The Enchanted Drawing (1900)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

J. Stuart Blackton

Release Date:

16 November 1900 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Comedy

Plot:

A cartoonist defies reality when he draws objects that become three-dimensional after he lifts them off his sketch pad.

Plot Keywords:

Artist | Part Animated | Early Animation

Cast

J. Stuart Blackton

...

Chalk-Talk Artist

Runtime:

2 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Filming Locations:

Vitagraph Studios - 15th Street & Locust Avenue, Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Edison Manufacturing Company

history of animation

While Winsor McCay is often treated as the father of animated film, others like Emile Cohl (working for a studio, unlike McCay) and Stuart Blackton definitely were on the scene before. Their styles are all very different (especially Cohl's), but Blackton does wonderful things with the medium of animation, which are, in spirit, much the same as the animation films and episodes we come to know and love. My rating is not only for its inventiveness, but historical significance, as it belongs to a style, genre, and era that is often undertreated in film history (often getting a page or two mention in film history books). But thanks to the likes of John Canemaker and Donald Crafton, animation is increasingly well-canonized and game for consideration.