This SPARKS session is an exploration of how animation has evolved over the past century—from hand-drawn experiments to the sophisticated digital techniques that define today’s animation art form. This session will trace key milestones in animation history, examine the technological breakthroughs that reshaped the medium, and provide insight into how traditional principles continue to inform contemporary digital work.

This session invites artists, historians, and computer graphics pioneers to discuss the early days of animation—with an emphasis on experimental work and innovations that established the foundation that defines animation as an art form today. The session will explore the evolution of computer animation and how the illusion of movement and the language of animation—timing, squash and stretch, anticipation, and character acting helped drive the invention of new technologies. These core principles, first established in the era of hand-drawn cel animation, remain essential in the digital pipelines of today.

The emergence of computer-generated imagery (CGI) in the late 20th century opened the door to new aesthetic possibilities, new storytelling approaches, and entirely new production workflows. Both commercial works such as Tron (1982 Walt Disney), Jurassic Park (1993 Steven Spielberg), and Toy Story (1995 Pixar) and independent works such a Hunger (La Faim) (1974 Peter Foldes and Marceli Wein), Arabesque (1975 John Whitney Sr.), and Sunstone (1981 Ed Emshwiller and Alvy Ray Smith) were groundbreaking and highlighted the growing partnership between artists, technologists, and the digital tools that helped shape the new aesthetic.

As digital tools became widely available, the democratization of digital animation enabled new aesthetic directions and storytelling methods to emerge. Affordable software, online learning platforms, and open-source tools broadened access, enabling independent creators and small teams to produce high-quality work. Animators in the 1980s and 90s expanded the medium by inventing and appropriating tools and redefining the expected outcome. By the early 2000s, animation had escaped the confines of the screen and was projected onto buildings and used as an essential element in installation art, virtual reality environments, and video games.  Animation expanded beyond its traditional status as an entertainment medium into an artistic tool capable of communicating messages and emotional content in a whole new way.  With the introduction of Generative AI, contemporary animation is again undergoing an aesthetic and process-oriented transformation. But contrary to belief that these new technologies will replace traditional artistry, historic animation techniques and the underlying principles are as important as ever. Today it is common to see the merging of the old and the new with unexpected and refreshing results.

This session will include speakers that will reflect on the history of animation and technology’s impact on this versatile art form. Attendees will gain a deeper appreciation of animation’s history, an understanding of how techniques evolved from traditional to digital, and a sense of where emerging technologies may lead animation in the future.