This list provides an overview of animated productions that can be considered as first-time milestones in the development of animation techniques or in commercial success.
Early animation techniques
17th to 19th century: before film
Year Milestone Notes1659Introduction of the magic lanternby Christiaan Huygens, with moving images 1825Introduction of the thaumatropeby John Ayrton Paris1833Introduction of the phenakistiscopeThe first device used for stroboscopic animation. Invented simultaneously by Joseph Plateau and Simon Stampfer 1866Introduction of the zoetropeSimilar cylindrical animation devices had already been proposed by Simon Stampfer (1833) and William Horner (1834)1868Flip book patentedby John Barnes Linnett, under the name of "kineograph"1877Introduction of the praxinoscopeby Charles-Émile Reynaud1892First theatrical animation in long stripsReynaud's Théâtre Optique (patented in 1888) at the Musée Grévin
Silent era
Year Milestone Notes 1898Animation on standard filmstripIntroduced by Gebrüder Bing for toy projectors, lithographed in colour by 19021914Application for cel animation patentBy Earl Hurd, granted in 1915 1915 Application for Rotoscope patentBy Max Fleischer, granted 1917
Earliest animations by country ContinentCountryWorkType of WorkType of DistributionLengthRelease/Premiere YearEnd YearRef.Europe FranceL'AquariumMovieTheatricalShort1878Un bon bockMedium1892The Tale of the FoxFeature1937Joe the Little Boom BoomSeriesTelevision19601963 United Kingdom EnglandThe Clown and His DonkeyMovieTheatricalShort1910The Little IslandMedium1958Handling ShipsFeature1945A Rubovian LegendSeriesTelevision19551964 WalesThe Little Engine That CouldMovieDirect-to-videoMedium1991The Princess and the GoblinMovieTheatricalFeature1991SuperTedSeriesTelevision19831986 ScotlandSir BilliMovieTheatricalFeature2012The Family-NessSeriesTelevision19841985 Northern IrelandLifeboat LukeSeriesTelevision2008MacropolisMovieTheatricalShort2012 GermanyRhythmus 21MovieTheatricalShort1921Judas & JesusMedium2009The Adventures of Prince AchmedFeature1926Die Sendung mit der MausSeriesTelevision1971Present ItalyThe War and the Dream of MomiMovieTheatricalMedium1917The Dynamite BrothersFeature1949La LineaSeriesTelevision19711986 LatviaLietaina dienaMovieTheatricalShort1969The Gold of the TigersMedium1995Ness un NesijaFeature1991FantadromsSeriesTelevision19851995 RussiaThe Cameraman's RevengeMovieTheatricalShort1912In a Faraway Kingdom...Medium1957The New GulliverFeature1935Happy Merry-Go-RoundSeriesTelevision19692001Asia JapanKatsudō ShashinMovieTheatricalShort 1907Jonathan Clements, Helen McCarthy. The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917. Revised and Expanded Edition.—Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press, 2006.—P. 12.—Momotarō's Sea EaglesMedium1943Momotaro: Sacred SailorsFeature1945The New Adventures of PinocchioSeriesTelevision19611961The Wizard of OzMovieDirect-to-VideoFeature1982DallosSeriesDirect-to-Video19831984, 1985 PhilippinesA Boy Playing Yoyo and Girl Jumping RopeMovieAmateurShort1953LibinganTheatricalMedium2007Adarna: The Mythical BirdFeature1997TadhanaTelevision1978Poptech SeriesSeriesTelevision19801984 BangladeshThe Story of a VillageMovieTheatricalShort1970sMurgi Keno MutantMedium2011Khoka Theke Bangabandhu Jatir PitaFeature2021MeenaSeriesTelevision19912010 ThailandAmazing IncidentsMovieTheatricalShort1955hesheitMedium2005The Adventure of SudsakornFeature1979PangPond: The Future World AdventureSeriesTelevision2002 Saudi ArabiaWorld of TwitterMovieTheatricalShort2014But Where Does It Come FromDirect-to-videoMedium1996Masameer: The MovieTheatricalFeature2020Shadeed and TammamSeriesTelevision20032003Africa EgyptNothing To DoMovieTheatricalShort1936East West? East WestMedium2009The Boy and the KingFeature1992BakkarSeriesTelevision19982025 Ivory CoastKimbooSeriesTelevision19891990South America ArgentinaLa intervención en la provincia de Buenos AiresMovieTheatricalShort1916Little Red Riding HoodMedium1965El ApóstolFeature1917The Adventures of HijitusSeriesTelevision19671996 BrazilO KaiserMovieTheatricalShort1917O Dragãozinho Manso – JonjocaMedium1942Amazon SymphonyFeature1954Monica and FriendsSeriesTelevision1976PresentNorth America CanadaThe Wizard of OzMovieTheatricalShort1933Stop That Tank!Medium1942The Enchanted VillageFeature1955Cartoon PartySeriesTelevision19591962 United StatesHumorous Phases of Funny FacesMovieTheatricalShort1906The Einstein Theory of RelativityMedium1923CreationSome sources claim that Creation (1915), by Pinto Colvig, was the first feature-length animated film, but no known copies survive, and the claim is disputed in mainstream animation history.Feature1915Crusader RabbitSeriesTelevision19501959The Flight of DragonsMovieDirect-to-videoFeature1982The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the BibleSeriesDirect-to-Video19851992Oceania AustraliaWaste Not, Want NotMovieTheatricalShort1938Australian HistoryMedium1971A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's CourtFeature1970Arthur! And the Square Knights of the Round TableSeriesTelevision19661968 New ZealandThe Frog, the Dog and the DevilMovieTheatricalShort1986Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tail TaleFeature1986Oscar and FriendsSeriesTelevision19951996
Techniques
Animation + First films/television series to be created using various animation techniquesTypeFormMediaTitleRelease DateHand-drawnPaperShort filmFantasmagorie1908CelShort filmThe Sinking of the Lusitania1918Feature filmSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs1937Television seriesCrusader Rabbit1948Oil-paintedShort filmConversation in Space1961Feature filmLoving Vincent2017Digital ink and paintShort filmOff His Rockers1992Feature filmThe Little Mermaid1989Television seriesPac-Man1982Stop-motionShort filmMatches: An Appeal1899ClayShort filmThe Sculptor's Nightmare1908Feature filmI Go Pogo1980Television seriesThe Gumby Show1955PuppetShort filmThe Humpty Dumpty Circus1908Feature filmThe Tale of the Fox1937 Finished in 1930 but not released until 1937 due to funding issues Television seriesThe New Adventures of Pinocchio1960SilhouetteShort filmThe Sporting Mice1909Feature filmThe Adventures of Prince Achmed1926CutoutShort filmDie Schöne Prinzessin von China1917Feature filmEl Apóstol1917Television seriesCaptain Pugwash1957RotoscopingShort filmThe Clown's Pup (Out of the Inkwell)1919Feature filmGulliver's Travels1939Television seriesTarzan, Lord of the Jungle1976DigitalCGIShort filmA Computer Animated Hand1972Feature filmToy Story1995Television seriesReBoot1994FlashFeature filmWizards and Giants2003Television series¡Mucha Lucha!2002MachinimaShort filmDiary of a Camper1996Feature filmThe Seal of Nehahra2000Web seriesRed vs. Blue2003Motion captureShort filmAdam Powers, The Juggler1981Feature filmSinbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists2001
Computer animation
1958–1975 FilmYearNotes Vertigo1958To create the spirals seen in the opening credit sequence of his film, Alfred Hitchcock hired John Whitney, who used a WWII anti-aircraft targeting computer called "The M5 gun director" mounted on a rotating platform with a pendulum hanging above it that it tracked. Its scope was filmed to create the various spiral elements used in the opening sequence. The raw footage was curated with the aid of graphic designer Saul Bass, and the final nearly two-minute-long sequence became the first computer-animated sequence in a feature film. Rendering of a planned highway1961In 1961, a 50-second vector animation of a car traveling up a planned highway at 110 km/h (70 mph) was created at the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology on the BESK computer. The short animation was broadcast on November 9, 1961, on national television.Simulation of a Two-Gyro Gravity-Gradient Attitude Control System1963Edward E. Zajac, a researcher at Bell Labs, used an IBM computer to create a short showing a communication satellite orbiting Earth.Early Digital Computer Art at Bell Telephone Laboratories, IncorporatedBoeing Man1964William Fetter, a graphic designer working for Boeing, created the first wireframe animation.Boeing Man(1964): the origin of realistic algorithmic human figures Hypercube1965A groundbreaking animation made by A. Michael Noll using an IBM 7094. Shows two 4-D cubes on each side. Hummingbird1967A ten-minute computer-animated film by Charles Csuri and James Shaffer. This was awarded a prize at the 4th annual International Experimental Film Competition in Brussels, Belgium and in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York City. The subject was a line drawing of a hummingbird for which a sequence of movements appropriate to the bird was programmed. Over 30,000 images comprising some 25 motion sequences were generated by the computer.FlexipedeThe first entertainment cartoon. Made by Tony Pritchett on the Atlas Computer Laboratory near Oxford and first shown publicly at the Cybernetic Serendipity exhibition in 1968. Kitty1968A group of Soviet mathematicians and physicists headed by Nikolay Konstantinov created a mathematically computable model of the physics of a moving cat. The algorithms were programmed on the BESM-4 computer. The computer then printed hundreds of frames to be later converted to film. An accompanying scientific paper describes the foundation of the employed physics simulation techniques that nowadays are commonly applied to animation films and computer games. Metadata1971This is an experimental 2D-animated short drawn on a data tablet by Peter Foldes, who used the world's first key-frame animation software, invented by Nestor Burtnyk and Marceli Wein. The Andromeda StrainFirst use of digital rendering within a feature film. A diagram of the underground laboratory was created using 2D planes and a complex wireframe cylindrical core. Out of the UnknownProduced by Charles McGhie, some early computer-generated imagery (CGI) techniques were combined with stop-motion and real-time visual effects to create the opening title sequence for the show's fourth and final series. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate FactoryFirst use of Scanimate in a feature film. The analog computer animation system was used to create sing-along segments for the Oompa Loompa song after Augustus Gloop and Veruca Salt get their comeuppance for their respective vices.Getting personal with animation instructor Eric Van Hamersveld | Continuing Education | UC San Diego Division of Extended Studies Added to the United States National Film Registry in 2016. A Computer Animated Hand1972Directed by Ed Catmull, the short demonstrates a computer-animated hand, as well as human faces. Added to the United States National Film Registry in 2009.Westworld1973First use of digital 2D computer animation in a significant entertainment feature film. The point of view of Yul Brynner's gunslinger was achieved with raster graphics.Faces (Faces & Body Parts)1974Fred Parke's thesis film on facial modeling at the University of Utah.UFO: Target Earth1974An alien in the movie was created with CGI.Remembering Film Director Alessandro Michael de GaetanoGreat1975The Academy Award-winning 1975 short film about the life of the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel contains a brief sequence of a rotating wire-frame model of Brunel's final project, the iron steamship SS Great Eastern.
1976–present