The Cinema: past, present & future....

[bartermania]

Silent Animated Films at the Library of Congress
Prepared by Joy A. McIntire
December 7, 1995 (Updated April 1999)



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jump to: Introduction | Scope | Selection | Abbreviations | Sample Entry | List of Films | Bibliography | Guidelines for Viewing Film & Videotapes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


INTRODUCTION
The Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division (M/B/RS) has a rare and valuable collection of silent animated film. This collection contains early cartoon series such as the Alice Comedies, Felix the Cat, and Mutt and Jeff. The collection also has animated educational films such as Tommy's Troubles (1926) which teaches children how to take care of their teeth by eating healthy foods and brushing. An animated account of The Sinking of the Lusitania (1918) by Winsor McCay provides a historical representation of this pivotal event that prompted the United States to join World War I. Political cartoons also appear in the collection including Cartoon: T.R.'s Arrival in Africa (1909) which is a parody of President Theodore Roosevelt's safari trips. The earliest silent animated film in the collection is The Enchanted Drawing produced by Thomas Edison in 1900. This film depicts a live artist drawing a sad looking tramp on a sketch pad and as the artist continues to draw his face changes in slow motion. In the same animation style the Library of Congress also has Humorous Phases of Funny Faces (1906). Both of those films are also part of the Paper Print Collection which is comprised of films that for copyright purposes in the early 1900's were sent to the library as stills on rolls of paper instead of on film. These silent animated films offer an interesting portrayal of American history and folklife and the Library places a high priority on preserving and making them accessible to scholars. We hope this filmography will be a useful research tool for scholars, filmmakers, and librarians.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SCOPE
The research guide includes more than 250 silent animated films produced in 1929 or earlier. Some of the films are not yet viewable because they are archival copies, but viewing copies are being made as indicated by "ref. copy forthcoming" in the entry. For the purpose of this research guide, the term "animation" includes cel, clay, and puppet animation and the term "silent" includes any animated film without sound. In addition, there are indexes of character names, personal names, and series titles. (The personal names index include directors, producers, animators, collection donors, cast members, or anyone whose name appears in the citation.)


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SELECTION
Film titles were garnered from various automated and manual files at the Library of Congress. Both cataloged and uncatalogued films have been included in this research guide. Where M/B/RS has more than one copy of a film only the viewable reference print is listed.




http://www.loc.gov/rr/mopic/findaid/animate.html