American Animation and Cartoons

The Enchanted Drawing

Nov 16, 1900

The Enchanted Drawing
The Enchanted Drawing, by J. Stuart Blackton.
He is considered the father of American animation.

Gertie the Dinosaur

Feb 8, 1914

Gertie the Dinosaur
By Winsor McCay. One of the first films to combine live action footage with hand drawn animation. McCay would interact and ask questions to Gertie during the performance that she "responded" to.

The Golden Age of Animation

Nov 18, 1928

Steamboat Willie and other Disney classic shorts
Beginning in 1928, and ending in 1960. Many popular characters were created, and the first animated films were made.

The Flintstones

Sep 30, 1960

Hanna-Barbera became a household name after their first hit, "The Flintstones". The cartoon showed on regular television during prime time hours (Normally 6-8 pm) when the entire family would be watching television.

Take On Me

Oct 3, 1985

Take on Me by A-Ha
In the 1980s, music videos started being widely produced thanks to MTV. Many artists experimented with animation and produced inventive music videos.

DuckTales

Sep 18, 1987

One of Disney's first "Saturday morning cartoons". It was widely successful and pushed for other companies to improve production in order to compete.

Disney Renaissance

Nov 17, 1989

Disney Animation Studios was revived with multiple new feature films that brought attention back to Disney and have helped the company remain popular to this day. This period started with The Little Mermaid in 1989, and ended with Tarzan in 1999.

The Simpsons

Dec 17, 1989

One of the most successful adult animated shows in American history. The show is still running and producing new episodes today.