W1: The Silent Era

Question 1

Name the early viewing devices in order

Answer 1

1. Thaumatrope
2. Phenakistoscope
3. Zoetrope
4. Praxinoscope

Question 2

1906 Lightning Sketch with hand-drawn animation and stop motion

Answer 2

Humourous Phases of Funny Faces

Question 3

Director-animator of Humorous Phases of Funny Faces

Answer 3

James Stuart Blackton

Question 4

The first true animator

Answer 4

Émile Cohl

Question 5

What is the title of Émile Cohl’s 1908 short film?

Answer 5

Fantamagorie

Question 6

Creator, animator, director of Gertie the Dinosaur

Answer 6

Windsor McCay

Question 7

Significance of Gertie the Dinosaur

Answer 7

1) First animated character to display personality

2) Displayed weight and volume

Question 8

What was John. A Fitzsimmons’ involvement with GERTIE THE DINOSAUR?

Answer 8

Retraced the background scene for each frame

10k frames in total

Question 9

Reasons why people simped for Windsor McCay

Answer 9

1) Excellent draftsman

2) An acute sense of perspective

Question 10

Inventor of the peg-system for registration of animation drawings

Answer 10

Raoul Barré

Question 11

Who was William Randolph Hearst?

Answer 11

• founder of Hearst International Film Service
• one of the most powerful men in the entertainment industry
• owned a national newspaper which displayed King Feature comics, and from those comics he made animated cartoons like KRAZY KAT

Question 12

Earl Hurd’s great contribution to the animation world

Answer 12

Invented the celluloid system (The Bray-Hurd System)

Question 13

Briefly describe the Celluloid Process

Answer 13

• Drawing of a complete, stationary background on paper
• Characters inked, and painted on clear celluloids laid on top

“Transparent sheets in conjunction with a background which is photographed thereupon the negative film,” -Bray

Question 14

Who created what is arguable the first commercial theatrical animated series, COLONEL HEEZA LIAR?

Answer 14

John Randolph Bray

Question 15

Name two key men responsible for FELIX THE CAT

Answer 15

PRODUCER: Pat Sullivan

DIRECTOR-ANIMATOR: Otto Messmer

Question 16

Significance of Felix the Cat

Answer 16

first character to display a thinking process

Question 17

Why did Felix decline in popularity in the late 1920s?

Answer 17

• Advent of sound

- Sullivan believed sound films were simply a fad and stubbornly continued to animated Felix in silence

Question 18

Name first three major animation studios in the history of the industry

Answer 18

1. Barré Studio
2. Bray Studios
3. Hearst INTERNATIONAL FILM SERVICES

Question 19

Name McCay’s comic and its short film equivelent

Answer 19

Comic: Little Nemo in Slumberland

Short film: Little Nemo

Question 20

Bray Studio’s most notable contribution to the animation industry (not his patents)

Answer 20

Systematization of the animation production process creating DIVISIONS OF LABOUR

Question 21

Earl Hurd’s character @ Bray Studios

Answer 21

Bobby Bumps

Question 22

Cartoon duo based off of Bud Fisher’s cartoons

Dick Huemer worked on this series at Barré Studios

Answer 22

Mutt and Jeff

Question 23

What series did Walter Lantz work on during his time at Bray Studios?

Answer 23

Dinky Doodles

Question 24

What did McCay use for the first time in The Sinking of the Lusitania?

Answer 24

cel animation

Question 25

First Felix the Cat cartoon

Answer 25

Feline Follies, his name was Master Tom

Question 26

Who redesign Felix in Felix in Hollywood, and what were the changes?

Answer 26

Bill Nolan

change from an angular design to circles and softer shapes, which made him easier to animate

Question 27

Fastest animator during the silent era

Answer 27

Bill Nolan