Computers
• Gouraud shading
• Ramtek founded
• GINO (graphics input output specification) - Cambridge University
• Intel 4004 4-bit processor
• Interactive Graphics for Computer-Aided Design (Prince) published
• MCS (Manufacturing and Consulting Services) founded by Patrick Hanratty, considered the "father" of mechanical CAD/CAM - introduces ADAM CAD software, which is the heart of many modern software systems
• Robert Abel and Associates founded
• Floppy disk (8") - IBM

Animation News
• Steve Krantz announces production of “Fritz the Cat” an X-rated animated feature to be directed by Ralph Bakshi.

Comics
• Maurice Horn organizes the exhibition "75 Years of the Comics" at the New York Cultural Center, the first major exhibition ever held in a major American museum.
• Live action "Spider-Man" skits begin appearing on the classic PBS educational series "The Electric Company".
• Marvel Comics defies The Comics Code with Amazing Spider-Man # 96, a story where Peter Parkers best friend develops a drug problem.
• Jack Kirby creates "The New Gods" for DC Comics in New Gods # 1.

Deaths
• Ub Iwerks, 70 yrs old, (1901 - 1971).
• Paul Terry, 84 yrs old, (1887 - 1971)
• Composer, Igor Stravinski dies at age 88
• Jim Morrison, lead singer of the "Doors" dies of drug overdose

Movies
• "The French Connection"
• "A Clockwork Orange"

Animated Movies
- 2 new animated feature films premiered this year
• “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” a Walt Disney production
• "Shinbone Alley" a Fine Arts Film production

Specials
• “The Point” a Miurakami-Wolf’s production
• "Aesops Fables" a Filmation production
• "Babar Comes To America" a Lee Mendelson- Bill Melendez production
• "B.C.: A Special Christmas" a Cinera production
• "Dr. Seuss' The Cat In The Hat" a Depatie-Freleng production
• "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" a Rankin-Bass production
• "The Legend of Robin Hood" an Air Programs International production

Television
- 11 new television shows premiered this year
• "Archie's TV Funnies" a Filmation production
• "The Betty Boop Show" a Max Fleisher production
• "The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour" a Warner Bros. production
• "The Funky Phantom" a Hanna Barbera production
• "The Groovy Goolies" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Help! It's The Hair Bear Bunch!" a Hanna Barbera production
• "The Jackson Five" a Halas & Batchelor production
• "The New Pink Panther Show" a Depatie-Freleng production
• "Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Pop-Ups" an Educational Solutions production
• "Sabrina, The Teenage Witch" a Filmation production

Academy Award
• "The Crunch Bird" by Maxwell-Petok-Petrovich Productions

1972
World News
• President Nixon visits China
• "Pioneer 10" is launched to take pictures of Jupiter
• Howard Hughes biography proves to be a hoax as Hughes himself denounces the book over the phone
• Howard Hughes meets wit Nicaraguin President Somoza. He looks fit, trim and has finfernails of normal length
• President nixon visits the Soviet Union
• Last American ground combat unit is deactivated in Vietnam
• TWA and American Airlines begin baggage inspection in an effort to deter airplane hijackings
• Arab terrorists Massacre 11 Israeli Olympians in Montreal
• "Watergate"
• Survivors of a plane crash in the Andes Mountains restor to cannibalism during their 69 day ordeal (later made into the movie "Alive")
• Last issue of "Life" magazine
• Apollo 17, last lunar manned trip
• Cananda/Russia hockey series

Computers
• MAGI Synthevision started (Bo Gehring)
• CGRG founded at Ohio State
• NASA IPAD (Integrated Program for Aerospace Vehicle Design) initiative started
• Graphics Standards Planning Committee organized by ACM-SIGGRAPH
• The @ symbol selected for email addresses by BBN
• C language developed by Ritchie
• Emmy awarded to Lee Harrison for SCANIMATE
• Alto computer introduced by Xerox PARC (Alan Kay)
• Intel 8008 8-bit processor
• Megatek, Summagraphics, Computervision, Applicon founded
• Utah hand (Catmull) and face (Parke) animations produced
• Computer Graphics and Image Processing journal begins publication
• 8-bit frame buffer developed by Dick Shoup at Xerox PARC
• Sandin Image Processor - Dan Sandin, Univ. Illinois-Chicago Circle
• Atari formed (Nolan Bushnell)
• Newell, Newell and Sancha visible surface algorithm
• video game Pong developed for Atari
• Graphics Symbiosis System (GRASS) developed at Ohio State by Tom DeFanti

Animation News
• Walter Lanz ceases production on theatrical cartoon shorts.

Comics
• Jack Kirby leaves Marvel Comics and returns to DC Comics where he introduces comic book fans to The Foverever People and Darksied in Superman's pal, Jimmy Olsen # 134.
• "The Comics, An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art" a book by Jerry Robinson is published by Putnum Books.

Deaths
• Max Fleischer, 89 yrs old (1883 - 1972).
• J. Edgar Hoover, head of the F.B.I. for 48 years dies at age 77
• Helecopter developer, Igor Sikorski dies at age 83
• Former President, Harry S. Truman dies at age 88

Movies
• Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” premiers. Initially, the studio heads had little faith in the project. One studio head told the producer, “Why don’t you make it an animated film? Maybe then you may see some money!”
• "Woody Allen in "Play It Again Sam"
• "Cabaret"

Animated Movies
- 3 new animated feature films premiered this year
• "Fritz the Cat" a Steven Krantz production
• "Snoopy Come Home" a Lee Mendelson-Bill Melendez production
• "Treasure Island" a Filmation production

Specials
• "Around the World In 80 Days" a Rankin-Bass production
• "Banana Splits in Hocus Pocus Park" a Hanna Barbera production
• "B.C.: The First Thanksgiving" Levitow-Hanson Films production
• "The Brady Kids on Mysterious Island" a Filmation production
• "The Christmas Carol" Richard Williams
• "A Christmas Story" a Hanna Barbera production
• "A Christmas Tree" a Rankin-Bass production
• "Cinderella" a Rankin-Bass production
• "Clerow Wilson and the Miracle of P.S. 14" a Depatie-Feleng production
• "Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet The Groovy Goolies" a Filmation/Warner Bros. production
• "Dig" a Hubley Studios production
• "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" a Depatie-Freleng production
• "The Emperor's New Clothes" a Rankin-Bass production
• "Gidget Makes the Wrong Connection" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Hiawatha" a Rankin-Bass production
• "Jack O'Lantern" a Rankin-Bass production
• "Johnny Appleseed" a Rankin-Bass production
• "Lassie and the Spirit of Thunder Mountain" a Filmation production
• "The Last of the Curlews" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Love American Style: "Love and the Old-Fashioned Father" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Love American Style: "Love and the Private Eye" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters" a Rankin-Bass production
• "Marco Polo" an Air Programs production

Television
- 16 new television shows premiered this year
• "The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Around the World in 80 Days" an Air Programs International production
• "The Barkleys" a Depatie-Freleng production
• "The Brady Kids" a Filmation production
• "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids" a Filmation production
• "The Flintstones Comedy Hour" a Hanna Barbera production
• "The Houndcats" a Depatie-Freleng production
• "Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Kid Power" a Rankin-Bass production
• "The Most Important Person" a Sutherland Learning Associates production
• "The New Scooby-Doo Movies" a Hanna Barbera production
• "The Osmonds" a Rankin-Bass production
• "Roman Holidays" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Sealab 2020" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Wait Till Your Father Gets Home" a Hanna Barbera production
• "The Wonderful Stories of Professor Kitzel" an A.M.G. production

Academy Award
• Richard Williams' "The Christmas Carol"

1973
World News
• U.S. / Vietnam cease-fire
• All U.S. airports now inspect all passengers - introduction of X-ray machines
• U.S. ends war with Vietnam
• Watergate Hearings begin
• Skylab in orbit
• Billy Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in tennis battle of the sexes
• Vice-President Spiro Agnew resigns after pleading no contest to tax evasion in 1967. Gerald Ford becomes new V.P.
• Yom Kippur War in Israel
• Oil prices rise to over $50.00 per gallon
• World Trade Center towers completed in N.Y.
• Photos of Jupiter from Pioneer 10

Popular Music
• "Killing Me Softly With His Song" by Roberta Flack
• "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye
• "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" by Stevie Wonder
• "Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree" by Tony Orlando

Computers
• E&S begins marketing first commercial frame buffer
• Ethernet - Bob Metcalf (Harvard)
• Quantel founded
• Westworld - uses 2D graphics
• Circle Graphics Habitat founded at Univ. Illinois Chicago (Tom DeFanti & Dan Sandin)
• Moore's Law (the number of transistors on a microchip will double every year and a half) by Intel’s chairman, Mr. Gordon Moore
• Nolan Bushnell's video game Computer Space appears in movie Soylent Green
• first SIGGRAPH conference (Boulder)
• 3/4 inch portapack replaces 16mm film for news gathering
• Richard Shoup develops PARC raster display
• Rich Riesenfeld (Syracuse) introduces b-splines for geometric design
• Principles of Interactive Computer Graphics (Newman and Sproull) first comprehensive graphics textbook is published

Animation News
• Art Babbitt lectures Richard William’s animation staff in London. Williams efforts to bring Golden Age artists to train his staff inspire a renaissance of commercial animation in London. Xeroxed copies of Williams’s notes of the Babbitt lectures become the most famous unpublished animation textbook of all time. (until 2002)

Comics
• "Captian Marvel" returns to comic books for DC comics. However Marvel Comics has established a new character of the same name, as a result DC is forced to change the name of the book to "Shazam".
• "The Shadow" returns to comic books for DC Comics.
• Dik Browne's "Hagar The Horrible" comic strip debuts.
• "The Green Goblin" dies in Amazing Spider-man # 122.
• Spider-Man's Girlfriend Gwen Stacy is killed by The Green Goblin in Amazing Spider-man # 121. The story shocks fans as it's the first time a super-hero comic has killed off a major character.
• Shang Chi, the son of Fu Manchu makes his comic book debut in Marvel Special Edition # 15 written by Steve Englehart and drawn by Jim Starlin.

Deaths
• Artist, Pablo Picasso dies at 91
• Actor, Edward G Robinson dies at age 80
• Former President, Lyndon B. Johnson dies at age 64
• Author, playwrite, Noel Coward dies at age 73
• Author, J.R.R. Tolkein dies at age 81

Movies
• Woody Allen in "Sleeper"
• "The Sting"
• "Last Tango In Paris"
• "The Exorcist"

Animated Movies
- 4 new animated feature films premiered this year
• "Charlotte's Web" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Fantastic Planet" a Les Films Armorial production
• "Heavy Traffic" a Steve Krantz production
• “Robin Hood” a Walt Disney production

Specials
• "Alice in Wonderland" a Rankin-Bass production
• "All About Me" an Animated Cartoon production
• "The Arabian Knights" a Rankin-Bass production
• "The Ballad of Paul Bunyon" a Rankin-Bass production
• "The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas" a Depatie-Freleng production
• "The Black Arrow" an Air Programs production
• "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" a Lee Mendelson-Bill Melendez production
• "The Count of Monte Cristo" a Hanna Barbera production
• “The Cricket In Times Square”Chuck Jones’s
• "Dr. Seuss' On The Loose" a Depatie-Freleng production
• "The Incredible, Indelible, Magical, Physical Mystery Trip" a Depatie-Freleng production
• "Kidnapped" an Air Programs International production
• “Really Rosie”
• "Lost In Space" a Hanna Barbera production

Television
- 17 new television shows premiered this year
• "The Addams Family" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Bailey's Comets" a Depatie-Freleng production
• "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Captain Inventory" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Emergency + Four" a Fred Calvert production
• "Everything's Archie" a Filmation production
• "Goober and the Ghost Chasers" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Inch High Private Eye" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Jeannie" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Lassie's Rescue Rangers" a Filmation / Rankin-Bass production
• "Mission Magic" a Filmation production
• "My Favorite Martians" a Filmation production
• Schoolhouse Rock" a Newall/Yohe-Scholastic Rock Inc. production
• "Speed Buggy" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Star Trek" a Filmation production
• "Super Friends" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Yogi's Gang" a Hanna Barbera production

Academy Award
• "Frank Film" by Frank Mouris

1974
World News
• Richard Nixon, facing impeachment charges, announces his resignation. V.P. Gerald Ford becomes President
• Stuntman, Evil Knieval fails in his attempt to leap across the Grand Canyon
• Aerosol gasses said to threaten the Earth's ozone layer
• Muhammed Ali regains his Boxing title against George Foreman

Popular Music
• "The Way We Were" by Barbara Streisand
• "Sunshine On My Shoulders"" by John Denver
• "I Shot The Sheriff" by Eric Clapton

Computers
• Motion Pictures Product Group formed at III by John Whitney, Jr. and Gary Demos
• Alex Schure opens CGL at NYIT, with Ed Catmull as Director
• Barnhill and Riesenfeld introduce the name "Computer-Aided Geometric Design" (CAGD)
• SuperPaint developed by Dick Shoup and Alvy Ray Smith
• TCP protocol (Vint Cerf, Bob Kahn)
• DEC VT52 incorporated the first addressable cursor in a graphics display terminal
• Intel (Zilog) 8080
• z-buffer developed by Ed Catmull (University of Utah)
• Futureworld (sequel to Westworld) uses 3D CGI (III)
• Hunger produced by Peter Foldes at National Research Council of Canada; wins Cannes Film Festival Prix de Jury award for animation

Animation News

Comics
• The future X-man Wolverine makes his comic book debut in The Incredible Hulk # 181. .
• Marvel Special Edition changes it's name to The Hands of Shang Chi, Master of Kung Fu. Doug Moench & Paul Gulacy take over writing and artists duties respectively, storylines are planted firmly in the world of Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu novels.
• The Punisher makes his comics debut in Amazing Spider-man # 129.
• A live action Wonder Woman TV movie debuts starring Cathy Lee Crosby (Wonder Woman). They show bares little resemblance to the comic book and fails miserabley.

Deaths
• Aviator, Charles Lindbergh dies at age 72
• T.V. host, Ed Sullivan dies at age 72
• Radio/T.V. personality, Jack Benny dies at age 80

Movies
• "Chinatown"
• "Godfather II"
• "Phantom of the Paradise"

Animated Movies
- 3 new animated feature films premiered this year
• "Journey Back To Oz" a Filmation production
• "The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat" a Steve Krantz production
• "Oliver Twist" a Filmation production

Specials
• "A City That Forgot About Christmas" a Screen Images production
• "Clerow Wilson's Great Escape" a Depatie-Feleng production
• "Cyrano" a Hanna Barbera production
• "It's A Mystery, Charlie Brown" a Lee Mendelson-Bill Melendez production
• "It's The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown" a Lee Mendelson-Bill Melendez production
• "The Little Mermaid" a Gerald Potterton production
• "The Magical Mystery Trip Through Little Red's Head" a Depatie-Freleng production

Television
- 12 new television shows premiered this year
• "Casper the Friendly Ghost and Company" a Paramount production
• "The Count of Monte Cristo" a Halas & Batchelor production
• "Devlin" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Dipsy Doodle" a General Foods production
• "Hong Kong Phooey" a Hanna Barbera production
• "The New Adventures of Gilligan" a Filmation production
• "The Partridge Family: 2200 A.D. a Hanna Barbera production
• "These are the Days" a Hanna Barbera production
• "U.S. of Archie" a Filmation production
• "Valley of the Dinosaurs" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch" a Hanna Barbera production
• "When Funnies Were Funny" a Radio and Television Packagers production

Academy Award
• "Closed Mondays" a Lighthouse production

1975
World News
• Ford Pinto is released
• Margaret Thatcher elected as 1st British Prime Minister
• 1st woman reaches the top of Mount Everest - Junko Tabei of Japan
• U.S. and Soviet spacecraft dock together in outer space
• T-shirt advertising becomes a big fad - Budweiser leads the way
• Juan Carlos crowned the King of Spain

Popular Music
• "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" by Elton John
• Jive Talkin" by the Bee Gees

Computers
• Phong shading - Bui-Toung Phong (University of Utah)
• Sony Betamax recorder
• USAF ICAM (Integrated Computer Aided Manufacturing) initiative started
• Cray 1 introduced
• Altair 8800 computer
• fractals - Benoit Mandelbrot (IBM)
• Winged edge polyhedra representation (Bruce Baumgart)
• Catmull curved surface rendering algorithm
• Bill Gates starts Microsoft
• Quantel (QUANtized TELevision) introduces the DFS3000 Digital Framestore
• Martin Newell (Utah) develops CGI teapot (physical teapot now in the Computer Museum in Boston)
• JPL Graphics Lab developed (Bob Holzman)
• Arabesque completed (John Whitney)
• Anima animation system developed at CGRG at Ohio State (Csuri)

Animation News
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•
•

Comics
• The New Original Wonder Woman TV movie debuts starring Linda Carter (Wonder Woman) & Lyle Waggoner (Steve Trevor). This time they stay more faithful to the comic book and the show is picked up as a series.
• French cartoonists Jean Giraud (aka Mobius), Jean-Pierre Dionett, and Phillip Druilett debut Metal Hurlant, a magazine anthology of Science Fiction comics (and big breasts). The magazine becomes very successful in Europe.
• Len Wien & Dave Cockrum revamp The X-men comic book with new characters and directions. Giant Sized X-Men # 1, introduces new team members Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Banshee & Thunderbird. The X-men would go on to become the greatest selling comic book of all time.
• A live action Doc Savage feature Doc Savage: Man Of Bronze debuts starring Ron Ely of Tarzan fame as Doc Savage.

Movies
• "Jaws"
• "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest"

Animated Movies
- 3 new animated feature films premiered this year
• "Bugs Bunny, Superstar" a Warner Bros. production
• "Coonskin" an Albert S. Ruddy production
• "Dick Deadeye - Or Duty Done" a Bill Melendez production

Specials
• "Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown" a Lee Mendelson-Bill Melendez production
• "The Christmas Messenger" a Shostak and Schwartz/Gerald Potterton production
• "Dr. Seuss' The Hoober-Bloob Highway" a Depatie-Freleng production
• “The White Seal” Chuck Jones’s
• "The First Christmas: "The Story of First Christmas Snow" a Rankin-Bass production
• "The Happy Prince" a Gerald Potterton production
• "Ivanhoe" an Air Programs International production
• "The Jean Marsh Cartoon Special" a.k.a. "The Grover Monster Cartoon Special"a KQED-TV production
• "The Last of the Mohicans" a Hanna Barbera production

Television
- 6 new television shows premiered this year
• "The Oddball Couple" a Depatie-Feleng production
• "Return of the Planet of the Apes" a Depatie-Freleng production
• "The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty" a Filmation production
• "Spirit of Freedom" a Shamus Culhane production
• "The Tom and Jerry/Grape Ape Show" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Uncle Crock's Block" a Filmation production

Academy Award
• "Great" by Bob Godfrey

1976
World News
• U.S. celebrates Bi-centennial
• "Viking 1" lands on Mars and sends back photos of surface

Computers
• MITs Visible Language Workshop founded by Muriel Cooper
• Ed Catmull develops "tweening" software (NYIT)
• Jim Clark's Hierarchical model for visible surface detection
• N. Burtnyk , M. Wein, Interactive skeleton techniques for enhancing motion dynamics in key frame animation
• Dolby sound
• Jim Blinn develops reflectance and environment mapping (University of Utah)
• Nelson Max's sphere inversion film
• Ukrainian Pysanka Egg erected in Vegraville, Canada by Ron Resch (University of Utah) to commemorate the RCMP
• Sony Beta home video
• Floppy disk (5 1/4")
• Apple 1 (Wozniak)
• IFIP (The Internation Federation of Information Processing) conference at Seillac in France on "The Methodology of Computer Graphics" begins standardization process
• Computer Graphics Newsletter started by Joel Orr; later becomes Computer Graphics World

Animation News
•
•
•

Comics
• The Wonder Woman TV series debuts starring Linda Carter (Wonder Woman) & Lyle Waggoner (Steve Trevor).
• Harvey Pakar's acclaimed autobiographical comic series American splendor debuts with artwork from well-known underground cartoonists Robert Crumb, Frank Stack, Joe Zabel, and Gary Drumm.
• Cathy Guisewite's comic strip Cathy, about a working single woman, begins syndication. Guisewite's work would inspire many women cartoonists.

Deaths
• Author, Agatha Christie dies at age 85
• Millionaire/recluse, Howard Hughes dies at age 70
• Millionaire, J. Paul Getty dies at age 83
• Chinese leader, Mao Tse-Tung dies at age 82

Movies
• "All The President's Men"
• "Rocky"
• "Taxi Driver"
• "Network"
• "The Omen"
• "Carrie"

Animated Movies
- 2 new animated feature films premiered this year
• "Allegro Non Troppo" a Bruno Bozetto Film production
• "Hugo The Hippo" a Brut/Hungarofilm production

Specials
• Shamus Culhane’s “Noah’s Animals”
• "Carnival of Animals" a Chuck Jones production
• "Davy Crockett on the Mississippi" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Everybody Rides the Carousel" a Hubley Studio production
• "The First Easter Rabbit" a Rankin-Bass production
• "The Flintstones" Little Big League" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Freedom Is" a Screen Images production
• "From The Earth To The Moon" an Air Programs International production
• "Frosty's Winter Wonderland" a Rankin-Bass production
• "Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown" a Lee Mendelson production
• "It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown" a Lee Mendelson-Bill Melendez production
• "Journey Back To Oz" a Filmation production
• "Little Drummer Boy II" a Rankin-Bass production

Television
- 8 new television shows premiered this year
• "Clue Club" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Jabberjaw" a Hanna Barbera production
• "The Pink Panther Laugh and a Half - Hour and a Half" a Depatie-Freleng production
• "The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour" a Hanna Barbera production
• "The Space Ghost/Frankenstein Jr. Show" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Sylvester & Tweety" a Warner Bros. production
• "Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle" a Filmation production
• "The Tom and Jerry/Grape Ape/Mumbly Show" a Hanna Barbera production

Academy Award
• "Leisure" a Film Australia production

1977
World News
• Jimmy Carter elected President of U.S.
• CB radios the new fad, good buddy
• Space Shuttle test flights on the back of 747

Computers
• Apple Computer incorporated
• VHS (Video Home System) format - Matsushita
• JVC VHS home video
• Apple II released
• TRS-80 introduced
• Frank Crow introduces antialiasing
• Jim Blinn introduces a new illumination model that considers surface "facets"
• Computer Graphics World begins publication (started by Joel and N'omi Orr as Computer Graphics Newsletter)
• Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences introduces Visual Effects category for Oscars
• Nelson Max joins LLL; Jim Blinn joins JPL
• R/Greenberg founded (Richard and Robert Greenberg)
• SIGGRAPH CORE Graphics standard
• Ampex ESSTM (Electronic Still Store) system introduced for network sports slo-mo;adapted for use as animation sequetial storage device
• GKS (Graphical Kernal System) graphics standard introduced
• Fuchs multiprocessor visible surface algorithm
• Larry Cuba produces Death Star simulation for Star Wars using Grass at UICC developed by Tom DeFanti at Ohio State

Animation News
• John Hubly's final film is A Doonsbury Special.
• Ralph Bakshi released his most popular animated feature Wizards.
• Richard Williams' Raggedy Anne & Andy animated feature is released.

Comics
• Dave Sim's Cerebus # 1 comic book debuts inspiring the self puiblishing movement in the 1980's.
• National Lampoon Communications buys the rights to Metal Hurlant and releases it in America as Heavy Metal, the series would feature work by such talents as Mobius, Howard Chaykin, Walt Simonson, Berni Wrightson, Trina Robbins, Richard Corben, Micheal Moorcock, and Gary Marrow.
• The Spider-Man comic strip, written by Stan Lee and drawn by John Romita, begins sydication.
• The first of three live action Spider-Man TV movies, The Amazing Spider-Man, debuts starring Nicholas Hammond (Spider-Man).
• The live actin Buck Rogers In The 25th Century movie is released starring Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers).

Deaths
• John Hubley, 63 yrs old, (1914 - 1977).
• Robert McKimson, 67 yrs old, (1910 - 1977)
• Actress, Joan Crawford dies at age 73
• Singer, King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley dies at age 42
• Actor/Commedian, Groucho Marx dies at age 77
• "Fantasia" conductor, Leopold Stokowski dies at age 95
• Actor/singer, Bing Crosby dies on golf course at age 73
• Big Band leader, Guy Lombardo, dies at age 75
• Actor, Charlie Chaplin dies at age 88

Movies
• "Annie Hall"
• "Star Wars"
• "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind"
• "Saturday Night Fever"

Animated Movies
- 8 new animated feature films premiered this year
• “Star Wars” released
• "Dirty Duck" a Murakami-Wolf production
• "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" a Walt Disney production
• "The Mouse and His Child" a deFaria-Lockhart-Murikami-Wolf/Sanrio production
• "Pete's Dragon" a Walt Disney production
• "Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown" a Bill Melendez production
• "Raggedy Ann and Andy" a Lester Osterman production
• “The Rescuers” a Walt Disney production
• "Wizards" a Ralph Bakshi production

Specials
• "Bugs Bunny In Space" a Warner Bros. production
• "Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special" a Warner Bros. production
• "A Cosmic Christmas" a Nelvana production
• “Rikki Tikki Tavi” a Chuck Jones production
• "Dr. Seuss' Halloween Is Grinch Night" a Depatie-Freleng production
• "A Doonesbury Special" a John and Faith Hubley Films production
• "The Easter Bunny Is Comin' To Town" a Rankin-Bass production
• "The Fat Albert Halloween Special" a Filmation production
• "Five Weeks in a Balloon" a Hanna Barbera production
• "A Flintstone Christmas" a Hanna Barbera production
• "The Fourth King" a Rai Television production
• "Halloween Who-Dun It?" a Clokey production
• "The Hobbit" a Rankin-Bass production
• "It's A Brand New World" an Elias production
• "It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown" a Lee Mendelson-Bill Melendez production
• "Journey To The Center Of The Earth" an Air Programs International production
• "King of the Beasts" a Shamus Culhane production


Television
• Roots mini-series

- 13 new television shows premiered this year
• "Archie's Bang-Shang Lalapalooza Show" a Filmation production
• "Baggy Pants and Nitwits" a Depatie-Freleng production
• "The Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour" a Filmation production
• "C.B. Bears" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Fred Flintstone and Friends" a Hanna Barbera production
• "I Am The Greatest: The Adventures of Muhammed Ali" a Farmhouse production
• "The New Adventures of Batman" a Filmation production
• "The New Archie/Sabrina Hour" a Filmation production
• Sabrina, Superwitch" a Filmation production
• "Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics" a Hanna Barbera production
• "The Skatebirds" a Hanna Barbera production
• "What's New, Mr. Magoo?" a Depatie-Freleng production
• "Young Sentinals" a Filmation production

Academy Award
• "Sand Castle" a National Film Board production

1978
World News
• 1st test tube baby born
• 1st non-Italian Pope - John Paul II
• Mass suicide by Peoples Temple members in Guyana

Computers
• Peter Fonda's head digitized and rendered by III for Futureworld
• Ampex VPR-1 Type C 1" video recorder
• Wang word processing
• "Artist and Computer", by Ruth Leavitt
• Mathematical Elements for Computer Graphics (David Rogers) published
• Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak start Apple computer.
• Tom DeFanti's GRASS system rewritten for Bally home computer (Zgrass)
• E&S goes public
• AT&T and Canadian Telidon introduce videotex graphics standard (NAPLPS)
• Digital Effects founded (Judson Rosebush, Jeff Kleiser, et al)
• Lance Williams curved shadows paper
• Ikonas frame buffer - England/Whitton
• Leroy Neiman uses Ampex AVA-1TM video art system to draw (on air) football players in Super Bowl XII
• 1st CGI film title - Superman (R. Greenberg)
• Computer Graphics World begins publication
• James Blinn produces the first of a series of animations titled The Mechanical Universe
• DEC VAX 11/780 introduced
• video laser disc
• Bump mapping introduced (Blinn)

Animation News
• Dick Huemer receives Annie Award

Comics
• A Dr. Strange live action TV movie, starring Peter Hooten (Dr.Strange), debuts on network television. The Show is Boycotted by The Christian Coalition and a proposed TV series never gets off the ground.
• The anime series Battle Of The Planets (Gotchaman) debuts in the United States.
• Richard Adam's famous children's book Waterdship Down becomes an animated feature. The film is noted for it's shocking (for a cartoon) and unflinchingly realistic portrayal of a group of rabbits trying to survive in the unfriendly wild.
• Wendi & Richard Peni debut their Elfquest series in Fantasy Quarterly # 1.
• Buck Rogers In The 25h Century starring Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers) becomes a prime time TV show.
• The second live action Spider-Man TV movie, Spider-Man Strikes Back airs starring Nicholas Hammond (Spider-Man).
• Jim Davis' Garfield strip begins syndication.

Movies
• "Grease"
• "Animal House"
• "The Deer Hunter"
• "Superman"

Animated Movies
- 3 new animated feature films premiered this year
• "Lord of the Rings" a Fantasy Films/Saul Zaentz production
• "Metamorphoses" a Sanrio Films production
• "Watership Down" a Nepenthe production

Deaths
• John Randolph Bray, 99 yrs old (1879 - 1978)
• Artist, Norman Rockwell dies at age 84

Specials
• "Black Beauty" a Hanna Barbera production
• "A Connecticut Rabbit In King Arthur's Court" a Warner Bros. production
• "The Devil and Daniel Mouse" a Nelvana production
• "The Fat Albert Christmas Special" a Filmation production
• "How Bugs Bunny Won The West" a Warner Bros. production
• "The Little Brown Burro" an Atkinson Film-Arts production

Television
• Dallas popular night time soap opera

- 16 new television shows premiered this year
• “The Three Robonic Stooges” Hanna Barbera
• "The All New Popeye Hour" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Battle of the Planets" a Tasunko production
• "Challenge of the Super Friends" a Hanna Barbera production
• "The Daffy Duck Show" a Warner Bros production
• "The Fabulous Funnies" a Filmation production
• "Fangface" a Ruby-Spears production
• "The Galaxy Goof-Ups" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Godzilla and the Super 90" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Groovie Goolies and Friends" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Metric Marvels" a Newall-Yohe production
• "The New Fantastic Four" a Depatie-Freleng production
• "Tarzan and the Super Seven" a Filmation production
• "Think Pink Panther!" a Depatie-Freleng production
• "The Three Robonic Stooges" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Yogi's Space Race" a Hanna Barbera production

Academy Award
• "Special Delivery" a National Film Board production

1979
World News
• Skylab falls back to earth.
• Coke goes on sale in China for the 1st time
• Ayatolla Khomeini returns to Iran from exile in France
• 3 Mile Island atomic leak
• Egypt and Israel sign peace treaty
• Hostage crisis at U.S. embassy in Iran

Computers
• National Computer Graphics Association (NCGA) organized by Peter Preuss of ISSCO and Joel Orr
• IGES graphics file format specified
• IBM 3279 color terminal
• E&S PS-300
• Motorola 68000 32-bit processor
• Atari 8-bit computers introduced
• Disney produces The Black Hole using CGI for the opening
• Sunstone - Ed Emshwiller (NYIT)
• George Lucas hires Ed Catmull, Ralph Guggenheim and Alvy Ray Smith to form Lucasfilm

Animation News
• The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie plays at The New York Film Festival.
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Comics
• The third live action Spider-Man TV movie Spider-Man: the Dragon"s Challenge airs starring Nicholas Hammond (Spider-Man).
• Frank Miller begins his storied run on Daredevil in Daredevil # 158.
• Lynn Johnson's "For Better or For Worse" Strip begins syndication.

Deaths
• George Dunning, 59 yrs old (1920 - 1979).
• Joe Fleischer, 90 yrs old (1889 - 1979)
• Dave Fleischer, 85 yrs old (1894 - 1979)
• Dick Huemer, 81 yrs old (1898 - 1979)
• Cartoonist, Al Capp dies at age 70

Movies
• "The China Syndrome"
• "Kramer v.s. Kramer"
• "Alien"
• "Apocalypse Now"
• "Rocky II"
• "10"
• "The Black Hole"
• "Time After Time"
• "1942"
• "Star Trek"

Animated Movies
- 4 new animated feature films premiered this year
• "The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie" a Warner Bros. production
• "The Magic Pony" a Soyuzmultifilm Studios production
• "Nutcracker Fantasy" a Sanrio Films production
• "The Water Babies" a Productions Associates production

Specials
• "The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree" a Cates Bros. Company production
• "The Bugs Bunny Mother's Day Special" a Warner Bros. production
• "Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales" a Warner Bros. production
• "Bugs Bunny's Thanksgiving Diet" a Warner Bros. production
• "Bugs Bunny's Valentine" a Warner Bros. production
• "Casper's First Christmas" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Casper's Halloween Special" a Hanna Barbera production
• "A Family Circus Christmas" a Cullen-Kasden production
• "Gulliver's Travels" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Happy Birthday, Charlie Brown" a Bill Melendez production
• "The Horse That Played Center Field" a Ruby-Spears production
• "The Incredible Detectives" a Ruby-Spears production
• "Intergalactic Thanksgiving" a Nelvana production
• "Jack Frost" a Rankin-Bass production
• "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" a Bill Melendez production
• "Romie-0 and Julie-8" a Nelvana production
• "The Little Rascals Christmas Special" a King World production

Television
- 17 new television shows premiered this year
• "The All New Pink Panther Show" a DePatie-Freleng production
• "Buford and the Galloping Ghost" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Casper and the Angels" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Fred and Barney Meet the Schmoo" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Fred and Barney Meet the Thing" a Hanna Barbera production
• "The Godzilla Show" a Hanna Barbera production
• "The New Adventures of Flash Gordon" a Filmation production
• "The New Adventures of Might Mouse and Heckle and Jeckle" a Filmation production
• "The New Fred and Barney Show" a Hanna Barbera production
• "The New Schmoo" a Hanna Barbera production
• "The Plastic Man Comedy-Adventure Hour" a Ruby-Spears production
• "Scooby and Scrappy-Doo" a Hanna Barbera production
• The Scooby-Doo Show" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Spider-woman" a Depatie-Freleng production
• "Starblazers" (originally released in 1977 as "Space Battleship Yamato") a Sunwagon production
• "The Super Golbetrotters" a Hanna Barbera production
• "The World's Greatest Super Friends" a Hanna Barbera production

Academy Award
• "Every Child" a National Film Board production
• Walter Lantz receives an honorary Academy Award for technical achievements in animation

1980
World News
• Comedian Richard Pryor blows himself up while trying to freebase cocaine... he lived through it though.
• U.S. announces it will boycott the Moscow Olympics
• Mount St. Helens in Washington State begins emitting ash
• U.S. failed hostage rescue in Tehran, Iran
• "Voyager 1" passes Saturn
• Mount St. Helens erupts

Computers
• Vol Libre - Loren Carpenter of Boeing
• Apollo Computer founded - introduces the 68000 based workstation
• Turner Whitted of Bell Labs publishes ray tracing paper
• First NCGA conference - Arlington, Virginia - Steven Levine, President
• Donkey Kong introduced by Nintendo (Mario named in US release)
• IBM licenses DOS from Microsoft
• Apple Computer IPO - 4.6M shares @ $22
• Aurora Systems founded by Richard Shoup
• SIGGRAPH Core standard reorganized as ANSC X3H3.1 (PHIGS)
• EUROGRAPHICS (The European Association for Computer Graphics) formed; first conference at Geneva
• Disney contracts Abel, III, MAGI and DE for computer graphics for the movie Tron
• MIT Media Lab founded by Nicholas Negroponte
• Pacific Data Images founded by Carl Rosendahl
• Computer hard disk drive - Seagate
• Hanna-Barbera, largest producer of animation in the U.S., begins implementation of computer automation of animation process
• Sony Walkman
• Quantel introduces Paintbox

Animation News
• Friz Freleng rejoins Warner Brothers and begins a series of compilation features and TV specials.

Comics
• Peter Bagge co-publishes the short lived Commical Funnies, a New York based tabloid which debuted his dysfunctional suburban family "The Bradleys".
• Matt Groening's Life In Hell comic strips debuts starring Binky the Rabbit.
• Underground comic vetran Art Spiegleman starts his Raw comic book anthology series featuring work from Charles Burnes, Drew Friedman, George Herriman, Gary Panter.
• A live action Flash Gordon movie premieres starring Sam J. Jones (Flash Gordon), Melody Anderson (Dale Arden), Max Von Sidow (Ming The Merciless), and Topil (Dr. Zarkov).
• Robert Crumb begins his own comic book anthology series, Wierdo, featuring work from Robert Armstrong, Drew Friedman, Peter Bagge, John Holstrom, & Aline Kominski-Crumb.

Deaths
• Tex Avery collapses outside the Hanna Barbera studio and later dies.
• Comedian, Jimmy Durante dies
• Director, Alfred Hitchcock dies at age 80
• Actor, Peter Sellers dies at age 54
• Actor, Steve McQueen dies at age 50
• Actress Mae West dies at age 88
• John Lennon is shot and killed at age 40

Movies
• "Empire Strikes Back"
• "Heaven's Gate"
• "Raging Bull"
• "Ordinary People"

Animated Movies
- 1 new animated feature film premiered this year
• "Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back) a Lee Mendelson-Bill Melendez production

Specials
• "The Adventures of Sinbad" an Air Programs International production
• “Animalympics: Winter Games” a Steve Lisberger production
• "The Bugs Bunny Mystery Special" a Warner Bros. production
• "Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over" a Warner Bros. production
• "Carlton Your Doorman" an MTV production
• "The Christmas Raccoons an Atkinson Film-Arts production
• "Daffy Duck's Easter Show" a Warner Bros. production
• "Daffy Duck's Thanks-For-Giving Special" a Chuck Jones/Warner Bros. production
• "Dr. Seuss' Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You?" a Depatie-Freleng production
• "Easter Fever" a Nelvana production
• "The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone" a Hanna Barbera production
• "The Flintstones' New Neighbors" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Gnomes" a Zanders Animation Parlor production
• "The Harlem Globetrotters Meet Snow White" a Hanna Barbera production
• "The Incredible Book Escape" a Bosustow Entertainment production
• "The Last of the Red Hot Dragons" a Shamus Culhane production
• "Life is A Circus, Charlie Brown" a Lee Mendelson-Bill Melendez production
• "Take Me Up To The Ballgame" a Nelvana production

Television
- 14 new television shows premiered this year
• “Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels” Hanna Barbera
• "Batman and the Super Seven" a Filmation production
• "Amigo and Friends" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Cantiflas" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Drac Pack" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Drawing Power" a Newhall-Yohe production
• "The Flintstones Comedy Hour" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Fonz and the Happy Days Gang" a Hanna Barbera production
• "The Heathcliff and DingbatShow" a Ruby-Spears production
• "The Plastic Man/Baby Plas Super Comedy" a Ruby-Spears production
• "The Super Friends Hour" a Hanna Barbera production
• "Thundarr the Barbarian" a Ruby-Spears production
• "The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show" a Hanna Barbera production

Academy Award
• "The Fly" a Pannonia Film production

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1981 - 1990

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