The Silent Era of Animation

The Silent Era of Animation lasted from the 1900’s to the 1920’s (with the advent of sound technology). This era is generally considered to be the earliest era of mainstream animation. Although animation had existed in various forms throughout history pre-dating the 1900’s, The Silent Era of Animation is when larger groups of society started to take notice of the medium.

The two earliest examples of silent animation are Fantasmagorie (Emil Cohl, 1908) and Gertie the Dinosaur (Windsor McCay, 1914). Gertie the Dinosaur was the first animation to show a cartoon character with distinct personality traits, something which would influence and inspire later animators such as Otto Messmer and Walt Disney.

This era’s most famous cartoon characters include: Felix the Cat, Mickey Mouse, Oswald the Luck Rabbit, and Koko the Clown.

The Silent Era Stars

Max and Dave Fleischer (creators of Koko the Clown, Betty Boop, Popeye the Sailor, and Superman Theatrical Cartoons) got their start during the Silent Era, as well as Walt Disney with his Laff-O-Grams, The Alice Comedies, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and eventually Mickey Mouse shorts.

Mickey Mouse short: Steamboat Willie (1928)

Contrary to popular belief, Steamboat Willie was not the first animated cartoon featuring sound. The Fleischer brothers pioneered sound cartoons during the mid-1920’s, with their film Mother Mother Pin a Rose on Me.

Despite this, Steamboat Willie changed the way audiences saw animated cartoons, as by that time animation had become something of a novelty. As quoted by Shamus Culhane talking of Steamboat Willie‘s importance:

 “By 1927 – 1928, audiences would groan when a cartoon came on. Animation had worn out its welcome. The novelty was gone. If sound hadn’t come in, the cartoon would have vanished.”