Humorous Phases of Funny Faces (1906)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

J. Stuart Blackton

Release Date:

7 April 1906 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Short

Plot:

A cartoonist draws faces and figures on a blackboard - and they come to life.

Plot Keywords:

Face | Early Animation | Part Stop Motion | Reverse Footage | Cartoon

Cast

J. Stuart Blackton

...

Cartoonist

Runtime:

USA:3 min

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Company:

Vitagraph Company of America

Trivia:

Historians generally cite this as the first animated cartoon.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: J. Stuart Blackton's hand keeps getting in the camera's way.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Disneyland: The Story of the Animated Drawing (#2.11)" (1955)

Where it all began...

The artist's hand and a blackboard..a quick sketch of a face..another face, a cigar, a cloud of smoke, and suddenly, a whole new art form is born. No genius here, absolutely terrible drawing, but it's the first one as far as we know, and deserves a bit of credit just for that..Melies did stop motion first, and there were hundreds of flip books using the persistence of vision to animate line drawings before this silly little strip of celluloid came along. Nonetheless, everyone who has ever enjoyed a Tex Avery or Disney cartoon should know the humble origins of the form, and this is one example.