• 

  Welcome…

  Welcome to the Early Animation Wiki! We are a collaborative place to share information on the early days of animation.
• 

  People database

  Find biographical information on animators, directors, background artists, composers voice actors, and more. Pictured: Tex Avery.
• 

  Animation database

  Watch examples of early animation, complete with links to information about the cartoons, their makers, and their studios.
• 

  Studio database

  Histories of the studios responsible for producing and distributing early animation.
• 

  Resources

  Find information on early animators, animation studios, artistic movements, influences, and more in books, journal and magazine articles, and links to websites, blogs, and collections.
• 

  Mae Questel

  Mae Kwestel was given her stage name, Questel, by her teacher Joseph G. Geiger when she attended the Theatre Guild School as a teen. She was born September 13, 1908, in the Bronx, NY. She was raised by her Orthodox Jewish parents, Simon Kwestel and Frieda (Glauberman) Kwestel. Against her family’s wishes, Questel pursued a career in acting. At 17 Questel won a local Helen Kane impersonation contest, catching the attention of Max Fleisher, who offered her a position as a voice actor at Fleisher Studios. She went on to provide the voice for Betty Boop, Olive Oyl and Little Audrey.
• 

  Somewhere In Dreamland (1936) | Kids Escape Poverty

  Kids Escape Poverty is a Fleischer Studios animated short that discusses childhood poverty and community. It follows the story of two children, who cope with their poverty by dreaming up a magical land where they have all their needs met. In the end their community ralley around them to provide the children with a nice meal and presents.
  (Duration: 9:06)
• 

  Ottawa International Animation Festival

  Celebrating its 50th anniversary this September, the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) is one of the world’s top animation festivals, with programs for both teens and families. This five-day event provides aspiring creators a chance to learn, explore, and network through various events. It features events such as short-film competitions, hands-on animation workshops, Animation Exposé for behind-the-scenes insights, and parties where participants get to mingle with one another.
• 

  Handala

  This article shares the story behind one of the most universal symbols of resistance amongst Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. This image is of Handala, a cartoon character who is a young Palestinian refugee. He wears tattered clothes and has his back turned. He is seen as a symbol of defiance and is an image that can be found across the country (and around the world), graffitied onto universities, within artwork displayed at museums, and in personal items such as on T-shirts and key chains. Handala was created by Naji al-Ali, a Palestinian cartoonist who was exiled as a child in 1948 and murdered in 1987. He published three books of his cartoons and worked for the newspaper Al-Qabas in London.