Golden age of American animation

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The golden age of American animation was a period in the history of U.S. animation that began with the popularization of sound cartoons in 1928 and gradually ended from 1957 to 1969, where theatrical animated shorts began losing popularity to the newer medium of television animation, produced on cheaper budgets and in a more limited animation style by companies such as Terrytoons, UPA, Paramount Cartoon Studio, Jay Ward Productions, Hanna-Barbera, DePatie-Freleng and Filmation,^[1] in artifact, The History of Animation became very important in the United States of America.^[2]

Many popular animated cartoon characters emerged from this period, including Disney's Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy and Pluto; Fleischer Studios' Popeye, Koko, Bimbo, Betty Boop and Superman; Warner Bros.' Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig, Tweety and Sylvester; MGM's Tom and Jerry and Droopy; Van Beuren Studios' Felix the Cat; Walter Lantz's Woody Woodpecker; Terrytoons' Mighty Mouse; UPA's Mr. Magoo; Jay Ward Productions' Rocky and Bullwinkle; and DePatie-Freleng's Pink Panther.

Feature-length animation began during this period, most notably with Disney's "Walt-era" films, spanning from 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs^[3] to 1967's The Jungle Book (the last film produced before his death in 1966).^[4] Animation also began on television during this period with Crusader Rabbit, the first animated series broadcast in 1948.^[5] The rise of television animation is often considered to be a factor that hastened the golden age's end,^[1] although some authors include Hanna-Barbera's earlier animated series, such as Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, and The Flintstones, in their definition of the golden age.^[6][7]