Today in 1908, the first animated cartoon, Fantasmagorie, was released.
The film was created by Émile Cohl by drawing each frame on paper and then shooting each frame onto negative film, which gave the picture a blackboard look.
The film features a stick figure moving about and encountering all manner of morphing objects, such as a wine bottle that transforms into a flower. There are also sections of live action where the animator’s hands enter the scene. The title is a reference to the “fantasmograph,” a mid-Nineteenth Century variant of the magic lantern that projected ghostly images that floated across the walls.
Also today, in 1986, Pixar Animation Studios premiered Luxo Jr. at SIGGRAPH. A computer-animated short film (two and a half minutes, including credits), it was Pixar’s first film following its establishment as an independent film studio.
The title character, a small desk lamp, will become a part of the company’s logo. Luxo Jr. was the first Computer-generated Imagery (CGI) film nominated for an Academy Award.