TV Based Animation From the 50s - 70s and Cell Based Animation

Animation became even more popular from the 1950s with the introduction of television, and animations began being shown weekly. Some of the most popular cartoons and animations from the time were Looney Tunes, Top Cat, Wacky Races, Scooby-Doo and the Flinstones.

Warner Brothers' Looney Tunes began in 1930, and saw great success in its day, and still does today. In the 50s, its popularity strengthened with weekly television animations. It was mainly aimed at children, but was, and is, still loved by many adults. One of the most popular episodes of Looney Tunes is "Duck! Rabbit, Duck!" from 1953 (shown below).

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? began in 1969 with "What a Night for a Knight" and ran for two seasons and ended in 1970. It was the first incarnation of Hanna-Barbera's successful and much-loved Scooby-Doo series, still running today. Below is the opening titles of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? from season one.

The above are both cell based animations. Cell based animation is a common, traditional method of animation, where something is drawn on a sheet of plastic and then photographed, and then another drawn on another sheet of plastic, slightly different to the first one, and then photographed again, and so on. Cell based animation is a long process, hence digital animation is used nowadays.

Another popular animation from this time period is the Clangers, a model based animation. This was created by Oliver Postgate by using stop motion techniques. The Clangers was broadcast by the BBC from 1969 to 1972. Below is the Clangers episode "The Intruder" from series one.