To realize where animation is now, we must start from the beginning, when it was just an idea by a Frenchman named Emile Cohl. Prior to Cohl's first official animated video Fantasmagorie, there were pictures and drawings. No drawings had ever been put together before to create this form of stop-go film that later evolved as animation. Emile Cohl would go on to live a accomplished life as a cartoonist. Today, he is hailed as, "The Father of Animation". In his first video, "Cohl placed each drawing on an illuminated glass plate and then traced the next drawing-with variations-on top of it until he had some 700 drawings." It is very interesting to note that Cohl, “believed insanity, hallucinations, dreams, and nightmares were sources of aesthetic inspiration.” These sources of inspiration symbolized that the first animation was for entertainment to the eye. Cohl's "eclectic" vision laid down the groundwork for some of the most influential pieces of animation to come in the next 100 years. Early animation was a medium of self-expression, not a source of education like it is today. Emile Cohl's contribution to animation cannot be undervalued. He was able to open the door to a world that very few ever dreamed possible.
A Piece of Propaganda
A contemporary of Emile Cohl's was Windsor McCay. McCay saw the events of WW1 as an opportunity to introduce the actual world into animation. The end result was his motion picture film, The Sinking of The Lusitania. The RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner that was torpedoed by a German U-boat killing 1,198 passengers and crew. The Sinking of The Lusitania proved to be a major influence in America's decision to enter into WW1. Windsor McCay's piece of animation was the earliest to appeal to audiences emotions. The animated film ultimately led Americans to a more pro-war stance. The 12 minute film was comprised of 25,000 individual drawings . This animated film is still considered as "the first propaganda film done in animation."
Next Up: Disney
- McLaughlin, Dan. "The History of Animation." The History of Animation. N.p., 2001. Web. 21 Feb. 2015.
- Fantasmagorie. Dir. Emile Cohl. 1908.
- Sinking of the Lusitania. Dir. Winsor McCay. 1918.