Origins of American Animation

I don't know how I missed this cool exhibit from the Library of Congress, but that doesn't mean you have to miss it. Origins of American Animation, at http://lcweb2.loc. gov/ammem/oahtml/oahome.html , offers 21 animated films and two fragments from the years 1900-1921.

So if you thought American animation started with Steamboat Willie, get over. Though as with all LOC exhibits you can browse the subject or search by keyword, go ahead and use the alphabetical title list; there are few enough titles here that it's easy to navigate.

Each title has information about the animation, including summary and creation date, and the animation itself available to download in three formats, Real, Quicktime, and MPEG. While the formats were easy to see, even the Real one which is optimized for dialups, I thought the film size was a little too small. In "The Phable of the Phat Woman," from 1916, dialogue appears on the screen that's not readable. I wish there were larger screen versions available, even though that'd mean larger file sizes.

These animations, though mostly very simple, are worth seeing. "He Resolves Not to Smoke" does have readable dialog, and it's charming and very, very weird at the same time.

Posted to Aesthetics-Art-Animation