Animation: A World History

The Fourth Period

The Fourth Period is short and runs from 1951 (the date of projection of the UPA short Gerald McBoing Boing) to 1960, the date of the first international animation film festival (Annecy, France). It is characterized by indecision. Disney and his imitators lost momentum, the UPA proposed a new style, the television age began and an original animation output was born in Europe. We’ll christen it ‘The Birth of a Style (1951–1960)’.