Discover the Fascinating History of the Oldest Cartoons
Whether reminiscing about the zany antics of Bugs Bunny or marveling at the magic of Mickey Mouse, chances are that cartoons hold a special place in your childhood memories. But have you ever wondered about the early pioneers who first brought animated characters to life over a century ago?
I‘m thrilled to take you on an enchanting journey back to the fascinating beginnings of cartoons. We‘ll meet the innovative artists who made the seemingly impossible possible through their creativity and determination. Trust me when I say – this eye-opening history is no cartoon!
The Groundbreaking Genius of Émile Cohl Ushers in a New Artform
Our captivating story starts in 1908 with an artistic Frenchman named Émile Cohl. Fascinated by the illusion of motion created through sequencing images, Cohl tirelessly hand-drew over 700 frames to create Fantasmagorie – considered the first fully animated cartoon ever made!
Lasting less than 2 minutes, this black-and-white silent film featured a stick figure man morphing into various shapes and objects. Though simplistic by today‘s standards, Fantasmagorie pioneered core animation techniques like character transformation and metamorphosis.
Cohl‘s revolutionary film opened people‘s eyes to the boundless creative potential of animation as an artform. Without his genius, the magical worlds depicted in cartoons may never have materialized! Fantasmagorie inspired a wave of animators to begin experimenting in this nascent medium.
Winsor McCay Dazzles with Dreamlike Wonder and Technical Mastery
Inspired by Cohl’s innovations, American cartoonist Winsor McCay sought to take animation further. Highly skilled as an illustrator and comic strip artist, McCay brought stunningly detailed characters to life starting with 1911’s Little Nemo.
His subsequent films like How a Mosquito Operates and Gertie the Dinosaur reflected huge leaps forward. McCay incorporated more dynamic line animation, naturalistic movement, integrated backgrounds, as well as personality and emotion into his hand-drawn creations. He pioneered keyframing techniques whereby animators sketch just enough frames to indicate key poses rather than drawing every single frame. This allowed greater expediency to apply his rich illustrations to motion.
Beyond just improving visuals, McCay explored imaginative dreamscapes and whimsical stories like a Little Nemo wandering Slumberland. This set a vital precedent for characters and narratives in animated cartoons focused more on fantasy adventures over slapstick. McCay also wowed crowds by interacting with Gertie the Dinosaur on stage – an early integration of live-action and animation that created an immersive world.
His pioneering advances demonstrated animation’s untapped artistic and storytelling promise at a time when most saw it as a novelty. Animation scholar John Canemaker notes, "McCay put a face on the early animation process and greatly expanded people‘s ideas on what animation could do and be.”
Famous Faces Emerge: Felix, Oswald & Mickey Capture Hearts
Building on these innovations, iconic animated stars were soon born that would capture the hearts of audiences worldwide.
The cheerful, mischief-making cat Felix first danced his way into movie theaters in 1919. Animator Otto Messmer brought Felix to life working for film producer Pat Sullivan. Felix’s signature looks – giant grin, bodyless feet, bag of tricks – made him a hugely popular cartoon icon of the 1920s. At the peak of his stardom, Felix’s image could be found on over 100 products from toys to toothbrushes!
Walt Disney also struck gold in 1927 with the creation of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Animator Ub Iwerks designed Oswald’s signature long ears and developed specialized techniques to enhance his lively on-screen movement. Disney pioneered the use of story sketches to map out gags and continuity for the Oswald shorts.
When Disney lost creative control over Oswald, he vowed to create an even better animated character. Thus Mickey Mouse was born in 1928’s Steamboat Willie – the first cartoon with fully synchronized sound including music and effects timed to characters’ antics. Audiences went crazy for Mickey‘s delightful squeaky voice and mischievous persona.
Mickey’s instant popularity led to a wave of animated talkies. Between 1928-1932, the number of sound cartoon series grew from 2 to over 30!
As the iconic mouse rapidly rose to superstardom, Disney capitalized on this breakthrough by innovating yet again with the first cartoon series featuring sound…
The Musical Magic of Silly Symphonies Dazzles in Color
Launching in 1929, Disney’s Silly Symphonies shorts built on Steamboat Willie’s success. This inventive series applied creative visuals and choreography to popular songs and classical melodies.
Early Silly Symphony entries introduced vital techniques like Technicolor (used in 65% of shorts), unusual camera angles, transitions, storyboarding, special effects and well-timed music to enhance the visual gags. Disney animators continued refining their animation and storytelling craft across 75 Silly Symphony installments.
The Three Little Pigs (1933) became an especially huge hit with its catchy song “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf”. Walt even snagged an honorary Oscar for his progressive advancements in this magical series!
Beyond pioneering innovations, Silly Symphonies allowed Disney’s artists to experiment creatively and test audience reactions to new characters. Stars like Donald Duck and Pluto got their start in Silly Symphony shorts years before mainstream debuts.
The Zaniest Stars Aligned for Looney Tunes
Meanwhile, Warner Bros was cooking up zany magic of its own through 1930’s Looney Tunes series. Animators Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising helmed these wacky shorts starring amusing animal characters indulging in slapstick shenanigans.
Early breakout stars were daffy ducklings caricaturing Al Jolson and Foxy the pint-sized bandit. But the series rocketed sky high starting in 1938 when a certain “wascally wabbit” joined the party!
Bugs Bunny’s smart-aleck wisecracks and impressive improvisation against foes like Elmer Fudd turned him into an instant audience favorite. That carrot-crunching rabbit headlined Looney Tunes for decades alongside other iconic personalities like Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and Tweety Bird.
Throughout 200+ shorts, Looney Tunes cemented itself as a crown jewel of animation known for its vibrant energy, timing, characterization, and sheer comedic lunacy! "That zany free-for-all of yowsah animation" raved the New York Times in 1937.
Betty Boop Wowed As Talkies Emerged
Transitioning into the 1930s, seismic changes were occurring in the film landscape with the rise of “talkie” movies featuring sound. Animation also needed to adapt from silent shorts to this game-changing development.
Defying expectations, a little-known canine character named Bimbo soon popularized “talking cartoons”. His string of shorts caught the eye of Fleischer Studios animator Grim Natwick, who radically redesigned Bimbo’s dog girlfriend into an alluring human flapper.
Sassy Betty Boop was thus born in 1930’s Dizzy Dishes. With her babydoll eyes, curvy figure, suggestive catchphrases (“Boop-Oop-a-Doop!”), and scandalous miniskirts, Betty won hordes of male admirers.
Betty’s cartoons incorporated creative uses of sound like vibrato musical tones evoking risqué elements. However, censorship pressures later led to Betty’s “talking” abilities being drastically reduced by 1934.
Nonetheless, seductive superstar Betty Boop endures as a revolutionary symbol of female empowerment and the bold spirit of the jazz age. Along with other memorable stars of the 1930s like Popeye and Little Lulu, Betty Boop opened the door for more character-driven stories that appealed to mass audiences.
Emerging Studios, Styles & Stars
Beyond the big hits of Disney and Warner Bros, smaller animation outfits were also making their mark in cartoons’ early decades.
Van Beuren Studios (1920s-30s) became early pioneers of color animation before Walt Disney, experimenting with color on various shorts. Though often lacking the polish of its rivals, Van Beuren’s entries like Rainbow Parade stand as important transitional works.
Prolific producer Paul Terry launched his Terrytoons studio in 1930. Terry struck gold creating beloved characters like long-suffering Farmer Al Falfa plus introducing technical innovations in camerawork and use of color. At its peak, Terry’s operation put out an astounding 22 cartoon shorts per month!
With masterworks like Gulliver’s Travels (1939) Max Fleischer also proven himself a titan of feature animation alongside Walt Disney. His studios created distinct stars like Superman and Popeye comics adapting their distinct styles to animation.
Even as studios folded, new entities like Screen Gems (1940s) ensured fresh cartoon creativity kept flowing. Screen Gem’s Color Rhapsodies series enabled experimentation with color and Academy Award winner “The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics” dazzled with stylistic flair.
Fun Facts & Firsts:
- Bill Tytla created visual effects simulating nighttime for Granny’s Pancakes at MGM in 1930 – one of animation’s earliest attempts at special effects.
- Theanimator’s strike of 1941 secured critical creative rights and screen credits for Walt Disney staff and animation industry
- Russian animator Zenon Komissarenko developed distinctive “puppet animation”seen in 1938’s The New Gulliver melding live-action with stop motion.
- Momotaro’s Sea Eagles (1943) stands as one of Japan’s earliest animated films featuring strong militaristic propaganda during WWII.
Expanding The Art Form’s Creative Horizons
Over their first 3 decades, cartoons radically advanced from basic novelty reels to an acclaimed artistic medium brimming with creative possibilities. Tales overflowing with humor, music, emotion, and fantasy captured the imaginations of young and old through unforgettable characters like Felix, Mickey and Bugs.
Technological innovations also played a huge role. Animators explored synchronize sound, inventive cameras, color processes, integrated music, diverse animation techniques, early special effects to enhance their creative visions. Disney’s multiplane camera moved backgrounds at varying distances to simulate three dimensional space.
As animation matured into the Golden Age of the 1930s and 40s, studios like Disney and Fleischer pushed boundaries further with acclaimed features like Snow White and Superman shorts adapting comic aesthetics into animation.
Even animators faced monumental obstacles – whether challenging deadlines requiring 80+ drawing per day, tight budgets limiting materials/staff, or even derision from critics. Yet their tireless efforts and groundbreaking experimentation paved the way for animation’s explosion across TV shows, commercials, music videos and beyond by the 1960s.
The pioneers profiled here each contributed their own vital ingredients into animation’s secret sauce – whether humorous narratives, personality rich stars, technical tricks, or artistic ambition. Their early 20th century innovations established strong foundations for Hollywood’s legendary animation domination worldwide across TV, film over the next century…
But it all started with bold trailblazers daring to bring drawings to life through that magical illusion of motion known as animation. We all owe these creative geniuses a debt of gratitude for gifting us with such timeless cartoon joy and inspiration over the decades!
Conclusion
I hope you‘ve discovered some new appreciation for animation‘s pioneers from this nostalgic walk through cartoon history. Their fascinating stories reveal the sheer passion, painstaking efforts and spirit of risk-taking it took to transform animation into a legitimate artform and global phenomenon.
So let the boundless imagination and perseverance of these artists continue inspiring your own creativity. Grab some pencils and paper…and who knows? Maybe you’ll design the next iconic cartoon character or pioneering animated tale that generations will love 100 years from now!
Just remember the wise words of Walt Disney, "It all started with a mouse."
