100 years of Disney animation!

[AIOTTO!]

It looks like today (Well, not here in Italy where I'm typing, as it's 1 A.M., but still in the US) is a very special day!

According to some sources, exactly a hundred years ago today, on the 20th of March 1921, the Newman Theater of Kansas City first projected Walt Disney's Laugh-O-Grams showreel (Titled "Newman Laugh-O-Grams"), the first official showing of an animated project made by Disney.

So, even though the Laugh-O-Grams studio went bankrupt within a few months and it's not officially part of The Walt Disney Company's history (But surely of his prehistory), we can still consider this little short the first ever animated venture attached to Disney, even if there's actually very little animation inside.

Walt appears in live action at the very beginning sitting at his work desk, ready to draw four little satirical vignettes about local problems in KC (Holes in the road, robberies, girls stockings (?)...).

Those first three drawings are just shown "in the making", nothing really animated here.

But the fourth, concerning the supposed ineptitude of local police, starts taking life and movement: It's the only real animated part of the film.

All in all, just a little promotional demo, nothing more.

But still, the seed had been planted.

And, 100 years later, Disney is still at the top of the game concerning animation and overall entertainment (And comics, of course!)

So, happy (First) century of Disney animation, folks!