The use of drawings and photographs of three-dimensional objects to tell stories preceded the technologies of film, television and computer with which they now coexist. Winsor McKay’s pioneering Little Nemo (1908) and Gertie, the Trained Dinosaur (1909) and, later, New York-produced characters, such as Felix the Cat, excited both audiences and distributors. Yet, Walt Disney’s studio, style and sales have set the model for American animation. Through Disney studios, animation has become a specialty for children and families, relying on color and music, as well as personality and narrative. Many competitors, in fact, have emerged from divisions within the Disney studio rather than from alternative traditions. Technological innovations from the use of celluloid to liveaction modeling to computer-assisted design have changed the production and quality of the medium itself, yet it remains within this general paradigm.

Disney set himself apart from early competitors by his awareness of the values of character, narrative, sound and color, as well as the possibilities of linking onscreen features to off-screen commercialism. With the introduction of sound in 1927, Disney characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, and works like Silly Symphonies commanded attention. In 1937, Disney gambled successfully on the lush musical feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which set the standard for the genre thereafter. By Pinocchio (1941) the level of animation multi-planing and thematics became even more complex, while Fantasia, a box-office failure at the time, wed classical music with creative animation.

Other studios competed with Disney in short films that accompanied theatrical features. In the 1940s, disgruntled Disney employees founded United Productions of America, whose style in cartoons like John Hubley’s Mr Magoo offered a more “modern” feel that would have an international impact. Tom and Jerry was created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Other competitors included Warner Brother’s Looney Tunes stable of aggressive, even violent cartoons, including Bugs Bunny (Chuck Jones) or Tweety Pie and Sylvester (Fritz Freleng). These characters, and others, found new life on Saturday morning children’s television.

American animation, even at Disney, declined in the 1960s and 1970s because of rising costs and other production decisions. Computer animation and new Disney initiatives sparked a 1980s renaissance with features like The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991) and especially The Lion King (1994), which grossed over $300 million.

These not only took on attributes of musicals—stories, songs, even “star voices”—but reappeared as live productions on Broadway. Other competitors for this reborn market include the Spielberg collaborators of Dreamworks, who produced Prince of Egypt (1998) and The Road to El Dorado (2000), and Warner Brothers’, who produced The Iron Giant (1999). The combination of animation and live action (as in Mary Poppins, 1962) has again filled the screen since Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), including the synergy of sports celebrity and cartoons of Space Jam (1996). By the end of the decade, however, FOX closed its studios and Disney remained champion.

Both in creative features (using television showcases as well as theaters) and as components of live-action films, animation continues to provide an alternative imagination of reality, from The Simpsons or South Park to animated political cartooning.

Ralph Bakshi’s Fritz the Cat (1972), for example, raised issues of sexual adventure far from Disney. While the possibilities of animation continue to excite independent producers, the sheer marketing and cultural permeation of the Disney feature and its imitators continue to dominate the primary meanings and readings of this art form.

Animation techniques also continue to develop, especially through use of computer animation that has already created a new look in hits like Toy Story (1995) and Toy Story II (1999). These techniques can also be used to add vivid imagery to live-action movies like Titanic (1998) or Gladiator (2000). At the same time, live backgrounds have also been incorporated into animated features, as in Disney’s Dinosaur (2000). These hybrid creations suggest changing boundaries of genre, as as well as reminding us that animation is not “just for kids.”