Story was honored with a Special Achievement Academy Award.
Make sure to also check out:
Computer Animation Schools
Animation Career Information
How to Become a 3D Modeler
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