Flow is the latest link in the long evolutionary chain of animation. Beyond telling its story beautifully without dialogue and with a naturalistic design, its biggest innovation lies in its use of Blender, an open-source software that is not the industry standard. The result? A stunning and emotional animation, Oscar-nominated, made with a minimal team and a radically smaller budget than the typical animated feature, which usually sures tens of millions of dollars.
For better or worse, animation history cannot be told without Disney, which popularized the technique for fantasy storytelling—even if it helped reinforce the false notion that animation is only for children. Snow White, Disney’s first animated feature, was a groundbreaking achievement, introducing vivid Technicolor and a visual language still in use today.
Fantasia took Disney’s creative ambition even further, into artistic territories the studio has rarely revisited. Instead of a conventional narrative, this film is an anthology of classical music pieces paired with spectacular impressionistic animation. A rarely matched demonstration of the artistic potential of animation and its synergy with music.
Yellow Submarine expanded the artistic possibilities of animation, blending psychedelia with pop culture. The film became a sensation among both adults and children, broadening the medium’s appeal to a mainstream audience.
Another great innovator, often overshadowed by Disney, was Ralph Bakshi. He directed films like Fritz the Cat and Heavy Traffic, which brought animation into adult themes. He also directed the first attempt to adapt The Lord of the Rings into film, something only possible at the time through animation. His visionary but flawed adaptation blended traditional animation and abstract rotoscoping to create Middle-earth.