# Firsts in animation

This list provides an overview of animated productions that can be considered as milestones in the development of animation techniques or in artistic or commercial success.

## Countries

| Country | Feature film | Year | Television series | Year |
| Argentina | El Apóstol | 1917 | Hijitus | 1967 |
| Brazil | Amazon Symphony | 1954 | Monica and Friends | 1982 |
| France | The Tale of the Fox | 1930 | La journée de Flambeau | 1916 |
| Germany | The Adventures of Prince Achmed | 1926 | Die Sendung mit der Maus | 1971 |
| Japan | Momotaro: Sacred Sailors | 1945 | Instant History | 1961 |
| Philippines | Tadhana | 1978 | Poptech Series | 1980 |
| / Russia/Soviet Union | The New Gulliver | 1935 | Bratishkin's Adventures | 1928 |
| Thailand | The Adventure of Sudsakorn | 1979 | PangPond: The Future World Adventure | 2002 |
| United States | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | 1937 | Crusader Rabbit | 1948 |
| United Kingdom | Handling Ships | 1945 | Chorlton and the Wheelies | 1976 |
| Saudi Arabia | Masameer: The Movie | 2020 | Masameer | 2011 |

## Techniques

| Type | Form | Media | Title | Year |
| Traditional | Cel/Hand-drawn | Short film | Fantasmagorie | 1908 |
| Traditional | Cel/Hand-drawn | Feature film | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | 1937 |
| Traditional | Cel/Hand-drawn | Television series | Crusader Rabbit | 1948 |
| Traditional | Digital | Short film | Catalogue | 1961 |
| Traditional | Digital | Feature film | The Rescuers Down Under | 1990 |
| Traditional | Digital | Television series | Attack of the Killer Tomatoes | 1991 |
| CGI | CGI | Short film | A Computer Animated Hand | 1972 |
| CGI | CGI | Feature film | Toy Story | 1995 |
| CGI | CGI | Television series | ReBoot | 1994 |
| Rotoscoping | Rotoscoping | Short film | The Clown's Pup | 1916 |
| Rotoscoping | Rotoscoping | Feature film | Gulliver's Travels | 1939 |
| Rotoscoping | Rotoscoping | Film series | Out of the Inkwell | 1918 |
| Stop-motion | Clay | Short film | The Sculptor's Nightmare | 1908 |
| Stop-motion | Clay | Feature film | I Go Pogo | 1980 |
| Stop-motion | Clay | Television series | The Gumby Show | 1955 |
| Stop-motion | Cutout | Short film | Die Schöne Prinzessin von China | 1917 |
| Stop-motion | Cutout | Feature film | El Apóstol | 1917 |
| Stop-motion | Cutout | Television series | Captain Pugwash | 1957 |
| Stop-motion | Oil-painted | Short film | Conversation in Space | 1961 |
| Stop-motion | Oil-painted | Feature film | Loving Vincent | 2017 |
| Stop-motion | Oil-painted | Television series | — | — |
| Stop-motion | Puppet | Short film | The Humpty Dumpty Circus | 1908 |
| Stop-motion | Puppet | Feature film | The Tale of the Fox | 1930 |
| Stop-motion | Puppet | Television series | The New Adventures of Pinocchio | 1961 |
| Machinima | 3D | Varieties | Diary of a Camper | 1996 |
| Machinima | RPG Maker | Varieties | Slimey | 2011 |

## Ratings

| Country | Rating | Film | Year |
| United States | G | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | 1937 |
| United States | PG | Fantastic Planet | 1973 |
| United States | PG-13 | The Plague Dogs | 1982 |
| United States | R | The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat | 1974 |
| United States | X/NC-17 | A Thousand and One Nights | 1970 |

## Other variants

| Year | Milestone | Film | Notes |
| 1878 | Praxinoscope animation | Le singe musicien | |
| 1900 | Animation on standard celluloid film | The Enchanted Drawing | |
| 1917 | Synchronized sound on feature film; Lost | El Apóstol | Created with cutout animation; now considered lost. The film featured synchronized sound using a system Cristiani himself devised. |
| 1926 | Feature film; Oldest surviving animated feature film | The Adventures of Prince Achmed | Cutout silhouette animation |
| 1919 | Filmed in Rotoscope | The Clown's Pup | Short film |
| 1919 | First animated series to have 100 cartoons | Mutt and Jeff | episode The Lion Hunters |
| 1921 | First animated series to have 200 cartoons | Mutt and Jeff | episode The Lion Hunters |
| 1926 | Synchronized sound on film with animated dialogue | My Old Kentucky Home | Short film; used Lee de Forest's Phonofilm sound on film process; a dog character mouths the words, "Follow the ball, and join in, everybody!" |
| 1930 | Filmed in Two-color Technicolor | King of Jazz | Premiering in April 1930, a three-minute cartoon sequence produced by Walter Lantz appears in this full-length, live-action Technicolor feature film. |
| 1930 | Two-color Technicolor in a stand-alone cartoon | Fiddlesticks | Released in August 1930, this Ub Iwerks-produced short is the first standalone color cartoon. |
| 1930 | Feature-length puppet animated (stop-motion) film | The Tale of the Fox | Only animation finished in 1930; not released with a soundtrack until 1937 |
| 1935 | Feature-length puppet animated (stop-motion) film | The New Gulliver | The first released puppet-animated feature. Includes scenes of animation combined with live-action footage |
| 1931 | Feature-length sound film | Peludópolis | Now considered lost |
| 1932 | Filmed in three-strip Technicolor | Flowers and Trees | Short film |
| 1937 | First film using Disney's multiplane camera | The Old Mill | Short film. A predecessor of the multiplane technique had already been used for The Adventures of Prince Achmed. Ub Iwerks had developed an early version of the multiplane camera in 1934 for his The Headless Horseman Comicolor Cartoon. |
| 1937 | Feature filmed in three-strip Technicolor | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | |
| 1940 | Stereophonic sound | Fantasia | Recorded in Fantasound with 33 microphones on eight channels, but the reproduction of multi-channel Fantasound in theaters was eventually more limited than intended |
| 1940 | first animated series to have over 300 episodes | Looney Tunes | episode Stage Fright. |
| 1942 | First film applying limited animation | The Dover Boys at Pimento University | Short film |
| 1943 | first animated series to have over 400 episodes | Looney Tunes | episode The Unbearable Bear. |
| 1947 | first animated series to have over 500 episodes | Looney Tunes | episode Easter Yeggs. |
| 1950 | first animated series to have over 600 episodes | Looney Tunes | episode Bunker Hill Bunny |
| 1951 | First animated 3-D film | Now is the Time Around is Around | Abstract dual-strip stereoscopic short films by Norman McLaren for the Festival of Britain |
| 1953 | First cartoon presented in widescreen format | Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom | Short film |
| 1954 | first animated series to have over 700 episodes | Looney Tunes | episode Captain Hareblower |
| 1955 | First animated feature in widescreen format | Lady and the Tramp | |
| 1955 | First stop-motion television series | The Gumby Show | |
| 1956 | First US animated primetime TV series | CBS Cartoon Theatre | Compilation television series |
| 1957 | First animated TV series broadcast in color | Colonel Bleep | Television series |
| 1957 | first animated series to have over 800 episodes | ‘’Looney Tunes’’ | episode Boston Quackie |
| 1957 | Syncro-Vox | Clutch Cargo | Television series |
| 1959 | first episode of the longest running animated series of all time first aired | Sandmännchen | has over 22,200+ episodes as 10 December 2020. |
| 1960 | Xerography process (replacing hand inking) | Goliath II | Short film |
| 1960 | First primetime animated sitcom | The Flintstones | Television series |
| 1961 | Feature film using xerography process | One Hundred and One Dalmatians | |
| 1962 | The First animated TV Christmas Special | Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol | Television special |
| 1962 | First traditional animated series to have over 900 episodes | Looney Tunes | episode Mexican Boarders |
| 1964 | First feature film based on a television show | Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! | |
| 1966 | The First animated TV Halloween Special | It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown | Television special |
| 1969 | First animated feature deemed to be X-rated | A Thousand and One Nights | Japanese anime hit. Pornographic animations had already been made for the phénakisticope and the short film The Virgin with the Hot Pants (circa 1924) |
| 1969 | First traditional animated series to have over 1,000 episodes | Looney Tunes | episode Injun Trouble |
| 1978 | Animated feature to be presented in Dolby sound | Watership Down | |
| 1978 | First animated feature premiered and broadcast primarily on local television | Tadhana | The film was broadcast one time on GMA 7, RPN 9, and IBC 13 to commemorate the anniversary of Martial Law in 1978. As a result, it was never seen again due to the said film was not released commercially on theaters for public viewing. Afterwards in the 2020s, the film was shown again in private screening only by one of the cast and crew members. |
| 1983 | 3D feature film - stereoscopic technique | Abra Cadabra | |
| 1983 | Animated feature containing computer-generated imagery | Rock and Rule | |
| 1983 | Animated TV series to be recorded in Stereo sound | Inspector Gadget | |
| 1985 | Feature-length clay-animated film | The Adventures of Mark Twain | |
| 1988 | First feature film to have live-action and cartoon animation share the screen for the entire film | Who Framed Roger Rabbit | |
| 1989 | TV cartoon to be broadcast in Dolby Surround sound. | Hanna-Barbera's 50th: A Yabba Dabba Doo Celebration | |
| 1990 | First computer-animated feature (produced without a camera) Feature film using digital ink and paint | The Rescuers Down Under | First feature film completely produced with Disney's Computer Animation Production System |
| 1991 | First animated film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture | Beauty and the Beast | As of 2023, no animated film has won the Best Picture Oscar yet. |
| 1993 | CGI-animated series | VeggieTales | Christian animated series released on home video |
| 1993 | First animated film to gross over $400 million | Snow White and the seven Dwarfs | |
| 1993 | First animated film to gross over $500 million | Aladdin | |
| 1994 | CGI-animated series for television | Insektors | |
| 1994 | First animated feature to earn $750 million worldwide | The Lion King | |
| 1995 | First "3D" style (wire-frame) computer-animated feature First CGI and G-rated Pixar CGI feature film | Toy Story | |
| 1995 | First CGI animated film to gross over $300 million | Toy Story |
| 1995 | Animated television series to be broadcast in Dolby Surround | Pinky and the Brain | |
| 1996 | First entirely CGI feature film (without using rotoscopy) | Cassiopéia | Released 3 months after Toy Story, this Brazilian film does not use anything that was not created within CGI software |
| 1997 | First animated series produced for the Internet Animated series | The Goddamn George Liquor Program | |
| 1998 | First PG-rated CGI animated film | Antz | |
| 1999 | First animated IMAX feature | Fantasia 2000 | |
| 2000 | First stop motion film to gross over $100 million | Chicken Run | |
| 2000 | First stop motion film to gross over $200 million | Chicken Run | |
| 2001 | Motion-capture animation PG-13-rated CGI animated film | Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within | |
| 2001 | First Academy Award for Best Animated Feature | Shrek | Monsters, Inc. and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius were also nominated. |
| 2001 | First CGI animated film to gross over $500 million | Monsters, Inc. |
| 2002 | First Flash-animated television series | ¡Mucha Lucha! | |
| 2003 | First Flash-animated film | Wizards and Giants | |
| 2003 | First animated film to gross over $750 million | Finding Nemo | Finding Nemo became the highest grossing animated film of all time grossing $867.9M |
| 2004 | Cel-shaded animation | Appleseed | |
| 2004 | First primetime CGI-animated sitcom First animated series to entirely use feature film quality CGI | Father of the Pride | |
| 2004 | First motion capture animated movie | The Polar Express | |
| 2004 | first animated film series to gross over $1 billion at the box office | Shrek | surpass with the release of Shrek 2. |
| 2004 | Feature shot with digital still cameras | Corpse Bride | |
| 2007 | Feature digitally animated by one person | Flatland | |
| 2007 | Presented in 7.1 surround sound | Ultimate Avengers | Blu-ray release |
| 2007 | First animated film to gross over $100 million in its opening weekend | The Simpsons Movie | |
| 2007 | first animated film series to surpass $2 billion at the box office | with the release of Shrek the Third | |
| 2008 | Feature film designed, created and released exclusively in 3D | Fly Me to the Moon | |
| 2009 | Stop-motion character animated using rapid prototyping | Coraline | |
| 2009 | First feature film directly produced in stereoscopic 3D rather than converted in 3D after completion using InTru3D | Monsters vs. Aliens | |
| 2009 | First animated film to gross over $200 million in its opening weekend | Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | |
| 2010 | First animated feature to earn $1 billion worldwide Feature film released theatrically in 7.1 surround sound | Toy Story 3 | |
| 2011 | first animated film series to gross over $2 billion at the box office | Shrek | with the release of Puss kn boots |
| 2012 | Stop-motion film to use color 3-D printing technology for models | ParaNorman | |
| 2013 | First animated feature to earn $1.25 billion worldwide | Frozen | |
| 2016 | First R-rated 3D computer-animated film | Sausage Party | |
| 2017 | First fully-painted animated feature film | Loving Vincent | 75% of animated using paint and brush to canvas in present after van Gogh's death, while the other 25% also animated using paint and brush through rotoscoping. |
| 2017 | First animated film series to surpass $3 billion at the box office | Despicable Me | with the release of despicable Me 3 |
| 2019 | First animated feature to earn $1.5 billion worldwide | The Lion King (2019) | Walt Disney Pictures, which produced the film, considered it to be live-action despite the entire film (aside from its opening shot) being computer animated. Other sources deemed it to be animated based on specified criteria. |
| 2019 | First animated film to gross over $300 million in its opening weekend | Frozen 2 |
| 2020 | First R-rated animated film to earn $500 million worldwide. First non-American animated film to topped the annual global box office. | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train | Surpassing the previous R-rated film Sausage Party (2016) with $140 million worldwide, which makes Demon Slayer: Mugen Train three times larger than the former in a box-office gross for a R-rated animated film, making it a rare feat. |
| 2022 | Animated feature film to aspect ratio opened up in IMAX | Lightyear | It opened up from 2.39:1 to 1.43:1 for select sequences of the film. |
| 2022 | first animated film series to surpass $4 billion at the box office | Despicable Me | with the release of Minions 2. |
| 2023 | First silent, non-narrative and fully-developed RPG Maker animated feature film | Distortion | The film is entirely non-narrative without the use of story and dialogue, only multiple scenes dissolve each other, one-by-one; all scenes from RPG Maker MV as a test demo shot in Bandicam. |
| 2024 | First AI-generated animated feature film First AI anime feature film | DreadClub: Vampire's Verdict | 100% AI-generated including visuals, acting, sound, music, animation, and scripting, July 2024. |
| 2024 | First AI-assisted CGI animated feature film | Where The Robots Grow | First film to combine AI tools with traditional CGI and motion capture techniques, October 2024. |
| 2024 | Animated series with IMAX aspect ratio | Max & the Midknights | Opened from 2.39:1 to 1.43:1 for select sequences. |
| 2024 | First animated feature film to earn $1.625 billion worldwide.First Pixar feature film to feature hand-drawn characters. | Inside Out 2 | Currently the highest-grossing Pixar film of all time as well as the highest-grossing American animated film of all time.It featured Bloofy and Pouchy as hand-drawn characters in a computer-animated Pixar film. |
| 2024 | First animated feature film in 2:1 aspect ratioFirst animated feature film converted from planned TV series. First animated feature film to earn over $200 million at its 5-day domestic opening weekend. | Moana 2 | Originally planned as Disney+ series, converted to film due to first film's 2023 streaming success.It became the highest-grossing animated feature film of its opening weekend by making over $200 million. |
| 2024 | first animated film series to surpass $5 billion at the box office | Despicable Me | with the release of Despicable Me 4. |
| 2025 | First non-Hollywood animated feature film to earn $1 billion worldwide.First animated feature film to earn $1.75 billion worldwide and $2 billion worldwide.First animated film to gross over $400 million in its opening weekend | Ne Zha 2 | It earned $2 billion in China and worldwide and is currently the highest-grossing animated feature film of all time. |