Martin Goodman.

The movies have been subject to as much advancement over the years as any other form of media. The first static efforts in the late 1890s gave way to ever-sophisticated changes in techniques such as cuts, fades, zooms and POV shots, devices that we now take for granted. There is a popular myth concerning the famed silent film The Great Train Robbery (1903); audiences allegedly fled the theaters in fear, believing that they were seeing an actual robbery and trains coming directly towards them. While this is untrue, there was a scene at the end of the film in which a nasty desperado fires a pistol directly into the camera. This always seemed to get at least a few patrons ducking cinematic bullets in their seats. After that, filmmakers vied to wow their audiences through the use of spectacular fx and fancy camerawork.

Animation first appeared in the late 1890s and amazed audiences with moving pictures that were drawn by hand. People saw popular comic strips come to life, as well as some original characters that made an indelible impact on the culture itself. Seminal animator Winsor McCay averred that audiences, upon seeing his short How a Mosquito Operates (1912) believed that McCay was manipulating puppets with wires. Although this is highly doubtful, moviegoers were eventually treated to genuine magic such as synchronized sound in 1928 and full Technicolor by 1933, raising the stakes for future artisans.

To be sure, there have been misfires. 3-D movies (aside from a few early experiments) existed at least since 1922, but it was not until the early 1950s that the technique made its way into American theaters in wide release. Observers in the local movie houses reported patrons shying away from objects "thrust" at them, ducking "flying" projectiles and attempting to grab or get their hands behind objects that seemed to float in the air before them. While 3D was a nifty perceptual trick, it did little or nothing to advance the actual art of filmmaking; it was a novelty rather than a progression in cinematic language and representation. In fact, 3D stilted films by purposely setting up shots that emphasized technique over narrative and acting performance.

Computer-generated imagery was a true advancement. By all accounts, CGI first appeared in a mainstream film in 1973 when raster effects were used in the film Westworld. Early wireframe techniques soon followed, but most of the general public was not overtly aware of CGI until the 1982 Disney film Tron. Roughly 15 minutes of full computer animation was featured, and everyone who attended the film realized at some level that a revolution was underway. It was merely a matter of time, training and technological advancement until CGI became a major component in world cinema. Technicians, software engineers, film studios and even some visionary critics secretly wondered how soon a film might be composed of nothing but computer-generated images.

Thirteen years after Tron, the first completely computer-generated animated feature film, Toy Story, appeared in theaters, broke boundaries and demonstrated the full potential of CGI. © Disney and Pixar.

We now know the answer to that question. A mere two years after Tron, computer-generated animation had advanced to the point where short, crude CGI features were possible. Thirteen years after Tron, the first completely computer-generated animated feature film appeared in theaters. It has been nearly 14 years since Pixar's Toy Story broke the boundaries and demonstrated the full potential of CGI. Today it is indeed possible, using techniques in motion-capture and advanced rendering, to generate characters so lifelike that audiences can accept them as flesh and blood.

This did not immediately kill 2D animation; the medium hung on in American feature animation through the first years of the new century. As I have noted in past columns, no form of animation has ever entirely died out, from the earliest days of stop-motion and plasticine to the ink-and paint of "classic" theatrical animation. Even the ridiculous technique known as Synchro-vox was a combination of animation and live action, a medium that still survives among the animation community. However, 2D was becoming ever-relegated to independents. In the realm of television animation, Flash was becoming the weapon of choice, and digital palettes replaced jars of ink, perhaps forever. 2D feature animation struggled to an end at Disney in the early 2000s, and nearly every major animation studio buried the medium at roughly the same time.

In October 2003, I wrote a commentary for AWN cautioning the readership not to write off 2D animation too quickly. When I stated that another great American feature could be made entirely in 2D if allowed, it soon seemed to be wishful thinking. Even a cursory examination of major animation releases since I typed those words speaks louder than Bolt's superbark: Since 10/03 CGI features outnumber 2D features (most of which had only limited release) 46-11. In the meantime, CGI has grown so sophisticated that audiences can now discern between levels of CGI quality and animator proficiency.