Understanding: The Digital Age

Early digital computer animation notably developed by Bell Telephone Laboratories in the early 1960s. In 1989, Pixar was founded by John Lasseter and Steve Jobs, and their first production was Luxo Jr. The short has since been deemed as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress, as it was groundbreaking at the time, showing the potential that 3D computer animation had.

Luxo Jr.

In 1991, Disney demonstrated this potential in Beauty and the Beast. The film was produced using a combination of tradition animation and CAPS, a software that was developed for the studio by Pixar. The software allowed Disney to use a wider range of colours, which resulted in the film being bright and very aesthetically pleasing, especially as the program allowed the company to work on separate layers so they could create a greater illusion of depth. Beauty and the Beast is also one of the first animations to use 3D animated computer generated backgrounds, and is another film that was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress.

It wasn't until 1995 that the first feature-length computer animated film was released, the film in question being Toy Story by Pixar. The film was incredibly popular and is said to be considered one of the best animated films ever made and it went on to earn over $361 million worldwide, as well as three Academy Awards.

Whilst Pixar were busy impressing people with their 3D digital animation, Aardman were resorting to more traditional techniques, and "Wallace and Gromit: A Close Shave" was released in the same year. The stop-motion film was beautifully crafted and it too went on to win an Academy Award in 1996.