From this article you will find out which is the very first cartoon in the world, as well as many other interesting facts.
Background
It all started with the fact that Emil Reynaud, the inventor of French origin, in 1877 patented one of his best devices - praxinoscope. This device allowed to demonstrate moving pictures. However, the day of the appearance of the animation as such is considered 10/28/1892, because it was then that E. Reynaud first demonstrated his so-called glowing pictures in public. It happened at the world famous Grevin wax museum in Paris.
His success was phenomenal. In fact, with this invention, he opened a new era in human culture.
The very first cartoon in the world
Cinema and animation developed in parallel with each other, and if everything is clear with the first film, then the question is not so clear with the first cartoon in history.
The fact is that three works immediately claim the title of the very first cartoon in the world. First of all, two works by the American James Stuart Blackton, who was a cartoonist and an artist, claim the role of the first animated work. So, in 1906, he created his famous "Funny Faces" - a short cartoon, which is a series of pictures of human faces painted in series.
Then, less than a year later, in 1907, he released his second brainchild called the Hotel with the Ghosts. It was a more technically advanced cartoon. Moreover, he gained quite a lot of fame in the circles of film enthusiasts of that time. However, he was a puppet, so most often they give the palm to another cartoon.
The third and most striking contender for the title of the very first cartoon in the world is Fantasmagoria (1908), authored by Frenchman Emil Kohl. Unlike the above cartoons, this one was a full-fledged hand-drawn cartoon in the usual sense, so it was considered to be the first animated cartoon in history.
"Phantasmagoria": history, plot
The action of the cartoon is pretty straightforward. Initially, someone's hand draws Fantosh, which hangs on a horizontal bar, and then falls. In its place there is a new Fantosh in a hat and a little thicker than the previous one. In front of him sits a lady in a hat with feathers, which closes his vision ahead, so Phantosh pulls out all the feathers one by one.
This cartoon made a very good impression on the audience. He took part in the Night Show, which took place in 1915, as well as in the International Animation Festival in 1977 and at an event called The Age of Animation, organized in 2003.
Further development of animation
The very first cartoon in the world and in Russia, made in the form of volumetric animation, is "The Beautiful Lucanida, or the Barbel War with Stag". It was created by Russian biologist Vladislav Starevich in 1910, and the premiere took place 2 years later, in 1912.
He became not only the creator of the first volumetric cartoon in the world, but also the founder of Russian animation in general, since before him no one in the Russian Empire had worked with this genre of art.
The very first cartoon in the world to have a full meter is Apostle (1918), created by Quirini Cristiani, an Argentine animator and film director.
In 1928, two significant events took place in the history of animation, both of which are connected with the name of Walt Disney. Firstly, this year the most famous animated character in the world was created - the mouse Mickey Mouse, and secondly, the first ever cartoon with a sound called "Steamboat Willy" was released.
And just 4 years ago, in 1932, Walt Disney again turned the world of animation, making the very first color cartoon in the world. It is called “Flowers and Trees” and was the first fully commercial product, and the tricolor spectrum was used in the technique of its creation.
Contribution to Culture
Surely it's no secret that animation is at the peak of popularity today. Along with the cinematography, it is actually a powerful element of modern mass culture.
And the beginning of the triumphant ascent of the animation to Olympus was laid by the very first cartoon in the world, when it went on display for the first viewers. Who knows how the world would have developed if the first cartoons had not been accepted by the public at one time?
In any case, the very first cartoons in the world played a key role in the formation of a whole art form, which, although it has much in common with cinema, is a different genre that developed in parallel, and not with cinema.
Conclusion
The very first multi-productions in history were, of course, quite primitive by modern standards, but for their time they were the most advanced and progressive technologies. They demonstrated that the intellectual and technical resources of mankind are not yet exhausted, but are only in their infancy.
Thanks to them, a new milestone has begun in the history of mankind, the era of high technology, mass art and culture, as well as globalization. Today, few people remember the very first cartoons in the world, although they should not be forgotten, since this is a very important element not only of modern culture, but also in the life of most individuals, because there are practically no people in the world who have a negative attitude towards animation. And most people relate to this kind of art very positively and are eager to watch the latest in the multi-industry, as well as review the old ones.