Animation: A World History

4Silent America I

The Fathers’ Sons

Comics, Animation, and Cinema

The link between the two very American forms of art – comic strips and animated cartoons – was clear from the start (although comic strips had fed live-action cinema itself since its early days¹). Many animators were either creators of comic strips as well or had started in that field. Many characters also moved to the screen directly from the printed page, and for the most part they communicated through the balloons typical of comic strips.

The man in the street – and not only he – for many decades believed that printed comic strips and film cartoons were almost the same thing and often called one the other’s name.

The influence of the former on the latter was strong in the formative ...