Animation. It’s grown into something we all know. After all, we’ve all grown up with animated cartoons. Whether it’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937) or One Piece (1999 – present day), we have encountered animation throughout our lives. But why? Why has it captivated us so much that more than a third of us watch anime alone?[1] To understand how animation has become such a global phenomenon, we must go back to the late 19th century.
In 1888, Charles-Émile Reynaud developed a machine to achieve what is the precursor to modern animation. The machine, called the Théâtre Optique, worked by feeding a long strip of hand-painted images on semi-transparent gelatin through a system of mirrors and lenses, which projected the moving pictures onto a screen. From 1892 to 1900, he presented almost 13 thousand shows to over half a million visitors at the Muśee Grévin in Paris.[2] For the next 20 or so years, animation caught on with other countries. An important innovation that made this globalization possible was the “cel animation process” which used celluloid sheets rather than gelatin, patented by Earl Hurd in 1914.[3] What it did was essentially allow an animation to be mass-produced on a scale previously unimaginable. Before, animations lasted mere minutes and could not be copied easily.
Capitalizing on the cel animation process was the Walt Disney Company. Disney’s films were not an instant success. To name but a few classics that had a rough start, Pinocchio (1940), Bambi (1942), and Sleeping Beauty (1959) all were financial flops. In fact, after Bambi, for a period of an astonishing 8 years, Disney stopped making films entirely, resorting to small “packages.”[4] Fortunately, this was not to last. Even the groundbreaking Snow White and the Seven Dwarves which grossed around $8 million dollars in its first year cannot possibly compare to how much it has made since then ($418 million dollars to be precise, over 50 times what it had made).[5] [6]
In the modern day, approximately 96% of girls and 87% of boys have watched some kind of Disney princess animation.[7] And that’s just Disney princesses. In 1995, something was about to change, though. Something that would revolutionize animation entirely.
Up until this point, animation had consisted entirely of projecting images drawn up on celluloid sheets. Disney had something up its sleeve, though. CGI, or computer generated imagery, had by this time developed for almost 40 years.[8] Thus, it was not that much of a surprise when Toy Story came out.[9] In its first 5 days, Toy Story grossed almost $40 million. But it was not the only one of its kind. Just three years later, A Bug’s Life was released. Just around this time, something else was brewing on the other side of the world.
In 1986, Studio Ghibli’s first film, Castle in the Sky was released. After that a string of classics positively poured out. Grave of the Fireflies and My Neighbor Totoro Kiki’s came just two years later. Kiki’s Delivery Service followed suit, being released a year later.[10] Anime had come to the West.
Anime itself originated early in the 20th century with Namakura Gatana or The Dull Sword.[11] These early animes were reserved for the Japanese audience only and very few Japanese have even heard of it today. Anime itself was buried deeply until Hayao Miyazaki came along with what is considered Studio Ghibli’s spiritual predecessor film, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.[12] Today, 2.88 billion people or just over a third of the world population watches anime. This figure alone shows just how much animation has grown in terms of popularity. Animation, as we’ve seen, has come a long way.
But I still haven’t really answered the question I presented at the beginning. Why is it so popular? At its core, all animation is, is a form of storytelling not bound by physical laws. Unlike live-action films, animation is not restricted to showing miraculous occurrences in a realistic manner. It can be as wildly inconsistent with everyday life as can be imagined, all the while telling a tale that we all know. All that we’ve seen, from gelatin to the cel animation process to CGI, is part of an effort to strive for a more creative approach towards telling a story.[13] And I haven’t even begun to talk about the role animation has had in videos on platforms such as YouTube.
People who use animation to tell a story aren’t necessarily film directors. Famous YouTube animator, TheOdd1sOut has over 24 million subscribers and countless others use animation as a way to not only make money, but entertain viewers and express themselves.[14] Animation is something that really is just a way to communicate one’s emotions and inspirations in such a way that other people can truly understand what they are thinking and feeling.
Sources:
[1]: 20+ Anime Statistics & Facts: How Many People Watch Anime? (2025)
[2]: History of animation – Wikipedia
[4]: The Surprising Financial Failures of Walt Disney
[5]: The Success of Snow White | American Experience | PBS
[6]: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film) – Wikipedia
[7]: The unexpected way Disney princesses affect little boys – The Washington Post
[8]: What is CGI? – Everything You Need to Know – NFI
[9]: Toy Story (franchise) – Wikipedia
[10]: Studio Ghibli – A list of all movies by chronology
[11]: The Dull Sword – Wikipedia
[12]: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (film) – Wikipedia
[13]: The Psychology of Animation: How It Impacts Our Emotions and Behavior – HOUND STUDIO