1966
• Hubley Studio's "HERB ALPERT AND THE TIJUANA BRASS DOUBLE FEATURE" wins the Academy Award.
• James Whitney does "LAPIS" in motion control animation.
• Walter Elias Disney dies, (1901-1966) USA
• The Superhero vogue is started on Saturday Morn TV by Fred Silverman.
• KIMBA THE WHITE LION arrives in US from Japan.
• IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN, becomes the first Peanuts TV special.
• DR. SEUSS' "HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS",Chuck Jones
• Mrs. Indira Gandhi becomes Prime Minister of India.
• Two male dogs sent into orbit aboard Soviet "Cosmos 110"
• Miniskirts come into fashion
1967
• "THE BOX" Murakami & Wolf Films (Fred Wolf) wins the Academy Award.
• John Whitney's "PERMUTATIONS", computer animation
• John Stehura, "CIBERNETIC 5.3", first computer-animated film at the UCLA Animation Workshop
• Nedeljko Dragic (Yugoslavia, Zagreb), TAMER OF WILD HORSES.
• Vietnam War anti-war demonstrations begin.
• SPEED RACER appears.
• Oscar Fischinger dies (1900-1967) Germany/USA. Survived by his widow, Elfriede Shah of Iran crowns himself
• Six day war between Israel and Arab nations.
1968
• Disney's "WINNY THE POOH AND THE BLUSTERY DAY" wins the Academy Award.
• George Dunning (Canada 1920-1977), THE YELLOW SUBMARINE, British, TVC Bob Coates was the producer.
• 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, by Stanley Kubrick is released. This film contained the first major use of motion control animation (which John Whitney invented and first used it commercially in Hitchcock's VERTIGO)
• CBS Terrytoons ends theatrical production.
• Czechoslovakia invaded at night by Soviet and Warsaw Pact troops.
• Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated.
1969
• Disney's "IT'S TOUGH TO BE A BIRD", wins the Academy Award.
• Internet is born at UCLA
• Debut on TV of SCOOBY DOO, WHERE ARE YOU
• Red Cross flies relief airlifts into Biafra
• Apollo 11 lands lunar module, first man on the Moon.
1970
• "IS IT ALWAYS RIGHT TO BE RIGHT", wins the Academy Award. Stephen Bosustow
• THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF UNCLE SAM, Bob Mitchell, (1933 -1985) US, Annecy Grand Prize Winner.
• First Freak Bros. Comic book published.
• Jiri Trnka dies, (1912-1970). Czechoslovakia.
• Arab commandos hijack three jets bound for New York
• Student protests against Vietnam War results in the killing of four by National Guard soldiers at Kent State University in Ohio
1971`
• "THE CRUNCH BIRD". wins the Academy Award. Maxwell-Petok-Petrovich Productions
• "FRITZ THE CAT", Steve Krantz producer, Ralph Bakshi director, the first X-rated feature in the USA.
• Robert Abel (1937-2001) and Assoc. studio began. First by doing motion control and in a few years began doing high quality computer animation commercials.
• Ub Iwerks dies, (1901-1971) USA. He was considered one of the greatest animators ever.
• Paul Terry dies, (1887-1971) USA
• First computer animation used in a feature film "THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN" as a special effect. Special effect animation during this period played a major role in the amount of animation produced.
• THE POINT, TV special, first hour animation film on US TV by Fred Wolf.
• Canadian based Nelvana Ltd. Founded
• India and Pakistan go to war.
• "Conceptual Art" becomes a new art form in the US
1972
• Richard Williams' "THE CHRISTMAS CAROL" wins the Academy Award.
• ASIFA - Hollywood established.
• Jerzy Kucia's debut film POWROT. "I am interested in man's mental states. I endeavor to observe him through his emotional experiences - his joy and stresses. I treat the cinema as a psychic fact" - J. Kucia.
• Jan Svankmajer is forced to begin seven year Czech government impose "silencing" during which he is not permitted to make films of any kind.
• MARCO POLO JR. VS THE RED DRAGON, Australia's first feature animated film is released.
• Carl Stalling 1888-1972) dies, a music director and composer who set the standards for animation music in the "Golden Age of Animation". Disney and Warners were two of the studios where he set the standards.
• Frank Tashlin (Tish-Tash) dies (1913-1972) - director at Warners - went on to direct live action hits starring Jerry Lewis and Bob Hope.
•Max Fleischer dies (1883-1972) born in Vienna, Austria
• Police arrest five men in Democratic national Headquarters in the Watergate.
Ceylon becomes a republic, changes it name to Sri Lanka
1973
• "FRANK FILM" wins the Academy Award., Frank Morris USA
• "HEAVY TRAFFIC", Krantz/Bakshi
• Cease-fire signed in South Vietnam
• Arab oil producing nations impose an embargo, which causes an energy crisis.
1974
• "CLOSED MONDAYS"wins the Academy Award: Bob Gardiner - Will Vinton, USA
• "HUNGER" an Academy Award nomination by Peter Foldes (1924-1977) Hungry done at the NFB was the first animated computer generated film nominated.
• Worldwide inflation helps create sharp price increases in food and fuel costs.
• Nixon resigns
• Streaking becomes a short lived fad in the US.
1975
• "GREAT" wins the Academy Award. Bob Godfrey. England
• US evacuates last remaining personnel from South Vietnam.
• Leo Salkin's TV special of Mel Brooks' "2,000 YEAR OLD MAN" premiers.
• Industrial Light and Magic Founded by George Lucas.
• "CAROSELLO" a ten-minute daily Italian advertising program on the state-owned television station after the evening newscast begins a twenty year run that gave life to many hand drawn, stop-motion characters and ingenuous experimental techniques.
• Six thousand life size pottery figures from the 3rd century BC are found in China.
1976
• "LEISURE" wins the Academy Award., National Film Board of Canada.
• The United States turns 200.
• North and South Vietnam reunited as one country after 22 years.
1977
• "SAND CASTLE" wins the Academy Award., National Film Board of Canada, Co Hoedeman
• Single frame video tape animation systems were introduced. Used for pencil testing they were a major development in the production of animation.
• First Anime fan club started in Los Angeles.
• Peter Foldes dies (1924-1977) Hungry.
• John Hubley dies.
• US tests neutron bomb that kills with massive radiation.
• Egyptian president Anwar Sadat makes the first visit by an Arab leader to the Jewish State since it was founded in 1948.
1978
• "SPECIAL DELIVERY" wins the Academy Award., National Film Board ofCanada
• Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston retired from Disney.
• Peter Lord, Davis Sproxton establish Aardman Animation in England.
• John Bray dies, (1879-1978) US
• Violence sweeps Nicaragua as leftist Sandinistas guerrillas try to overthrow president Anastasio Somoza
• A military junta seizes power in Afghanistan
• "Test tube baby" born in England
• National Lampoon's Animal House starring John Belushi is released
1979
• "EVERY CHILD" wins the Academy Award., National Film Board ofCanada
• Turnkey systems are first introduced in computer animation.
• Dave Fleischer dies (1894-1979)
• Idi Amin overthrown by Tanzanian backed rebels
• Camp David Peace Treaty signed
1980
• "THE FLY" wins the Academy Award., Pannonia Studios, Hungary, Ferenc Rofusz
• Pacific Data Images (PDI) founded.
• Fred "Tex" Avery dies (1908 - 1980) USA. Fred Bean Avery was related to Judge Roy Bean (who was known as the "law west of the Pecos, give you a fair trail and hang you". Roy Bean's real name was Roy Boone and he was descended from Daniel Boone). There is a story that Disney did not want his animators to see Tex Avery films as they were too extreme in their humor and animation.
• John Lennon shot dead in New York
• Border conflict between Iran and Iraq erupts into war
1981
• "CRAC" wins the Academy Award., Frederic Back, Canadian
• Lotte Reiniger dies (1899-1981) Germany, developed silhouette and did many films in that form.
• Steve Bosustow dies (1912-1981) US, became head of UPA in the 1950's.
• Clair Parker dies (1906 -1981)
• Solidarity's first national conference is held in Gdansk, Poland
• Scientists identify Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
1982
• "TANGO" wins the Academy Award., Zingier Rybczynski, Poland. He was arrested after winning the Oscar when he went outside for a smoke and spent his Academy Award night in a Los Angeles jail - so much for animation.
• "TRON", A Disney feature has 15 minutes of computer animation (most all computer animation by now is digital except effects done on tape using the analog system) for 235 scenes at a cost of $1,200 per second.
• "STAR TREK II, THE WRATH OF KHAN" Features computer generated "Genesis effect" scene.
• Disney starts selling home videos.
• Tim Burton produces hid puppet short "VINCENT".
• Alexandre Alexieff dies (1901-1982) Russia/France
• 28 million US households have cable TV
• UK's fourth TV channel (Channel 4) begins broadcasting
1983
• "SUNDAY IN NEW YORK" wins the Academy Award., Jimmy Picket USA.
•Otto Messmer dies, (1892-1983)
• Syndication, as a new form of distribution for children's TV starts.
Filmation creates "HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE" 85 1/2 hour shows that play every weekday.
• The Disney Channel begins broadcasting.
• The compact disc is launched
• De Kooning's "Two Women" is sold for 1.2 million, a record for a living artist
1984
• "CHARADE" wins the Academy Award. John Minnis, Canada
• LAST STAR FIGHTER, Features 30 minutes of computer animation at a cost of 4.5 million.
• Bob Clampett dies (1913-1984) USA
• "NAUSICAA" Hayao Miyazake, Japan
• Upper Volta renamed Burkina Faso (the republic of honest men)
• The space shuttle "Discovery" makes its maiden flight
1985
• "ANNA AND BELLA" wins the Academy Award. Borge Ring, Holland
• "YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES" the first live action film to feature a complete computer animated character is released.
• Daniel Ortega is inaugurated president of Nicaragua
• Mikhail Gorbachev unilaterally halts deployment of medium range missiles in Europe
1986
• "A GREEK TRAGEDY" wins the Academy Award. Nicole Van Goethem, Belgium
• Iwerks Entertainment founded.
• "AMERICAN TALE" is released. Steven Spielberg Production, Don Bluth director.
• Marcos flees the Philippines, Corazon Aquino becomes new president
• World's worst nuclear accident, Chernobyl Power Station, Kiev, USSR
1987
• "THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES" wins the Academy Award. Frederic Back, Canada
• THE SIMPSONS begins as spots on the Tracey Ullman Show. David Silverman, who had just graduated from UCLA, was one of the 2-3 original animators.
• "ALICE" Jan Svankmajer's first feature film
• Norman McLaren dies (1914-1987), Scotland.
• In Japan 24 anime features are produced as well as 72 anime features for video release
• The last California Condor is trapped and sent to a zoo for breeding
• Van Gogh's "Irises" sold for 49 million
1989
• "TIN TOY" wins the Academy Award. John Lasseter, William Reeves, Pixar, first computer animated film to win, US.
• "WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT" is released. Grossing over $300 million it proved that animation, at least when combined with live action, was not limited to a children's audience.
• LAND BEFORE TIME released.
• Internet computer virus designed by US students jams over 6,000 military computers across the US
1990
• "BALANCE" wins the Academy Award. Wolgang and Christopher Lauenstein, Germany
• Osamu Tezuka dies (1926-1989). He was born in Osaka, Japan and is often called the Walt Disney of Japan. In his last years he turned the control of his studio over to others and began making his own personal short films. JUMPING was one of these films. Before he became a cartoonist and animator he was a certified medical doctor and had a Ph.D. in entomology.
• Mel Blanc "the man of a thousand voices" dies (1908 -1989). His gravestone in the Hollywood Memorial Cemetery reads "That's All Folks". He was the first voice talent to receive screen credit.
• Richard Williams presented with a Special Achievement Oscar for directing the animation in "WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT". The only time this award had been previously given for animation was to Walt Disney for "SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS".
• The last Soviet troops leave Afghanistan
• Tiananmen Square massacre in China.
• Mysterious "crop circles" appear in UK cornfields
1991
• "MANIPULATION" wins the Academy Award. Daniel Greaves,
• Disney's "BEAUTY AND THE BEAST" becomes the first animated feature to be nominated for the Academy Award as Best Picture.
• REN & STIMPY premiere.
• Hanna-Barbera Productions bought by Turner Broadcasting
• USSR dissolves
• Hostilities between newly independent Croatia and Serbia begin
• US begins "Operation Desert Storm" to push the invading Iraqi army from Kuwait.
1992
• "MONA LISA DESCENDING A STAIRCASE" wins the Academy Award.Joan Grantz, USA
• Art Babbit dies
• "FERN GULLY" and animated feature by Bill and Sue Kroyer is released.
• Cartoon Network broadcasts in 2 million homes, by 1995 it's in 22 million.
• FROG BASEBALL, by Mike Judge, screened to an MTV focus group.
• Bill Plympton completes first feature film THE TUNE.
• Sammy Timberg dies (1903- 1992) USA. Composed for Fleischer Studios (later Famous Studios) Betty Boop, Superman, Little Lulu, Casper as well as features "MR. BUGS GOES TO TOWN" and "GULLIVER'S TRAVELS". Best known for "It's a Hap-Hap-Happy Day".
• Acquittals in Rodney King trial spark riots in Los Angeles, 51 killed.
• UN expels Yugoslavia.
1993
• "THE WRONG TROUSERS" wins the Academy Award. Nick Park, England
• "BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD", by Mike Judge, released on cable. MTV.
• "ANIMANIACS" debuts
• 'NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS" by Tim Burton, is released
• Czechoslovakia divides into Czech and Slovak republics.
• New York - World Trade Center bombed the first time.
1994
• "BOBÕS BIRTHDAY" wins the Academy Award. Alison Snowden and David Fine, Canada.
• "LION KING" One of Disney's highest grossing pictures to date..
• DreamWorks studio formed.
• Walter Lantz dies (1900-1994). A pioneer in animation he was head of the Walter Lantz Studio and creator of Woody Woodpecker.•
• Mexican peasants revolt in Chiapas
• Russian Army invades Chechnya
Morphing of digital images comes into vogue
1995
• "A CLOSE SHAVE" wins the Academy Award. Nick Park, England.
• "TOY STORY", first computer animated feature released and it takes in more money at the box office than any other film in 1995.
• "BABE" combination of live action and computer animated effects is nominated for an Academy Award.
• DreamWorks Feature Animation begins.
• John Whitney dies (191701995) experimental animator and pioneer computer animator
• Friz Freleng (1906-1995) dies
• Preston Blair dies, an animator who wrote the book "Animation" which is the classic book on how to animate.
• Paul Julian, background artist and director at UPA and other studios
• Jerry Garcia dies at 53
• Aung San Suu Kyi , winner of the Nobel Peace Prize freed after 6 years house arrest.
1996
• "QUEST" wins the Academy Award. Tyron Montgomery, Thomas Stellmach, German.
• "BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD" Animated feature based on the series is released and makes over 60 million.
• " MARS ATTACKS" Tim Burton. During its production the Manchester studio Bare Bones spends 9 months animating stop-motion aliens for the film, only to be told that computer generated images (CGI) would be used instead.
• Shamus Culhane dies at 88, Max Fleischer once told him, "You know what your problem is Culhane? You're an artist!" Read his book "Talking Animals and other People" for a good view of early animation.
• Virgil Ross dies at 88, a master animator at Warners and other studios.
• The merger of Time Warner and Turner brings Warner Bros. Feature, TV, and Classic Animation, Hanna-Barbera, Cartoon Network, plus a couple of others under one roof.
• Taliban captures Kabul
Legal battle over freedom of speech on the Internet 1997
1997
• "GERI'S GAME" wins the Academy Award.Pixar. Directed by Jan Pinkava.
• "KING OF THE HILL" the series created by Mike Judge begins on Fox.
• Hayao Miyazaki's "PRINCESS MONONOKE" released in Japan to become its biggest motion picture hit of all time, animated or live action.
• Pol Pot captured and sentenced to life in jail
• Seven cows, the first in Germany with "mad cow" disease, are destroyed.
• The film "The Full Monty" is released
1998
• "BUNNY" wins the Academy Award. Blue Sky. Chris Wedge.
• "THE PRINCE OF EGYPT" DreamWorks first animated feature is released.
• "CELEBRITY DEATH MATCH" begin's as a special and is expanded into a series five months later.
• "QUEST FOR CAMELOT" Warner Bros.
• Mae Questel, 89, dies, an actress and voice talent, best known for doing the voice of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl.
• Global recession spreads, deepest since WWII in parts of the world
• The first TV stations in US begin broadcasting in high definition (HDTV)
1999
• "THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA" wins the Academy Award. Alexander Petrov, Various Countries
• "IRON GIANT" Directed by Brad Bird, based on the 1968 work by Poet Laureate Ted Hughes.
• "SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER AND UNCUT" is released
• "THE PRINCESS MONONOKE" is released in the US, Hayao Miyazaki, Director.
• "TOY STORY 2" released, Disney/Pixar
• "STUART LITTLE" released, Columbia/Sony
• Falun Gong outlawed in China
• Latin pop explosion with performers like Jennifer Lopez and R. Martin.
2000
• "FATHER AND DAUGHTER" wins the Academy Award. Michael Dudok de Wit.
• Marc Davis dies (1913-2000), born in Bakersfield, CA., he was one of the Nine Old Men from Disney. He was well known for doing female characters.
• Bill Hurtz dies at the age of 81. At a Screen Cartoonists Guild meeting in 1941, Bill made the motion to strike the Disney studio, his motion was unanimously approved. Received an Academy Award nomination for UPA's "Unicorn in the Garden" in 1953. He directed at the Jay Ward Studios 1959 to 1984.
2001
• William (Bill) Hanna (1911-2001) dies
• Bob Abel (1937-2001) dies. Bob was a pioneer in computer animation, especially in the 1970's commercials, through his company, Robert Abel and Associates.
• Faith Hubley dies at 77, she made 25 personal films, and won the academy award 3 times with husband John Hubley, she was a great friend of the UCLA workshop. Faith was a person who lived her life fully according to her belief, that the expression of art is the most ennobling experience of the human spirit. She expressed her art and her belief through her animation.
• Ray Patterson dies (1911-2001). Began as an inker in Mintz's studio in 1929. Worked at Disney, MGM, Hanna-Barbera.
• Sam Weiss dies, animator at UPA, Jay Ward and others.
• Lee Mishkin dies, animator, director.
• Jan Lenica dies at 73. Famed Polish animator.
• Attack on New York and the Pentagon on Sept. 11th
2002
• Nine feature animated films were rules eligible for the three nominations in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science first ever Feature Length Animation category. They are: "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within", "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius", "Marco Polo, Return to Xanadu", "Monsters, Inc.", "Osmosis Jones", "Shrek", "The Trumpet of the Swan", "The Prince of Light", "Waking Life".
• "Shrek" from Dreamwork Feature animation won the first ever Oscar for animated feature they beat out Pixar/Disney's "Monsters Inc.
• Chuch Jones passes away in the spring of 2002
2003
2004
Copyright by Dan McLaughlin 2001
Copyright by Dan McLaughlin 2001 For further information on animation history these are some of the books that you could read.
Solomon, Charles. The History of Animation: Enchanted Drawings. New York: Wings Books, 1994.
Crafton, Donald Before Mickey, The Animated Film 1898-1928. University of Chicago Press 1993
Bendazzi, Giannalberto. Cartoons, One Hundred Years of Cinema Animation. Indiana University Press, 1994 Any of these biographies by
John Canemaker: The Animated Raggedy Ann and Andy.
(Bobbs Merrill, 1977) Winsor McCay - His Life and Art.
(Abbeville Press, 1987) Treasures of Disney Animation Art
(Abbeville Press, 1982) Felix: The Twisted Tale of the World's Most Famous Cat
(De Capo Press,1991, 1996) Tex Avery: The MGM Years,
(Turner, 1996) Before the Animation Begins: The Art and Lives of Disney Inspirational Sketch Artists (Hyperion, 1996) Paper Dreams: The Art and Artists of Disney Storyboards.
(Hyperion, 1999) And his latest book will be out next month from Disney Editions: Walt Disney's Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation And speaking of the Nine Old Men you should read: Disney Animation - The Illusion of Life by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston (Abbeville Press 1981)
For further information on animation history these are some of the books available:Solomon, Charles. The History of Animation: Enchanted Drawings. New York: Wings Books, 1994. Crafton, Donald Before Mickey, The Animated Film 1898-1928. University of Chicago Press 1993Bendazzi, Giannalberto. Cartoons, One Hundred Years of Cinema Animation. Indiana University Press, 1994Any of the biographies by John Canemaker
