Walt Disney Animation Studios - Achievements

Achievements

Walt Disney Animation Studios is noted for creating a number of now-standard innovations in the animation industry, including:

• The multiplane camera (for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but first used in the Academy-award winning short "The Old Mill");
• The realistic animation of special effects and human characters (for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs);
• Advanced composition processes to combine live-action and animated elements using color film (for The Three Caballeros);
• The use of xerography in animation to transfer drawings to cels as opposed to ink-tracing (developed for 101 Dalmatians, but first tested in a few scenes in Sleeping Beauty and first fully used in the Academy-award nominated short Goliath II);
• The use of all-digital methods for painting, compositing, and recording animated features CAPS (Computer Animation Production System).

Among its significant achievements are:

• The first animated feature in Technicolor (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)
• The first major motion picture in stereophonic sound (Fantasia), otherwise known as Fantasound
• The first animated feature to be composited the 2D animated characters from animation to live-action (The Three Caballeros)
• The first animated feature in CinemaScope (Lady and the Tramp)
• The first large format animated film (the 70mm Sleeping Beauty)
• The first Disney animated feature to use computer-generated imagery (The Black Cauldron)
• The first Disney animated feature making heavy use of CGI animation (Oliver & Company)
• The first Disney animated feature to use digital coloring (The Little Mermaid, which introduced Disney's CAPS process)
• The first animated feature to be composited with animation and live-action sequences (Who Framed Roger Rabbit)
• The first feature film to be shot using a 100% digital process (The Rescuers Down Under, CAPS)
• The first animated feature to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, and the only nominee for Best Picture to be traditionally-animated (Beauty and the Beast)
• The first Disney animated feature to gross $200 million, and the highest-grossing film of 1992 (Aladdin)
• The highest grossing traditionally-animated film of all time (The Lion King)
• The largest film premiere with over 100,000 viewers (Pocahontas)
• The most expensive animated film ever made costing $260 million (Tangled)
• The highest number of 188 original characters ever created for an animated film (Wreck-It Ralph)