History of computer animation 1950's-2010's

Ultimate history of computer animation. This site about computer animation (CGI) in films and other media. Whole evolution of CGI from 1958 to our days presented chronologically, with video exerpts in highest quality, original posters from these CGI films and other media.

1950's

Vertigo (1958) First computer animation ever

1960's

Catalog (1961) First computer animated short film

Rendering of a planned highway (1961) First realistic computer animation

Computer Sketchpad (1962) First 3D wireframe animation

Simulation of a Two Gyro-Gravity Gradient Attitude

Control System (1963) First physics calculations by computer animation

Hypercube (1965) First stereoscopic 3D computer animation

Computer Ballet (1965) First human figure computer animation

Carrier Landing (1965) First first-person CGI 3D simulation of aircraft

Hummingbird (1967) First digital morphing

Sine Curve Man (1967) First digital morphing of human face

The Stick Man (1967) First motion capture

Beautiful Noise/The Dynne (1968) First face motion capture

Mr. Computer Image (1968) First talking CGI character

Kitty (1968) First realistic computer animated character

Flexipede (1968) First computer animated short film

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) First digital computer animation in a movie

Turn On! Dancer (1969) First dance motion capture

1970's

The Apterix and the Easter Bunny (1970) First color 2D computer animation

Metadata (1971) First computer key frame animation

Computer Animated Hand (1972) First polygonal 3D animation

Flying Cube (1973) First polygonal rotating object computer animation

Westworld (1973) Second movie using digital animation

Hunger (1974) First solid filled raster scanned rendering

Faces and Body Parts (1974) First talking polygonal human

Turning the Sphere Inside Out (1976) First polygonal physical model animation

Futureworld (1976) First realistic computer model of human face

Anima 2 (1977) First procedural computer animations

Pong Man (1977) First polygonal full body animation

Cornell in Perspective (1977) First CGI architecture animation

DNA with Ethidium (1978) First computer biological model

On and off at the circus (1978) First polygonal short film with a storyline

Procedural City and Terrain models (1978) Advanced architecture computer animation

Voyager 2 Encounters Jupiter (1978) First space computer animation

Black Hole (1979) Longest computer canimation in a movie (at the time)

Blobby Man (1979) Advanced body movement computer animation

Inside a Quark (1979) Advanced physical model animation

Compleat Angler (1979) First Ray tracing

Triple-1 Demo (1979) Advanced shading and CGI logo animations

Computer Image Demo (1979) First combination of CGI and live action

Cosmos (1979) First particle system computer animation

1980's

Vol Libre (1980) First fractal generated computer animation

NYIT demo 1 (1980) First realistic traditional style computer animation

NYIT demo 2 (1980) First primitive photorealistic morphing

MAGI Synthavision Demo (1980) First CGI spaceships

MAGI Synthavision Demo 2 (1980) First perfectly round moving 3D CGI object

Looker (1981) First full human body realistic CGI

Carla's Island (1981) First water (fluids) CGI animation

The Tactical Edge (1981) First realistic polygonal plane flight animation

Adam Powers, The Juggler (1981) First realistic motion capture

TRON (1982) First combination of 3D CGI and live action

Body animation (NYIT) (1982) Advanced human body CGI

Images NYIT (1982) First real time 3D painting system

Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan (1982) First realistic fractal-generated landscape

Nightmares (1983) First combination of CGI and live action background

Will Powers - Adventures in Success (1983) First music video with computer animation

Where The Wild Things Are (1983) First combination of 3D CGI and standart animation

Rock and Rule (1983) First traditional animated feature film to use CGI

Last Starfighter (1984) First integrated CGI backgrounds

Brilliance (1984) Advanced human body CGI

Gardner ellipsoids sumulation (1984) First clouds particle CGI animation

Bio-Sensor (1984) First CGI mirror animation

Snoot and Muttly (1984) Advanced storytelling in a CGI film

Adventures of Andre and Wally B (1984) Advanced motion blur effect

2010 (1984) Advanced CGI simulation of the planets

Young Sherlock Holmes (1985) First realistic CGI character on live background

Cranston/Csuri Clock Demo (1985) First liquid metal computer animation

Interface (1985) First human and CGI character interaction

Tony de Peltrie (1985) Longest CGI animated film with speech (at the time)

Labyrinth (1986) First photorealistic CGI animal

Flight of the Navigator (1986) Advanced reflection mapping

The Great Mouse Detective (1986) First cel shading animation

Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home (1986) First photorealistic face morphing

The Golden Child (1986) First photorealistic CGI body morphing

Beach Chair (1986) First CGI water interaction

Flags and Waves (1986) First cloth simulation

Luxo Jr. (1986) Advanced CGI shading

Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future (1987) First combination of CGI and live action in TV series

Dynamic simulation of flexible objects (1987) Advanced physics computer simulation

Rendez-vous in Montreal (1987) Advanced CGI facial animation

Stanley and Stella in Breaking the Ice (1987) First CGI generated bird flocks and fish schools behaviors

Willow (1988) Advanced photorealistic CGI morphing

Particle Dreams (1988) Advanced particle animation

Computer Dreams 1 (1988) Advanced human movements computer animation

Computer Dreams 2 (1988) First facial motion capture

Leonardo's Deluge (1988) First choreographed CGI image flow

Pygmalion (1988) First adult polygonal animation

Tin Toy (1988) First CGI animation of a child

The Abyss (1989) First photorealistic fluid morphing

Les fables geometriques (1989) First CGI TV series

Don't Touch Me (1989) Advanced motion capture

Eurythmy (1989) Advanced bird flocks computer animation

Anniversary (1989) Longest CGI film at the time

Locomotion (1989) Advanced squash and stretch CGI animation

Megacycles (1989) First crowd CGI animation

Peedee Meets the Dragon (1989) First realistic fire computer animation

1990's

Panspermia (1990) First artificial plants evolution

Stegosaurus: The Roof Lizard (1990) First photorealistic dinosaur CGI animation

Terminator 2 (1991) Advanced photorealistic morphing

Michael Jackson - Black Or White (1991) First full fotorealistic face morphing

Mr. Film (1991) Advanced motion capture

Fire Beast (1991) First computer animation of fur

Virtually Yours (1991) Advanced CGI facial animation

Nano-Space (1991) First virtual studio

Xanadu City (1992) First adult CGI film

Beyond the Mind's Eye (1992) First 3D paintings

Beyond the Mind's Eye - Hummingbirds (1992) Advanced CGI birds animation

Batman Returns (1992) First CGI indistinguishable from reality

Dino Tours (1992) Advanced CGI dinosaurs animation

David Byrne - She's Mad (1992) First performance CGI animation

Theology (1992) First CGI Lens flare

Michael Jackson - Remember the time (1992) Advanced particle animation

Death Becomes Her (1992) First human skin CGI animation

Fascinating world of materials (1993) Advanced realistic CGI animal animation

Still Walking (1993) Advanced realistic CGI human walk

Jurassic Park (1993) First digital face replacement

Data Driven: The Story of Franz K (1993) Advanced CGI facial animation

Flintstones (1994) First photorealistic fur CGI animation

Forrest Gump (1994) First digital erasing

The Crow (1994) First dead actor recreated with CGI

Babylon 5 (1994) First virtual set in a movie

Immersion (1994) First image-based modeling

Gribouille - Softimage Demo (1994) Advanced human body CGI animation

Big Bang (1994) Advanced action CGI animation

Alias Siggraph Stagereel (1994) First CGI smoke animation, advanced hand animation

Evolved virtual creatures (1994) First virtual evolution

ReBoot (1994) Longest CGI animated film at the time

The End (1995) Advanced CGI hair and facial animation

Tales from the Crypt - You, Murderer (1995) First actor inserted from old footage to new film

Mortal kombat - The Journey Begins (1995) First realistic CGI fight scene

Mortal Kombat (1995) First CGI stunt double fighting scene

Toy Story (1995) First CGI full length feature film

Jumanji (1995) First photorealisic CGI animals

Batman Forever (1995) First photorealistic CGI stunt double

DragonHeart (1996) Advanced combination of CGI and live action

Theater of Time (1996) Advanced CGI city animation

Smirnoff commercial (1996) First 3d bullet time

Virtual Assistant Potential (1996) First real time advanced motion capture

Marvin The Martian In The Third

Dimension (1996) First stereoscopic 3D polygonal short film

Spawn (1997) First photorealistic CGI fire

The Campanile (1997) First photogrammetry models

Geri's Game (1997) Advanced CGI clothing

Titanic (1997) First photorealistic CGI water

Batman and Robin (1997) Advanced photorealistic CGI stunt doubles

Contact (1997) First CGI blue screen image warp

Video Rewrite (1997) First Deepfake

Godzilla (1998) First use of photogrammetry in movie

Final Fantasy - Gray Project (1998) Advanced CGI facial animation

Synthesizing realistic facial

expressions from photographs (1998) Advanced CGI facial animation

Antz (1998) First crowd AI

Fight Club (1999) First realistic CGI face close-up

The Matrix (1999) First live action Bullet time

Final Fantasy 8 Tech demo (1999) Advanced CGI dancing scene animation

Mental Wealth - PlayStation (1999) First stable CGI face deformation

A Morphable Model

for the Synthesis of 3D Faces (1999) First CGI face animation from single photo

Fiat Lux (1999) First image-based lighting

2000's

Hollow Man (2000) First anatomically correct CGI human body model

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) First full length photorealistic CGI film

Сreating realistic 3d surrondings

from video (2001) First realistic 3D surrondings from video file

Allan Lundell Motion Captured Avatar (2001) First real time full body motion capture

Rendering Translucent Materials (2001) First Subsurface scattering

Silent Hill 2 cinematic trailer (2001) Advanced CGI facial animation

Synthesizing Sounds from Physically

Based Motion (2001) First synthesized sounds from computer animation

Monsters, Inc. (2001) Advanced photorealistic fur CGI

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) First CGI forced perspective

Final Fantasy 11 Online intro (2002) Advanced computer animation of a child

Clockstoppers (2002) Advanced Bullet time

Stable but Responsive Cloth (2002) Advanced cloth CGI simulation

SIGGRAPH Water effects (2002) Advanced CGI water simulation

Cannon Ball Through Thin Wall (2002) Advanced CGI destruction simulation

2 Funky 4 You (2002) First adult explicit CGI film

Human Digital Face R&D Project (2002) Advanced CGI facial animation

The Matrix Reloaded (2003) Advanced CGI stunt double and photogrammetry

The Matrix Revolutions (2003) Advanced CGI facial animation

The Animatrix (2003) Advanced realistic CGI fighting animation

Mountain (Playstation 2) (2003) Advanced crowd AI (MASSIVE)

This Wonderful Life (2003) Advanced photorealistic CGI of a child

The Incredibles (2004) Advanced hair CGI animation

The Polar Express (2004) First stereoscopic 3D CGI full length film

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) Advanced virtual set

Onimusha 3: Demon Siege Intro (2004) Advanced realistic CGI fighting animation

Animatable Facial Reflectance Fields (2004) Advanced CGI facial animation

Appleseed (2004) First R rated CGI movie

King Kong (2005) Advanced motion capture

Unified Lagrangian Solid-Fluid Animation (2005) First CGI melting animation

Smoke Scanning (2005) Advanced smoke CGI animation

Autocosm: Gardens of Thuban (2005) First real time CGI painting in 3D

Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children (2005) Advanced realistic CGI fight

Batman Begins (2005) First photorealistic CGI body movements

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) First CGI De-aging

Blender Liquid Demo (2006) Advanced photorealistic water CGI

300 (2007) Advanced photorealistic CGI backgrounds

Beowulf (2007) Advanced photorealistic motion capture

MOVA Contour Reality Capture (2007) Advanced CGI facial animation

Efficient Simulation of Inextensible Cloth (2007) Advanced CGI cloth simulation

Nvidia's Human Head Model (2007) Advanced CGI skin

Traveler's Insurance - Snowball (2007) Advanced combination of CGI and live action

Image Metrics Emily (2008) Advanced facial motion capture

Terminator Salvation (2009) First super photorealistic CGI body double

2012 (2009) Advanced destruction CGI

Content Preserving Warps for 3D Video Stabilization (2009) First 3D video stabilization

Directable simulation of fire (2009) Advanced CGI fire

2010's

Tron (2010) Advanced photorealistic CGI actor

Cloth with Adaptive Contact Linearization (2010) Advanced cloth CGI

Tangled (2010) Advanced CGI hair

Rigid Body Fracture Sound (2010) Advanced CGI sound

Machete (2010) First CGI nud..ty

Batman: Arkham City Cinematic Trailer (2011) Advanced CGI facial animation

Face Capture Eurographics (2011) Advanced facial motion capture

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) First CGI body replacement

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) Advanced photorealistc animal CGI

Life of Pi (2012) Advanced photorealistic animal CGI

Halo 4 Intro (2012) Advanced CGI facial animation

Toy Story Toons: Partysaurus Rex (2012) Advanced CGI water effects

Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) Advanced photorealistic CGI stunt double

World War Z (2013) Advanced crowd A.I.

Gravity (2013) First merge of two shots through CGI

Digital Ira (2013) Advanced CGI facial animation

Frozen - A Material Point Method

For Snow Simulation (2013) Advanced CGI snow animation

HydraDeck Humans (2013) Advanced photorealistic lighting and CGI skin

The Dark Sorcerer (2013) Advanced CGI facial motion capture

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Cutscene (2014) Advanced CGI facial animation

Augmented MPM for phase change (2014) Advanced CGI liquid simulation

Ant-Man (2015) Advanced CGI deaging

Furious 7 (2015) Advanced CGI body double

Terminator Genisys (2015) Advanced photorealistic CGI human animation

Auckland Face Simulator (2015) Advanced realtime realistic CGI face simulation

Simulating Dynamic Skin Microgeometry (2015) Advanced CGI skin simulation

Sampling Based Scene-Space Video Processing (2015) First CGI removal of moving objects from video

Until Dawn - Menu Animation (2015) Advanced CGI facial animation

The Revenant (2015) Advanced CGI photorealistic animal

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) First blend of live action and fully CGI ground

Captain America: Civil War (2016) Advanced CGI deaging

Ant-Man AR model (2016) First full scale augmented reality human model

Real time viscoplastic deformation (2016) First deformation simulation in real time

Animating Water with Complex Acoustic (2016) Advanced CGI generated sounds

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) Advanced photorealistic CGI human

The Last of Us Part 2 - Cinematic trailer (2017) Advanced photorealistic CGI human

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) Advanced CGI De-aging

Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Advanced photorealistic CGI human

The Shining starring Jim Carrey (2019) Advanced Deepfake

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) Advanced CGI Deaging

Tokyo Walk (2024) First realistic AI generated video