The Animated Cartoon Factory - History of Animation Timeline



		History of Animation 15,000 B.C. - 1899
			c. 15,000 - 13,000 B.C. Discoveries/Creation of... • Cave paintings in Lascaux, France and Altamira, Spain. Cave artists used charcoal to outline thousands of images of mostly animals. They then used red and yellow ochre to create tonal shading. The images were drawn randomly in two dimensional profile with no hint of background surroundings. Clear acetate cels would not come into use for another 17,000 years or so. c. 5000 B.C. .Discoveries/Creation of... • Sumerians begin to write using picture language. Egyptians evolve this into heiroglyphics and also invent a type of paper made from the papyrus reed. Animation punches for registration are not invented for a few thousand years. c. 2350 B.C. Discoveries/Creation of... • Egyptian tombs are adorned with thousands of hieroglyphics illustrating the life, death and afterlife of their kings. This art form was built on rigid drawing formulas which left the artwork very static. These artists would probably have benifitted from some extra life drawing classes. c. 2000 B.C. Creation of... • A great poem tells of Gilgamesh, the Sumerian King who lives forever. (One day Reg Hart will produce this as a never ending animated feaure film.) c. 1250 B.C. Inventions • Stonehenge is built. The first Zoetrope. It's overwhelming size and lack of rotation make it very difficult to spin, so early druids ran around the outside circumference to view the animation posted on the interior stones. c. 650 B.C. Creation of... • Aesop begins writing his fables for animation. Eventually cuts a deal with Jay Ward. c. 600 B.C. Discoveries/Creation of... • Mesopotamia's predominant art form of bas-relief sculpture. These elaborate wall carvings depict scene after scene of the king's military exploits. An early form of storyboarding. c. 350 B.C. Discoveries • Aristotle describes image projection in terms of the camera obscura. c. 65 B.C. Discoveries •Titus Lucretius Carus, a Roman poet and philosopher, (98 - 55 BC) -- first reference to persistence of vision. 1 A.D. Births • Jesus Christ is born. 105 A.D. Inventions • Chinese develop a paper which is made of vegetable fibres. 130 Discoveries • Ptolomy of Alexandria rediscovers the phenomenon of persistence of vision and then proves it. 618 -907 Inventions/Creation of... • During the Tang Dynasty in China the shadow puppet shows prove to be a very popular form of entertainment. 868 Inventions • A printed book, The Diamond Sutra, is made in China using wood blocks for printing. By 932, the Chinese are mass producing books using the wood block printing method. 1023 Inventions • First paper money printed in China. 1045 Inventions • Movable type printing by Bi Sheng in China. Circa 1050 Inventions • The crossbow is invented in France. 1067 Creation of... • The Bayeux Tapestry, 70 metres long, illustrates the events of 1066 when William, Duke of Normandy, came to England with his army and overthrew Harold, the King of England. The tapestry shows quite vividly in a sequential series of "panels" similar to an animation storyboard the events from beginning to end. 1182 Inventions • Magnetic compass. Circa 1200 Inventions • Clothing buttons. 1202 Inventions • The Hindu Arabic numbering system is introduced to the West by Italian Mathematician, Fibonacci. 1249 Inventions • Rodger Bacon invents his gunpowder formula. 1250 Inventions • Leon Battista Alberti invents the forerunner of the camera obscura. • The gun is invented in China. Circa 1268 - 1289 Inventions Eye glasses. Circa 1280 Inventions Mechanical clocks. 1283 Inventions • The Italians construct a paper mill at Fabriano. Circa 1285 - 1290 Inventions The windmill. 1295 Inventions Modern glassmaking begins in Italy. 1326 Inventions The first recorded mention of a handgun. 1328 Inventions The first sawmill. 1350 Creation of... • The beginning of the legend of Robin Hood. 1366 Inventions Scales for weighing. The 15th Century The 15th century gave birth to three major events: 1) the beginning of the Renaissance Era (circa 1453) with a return to research and learning after the "Dark Ages", 2) the birth of the Age of Discovery with increased exploration and improved naval ships and navigation methods that created new trade routes and trade partners, and 3) the birth of modern printing techniques marked by the 15th century master printer Johann Gutenberg's invention of movable type presses (1440) that made the inexpensive mass-printing of books possible. 1400 First golf balls invented. The first piano called the Spinet invented. 1411 Trigger invented. 1420 Oil painting invented. 1421 In Florence, hoisting gear invented. 1450 Nicholas of Cusa creates spectacles of polished lenses for nearsighted persons. 1452 Birthdays • Leonardo Da Vinci, artist and inventor is born (1452 - 1519). Had he been born during the 1900’s he would definitely have been an animator. 1455 Inventions • Johann Gutenburg invents the movable type. Within 50 years printing presses are set up in over 200 places across Europe ushering in the reformation and the renaissance.. 1465 In Germany, drypoint engravings invented. 1475 Muzzle-loaded rifles invented in Italy and Germany. 1486 In Venice, the first known copyright granted. 1485 Leonardo DaVinci designed the first parachute. 1487 Bell chimes invented. 1492 Leonardo da Vinci first to seriously theorize about flying machines. Martin Behaim invented the first map globe. 1494 Whiskey invented in Scotland. The 16th Century ?The 16th century was a time of unprecedented change, the very beginning of the modern era of science, a time of great exploration, religious and political turmoil, and extraordinary literature. In 1543, Copernicus published his theory that the Earth was not the center of the universe, rather, the Earth and the other planets orbited around the Sun. Called the Copernican Revolution, his theory forever changed astronomy, and ultimately changed all of science. During 16th century, advancements were made in the theories of mathematics, cosmography, geography and natural history. 16th century inventions related to the fields of engineering, mining, navigation and the military arts were prominent. c. 1500 Creation of... Italian statesman Niccolo Machiavelli writes his famous guide to using political power. (Still employed by many animation studio big-wigs.) c. 1517 Discoveries • Coffee made from South American beans is drunk in Europe for the first time. When it is eventually exported to North America it helps to drive the animation industry further into the nights. 1545 Inventions Gemma Frisius, an astronomer, used the pinhole in his darkened room to study the solar eclipse of 1544. He described it along with a description in his 'De Radio Astronomica et Geometrica' (1545). The first picture of a pinhole camera obscura is a drawing in this publilcation. 1550 Inventions Geronimo Cardano makes the first camera lens. 1553 Inventions Gemma Frisius constructs a functional 'Camera Obscura' 1564 Birthdays • William Shakespeare, playwrite is born (1564 - 1610). He wrote his stories with animation in mind but had to settle for actors instead. c. 1565 Inventions • The first pencil with graphite lead and a wooden cover is designed in Switzerland. Late 1500’s Discoveries Grinding of lenses and prisms is refined. Study of light and motion is greatly improved. 1590 Inventions • Dutch spectacle maker, Zacharias Janssen, invents the microscope. 1605 Creation of... • Cervantes, a Spaniard, writes Don Quixote, the first proper novel. 1608 Inventions • Dutchman Hans Lippershey, invents the first telescope. 1610 Deaths • After a night of drinking with Francis Bacon and other buds, William Shakespeare dies on his 46th birthday. Many animators still perform this ritual of going out for drinks with their co-workers... they skip the part about dying though. Shakespeare's plays are published for the first time in book form in 1623, 13 years after his death. 1637 Discoveries • Galileo Galilei, a brilliant Italian matematician, astronomer and physicist, discovers how the pendulum works. The pendulum swing is one of the primary animation assignments in most animation schools today. 1645 Creation of... • Athanasius Kircher publishes his Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae (The Great Art of Light and Shadow) in Rome. • European scientists experiment with lanterns and their potential for entertainment. • A written description of a new invention called the magic lantern. 1662 Creation of... • Punch and Judy puppet shows are shown for the first time in London, England. 1666 Discoveries • Samuel Pepys buys a “lanthorn with pictures in glasse to make strange things to appear on a wall” from optician Richard Reeves. 1671 Creation of... • Kircher creates a series of slides depicting scenes from the life of Christ and presents them to audiences. 1681 Deaths • The Dodo becomes extinct, contrary to the time period shown in the movie, Ice Age. 1685 Creation of... • In the Netherlands, Johannes Zahn publishes instructions for making a lantern into a projecting clock. 1687 Discoveries • Sir Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727) writes the Principia. The Law of Gravity is defined and is the basis for most of the animation principles used today 1703 Creation of... • The first Russian newspaper, Moskovskya Vyedomosti, is published. 1704 Creation of... • The first American newspaper, Boston Newsletter, (by far an easier title to pronounce than the Russian newspaper) is published. 1706 Birthdays • Benjamin Franklin is born 1736 Creation of... • Dutchman Pieter van Musschenbroeck shows visions of a windmill with revolving arms, a man raising his hat and a woman bowing. 1752 Discoveries • Benjamin Franklin announces his most important invention, the lightning conductor, which proves the existance of electricity, which we now use to power our animation light tables and electric pencil sharpeners, by golly! 1770 Creation of... Sir Thomas Wedgewood records light images in an early photography experiment. 1772 Creation of... • Dominique Seraphin presents “shadow puppet” shows at Versailles. Popular since the Tang Dynasty in China (618 -907 A.D.) They were known as “Omres Chinoises” or “Chinese Shadows” 1774 Creation of... The 1st newspaper cartoon. In his Pennsylvainia Gazette, Ben Franklin prints a drawing of a segmented snake representing the colonies, with the caption: “Join or Die”. 1776 News • July 4th - America becomes a country. The Declaration of Independance is signed. • July 4th - King George III writes in his diary, “Nothing important happened today.” 1777 Birthdays Nicholas Conte, inventor of Conte crayons is born 1781 Discoveries • German astrologer, Frederick Herschel, discovers the planet Uranus and is promptly punched in the mouth by his wife as he exclaims to her, "I can see Uranus!" 1786 Birthdays • Wilhelm Carl Grimm is born, writer of the Grimm’s Fairy Tales. 1794 Creation of... • Etienne Gaspard Robert of Liege opens his eerie “Fantasmagorie” in Paris. Showing lantern slide portraits of recent dead heroes of the French Revolution. His show ends with a slide of the Grim Reaper... “the fate that awaits us all.” 1801 Creation of... • Paul De Philipstahl show the “Phantasmagoria” to Londoners. Similar to the French version, London children steal money and stay out late to see the show. 1803 Creation of... • “Phantasmagoria” opens in New York. Later, several shows open in many other American cities. 1805 Birthdays • Hans Christian Anderson, author is born 1822 Birthdays • Rev. Hannibal Goodwin, inventor of the use of celluloid as an emulsion base is born 1824 Creation of... • Peter Mark Roget (of Thesaurus fame) publishes “Persistence of Vision with Regard to Moving Objects” 1825 Inventions • Thaumatrope is invented 1826 Creation of... • French chemist, Nicephore Niepce (1765 - 1833) makes the first surviving photographic image on a polished pewter plate, exposed for 8 hours. 1828 Inventions • Simon Von Stampher an Austrian Geologist invents the Stroboscope. 1830 Birthdays • Edweard Muybridge is born 1830’s Inventions • Louis Daguerre (1789 - 1851) and Joseph Niepce (1765 - 1833) are successful in their experiments with photography. 1832 • Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateau (1801-1883) invents the phenakistoscope ("spindle viewer") (also called a fantoscope or phantasmascope). A large disc with a series of drawings around the circumference is attached on a spindle to another disc made of metal with slots in it. Both are made to rotate. When the drawings are viewed through the slots in the metal disc they appear to move. 1833 • Walter Hunt invents the first lock-stitch sewing machine, but loses interest and does not patent his invention. Later, Elias Howe secures patent on an original lock-stitch machine, but fails to manufacture and sell it. Still later, Isaac Singer infringes on Howe's patent to make his own machine, which makes Singer rich. Hunt also invents the safety pin, which he sells outright for $400. 1834 Inventions • William Horner invents the Daedalum (Wheel of the Devil). • William Henry Fox Talbot begins his potographic investigations. 1838 Inventions • Wheatstone invents the Stereoscope showing the viewer 3D images. • Morse invents the Telegraph. 1839 Inventions • Louis Daguerre announces the birth of photography (William Fox Talbot (1800 - 1877) says that Daguerre is full of pate and that he actually invented photography first. Actually, Sir Thomas Wedgewood says he recorded light images as early as 1770.) • Fox Talbot develops negative photographic images on glass then turns them into positive images on paper. 1841 Comics • Punch Magazine, a magazine that featured satirical articles and cartoons makes it"s debut. The magazine quickly gains a reputation as "a defender of the oppressed and a radical scorge of all authority." with it"s viciousl ridicule politicians and business men who exploited poor. Punch Magazine is obviously a forerunner to some of todays humor magazines like Mad Magazine, National Lampoon, & Spy. 1844 Inventions • Thomas Eakins (1844 - 1916) along with Eadweard Muybridge are the first to take a rapid, multiple exposure photograph of a pole-vaulter named George Reynolds. Muybridge would go on to persue this study of human movement further, creating a series of photo studies that are still used by animators today. • Samuel F.B. Morse demonstrates his telegraph by sending a message to Baltimore from the chambers of the Supreme Court in Washington, DC. The message, "What hath God wrought?," marks the beginning of a new era in communication. Birthdays • Emile Reynaud 1847 Birthdays • Thomas Edison is born (1847 - 1931). 1848 News • King Louis Philippe is overthrown. Year of Revolutions in France 1852 Birthdays • Uncle Sam is born. The faniliar image first appeared as a cartoon in the New York Lantern. The name derived from that of a customs agent named Sam Wilson who stamped “U.S.” on goods moving from Canada to the U.S. 1853 Inventions • Austrian Franz Von Uchatius devises an early version of the Zoopraxinoscope, perfected by Eadweard Muybridge in 1879, 16 years later. 1854 Birthdays • George Eastman, inventor is born (Eastman-Kodak) 1857 Birthdays • Animator Emile Cohl born 1861 News • U.S. Civil War begins. (1861 - 1865) Inventions • Coleman Sellers patents the Kinematoscope. 1860's News • The golden age of children's books. Fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, Louisa May Alcott writes, Little Women, and in 1865, Lewis Carroll writes Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. 1863 Inventions • John Henry Pepper and Henry Dircks patent “Projecting Images of Living Persons in the Air” Birthdays • Constantin Stanislavski, credited with creating "Method acting", teacher and author is born. 1864 Inventions • French inventor, Louis Ducos du Hauron patents (but does not build) a machine for making and projecting motion pictures. 1865 Deaths Abraham Lincoln is assassinated. 1867 News • Canada becomes a country. (Not as a result of Lincoln being assasinated). • Cartoon drawings first appear in Vanity Fair. Birthdays • Windsor McKay is born Sept. 26th in Spring Lake, Michigan (1867 - 1934) (he later reports that he was born in 1871) Inventions • The Daedalum (Wheel of the Devil) invented in 1834 is renamed the Zoetrope (Wheel of Life) and becomes a popular toy. • Other names were tried and discarded before settling on the Zoetrope, such as the Pooposcope, Drumascope, Phenetakistocloposcope and of course, the ill fated Spinalottatimestoseethemovementium-O-Scopum 1868 Inventions • The Kineograph is invented A.K.A. The “Flipbook” It is used as giveaway advertisements and merchandise bonuses. 1870 Inventions • A patent is taken out on celluloid, the basis of movie film and animation cels. The inventor had been trying to invent a substitute for ivory billiard balls. 1872 News • Leland Stanford hires Eadweard Muybridge to find out if a trotting horse has all 4 feet off the ground. He shoots 25 sequential photo’s per second to find out. (They do all come off the ground) 1873 Inventions • Remington Co. mass produces the first modern typewriter. Inspired by a Scientific American article featuring a British attempt at a typing machine, Christopher Latham Sholes invents his own. In 1873 he sells an improved prototype to Remington and Sons, gunsmiths, of Ilion, New York, who begin to mass produce the machines. Among the first works to be produced on a typewriter is Mark Twain's "Adventures of Tom Sawyer." 1874 Birthdays • Raoul Barre is born (1874 - 1932) • Arthur Melbourne-Cooper is born (director, animator, producer) • Houdini is born 1875 Birthdays • J. Stuart Blackton born (1875 - 1941) 1876 Inventions • Alexander Graham Bell invents the Telephone. Alexander Graham Bell patents his telephone, built with the assistance of young self-trained engineer Thomas A. Watson. Elisha Gray, who developed a similar device at about the same time, will unsuccessfully challenge Bell's patent. Comics • Joseph Keppler, a cartoonist, establishes Puck Magazine. A humor mad which features both text articles and cartoons much in the manner of Punch Magazine but with a more consevative stance. Puck starts out as a German language weekly. 1877 Inventions • Emil Reynaud invents the Praxinoscope. • Thomas Edison invents the Phonograph. Working with a team of engineers at his Menlo Park, New Jersey, laboratories, Thomas Alva Edison perfects a system of sound recording and transmission. The first recording replayed is a voice saying "Mary had a little lamb its fleece was white as snow." • Muybridge perfects and constructs the Zoopraxinoscope. Comics An English language verion of Puck Magazine begins circulation. The magazine would lose money in it"s first year, being subsidized by the successful German, version however by the 1880"s circulation would increase to 80,000 copies a week. The magazine would feature well known artists of the day such as Fredrick Burr Opper (who would later go on to create Happy Hooligan), James Wales, Livingston Hopkins, Eugene Zimmerman, & Bernard Gillam. 1878 News • An anarchist tries unsuccessfully to assasinate the Kaiser of Germany. The anarchists believed that freedom could only happen when the rules of scociety were broken down. European politicians feared the mysterious men in trenchcoats with bombs that looked like bowling balls with fuses. (see MAD magazine's "Spy v.s. Spy") 1879 Birthdays • John Randolph Bray born (1879 - 1978) Inventions • Backed by $30,000 in research funds provided by investors including J.P. Morgan and the Vanderbilts, Thomas Edison perfects an incandescent light bulb. The first commercial incandescent system will be installed at the New York printing firm of Hinds and Ketcham in January, 1881. 1880 Birthdays • Earl Hurd born (1879 -) 1881 Inventions • The Zoopraxiscope is invented. 1882 Inventions • Reynaud combines the Praxinoscope with a projector, drawing animated stories on long strips of paper then later on strips of celluloid. Birthdays • Ladislas Starewicz (Wladyslaw Starewicz) is born (animator, director, producer) 1883 Birthdays • Max Fleischer born. (1883 - 1972) • Leon Schlesenger born (1883 - ) • Frank King, cartoonist - Gasoline alley is born 1885 News Harvy Wilcox names his new ranch north of L.A. “Hollywood”. Birthdays • Pat Sullivan is born (producer, director, animator) 1886 Birthdays • Willis O’Brien animator of King Kong is born. Inventions • Coca Cola is first sold as a "brain tonic". 1887 News • William Randolph Hearst buys the San Francisco Examiner and begins his publishing empire. Birthdays • Paul Terry born (Terrytoons) (1887 - 1971) Inventions • Etienne - Jules Marley experiments with the movement of abstract shapes photographed in color onto glass plates. • Friese - Greene and Mortimer Evans develop the “Box Projector” • Edison's tube recording system produces distorted sound because of gravity's pressure on the playing stylus. Emile Berliner, a German immigrant living in Washington, DC, invents a process for recording sound on a horizontal disc. The "platter" record is born. 1888 News • Emile Reynaud demonstrates a device (later called a theatre optique) that projected animated images that were painted on long strips of celluloid. This allowed for animated films long enough to be have a story rather than just be a demonstration of a moving object. The first film that was created was called Un bon bock ("A Good Beer"). Birthdays • Carl Stalling is born (song writer) Inventions Louis Le Prince claims a patent on cinema camera, predating Edison and Lumiere. He boards a train to Dijon and is never seen or heard from again. • In Rochester, New York, George Eastman introduces a hand-held box camera for portable use. The camera is pre-loaded with 100 exposure film; after shooting the photographer returns the whole camera to the manufacturer for development and a reload. 1889 Inventions • Dickson demonstrates the Kinetophone to Edison. Birthdays • Charlie Chaplin is born • Charles Bowers is born (producer, director, writer, animator) • Joe Fleischer is born (1889 - 1979) 1890 Birthdays • Billy DeBeck, cartoonist is born creator of Barney Google • Charles Thorson (character designer) • Grim Natwick (Myron Natwick) (animator, director, character designer) • Gregory La Cava (director, producer, writer, animator) 1891 Inventions • Edison manufactures the Kinetoscope as a private viewer. Birthdays • Lou Fleischer is born (1891 - 1985) • Burt Gillett is born (director) 1892 News • Emile Reynaud opens his Theatre Optique at the Musee Grevin in Paris. His films: “Poor Pierrot”, 15 min. “A good Glass of Beer”, 15 min. “A Clown and His Dogs”, 10 min. are accompanied with music and electronically triggered sound effects. He gives aproximately 500,000 performances between 1892 and 1900. Birthdays • Wladyslaw Starewicz, puppet animator is born • Otto Messmer, animator is born (Felix the Cat) (1892 - 1983) • Pinto Colvig (Vance Colvig) is born (voice actor, writer, director) 1893 News • Edison builds the first motion picture studio in New Jersey. The black paper covered shed is nicknamed “The Black Maria” because it resembles a police van. Birthdays • Roy O. Disney, co-founder The Walt Disney Company is born 1894 News • Ronald Reader, James Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith form “The International Novelty Company” performing magic and lightning drawings. Birthdays • Dave Fleischer is born (1894 - 1979) • Bill Nolan (William C. Nolan) (director, animator) Comics The First Color newspaper page is printed in The New York Recorder. One year later, The New York World, headed by Joseph Pulitzer, publishes it"s first color page. 1895 News • Augustine and Luis Lumieres have their first public showing of cinematographe films at the Grand Cafe in Paris. Comics Richard Felton Outcault's The Yellow Kid makes his debut in Pulitzer's New York World newspaper. Birthdays • Ben Sharpsteen is born (director, producer, animator) Inventions • Edison invents the Mutoscope, a mechanical version of the flip book. It is a machine that becomes popular at amusement parks, (not a machine used for mutating people.). • Max Skananowsky completes the Bioskop projector. 1896 News • Reader, Smith and Blackton form the Vitagraph Company. • Edison’s first show in New York. • Robert Paul demonstrates a Kinetograph to the Royal Institute, and British cinema is born. Comics • "The Yellow Kid" begins publication as a weekly Newspaper feature. Birthdays • Hans Fischerkoesen (director, producer) Inventions • Marconi demonstrates wireless telegraphy in England. 1897 Notable Films • Blackton produces his first film: “The Thief on the Roof” Comics • Hearst"s Examiner establishes it"s Sunday comics supplement, The American Humorist featuring "The Yellow Kid". • Rudolph Dirk's "The Katzenjammer Kids" debut as part of the American Humorist. • Richard Felton Outcault moves "The Yellow Kid" from Pulitzer"s New York World to William Randolph Hearst"s San Franscisco Examiner. 1898 News • The Battle of Manila Bay. Admiral Dewey begins the battle by saying to his captain, “You may fire when ready, Gridley.” (Sorry, Bugs Bunny didn’t say it first.) Birthdays • Dick Huemer, storyman is born • Ken Harris is born (animator) • Yasuji Murata (Murata Yasuji) (director, animator, producer) • Sanae Yamamoto (Yamamoto Sanae, Yamamoto Zenjiro) (director, producer, animator) 1899 News • Muybridge publishes “Animals in Motion” a book still widely used as reference by animators. • Smith and Blackton travel to Cuba to shoot footage of the Spanish-American war. They miss the fight at Santiago Bay. After returning home, they make cutouts of the boats and photograph themin an inch of water, manuvering them with thin threads. They use cigar smoke to create the special effects of the battle. Notable Films • British animator, Artur Melbourne Cooper produces possibly the first animated commercial ”Match Appeal” by stop motion photography of matchsticks. Birthdays • Lotte Reininger, silhouette animator, director of the first animated feature is born. (1899 - 1981) • Valentina Brumberg is born (Russian animator, director) 1900 - 1910