Firsts in animation

This list provides an overview of animated productions that can be considered as milestones in the development of animation techniques or in artistic or commercial success.

Year Milestone Film Notes
1878 praxinoscope animation Le singe musicien
1900 Animation on standard celluloid film The Enchanted Drawing
1917 Feature film El Apóstol Created with cutout animation; now considered lost
1926 The Adventures of Prince Achmed Oldest surviving animated feature film, cutout silhouette animation
1919 Filmed in Rotoscope The Clown's Pup Short film
1924 Synchronized sound on film Oh Mabel Short film; used Lee de Forest's Phonofilm sound on film process, though none of the characters "speak" on screen
1926 Synchronized sound on film with animated dialogue My Old Kentucky Home[1] Short film; used Lee de Forest's Phonofilm sound on film process; a dog character mouths the words, "Follow the ball, and join in, everybody!"
1930 Filmed in Two-color Technicolor King of Jazz[2] Premiering in April 1930, a three-minute cartoon sequence produced by Walter Lantz appears in this full-length, live-action Technicolor feature film.
1930 Two-color Technicolor in a stand-alone cartoon Fiddlesticks Released in August 1930, this Ub Iwerks-produced short is the first standalone color cartoon.
1930 Feature-length puppet animated (stop-motion) film The Tale of the Fox Only animation finished in 1930; not released with a soundtrack until 1937
1935 The New Gulliver The first released puppet-animated feature. Includes scenes of animation combined with live-action footage
1931 Feature-length sound film Peludópolis Now considered lost
1932 Filmed in three-strip Technicolor Flowers and Trees Short film
1937 First film using Disney's multiplane camera The Old Mill Short film. A predecessor of the multiplane technique had already been used for The Adventures of Prince Achmed. Ub Iwerks had developed an early version of the multiplane camera in 1934 for his The Headless Horseman Comicolor Cartoon.[3]
Feature filmed in three-strip Technicolor Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
1940 Stereophonic sound Fantasia Recorded in Fantasound with 33 microphones on eight channels, but the reproduction of multi-channel Fantasound in theaters was eventually more limited than intended
1942 First film applying limited animation The Dover Boys at Pimento University Short film
1951 First animated 3-D film Now is the Time
Around is Around		 Abstract dual-strip stereoscopic short films by Norman McLaren for the Festival of Britain[4]
1953 First cartoon presented in widescreen format Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom Short film
1955 First animated feature in widescreen format Lady and the Tramp
First stop-motion television series The Gumby Show[5]
1956 First US animated primetime TV series CBS Cartoon Theatre Compilation television series
1957 First animated TV series broadcast in color Colonel Bleep Television series
1959 Syncro-Vox Clutch Cargo Television series
1960 Xerography process (replacing hand inking) Goliath II Short film
First primetime animated sitcom The Flintstones Television series
1961 Feature film using xerography process One Hundred and One Dalmatians
1962 The First animated TV Christmas Special Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol Television special
1964 First feature film based on a television show Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!
1966 The First animated TV Halloween Special It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Television special
1969 First animated feature deemed to be X-rated A Thousand and One Nights Japanese anime hit. Pornographic animations had already been made for the phénakisticope and the short film The Virgin with the Hot Pants (circa 1924)
1978 Animated feature to be presented in Dolby sound Watership Down
1983 3D feature film - stereoscopic technique Abra Cadabra
Animated feature containing computer-generated imagery Rock and Rule
Animated TV series to be recorded in Stereo sound Inspector Gadget
1985 Feature-length clay-animated film The Adventures of Mark Twain
1988 First feature film to have live-action and cartoon animation share the screen for the entire film Who Framed Roger Rabbit
1989 TV cartoon to be broadcast in Dolby Surround sound. Hanna-Barbera's 50th: A Yabba Dabba Doo Celebration
1990 First computer-animated feature (produced without a camera)
Feature film using digital ink and paint		 The Rescuers Down Under First feature film completely produced with Disney's Computer Animation Production System
1991 First animated film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture Beauty and the Beast As of 2023, no animated film has won the Best Picture Oscar yet.
1992 First animated feature to earn $500 million worldwide[6] Aladdin
1993 CGI-animated series VeggieTales Christian animated series released on home video
1994 CGI-animated series for television Insektors
First animated feature to earn $750 million worldwide[7] The Lion King
1995 First "3D" style (wire-frame) computer-animated feature
First CGI and G-rated Pixar CGI feature film		 Toy Story
Animated television series to be broadcast in Dolby Surround Pinky and the Brain
1996 First entirely CGI feature film (without using rotoscopy) Cassiopéia Released 3 months after Toy Story, this Brazilian film does not use anything that was not created within CGI software
1997 First animated series produced for the Internet[8]
Animated series		 The Goddamn George Liquor Program
1998 PG-rated CGI animated film Antz
1999 First animated IMAX feature Fantasia 2000
2001 Motion-capture animation
PG-13-rated CGI animated film		 Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
First Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Shrek Monsters, Inc. and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius were also nominated.
2002 First Flash-animated television series ¡Mucha Lucha!
2003 First Flash-animated film Wizards and Giants
2004 Cel-shaded animation Appleseed
First motion capture animated movie The Polar Express
2005 Feature shot with digital still cameras Corpse Bride
2007 Feature digitally animated by one person Flatland
Presented in 7.1 surround sound Ultimate Avengers Blu-ray release
2008 Feature film designed, created and released exclusively in 3D Fly Me to the Moon
2009 Stop-motion character animated using rapid prototyping Coraline
First feature film directly produced in stereoscopic 3D rather than converted in 3D after completion using InTru3D Monsters vs. Aliens
2010 First animated feature to earn $1 billion worldwide[9]
Feature film released theatrically in 7.1 surround sound		 Toy Story 3
2012 Stop-motion film to use color 3-D printing technology for models ParaNorman
2013 First animated feature to earn $1.25 billion worldwide Frozen
2016 The first R-rated 3D computer-animated film Sausage Party
2019 First animated feature to earn $1.5 billion worldwide The Lion King (2019) Walt Disney Pictures, which produced the film, considered it to be live-action despite the entire film (aside from its opening shot) being computer animated.[10] Other sources deemed it to be animated based on specified criteria.[11]
2022 Animated feature film to aspect ratio opened up in IMAX Lightyear It opened up from 2.39:1 to 1.43:1 for select sequences of the film.[12]
2024 First AI-generated animated feature film
First AI anime feature film		 DreadClub: Vampire's Verdict 100% AI-generated including visuals, acting, sound, music, animation, and scripting.
Animated series with IMAX aspect ratio Max & the Midknights Opened from 2.39:1 to 1.43:1 for select sequences.
First animated feature film in 2:1 aspect ratio
First animated feature film converted from planned TV series		 Moana 2 Originally planned as Disney+ series, converted to film due to first film's 2023 streaming success.
  1. ^ Maltin, Leonard; Beck, Jerry (1980). Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 89. ISBN 978-0-0703-9835-1.
  2. ^ "Whiteman Film Due Tomorrow." Los Angeles Times 18 Apr. 1930: A9. Print.
  3. ^ Pat Williams and Jim Denney (2004). How to Be Like Walt: Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life. HCI. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-7573-0231-2.
  4. ^ "Around Is Around (1951)". BFI. Archived from the original on June 22, 2018.
  5. ^ Solomon, Charles (1989). Enchanted Drawings: The History of Animation. New York: Random House, Inc. pp. 231–232. ISBN 978-0-394-54684-1.
  6. ^ "Aladdin (1992)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on February 15, 2009. Retrieved March 17, 2009.
  7. ^ Brevert, Brad (May 29, 2016). "'X-Men' & 'Alice' Lead Soft Memorial Day Weekend; Disney Tops $4 Billion Worldwide". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  8. ^ "27th Annual Annie Award Nominee Showcase: Goddamn George Liquor Program". AWM.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2007-12-14.
  9. ^ Subers, Ray (August 29, 2010). "'Toy Story 3' Reaches $1 Billion". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  10. ^ Smith, Nigel (July 29, 2019). "The Lion King Director Reveals There's One 'Real Shot' in Hit CGI Remake". People. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  11. ^ Whitten, Sarah (2019-12-09). "Disney calls 'The Lion King' live-action. The Golden Globes just nominated it for best animated feature". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2020-02-26. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  12. ^ Har-Even, Benny (March 29, 2022). "Lightyear In IMAX Will Feature 1.43:1 Aspect Ratio Scenes". Forbes. Archived from the original on March 14, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.