Fourteen periods
Animation history, decade by decade
Each period opens with an account of what actually changed within it — artistically, culturally and technically — followed by every documented event belonging to it, in full.
Before 1900
Optical toys, chronophotography and the first projected drawings
14 events 02 · 1900 – 1909The 1900s
Trick films, blackboards and the birth of the animated short
6 events 03 · 1910 – 1919The 1910s
Character, personality and the industrial studio
10 events 04 · 1920 – 1929The 1920s
Silent mastery, European experiment and the arrival of sound
8 events 05 · 1930 – 1939The 1930s
Color, depth and the animated feature
12 events 06 · 1940 – 1949The 1940s
Wartime production, labor conflict and a break with realism
10 events 07 · 1950 – 1959The 1950s
Graphic modernism, widescreen features and the first television cartoons
13 events 08 · 1960 – 1969The 1960s
Prime time, weekly anime and the first computer graphics
11 events 09 · 1970 – 1979The 1970s
Independent voices, adult animation and computer-generated imagery
11 events 10 · 1980 – 1989The 1980s
Digital tools, a studio renaissance and animation's second international wave
13 events 11 · 1990 – 1999The 1990s
The fully digital feature and the crossing from 2D to 3D
13 events 12 · 2000 – 2009The 2000s
An Academy category, simulation, and the return of stop motion
12 events 13 · 2010 – 2019The 2010s
Streaming, non-photorealistic rendering and a stylistic reopening
12 events 14 · 2020 – 2025The 2020s
Remote production, independent tools and a widening definition
8 events