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What Was The First Animated Film With Sound

Steamboat Willie Disney's Steamboat Willie was the first animated work with synchronized sound on picture.10 Nov 2015
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You might assume that the animation revolution began in 1937 with the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but actually, the genre has actually existed almost as long as its live-action counterpart.

This timeline through the decades outlines animation's humble beginnings—from simple drawings on a blackboard and the first cartoon—to major technological breakthroughs including the introduction of color and completely digital animation production.

1900s-1929

YearAnimated Film Event1906J. Stuart Blackton's "Humorous Phases of Funny Faces" is released. It is a three-minute short in which Blackton creates animating drawings of faces and people against a plain blackboard.1908The first short comprised solely of animated images Emile Cohl's "Fantasmagorie" premieres in Paris.1908"Humpty Dumpty Circus" marks the first use of stop-motion animation on film.1914Earl Hurd invents the process of cell animation, which would revolutionize and dominate the industry for much of the 20th century.1914"Gertie the Dinosaur" is widely considered the first animated short to feature a distinguishable character. Cartoonist and animator Winsor McCay brings a walking, dancing dinosaur to life.1917The first feature-length animated film, Quirino Cristiani's "El Apostol," is released. Unfortunately, ​the only known copy was destroyed in a fire.1919Felix the Cat makes his debut and becomes the first famous animated cartoon character.1920The first color cartoon, John Randolph Bray's "The Debut of Thomas Cat," is released.1922Walt Disney animates his first animated short, "Little Red Riding Hood." Though initially thought lost, a copy was found and restored in 1998.1928Mickey Mouse makes his debut. Though the first Mickey Mouse cartoon is technically the six-minute short "Plane Crazy," the first Mickey Mouse short to be distributed is "Steamboat Willie," which is also the first Disney cartoon with synchronized sound.1929Disney's iconic line of animated shorts, "Silly Symphonies," kicks off its prolific run with "The Skeleton Dance."

1930s-1949

YearAnimated Film Event

1930

Betty Boop debuts as a woman/dog hybrid in the short "Dizzy Dishes."1930Warner Bros. Looney Tunes makes its debut with "Sinkin' in the Bathtub."1931Quirino Cristiani's "Peludopolis," which tells the story of a military coup against a corrupt president, boasts the first instance of sound within a feature-length animated film. There are no surviving copies of the movie in existence.1932The first full-color, three-strip Technicolor animated short, "Flowers and Trees," is released. The film wins Disney the first-ever Academy Award for Animated Short Film.1933"King Kong," which features several stop-motion animated characters, is released.1933Ub Iwerks invents the multiplane camera, which allows animators to create a three-dimensional effect within two-dimensional cartoons.1935The Russian film "The New Gulliver" becomes the first full-length feature to employ stop-motion animation for the bulk of its running time.1937"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," Walt Disney's first full-length animated feature and the first such production to emerge out of the United States, is released. It becomes a huge box office success and Disney was awarded an Honorary Academy Award for the achievement.1938Bugs Bunny makes his debut in "Porky's Hare Hunt," though the character wasn't named until 1941.1940Tom the cat launches his unending pursuit of Jerry the mouse in the Oscar-nominated short "Puss Gets the Boot."1940

Woody Woodpecker arrives on the scene with a small role in the Andy Panda cartoon "Knock, Knock."

1941The first full-length animated musical, "Mr. Bug Goes to Town," is released.1946Disney's first live-action film, "Song of the South," is released and boasts several animated interludes. Because of its controversial depiction of the African-American character Uncle Remus, the film has never been released on home media in the United States.1949Prolific stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen makes his debut with the creation of the title character in "Mighty Joe Young."

1972-Present

YearAnimated Film Event1972Ralph Bakshi's "Fritz the Cat" is released as the first X-rated animated feature in cinematic history.1973Computer-generated images are used for the very first time in a brief shot within "Westworld."1975Revolutionary special-effects company Industrial Light & Magic is founded by George Lucas.1982"Tron" marks the first time that computer-generated images are used extensively in a film.1986Pixar's first short, "Luxo Jr.," is released. It is the first computer-animated short to receive an Academy Award nomination.1987"The Simpsons," an American adult animated sitcom created by Matt Groening airs. It is the longest-running American sitcom, the longest-running American animated program, and in 2009 it surpassed "Gunsmoke" as the longest-running American scripted primetime television series.1991Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" becomes the first fully animated film to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.1993" Jurassic Park" becomes the first live-action film to feature photorealistic computer-animated creatures.1995

The first computer-animated film, "Toy Story," is released to theaters. The achievement is honored with a Special Achievement Academy Award.

1999"Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" marks the first film to use computer-generated imagery extensively and pervasively, in terms of its sets, special effects, and supporting characters.2001The Academy creates a Best Animated Feature category. "Shrek" is the first movie to win the Oscar.2002"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers " features the first photorealistic motion captured character for a film with Andy Serkis portraying Gollum.2004"The Polar Express" becomes the first fully-animated film to use motion capture technology to render all of its characters.2005"Chicken Little" becomes the first computer-animated film to be released in 3D.2009James Cameron's groundbreaking "Avatar" is the first film to feature a fully computer-generated 3D photorealistic world.2012ParaNorman is the first 3D stop-motion animated film created with characters that are computer generated using 3D printing technology.
18 Related questions Answers found

What was the first motion picture with sound

The first motion picture with a synchronized soundtrack was titled "Don Juan.". Released in 1926, it was directed by Alan Crosland . The movie was produced specifically to show off the Vitaphone sound system.

What was the first movie with synchronized sound

The first major commercial film with synchronized sound was 'Don Juan' in 1926. It used the Vitaphone , a sound-on-disk system. 'The Jazz Singer' was produced by Warner Brothers, who had also done 'Don Juan' in the same system in 1927.

What was the first Mickey Mouse cartoon?

Steamboat Willie (1928), the first Mickey Mouse cartoon to be publicly released, shows Mickey flirtatiously pursuing Minnie Mouse, playing with animals as if they are instruments, and discovering his curiosity and love of music; Mickey's actions are typified by that of a teenager or young boy.

What was the first in color movie?

FIRST MOVIE EVER MADE IN COLOR The first commercially produced film in natural color was A Visit to the Seaside (1908). The eight-minute British short film used the Kinemacolor process to capture a series of shots of the Brighton Southern England seafront.

Was Walt Disney scared of mice?

The irony of Mickey Mouse's creation is that Walt Disney was in fact scared of mice. However, he pictured mice as sympathetic creatures, despite people being scared of them.

What were Walt Disney's last words?

Walt Disney's Last Words Were 'Kurt Russell,' According To Kurt Russell. Fresh from the Disney vault.

Why does Mickey Mouse have a hole in his shoe?

Trivia. Mickey is voiced by actor Chris Diamantopoulos instead of Bret Iwan, because this time Disney wanted Mickey's voice to sound closer to Walt Disney's for the character in this series. ... Mickey has a hole on the bottom of his right shoe (there isn't one on promotional art) for unknown reasons.

What was Disney's first 3d animated movie?

The first Disney Digital 3-D film was Chicken Little, which was released in late 2005.

What was the first ever Disney short?

The very first animated short called Kansas City's Spring Clean-up was created in 1921 as a demo reel, and is a two second clip of an early Mickey Mouse. Other classic short animations include Mickey's Good Deed (1932) and The Night Before Christmas (1933), which will also be screened by the BFI next month.

What was the first Disney film to feature stereophonic sound

When the Walt Disney company released their iconic movie Fantasia in 1940, it was the first feature film to have stereophonic sound–the film included a right, center, and left channel.

Who was the first original Disney character?

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (also known as Oswald the Rabbit or Oswald Rabbit) is a cartoon character created in 1927 by Walt Disney for Universal Pictures. He starred in several animated short films released to theaters from 1927 to 1938.

Was Snow White the first Disney movie?

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Based on the 1812 German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, it is the first full-length traditionally animated feature film and the first Disney animated feature film.

What was the first 'slasher' film ever made

The horror genre has been frightening audiences for over 100 years. Most would say the first horror film ever made was "Le Manoir du Diable" or "The House of the Devil" which was filmed by Georges Melies of France in 1896. The film runs about 3 minutes and was completely silent.

What were Mickey Mouse's first words?

Mickey's first spoken line is "Hot dogs! Hot dogs!", the voice being provided by composer Carl W. Stalling instead of Walt Disney. Three other recurring characters of the series also appear.

What is the first and oldest Disney cartoon?

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first and oldest feature length animated film released by Disney. The movie made its debut at the Carthay Circle Theatre on December 21, 1937 and was released nationwide (U.S.) on February 8, 1938.

What was Disney's first color animated film?

READ MORE: Disneyland's Disastrous Opening Day Walt Disney's decision to make Snow White, which was the first animated feature to be produced in English and in Technicolor, flew in the face of the popular wisdom at the time.

Who made the first cartoon with sound?

Disney's Steamboat Willie was the first animated work with synchronized sound on picture.

What was the first cartoon on TV?

“Crusader Rabbit” was the first animated series produced specifically for television. The limited animation concept was test marketed in 1948, while the initial episode (below), aired on KNBH (now KNBC) in Los Angeles on August 1, 1949.