Acrobatty Bunny
Filed under: animation, Animation Series, Bugs Bunny, Color, Looney Tunes, U.S.A., Warner Bros., 1946
Aesop’s Fables Studio
Filed under: studio, 1920s, Aesop's Fables, Amadee J. Van Beuren, Paul Terry, Silent, U.S.A., Van Beuren Corporation, Walt Disney, 1920
"Aesop's Fables Studio was a small animation studio. Aesop's Fables Studio was founded by Paul Terry in 1920 with financial support from the Keith-Albee vaudeville team in order to produce a series of animated shorts called Aesop’s Film Fables. The..."
American Animated Films: The Silent Era, 1897-1929
Filed under: resource, Silent, U.S.A., Book
Author: Dennis Gifford
"Arranged chronologically by series, this is a complete annotated listing of all the animated films produced in the US before the advent of sound."
Animating Culture: Hollywood Cartoons from the Sound Era
Filed under: resource, U.S.A., Walt Disney Studios, Book
Author: Eric Loren Smoodin
"The author analyzes the animated short film and argues that cartoons appealed to a wide audience, not just children, and did indeed contribute to public debate about political matters. He examines issues often ignored in discussions of animated film..."
Arthur (Art) Babbitt
Filed under: people, U.S.A., Walt Disney Studios, Animator, Director, Educator, Union Activist
"Art was born in Omaha of Russian Jewish ancestry. Soon after High School he took himself to New York where he slummed around doing odd jobs and eating stale food to put himself through Columbia College Pre Med. He tried some jobs drawing cartoons and..."
Ballot Box Bunny
Filed under: animation, 1950s, Bugs Bunny, Merrie Melodies, Technicolor, U.S.A., Warner Bros., 1951
Producer(s): Edward Selzer
Release Date: 06/10/1951
"A political Warner Bros. cartoon in which Yosemite Sam runs a violent campaign for mayor against his challenger Bugs Bunny."
Bedtime
Filed under: animation, 1920s, Inkwell / Fleischer Studios, Koko the Clown, Silent, U.S.A., 1923
Producer(s): Max Fleischer, Alfred Weiss
Release Date: 01/12/1923
"Max Fleischer leaves his creation Koko the Clown stranded on a mountain top so he can get some sleep. Koko gets off the mountain and searches for Fleischer, terrorizing New York (he's grown in size at this point) in the process. The very interesting ..."
Ben “Bugs” Hardaway
Filed under: people, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, U.S.A., Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney, Warner Bros., Animator, Storyboard Artist, Voice Actor
"Ben Hardaway was an American storyboard artist, voice actor, animator and gagman during the Golden Age of American animation. Supplying the voice of Woody Woodpecker in many cartoon shorts, Hardaway was the man who gave "Bugs Bunny" his iconic name. "
Bill Nolan
Filed under: people, U.S.A., Animator
"Bill Nolar started in New York doing crazy cat on Felix the Cat. He worked for Lantz Studios during the mid 40s."
Bob Clampett Productions
Filed under: studio, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, Beany and Cecil, Bob Clampett, Color, Commercials, U.S.A., Warner Bros., 1948
"Bob Clampett left Warner Bros. in 1946 to open his own studio, Bob Clampett Productions in 1948. As many writers and fans point out, Clampett was as much fascinated with animation as he was with puppetry. As part of his new studio, Clampett created a..."
Bob Kurtz
Filed under: people, U.S.A., Animation Designer, Animation Supervisor, Animator, Director, Misc. Crew, Producer, Sequence Animator, Soundtrack, Storyboard Artist, Title Department, Writer
"His career started when he began writing the pink panther series."
Bosko Shipwrecked!
Filed under: animation, 1930s, Early Sound, U.S.A., Vitagraph Studios, 1931
Producer(s): Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising
Release Date: 19/09/1931
"Bosko attempts to steer a boat through a storm to no avail. He then washes ashore only to be hassled by the local wildlife.Bosko and the lion's alternation between movement towards and away from the spectator deserves particular note for its innovati..."
Brad Bird
Filed under: people, 3D Animation, Pixar Animation Studios, U.S.A., Walt Disney Studios, Animator, Director
"Brad started his first animated cartoon at age eleven and finished it at fourteen. The film attracted the attention of Disney Studios which offered the young legend a chance to come be mentored by Milt Kahl, one of the Nine Old Men. After graduating ..."
Candy Town (1933)
Filed under: animation, 1930s, Aesop's Fables, U.S.A., Van Beuren Corporation
Release Date: 01/13/1933
Carl Barks
Filed under: people, Donald Duck, U.S.A., Walt Disney, Animator, Cartoonist, Storyboard Artist, Storyman
"Carl Barks was an American cartoonist who was most well-known for drawing Donald Duck as well as creating the iconic character of Scrooge McDuck. "
Carl Thomas Anderson
Filed under: people, U.S.A., Animator, Cartoonist
"Anderson was a cartoonists and comic strip artist most well-known for his drawings of Henry. Anderson began his career as a cartoonist for the Philadelphia Times drawing fashion illustrations in 1894. Throughout his career, Anderson worked for the N..."
Carl W. Stalling
Filed under: people, 1930s, 1940s, Early Sound, Looney Tunes, Music, Silly Symphonies, U.S.A., Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Composer
"Carl Stalling was the composer of Warner Bros. Cartoon classic Looney Tunes, serving as composer and arranger for over 22 years and averaging the completion of a score per week. Sta..."
Charles Augustus Nichols (“Nick”)
Filed under: people, U.S.A., Walt Disney Studios, Animation Supervisor, Animator, Director
""Nick" Nichols was an Academy Award winning animator and director who first came into prominence working for Disney Studios, hired on December 31st, in 1937. In years to come he would work ..."
Charles B. Mintz
Filed under: people, Krazy Kat, U.S.A., Producer
"Mintz got his start as a producer of animation after his marriage to Margaret J. Winkler of Winkler Pictures. The company produced over 370 cartoon shorts between 1925-1939. The Columbia cartoon producer studied at St. Lawrence University and started..."
Chuck Jones
Filed under: people, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Looney Tunes, Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios, Porky Pig, Tom and Jerry, U.S.A., Warner Bros., Animator, Director
"Chuck Jones was a 14 time Oscar nominee who created over 300 hundred animated films, including some of Warner Bros. most memorable cartoon characters, as well as producing many television specials, and full-length features."
Daffy the Commando
Filed under: animation, 1940s, Daffy Duck, Leon Schlesinger Studios, Looney Tunes, Propaganda, U.S.A., Warner Bros., World War 2 ( WW2 ), 1943
Producer(s): Leon Schlesinger
Release Date: 20/11/1943
"Daffy Duck parachutes onto a German base in WW2 and torments some Nazis. As he is shot by a cannon, he flies over (whilst holding two American flags, none the less) to a Nazi rally, and smacks Hitler with a hammer. Elements of propaganda abound, but ..."
Dave Fleischer
Filed under: people, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, Dave Fleischer, Inkwell / Fleischer Studios, U.S.A., Director
"First generation American Jew who grew up in Manhattan. His father had emigrated from Austria in the late 1880’s. He and his brother, Max, distributed their Out of the Inkwell Series by themselves in mid-1921. Sometime in 1922 they signed with dist..."
Dinner Time
Filed under: animation, 1920s, Early Sound, Pathe, U.S.A., Van Beuren Corporation, 1928
Producer(s): Paul Terry
Release Date: 17/12/1928 (copyright date, possibly not release date)
"An early example of sound animation. In it, animals square off against each other and then join forces against a Butcher (Farmer Alfalfa)."
Disney’s Education for Death: The Making of a Nazi
Filed under: animation, 1940s, Technicolor, U.S.A., Walt Disney, Walt Disney Studios, World War 2 ( WW2 )
Producer(s): Walt Disney
Release Date: 15/01/1943
"“Education for Death: The Making of a Nazi” (1943) is one of 32 animated short propaganda film that the United States government commissioned Disney to produce. Nearing bankruptcy after the financial failure of Fantasia (1940), Disney entered a c..."
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse
Filed under: animation, 1940s, Color, Hanna-Barbera Studios, Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios, Tom and Jerry, Tom and Jerry, U.S.A., 1947
Producer(s): Fred Quimby
Release Date: 14/06/1947
"A Tom and Jerry cartoon, riffing off of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, in which Tom concocts a deadly potion but finds that it only makes Jerry stronger."
Earl Hurd
Filed under: people, Bray Productions, Terrytoons Animated Shorts, U.S.A., Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney
"Hurd was a pioneering American animator who worked at the beginning of the early animation age, noted for creating the silent animated short Bobby Bumpbs, and working for John Randolph Bray's company Bray Productions. Together, the pair developed ..."
Egyptian Melodies
Filed under: animation, 1930s, Jazz, Musical, U.S.A., Walt Disney Studios, 1931
Producer(s): Walt Disney
Release Date: 21/06/1931
"A spider enters the Sphinx in Egypt. Inside he falls down stairs, hides from dancing mummies and witnesses murals come to life. He then runs away, afraid."
Émile (Eugène Jean Louis) Courtet
Filed under: people, 1890s, 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, Early Sound, France, Pixilation, U.S.A., World War 1 ( WW1 ), Animator, Artist, Background Artist, Cartoonist, Director, Writer
"Émile Cohl was an important early independent cartoonist and animator, who was a caricaturist in the "Incoherent Movement" and has often been called "The Father of the Animated Cartoon.""
Feline Follies
Filed under: animation, 1910s, Pat Sullivan Cartoons, U.S.A., 1919
Producer(s): Pat Sullivan
Release Date: 01/09/1919
"Master Tom (who would later be renamed Felix the Cat) falls in love with Miss Kitty White. While he is out romancing her, mice create a mess. Master Tom is thrown out due to his ineffective pest control. When he returns to Miss Kitty White he finds a..."
Fiddlesticks
Filed under: animation, 1930s, Celebrity Productions, Musical, U.S.A., 1930
Producer(s): Ub Iwerks, Pat Powers
Release Date: 16/08/1930
"A straight forward narrative following flip and assorted animals making music."
Floyd Ernest Norman
Filed under: people, Hanna-Barbera Studios, U.S.A., Walt Disney, Animation Designer, Director
"Floyd Norman is an American animation legend responsible for directing a number of feature animated films for Walt Disney Studios, including Sleeping Beauty (1959), One Hundred and One Dalmations (1961), and The Jungle Book (1967). Having worked fo..."
Foghorn Leghorn, “A Broken Leghorn”
Filed under: animation, 1950s, Animation Series, Color, Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies, U.S.A., Warner Bros., 1959
Producer(s): John Burton Sr.
Release Date: 26/09/1959
"The cartoon opens with three hens gossiping about Miss Prissy, who has failed to produce any eggs. Foghorn Leghorn decides to help her out by placing another hen’s egg in her nest. When the egg hatches, Foghorn Leghorn is affronted when he discover..."
Frank Moser
Filed under: people, U.S.A., Animator, Director
"Similarly to other animators, Moser started his career as a cartoonist for newspapers and print publications. Soon, however, he turned his attention to animation, and in 1915 started working for Barré Studio, where he animated The Animated Grouch Ch..."
Hell’s Bells (1929)
Filed under: animation, 1920s, Silly Symphonies, U.S.A., Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney, Walt Disney Studios
Producer(s): Walt Disney
Release Date: 30/10/1929
"In this Silly Symphony, we are introduced to the many creatures of Hell. Satan sits while creatures entertain him and feed him firemilk. When Satan tries to feed a little demon to his hound Cerberus, it runs away and kicks him off the cliff of Hell."
Hollywood Steps Out
Filed under: animation, 1940s, Cultural Industries, Merrie Melodies, U.S.A., Warner Bros., 1941
Humorous Phases of Funny Faces
Filed under: animation, 1900s, Silent, U.S.A., Vitagraph Studios, 1906
Release Date: 06/04/1906
"Often considered to be the earliest surviving U.S. animated film. The film follows chalkboard sketches that seemingly come to life."
I Love to Singa (1936)
Filed under: animation, 1930s, Animation Series, Color, Merrie Melodies, Musical, Technicolor, U.S.A., Warner Bros., 1936
Producer(s): Leon Schlesinger
International Film Service
Filed under: studio, 1910s, 1920s, Krazy Kat, Silent, U.S.A., 1915
"A subsidiary of William Randolph Hearst's International News Service, IFS was created to translate popular comic strips of the day into cartoons, making them into "living comic strips", and intended to boost paper sales. Following the successes of hi..."
Jam Handy Organization
Filed under: studio, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, Color, Commercials, Early Sound, Educational films, Max Fleischer, Propaganda, Silent, Technicolor, Training films, U.S.A., World War 1 ( WW1 ), World War 2 ( WW2 ), 1914
"Jam Handy Organization was founded by Jam Handy just before the First World War. The company produced educational, advertising, and training films. During the First and Second World Wars, Jam Handy Organization animated and produced training and inst..."
Ken O’Connor
Filed under: people, U.S.A., Walt Disney Studios, Art Director, Layout Artist
"Ken O'Connor was born in Perth, Australia, and died in Burbank California. He was a legendary Disney layout artist, designer as well as art director. During his time at Disney, he helped the studio achieve a high level of visual dynamism in their cla..."
Kevin Altieri
Filed under: people, 1990s, U.S.A., Animator, Director
"Kevin Alteri is an American television director of animated cartoons. He is best known for his work on Batman: The Animated Series and Pearl Jam's music video "Do the Evolution". A versatile talent lent to a long and project filed career in animation..."
Ko-Ko Trains ‘Em
Filed under: animation, 1920s, Inkwell / Fleischer Studios, Koko the Clown, Silent, U.S.A., 1925
Producer(s): Max Fleischer, Alfred Weiss
Release Date: 09/05/1925
"Ko-Ko becomes jealous of Max's attention to his young ward and her dog, and tries to create a circus by training animals, then fleas."
Krazy Kat Goes A-Wooing (1916)
Filed under: animation, 1910s, Early Sound, Krazy Kat, U.S.A., Vitagraph Studios
Laugh-O-Gram Studio
Filed under: studio, 1920s, Silent, U.S.A., Walt Disney, 1922
"Walt Disney incorporated Laugh-O-Gram Films, Inc. in May 1922. He set up a studio on the second floor of the McConahy Building at Thirty-first and Forest in New York City. As Paul Terry had used Aesop's Fables for the basis of his cartoons, Disney us..."
Laverne Harding
Filed under: people, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, Color, Daffy Duck, Early Sound, Hanna-Barbera Studios, Joe Barbera, Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies, Oswald, Speedy Gonzales, Technicolor, The Road Runner, U.S.A., Walter Lantz, Walter Lantz Productions, Warner Bros., Woody Woodpecker, Animator, Cartoonist, Comic Strip Artist
"Laverne Harding was the second female studio animator in history, and one of the first to receive onscreen credit for her work. She started out as an inker for the Walter Lantz Productions, moving on to do animation work for several of the Lantz Prod..."
Lillian Friedman Foster
Filed under: people, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, Early Sound, Inkwell / Fleischer Studios, Max Fleischer, U.S.A., Animator
"Lilian Friedman Astor was the first American female studio animator and worked at Fleischer studios. "
Making ‘Em Move
Filed under: animation, 1930s, Early Sound, U.S.A., Van Beuren Corporation, 1931
Release Date: 1931
"A classic 1931's cartoon from Van Beuren Studios, Make 'Em Move depicts a mischievous female character whom stumbles in onto the scene of a cartoon factory bursting with drawings and jazz music. The animals depicted create animation much like themsel..."
Making ‘Em Move (1931)
Filed under: animation, U.S.A., Van Beuren Corporation
Manuel Perez
Filed under: people, Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies, U.S.A., Warner Bros., Animator
"Manuel Perez - typically credited as Manny Perez - was a Mexican-American animator who worked at Warner Bros. studios from 1938 on. He worked for Friz Freleng's unit for ten years, but they did not get along. Between 1955 and 1959 he did not work in ..."
Margaret Bray
Filed under: people, Bray Productions, U.S.A., Production Manager
"Margaret Till Bray was a successful business woman who worked in real-estate, before meeting her husband John Randolph Bray. He installed her as the production manager at Bray Productions, a..."
Mary Blair
Filed under: people, 1950s, U.S.A., Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney, Walt Disney Studios, Animator, Artist, Color Stylist and Designer, Illustrator
"Mary Blair was an American animator, best known for her work with Disney Studios."
Max Fleischer
Filed under: people, Aesop's Fables, Betty Boop, Early Sound, Inkwell / Fleischer Studios, Koko the Clown, Max Fleischer, Popeye, Rotoscope, Silent, Superman, U.S.A., Cartoonist, Director, Photographer, Producer, Writer
"Max Fleischer was an American inventor born in Hungary, who moved to the United States with his family at the age of 4 and later became a filmmaker, animator, director and producer, famous for serving as the head of his own animation studio, Fleisch..."
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio
Filed under: studio, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, Barney Bear, Bill Hanna, Bosko, Droopy, Hanna-Barbera Studios, Joe Barbera, Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios, Tom and Jerry, U.S.A., Ub Iwerks, 1929
"Active from 1929 to 1957, MGM produced some of the most well-known and well-liked cartoons syndicated all over the world, featuring characters such as Barney Bear, Droopy, and the now-iconic Tom and Jerry. MGM's first foray into animation was thr..."
Michael Lah
Filed under: people, Barney Bear, Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios, U.S.A., Animator, Director
"Michael Lah was a noted MGM animator and director, as well as being the understudy of Tex Avery. Lah helped redesign the well-known Barney Bear character, and directed many screwball cartoons, including one that garnered him an Academy Award nomina..."
Milton (Milt) Kahl
Filed under: people, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, Color, Goofy, Mickey Mouse, Silly Symphonies, U.S.A., Walt Disney, Walt Disney Studios, Winnie the Pooh, Animation Supervisor, Animator, Director
"Milt Kahl was an renown animator and director who was a part of Disney's group of “Nine Old Men”, who created and designed many Disney characters, and whose distinctive style had a large influence within the history of the studio. "
Minnie the Moocher
Filed under: animation, 1930s, Betty Boop series, Dave Fleischer, Inkwell / Fleischer Studios, Jazz, Max Fleischer, U.S.A., 1932
Producer(s): Max Fleischer
Release Date: 11/03/1932
"“Minnie the Moocher” begins with a live action performance by Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner Cab Calloway of “St. James Infirmary Blues,” which segues into the Betty Boop cartoon. The cartoon begins with a typical mealtime setting i..."
Motor Mania
Filed under: animation, 1950s, Goofy, U.S.A., Walt Disney Studios, 1950
Producer(s): Walt Disney
Release Date: 30/06/1950
"In this Goofy cartoon from the 50's, a Jekyll and Hyde dynamic illustrates how Mr. Walker, who is friendly and normally mild tempered turns into Mr. Wheeler, a crazed maniac who experiences road rage when behind the wheel of an automobile. An intere..."
Myron (Grim) Natwick
Filed under: people, Betty Boop series, Max Fleischer, U.S.A., Animator
"Myron Natwick was born in Wisconsin Rapids in 1890 and died 100 years later in LA, California of pneumonia and heart disease. He is best known for creating the most popular character from