Timeline of computer animation in film and television

Table columns:
Film
Year
Notes

Table rows:
cells: Looker
1981
First CGI human character, Cindy. Also, first use of 3D-shaded CGI.[16][17]
cells: The Works
1982
The New York Institute of Technology Computer Graphics Lab premiered a trailer at SIGGRAPH for their CGI project. This would have been the first feature-length CGI film, but it was never completed.
cells: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
ILM computer graphics division develops "Genesis Effect", the first use of a fractal-generated landscape in a film.[18] Bill Reeves leads the Genesis Effect programming team, and creates a new graphics technique called "Particle Systems".
cells: Tron
First extensive use (15 minutes fully computer generated) of 3D CGI including the famous Light Cycle sequence.[19] Also includes very early facial animation (for the Master Control Program).
cells: Golgo 13
1983
First animated film to incorporate CGI sequences.[20] Entirely digital models of revolvers, skeletons, helicopters, and skyscrapers (created by Toyo Links Corporation and Osaka University's CG division) are used in the film's title sequence and part of the climax; the remainder of the film is traditionally animated by Tokyo Movie Shinsha.
cells: Dream Flight
First 3D generated film telling a story, shown in Electronic Theater in SIGGRAPH ‘83
cells: Rock & Rule
First Western animated film to use computer graphics.[21]
cells: The Last Starfighter
1984
Uses CGI for all spaceship shots, replacing traditional models. First use of "integrated CGI" where the effects are supposed to represent real world objects.[21]
cells: Lensman: Secret of The Lens
Uses CGI for spaceships and other scenes.
cells: The Adventures of André and Wally B.
Lucasfilm's computer animation division creates an all-CGI-animated short. The first CGI animation with motion blur effects and squash and stretch motion.
cells: 2010: The Year We Make Contact
Jupiter's turbulent atmosphere is CGI-rendered, mostly during the black spot shots.
cells: Tony de Peltrie
1985
First CGI-animated human character to express emotion through his face and body language.[22]
cells: Young Sherlock Holmes
Lucasfilm creates the first photorealistic CGI character, "stained glass knight" with 10 seconds of screentime.[23][24]
cells: "Money for Nothing"
The first computer-generated music video.[24] The animators would go on to found Mainframe Entertainment.
cells: Flight of the Navigator
1986
The first use of reflection mapping in a feature film, used for the flying alien spacecraft.[24]
cells: Labyrinth
First realistic CGI animal.[24]
cells: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
First use of the Cyberware 3D scanner, first 3D morphing.[24]
cells: Luxo Jr.
First use of shadows in CGI, made with the specially developed software Photorealistic Renderman. First Pixar film, and first CGI film to be nominated for an Academy Award. Added to the United States National Film Registry in 2014.
cells: The Golden Child
First use of primitive photorealistic morphing.[25]
cells: Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future
1987
First TV series to include characters modeled entirely with computers.
cells: Knightmare
First game show with interaction between humans and computer-generated surroundings.
cells: Rendez-vous in Montreal
First 3D generated film involving virtual actors Marilyn Monroe and Humphrey Bogart
cells: Willow
1988
First extensive photorealistic use of morphing effect in a feature film.[26]
cells: Akira
CGI is used to animate the pattern indicator, and to plot the paths of falling objects, model parallax effects on backgrounds, and tweak lighting and lens flares.[20]
cells: Tin Toy
First computer-animated short film to win an Oscar. Added to the United States National Film Registry in 2003.
cells: The Abyss
1989
First digital 3D water effect.[27]
cells: The Jim Henson Hour
TV series with real-time and rendered CGI featuring digitally puppeteered CG character "Waldo."
cells: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
First all-digital composite.[27]
cells: Les Fables géométriques
First broadcast series of animated CGI shorts.

Questions about this table:
originalText: what was the first disney movie to use cgi
answer: answerTexts: Tron