The golden age of American animation was a period in the history of U.S. animation that began with the popularization of sound synchronized cartoons in 1928 and gradually ended in the 1960s when theatrical animated shorts started to lose popularity to the newer medium of television. Animated media from after the golden age, especially on television, were produced on cheaper budgets and with more limited techniques between the late 1950s and 1980s.
Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene from its first synchronized sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie (1928). Founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney after the closure of Laugh-O-Gram Studio, it is the longest-running animation studio in the world. It is currently organized as a division of Walt Disney Studios and is headquartered at the Roy E. Disney Animation Building at the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California. Since its foundation, the studio has produced 62 feature films, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to Wish (2023), and hundreds of short films.
Lorenzo is an American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation about a cat, Lorenzo, who is "dismayed to discover that his tail has developed a personality of its own". The short was directed by Mike Gabriel and produced by Baker Bloodworth. It premiered at the Florida Film Festival on March 6, 2004, and later appeared as a feature before the film Raising Helen, but it did not appear on the DVD release of the film. It is based on an original idea by Joe Grant, who started working on the film in 1949, but it was eventually shelved. It was later found along with Destino. The short was intended to be one of the segments for the proposed but ultimately abandoned Fantasia 2006. It was included on the Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection Blu-ray/DVD set released on August 18, 2015.
The Old Mill is a Silly Symphonies cartoon produced by Walt Disney Productions, directed by Wilfred Jackson, scored by Leigh Harline, and released theatrically to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on November 5, 1937. The film depicts the natural community of animals populating an old abandoned windmill in the country, and how they deal with a severe summer thunderstorm that nearly destroys their habitat. It incorporates the song "One Day When We Were Young" from Johann Strauss II's operetta The Gypsy Baron.
Raymond Patterson was an American animator, producer, and director. He was born in Hollywood, California, and was the younger brother of animator Don Patterson.
The Ghibli Museum Library is the collection of animated films which have been dubbed or subtitled and released in Japan by Studio Ghibli under the Ghibli ga Ippai label, in collaboration with Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and Cinema ANGELIKA. Three of the current titles were previously released as part of the now mostly defunct Ghibli Cinema Library. The collection is named after the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka.
How to Hook Up Your Home Theater is a 2007 American animated comedy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, directed by Kevin Deters, and co-directed by Stevie Wermers-Skelton. It was the first theatrical Goofy solo cartoon short in since Goofy's Freeway Troubles (1965) 42 years earlier, and the first official short of the Goofy series since How to Sleep (1953).
Playful Pluto (1934) is a Walt Disney cartoon, directed by Burt Gillett. It was the first cartoon to showcase Pluto as a major character. It was the 65th Mickey Mouse short film, and the third of that year.
Mark Alan Henn is an American animator and film director. His work includes animated characters for Walt Disney Animation Studios films, most notably leading or titular characters and heroines. He served as the lead animator for Ariel in The Little Mermaid (1989), Belle in Beauty and the Beast (1991), Jasmine in Aladdin (1992), Young Simba in The Lion King (1994), the title character in Mulan (1998), and Tiana in The Princess and the Frog (2009). Since all these characters except Simba became Disney Princesses, he came to be known as the "princess guy" around the studio. He directed the short films John Henry (2000) and D.I.Y. Duck (2024). Henn spent a total of 43 years at Walt Disney Animation Studios, from 1980 until his retirement in 2023.
Walt Disney's Funny Factory is a series of DVDs by Walt Disney Home Entertainment. Very similar to the line, each release would feature around one-hour of Disney animated short films, grouped by a starring character, or set of characters. As opposed to the chronological nature of the Walt Disney Treasures line, each release would feature various cartoons in no particular order. The series featured two waves of releases, on January 17, 2006, and November 21, 2006. Another similar line was Walt Disney’s Classic Cartoon Favorites.
Operation: Secret Santa — A Prep & Landing Stocking Stuffer is an American animated short film sequel to 2009's Christmas special Prep & Landing, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, and directed by Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers-Skelton. The short premiered on TV channel ABC on Tuesday, December 7, 2010. The second half-hour Christmas TV special, Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice aired on December 5, 2011, on ABC.
Tangled Ever After is a 2012 six-minute American animated short film written and directed by Nathan Greno and Byron Howard, serving as a follow-up to the 2010 Walt Disney Animation Studios film Tangled. It premiered in theaters on January 13, 2012, before the 3D theatrical re-release of Beauty and the Beast, and on Disney Channel followed by the premiere of The Princess and the Frog on March 23, 2012. The short was later, in fall 2012, included as a bonus feature on the Diamond Edition of Cinderella, and was also released three years later, on the Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection Blu-ray on August 18, 2015. The short is also available as a stand-alone download on iTunes.
Paperman is an American black-and-white computer-cel animated romantic comedy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Directed by John Kahrs, it blends traditional and computer animation, and features the voices of Kahrs and Kari Wahlgren in the leading roles.
Mickey Mouse is an American animated television series produced by Disney Television Animation. Featuring Disney cartoon characters Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy and Pluto in contemporary settings such as Paris, Venice, Tokyo and New York, the series has the slapstick feel of the earliest Mickey Mouse shorts while providing a modern update, and "presents Mickey in a broad range of humorous situations that showcase his pluck and rascality, along with his long-beloved charm and good heartedness". The animation is provided by Mercury Filmworks.
Get a Horse! is a 2013 American animated comedy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and directed by Lauren MacMullan. Combining black-and-white hand-drawn animation and color computer animation, the short features the characters of the late 1920s Mickey Mouse cartoons.
Frozen Fever is a 2015 American animated musical fantasy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. A follow-up to the 2013 feature film Frozen, the short follows Elsa as she attempts to throw a surprise party for her sister Anna with the help of Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf. Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee again served as the directors with Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, and Josh Gad reprising their roles from the film.
Duck Pimples is a 1945 animated whodunit short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The cartoon parodies radio crime stories and film noir dramas.
Short Circuit is a series of American independent animated short films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Similar to the SparkShorts program launched at sister animation studio Pixar, the series is a program in which the employees pitch their ideas for a short and work with fellow employees to create the short if selected, and is meant to take risks in both visual styles and storytelling.
Once Upon a Studio is a 2023 American live-action/animated crossover fantasy comedy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios in celebration of the Walt Disney Company's centennial. Written and directed by Dan Abraham and Trent Correy, it aired on ABC on October 15, 2023. In the film, Disney characters come to life from pictures hanging on the walls of the Roy E. Disney Animation Building following the end of a usual work day. The short's art style combines computer graphics, traditional animation and live-action, and features characters from the majority of the studio's works made up to that point, including all 62 feature films at the time of the short's release (including the then-forthcoming Wish, numerous short films, and some live-action Disney films featuring animation produced by the studio such as The Reluctant Dragon, Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and Pete's Dragon. The film was dedicated in memory of Burny Mattinson, the company's longest-serving employee, who made a cameo in the short and died eight months before its release. This is also the final work of Richard M. Sherman before his death in 2024.
