La history of animation It's the story of how simple drawings, cutouts, or still figures eventually became entire universes filled with characters, emotions, and impossible movements. From the first optical toys of the 19th century to hybrid 2D and 3D productions supported by artificial intelligence, the journey has been as long as it has been fascinating.
Throughout this text we will explore, calmly but directly, all the key stagesThe inventions that paved the way, the pioneers of animated film, the golden age of the major studios, international expansion, the digital revolution, and the trends shaping the present and future. If you love animation or are thinking about pursuing a career in it, get comfortable, because there's a lot to cover.
What is animation and when did it really begin?
When we think of animation, we usually imagine cartoons, but the concept is broader: it's about to give a sense of movement to something static through a succession of slightly different images that the eye perceives as a continuous action thanks to retinal persistence.
This illusion can be created with drawings, clay figures, paper cutouts, articulated dolls, real actors, or digital modelsThe important thing is to photograph or generate minimal variations between frames so that, when the sequence is reproduced, the brain "fills in" the movement.
Although we usually associate animation with film, its roots go back further: since the 19th century, various inventors developed optical toys and projection devices who were already playing with the perception of movement, long before the Lumière brothers' cinematograph existed.
From optical toys to the birth of animated cinema
The first steps in animation were not films as we understand them today, but a series of ingenious contraptions that exploited the persistence of vision to deceive the eye and make it believe it was seeing something moving when in reality only static images were occurring.
Among these inventions, several fundamental devices stand out, considered the forerunners of modern animation, and which laid the foundations for the projection of images in sequence before an audience.
Essential Optical Toys
In 1824 appears the thaumatrope, a simple disc with an image on each side attached to two strings: when spun rapidly, the two illustrations merged into one, demonstrating in a very visual way the phenomenon of retinal persistence.
Shortly afterwards, in 1833, the phenakistoscope, a disc with drawings arranged in a circle that, when rotated in front of a mirror and viewed through slits, allowed you to see small cyclical animations, such as characters running or figures jumping.
In 1834 the zoetrope, a hollow cylinder with slots on the top and a strip of images inside: when spun and viewed through the openings, the illustrations came to life in a continuous loop.
As early as 1877, Émile Reynaud invented the praxinoscopeThis was an improvement on the zoetrope, replacing the slits with a ring of internal mirrors, resulting in brighter and sharper images. This advancement culminated in his invention in 1892. Théâtre Optique, a system capable of projecting strips of drawings onto a screen for an audience, accompanied by music and sound effects.
With optical theater, Reynaud offered for years authentic cartoon shows, with stories and characters, which many consider the first serious step towards animated cinema as we know it today.
The first animated shorts: from Blackton to McCay
The leap from optical toys to cinema came at the beginning of the 20th century, when various creators began to experiment with frame-by-frame photography, successive drawings, and montage tricks to create the illusion of movement on the big screen.
One of the pioneers is James Stuart Blackton, who in 1906 presented Humorous Phases of Funny Faceswhere it uses blackboards, drawings and small changes between frames to make faces and figures appear to move, being one of the first short films considered animated.
Shortly afterwards, a key piece appears: The Enchanted Drawing (1896), where Blackton, filmed by Thomas A. Edison, draws on paper while the subsequent editing creates effects that were astonishing for the time. Although it is considered more of a stop-motion animation with live-action intervention, it established an important foundation for future cartoons.
In 1908 the Frenchman Émile Cohl premiered PhantasmagorieA short film created from over 700 illustrations shot in negative, giving the appearance of white chalk on a black background. This work is often cited as the first film entirely hand-drawn, frame by frame..
In 1914, Winsor McCay, famous for his comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland, takes another leap with Gertie the Dinosaur, a short film that combines animation and live action and where he interacts with an animated dinosaur on screen, something tremendously advanced for its time.
The beginnings of stop motion and early techniques
While the first cartoons were being developed, other creators were exploring the frame-by-frame animation of physical objects, a technique that we know today as stop motion and that would be crucial for the evolution of the environment.
Stop motion is based on photographing a stationary object, moving it slightly, photographing it again, and so on; when the sequence is played back, our brain perceives that the object moves fluidly on its own.
This principle is used to experiment with articulated dolls, puppets, clay figures and models of all kindsThis, which in the early decades of the 20th century made it possible to create impossible creatures and special effects that would later be used by live-action cinema.
Another pioneer in mixing effects and tricks with narrative was Georges Mélies, who made extensive use of techniques close to animation - such as object substitution between frames - to achieve disappearances, transformations and magical appearances in his films.
These early tests laid the foundation for styles that would later become tremendously popular, such as plastimation (claymation), the cutout animation and the so-called pixelation, in which real people pose frame by frame as if they were human puppets.
Golden Age of Animation: From the 20s to the 40s
With the consolidation of sound film and the improvement of drawing techniques, animation enters an explosive phase: the great studios are bornIconic characters appear and many of the production standards that will influence for decades are set.
In 1923, Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks started their own studio, first with Laugh-O-Gram Films and later with what would eventually become the famous Disney Studios, focusing from the beginning on short stories with charismatic characters.
Between 1924 and 1927 they produced the Alice Comedies, a series of short films where a real actress, Alice (played by Virginia Davis), lives alongside animated characters such as Julius the Cat, clearly inspired by the popular Felix the Cat by Otto Mesmer and Pat Sullivan.
The big explosion came in 1928 with Steamboat Willie, the short film featuring Mickey Mouse and considered the first to be precisely synchronized animation and soundThe success is such that it marks a turning point for the industry.
Meanwhile, other studios stand out with very different proposals: Max Fleischer brings to life characters like Betty Boop and Popeye, using techniques like rotoscoping to achieve realistic movements; Warner Bros. is driving Looney Tunes y Merrie Melodies, with a more mischievous style of humor and a frenetic pace.
Feature films, multiplane camera and the Xerox era
In the late 30s, animation dared to do what many considered madness: the feature film. In 1937, Disney released Blancanieves y los siete enanitos, the first animated feature film with sound and color that proves that audiences are willing to watch an animated story from beginning to end.
To achieve the level of depth and visual richness of these films, studios develop tools such as multiplane camera, which allows filming multiple layers of drawings and backgrounds at different levels, moving them at different speeds to create a convincing sense of perspective.
The multiplane camera structure consists of several glass or flexiglass plates placed at different heights, on which backgrounds and characters are placed; a fixed camera at the top captures the whole while the layers are moved based on the laws of parallax.
This system, used extensively in productions like Snow White, makes the sets appear much deeper, but it also implies a colossal technical workIt requires precise calculations, frame-by-frame light adjustments, and millimeter-precise control of movement.
Over time, traditional production began to look for ways to reduce costs. In the so-called It was XeroxDisney introduced reprographics to transfer drawings directly to the cells, eliminating manual inking and reducing effort, although with harder and more visible lines, as seen in films such as The Aristocats o Robin Hood.
Main traditional animation techniques
Classic animation, especially between the 30s and 60s, relied on a series of techniques that, although they may seem artisanal today, were true feats of precision and coordination within the studios.
The most emblematic method is the so-called cel animationIn this process, the artists draw the key frames on paper, the in-betweens are made to smooth the movement, and then the outlines are transferred to transparent sheets on which the color is applied from the reverse.
These sheets, placed on painted backgrounds, are photographed frame by frame with a fixed camera. To achieve smooth animation, it is usually done at 24 frames per second, which implies an immense number of drawings for any complex sequence.
Another crucial technique is the rotoscopywhich consists of projecting or viewing real image footage onto a surface and tracing the outline of people or objects, frame by frame, to transfer that movement to drawn characters.
Rotoscoping allows for the creation of extremely realistic movements and has been used in both animation classics and specific effects in live-action films, for example in the creation of the famous lightsabers in the Star Wars saga.
In the field of stop motion, several variations emerge: the plastimation (claymation), in which clay figures are manipulated with slight changes between shots; cut-out animation or cut-out, with characters constructed using articulated pieces of paper or cardboard; and the aforementioned pixelation, where the actors themselves behave like animated puppets.
International explosion: anime, silhouettes and first feature films
While animation was becoming established in the United States thanks to Disney, Fleischer, and Warner Bros, it was developing in other parts of the world. very different styles and approaches that would enrich the global landscape.
In Argentina, in 1917, Quirino Cristiani carried out The Apostle, considered the first animated feature film in history, a political satire that, unfortunately, is not preserved intact today.
In Europe, the German Lotte Reiniger becomes a pioneer of the silhouette animationusing cut-out and articulated figures that move against illuminated backgrounds; his best-known work, The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926), is the oldest complete animated feature film that has been preserved.
Following World War II, Japan experienced an animation boom that culminated in the anime, with key figures such as Osamu Tezukawhose way of narrating and designing characters would profoundly influence the medium, consolidating a unique style that expanded internationally.
All this development demonstrates that animation is not the heritage of a single country or studio, but a global language that each culture adapts to its own visual references, narrative traditions, and sensibilities.
Digital revolution: from 2D scanning to CGI
Although the first investigations with computer graphics date back to the 40s and 50s, it wasn't until the 80s and 90s that the digital animation It burst onto the scene, forever changing the way moving images were produced.
In the first phase, the technology is gently introduced into the traditional 2D workflow: it is drawn by hand, but The frames are scanned and finished on the computer.digitizing the processes of inking, coloring and composition.
This transition allows for a virtually unlimited color palette, applying shading, transparencies and lighting effects that were unfeasible on physical media, and freeing teams from many repetitive mechanical tasks.
A key milestone in this process is the system CAPS (Computer Animation Production System)Developed by Disney and Pixar in the late 80s, it automates the inking and painting process and enables complex camera movements in 2D environments.
Movies like The Rescuers in Kangarooland (1990) became the first Disney productions completed entirely using this digital system, marking the definitive transition from purely analog methods.
2D and vector digital animation
With digitization consolidated, a new way of understanding 2D emerges: the vector animationIt is based not on pixels but on mathematical equations that describe lines and shapes, allowing images to be scaled without loss of quality and enabling the use of lighter files.
This approach facilitates features such as automatic interpolation between poses, reuse of elements, and the creation of 2D rigs, where characters are built from articulated parts that move with controls, reducing in many cases the need to draw each frame from scratch.
Tools like Adobe Animate (old Flash), Clip Studio Paint, Toon Boom Harmony or even Blender They are becoming popular for television productions, web and corporate videos, democratizing animation for small studios and independent creators.
All of this does not diminish the importance of artistic talent; on the contrary, by automating mechanical processes, the animator can focus more on the timing, expressions, and visual storytelling, shifting the focus back to the performance and away from the heavy work of production.
Corrections also become much more agile: modifying a plan no longer involves redoing piles of cells and physical backgrounds, but adjusting layers and parameters within the software, which speeds up both experimentation and quality control.
The Rise of 3D: CGI and Pioneering Feature Films
While 2D was being digitized, the great revolution of computer-generated images (CGI), capable of creating three-dimensional characters and environments with a degree of volume and realism never before seen.
Already in the 70s experiments were taking place such as A Computer Animated Hand (1972), created by Ed Catmull, which shows a 3D modeled and digitally animated hand, anticipating many of the principles that the industry would later adopt.
In the 80s and early 90s, live-action cinema began to make intensive use of CGI for special effects, as seen in Tron (1982) Terminator 2 (1991) o Jurassic Park (1993), where digital creatures and environments are integrated with real actors.
In the purely animated field, Pixar releases fundamental short films such as Luxo Jr. (1986) and Tin toy (1988), which demonstrate that computer animation is not just a visual trick, but a tool capable of telling emotional stories with believable characters.
The big leap came in 1995 with Toy Story, the first feature-length animated film entirely in 3D, whose production process involved hundreds of thousands of hours of rendering and the development of in-house tools like RenderMan; the result was so impactful that it solidified CGI as the standard for commercial feature films.
How is 3D animation produced?
Creating a 3D film or short film is a complex process, similar to building a digital building, where each phase relies on the previous one to construct the final result we see on screen.
The process starts with the modeling, in which the geometric shapes of characters, objects and scenarios are defined using software such as Maya, Blender or 3ds Max, adjusting their topology so that they can be deformed correctly.
Next comes the riggingwhere an internal digital skeleton is created with bones, controllers, and deformation systems that will allow the model to move naturally and efficiently during animation.
With the rig ready, the next phase comes into play. animation properly speaking, applying the 12 classic principles (anticipation, arc, squash & stretch, etc.) to bring the characters to life, either manually, by motion capture, or by combining both techniques.
Work is also underway on texturing and shadingwhich consists of applying color maps, relief and surface properties, and defining how light interacts with each material, from skin to metal or fabric.
La lighting It establishes the visual environment of each shot, placing virtual light sources that contribute volume, atmosphere, and narrative direction, while the simulation It deals with complex phenomena such as fluids, hair, smoke, or fabrics.
Finally, the Rendered It transforms all that information into 2D images ready to be assembled into sequences; it can be done in a pre-rendered way, prioritizing quality at the expense of calculation time, or in real time, as happens in many video games and interactive experiences.
Animation today: hybridization, new techniques and applications
Nowadays, animation has ceased to be strictly divided between 2D and 3D to embrace a constant hybridization of techniqueswhere the important thing is not the tool, but the visual style and the story you want to tell.
Hybrid animation combines 3D characters with 2D backgrounds, incorporates hand-drawn effects onto three-dimensional environments, or uses 2D rigs that behave almost like 3D puppets, generating visually stunning results.
These types of proposals, with an aesthetic often described as dirtier or grunge, have shown that the audience increasingly values ​​the bold and distinctive visual choicesand not just technical perfection.
Outside of film, animation has also become established in video games, advertising, motion graphics, interactive experiences, augmented reality, and virtual reality, being a key tool for communicating ideas, explaining complex processes or creating immersive worlds.
Emerging technologies and the role of AI
The near future of animation is heavily influenced by a number of technologies already in use in production that promise to further change workflows and creative possibilities.
El real time renderingPowered by engines like Unity or Unreal Engine, it allows you to preview scenes with almost final quality while working, speeding up testing, camera changes and lighting adjustments without having to wait for hours of calculation.
La volumetric capture It goes a step beyond classic motion capture: instead of recording only points of the body to apply to a digital skeleton, it captures a full volume of the actor in 3D, generating highly realistic animated models ready to be integrated into productions.
La artificial intelligence and machine learning They are already being used to automate repetitive tasks, such as generating intermediate frames, cleaning motion capture data, or maintaining stylistic consistency of characters throughout a project.
At the same time, a strong democratization of toolsOpen source programs like Blender or Synfig, as well as free options like Pencil2D, allow many individual creators or small studios to start producing professional quality content.
Although technology changes at an impressive speed, the fundamentals remain the same: animation works because someone, behind the screen, knows how to move a character so that the viewer believes that thinks, feels, and is alivewhether it's a simple doodle or a hyperrealistic model.
Looking at this entire journey, from optical toys to generative AI, it becomes clear that animation has always been a blend of Technical ingenuity, obsessive patience, and a desire to tell storiesAnd precisely for that reason, as long as there are people with imagination and a desire to experiment, this art will continue to reinvent itself, crossing aesthetic and technological boundaries without losing that basic magic of making move what, in reality, is still.
