1906: 'Humorous Phases of Funny Faces', created by J. Stuart Blackton, was the first ever animated film that was released to the public. It was done using stop-motion, a method where you take pictures of real-life objects and alter them slightly every picture, followed by lining all of the pictures together to mimic motion.
'Humorous Phases of Funny Faces is a silent cartoon by J. Stuart Blackton released in 1906. It features a cartoonist drawing faces on a chalkboard, and the faces coming to life. It is generally regarded by film historians as the first animated film. It features movements as where a dog jumps through a hoop, a scene which actually uses cutout animation made to look like chalk outlines. The film moves at 20 frames per second.' (silentfilmhouse on YouTube)
