Animation is a filmmaking technique by which still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets (cels) to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animation has been recognized as an artistic medium, specifically within the entertainment industry. Many animations are either traditional animations or computer animations made with computer-generated imagery (CGI). Stop motion animation, in particular claymation, has continued to exist alongside these other forms.
Animation in the United States in the television era was a period in the history of American animation that gradually started in the late 1950s with the decline of theatrical animated shorts and popularization of television animation, reached its peak during the 1970s, and ended around the late 1980s. This era is characterized by low budgets, limited animation, an emphasis on television over the theater, and the general perception of cartoons being primarily for children.
Chip and Dale are a cartoon duo of anthropomorphic chipmunks created by The Walt Disney Company, who debuted in the 1943 short film Private Pluto.
Pinocchio is a 1940 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Loosely based on Carlo Collodi's 1883 Italian children's novel The Adventures of Pinocchio, it is the studio's second animated feature film, as well as the third animated film overall produced by an American film studio, after Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Fleischer Studios' Gulliver's Travels (1939). With the voices of Cliff Edwards, Dickie Jones, Christian Rub, Walter Catlett, Charles Judels, Evelyn Venable, and Frankie Darro, the film follows a wooden puppet, Pinocchio, who is created by an old woodcarver, Geppetto, and brought to life by a blue fairy. Wishing to become a real boy, Pinocchio must prove himself to be "brave, truthful, and unselfish." Along his journey, Pinocchio encounters several characters representing the temptations and consequences of wrongdoing, as a cricket named Jiminy, who takes the role of Pinocchio's conscience, attempts to guide him in matters of right and wrong.
Jiminy Cricket is the Disney version of the Talking Cricket, a fictional character created by Italian writer Carlo Collodi for his 1883 children's book The Adventures of Pinocchio, which Walt Disney adapted into the animated film Pinocchio in 1940. Originally an unnamed, minor character in Collodi's novel who is killed by Pinocchio before returning as a ghost, he was transformed for the Disney adaptation into a comical and wisecracking partner who accompanies Pinocchio on his adventures, having been appointed by the Blue Fairy to serve as Pinocchio's official conscience. In the film, he sings "When You Wish Upon a Star", the Walt Disney Company's signature song, and "Give a Little Whistle".
Clifton Avon "Cliff" Edwards, nicknamed "Ukulele Ike", was an American musician and actor. He enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, specializing in jazzy renditions of pop standards and novelty tunes. He had a number one hit with "Singin' in the Rain" in 1929. He also did voices for animated cartoons later in his career, and he is best known as the voice of Jiminy Cricket in Walt Disney's Pinocchio (1940) and Fun and Fancy Free (1947), and Dandy (Jim) Crow in Walt Disney's Dumbo (1941).
Fun and Fancy Free is a 1947 American animated musical fantasy anthology film produced by Walt Disney and Ben Sharpsteen and released on September 27, 1947 by RKO Radio Pictures. The film is a compilation of two stories: Bongo, narrated by Dinah Shore and loosely based on the short story "Little Bear Bongo" by Sinclair Lewis; and Mickey and the Beanstalk, narrated by Edgar Bergen and based on the "Jack and the Beanstalk" fairy tale. Though the film is primarily animated, it also uses live-action segments starring Edgar Bergen to join its two stories.
"When You Wish Upon a Star" is a song written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington for the 1940 Disney animated film Pinocchio, based on the children's fairy tale novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Italian author Carlo Collodi. The original version was sung by Cliff Edwards in the character of Jiminy Cricket, and is heard over the opening credits and in the final scene of the film. The recording by Cliff Edwards and Chorus was released by Victor Records as catalogue number 261546 and 26477A and by EMI on the His Master's Voice label as catalogue number BD 821.
Disney Sing-Along Songs is a series of videos on VHS, betamax, laserdisc, and DVD with musical moments from various Disney films, TV shows, and attractions. Lyrics for the songs are sometimes displayed on-screen with the Mickey Mouse icon as a "bouncing ball". Early releases open with a theme song introduction containing footage featuring Professor Owl and his class, seen originally in 1953 in two Disney shorts, Melody and Toot, Whistle, Plunk, and Boom. Professor Owl hosts some of the videos, while either Jiminy Cricket or Ludwig Von Drake host others. Later volumes, as well as the two Christmas videos, do not feature a host at all. Scenes with Jiminy Cricket and Ludwig Von Drake were taken from television programs, including the Walt Disney anthology television series and The Mickey Mouse Club, which featured the characters in the 1950s and 1960s.
Timon and Pumbaa are an animated meerkat and warthog duo introduced in Disney's 1994 animated feature film The Lion King and its franchise. Timon was played through his many appearances by Nathan Lane, Max Casella, Kevin Schon, Quinton Flynn, Bruce Lanoil in the Wild About Safety shorts and Kingdom Hearts II, while Pumbaa is voiced by Ernie Sabella, and was portrayed by Tom Alan Robbins in the original cast of the Broadway musical. In the CGI remake, the characters are portrayed by Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen, respectively. Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella first came to audition for the roles of the hyenas, but when the producers saw how well they worked together, they decided to cast them as Timon and Pumbaa.
D-TV is a music video television series produced by Charles Braverman and edited by Ted Herrmann. Premiering on May 5, 1984 on the Disney Channel, the series combined both classic and contemporary popular music with various footage of vintage animated shorts and feature films from The Walt Disney Company, created out of the trend of music videos on cable channel MTV, which inspired the name of this series.
Don Towsley was an animator working at Walt Disney Animation Studios, and later at MGM and Filmation.
The Nifty Nineties is an animated short film produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions and released to theaters on June 20, 1941, by RKO Radio Pictures. The animated short was directed by Riley Thomson and animated by Ward Kimball, Walt Kelly, Fred Moore, Claude Smith, David Swift, and Les Clark with effects animation by Art Fitzpatrick. It was the 113th short in the Mickey Mouse film series to be released, and the fourth in that year. The film stars Mickey and Minnie Mouse and romanticizes the decade of the 1890s.
"From All of Us to All of You" is an animated television Christmas special, produced by Walt Disney Productions and first presented on December 19, 1958 on ABC as part of the Walt Disney Presents anthology series. Hosted by Jiminy Cricket along with Mickey Mouse and Tinker Bell, the special combines newly produced animation with clips from vintage animated Disney shorts and feature films, presented to the viewer as "Christmas cards" from the various characters starring in each one.
The Talking Cricket is a fictional character that appears in the 1883 Italian book The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi.
Melody is an American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and directed by Ward Kimball and Charles A. Nichols. Originally released on May 28, 1953, this film was the first in a proposed series of animated cartoon shorts teaching the principles of music, called Adventures in Music. Only one other entry in the series was produced, Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, which was released later that same year, winning an Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons) the following year.
Toy Tinkers is an American animated short film produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions and released to theaters on December 16, 1949 by RKO Radio Pictures. Set during Christmas time, the film shows Chip 'n' Dale trying to steal nuts from Donald Duck's home using toy weapons. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1950, but ultimately lost to Warner Bros'. For Scent-imental Reasons, a Pepé Le Pew Looney Tunes film directed by Chuck Jones.
Mickey's Good Deed is a 1932 animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists. Set during the Christmas season and the contemporary Great Depression, the cartoon centers on Mickey's act of charity to bring Christmas to a poor family. The film was directed by Burt Gillett and features the voices of Walt Disney as Mickey and Pinto Colvig as Pluto. It was the 50th Mickey Mouse short, and the 14th of that year.
Once Upon a Mouse is a 1981 American theatrical featurette directed by Jerry Kramer and Gary Rocklen of Kramer/Rocklen Studios, produced in association with Walt Disney Productions. It was released on July 10, 1981 on a double bill with The Fox and the Hound.
Pinocchio is a 2022 American musical fantasy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay by Zemeckis and Chris Weitz. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Depth of Field and ImageMovers, this film is a live-action remake of Walt Disney's 1940 animated film Pinocchio, which is itself based on the 1883 Italian book The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. It stars Tom Hanks, Cynthia Erivo, and Luke Evans in live-action roles, and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Keegan-Michael Key, and Lorraine Bracco in voice roles. The reimagined story follows a wooden puppet named Pinocchio, who is brought to life by a blue fairy (Erivo) after being crafted by an old Italian woodcarver named Geppetto (Hanks). While the role of Pinocchio's conscience Jiminy Cricket (Gordon-Levitt) attempts to guide Pinocchio in matters of right and wrong, Pinocchio encounters a host of unsavory characters in his efforts to become a real boy.
