jan 1, 1914 - Bray Productions

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In 1914, John Bray opened John Bray Studios, which revolutionized the way animation was produced. It was Earl Hurd, one of Bray's employees, who patented the cel (celluloid) technique.

The technique generally involves the characters being drawn on cels and laid over a static drawn background, this reduced the number of times an image had to be drawn and enabled the studio to split up the production process to different specialised teams. This so called assembly line made the production more cost-effective, resulting in less time to produce and higher profit margins.
This, as well as Bray's innovative use of the assembly-line method, allowed John Bray Studios to create Colonel Heeza Liar, the first animated series.

Colonel Heeza Liar is the star of the first animated series featuring a recurring character. In this story he comes to the rescue of a baseball team and becomes the star pitcher and hitter. He was created by J. R. Bray and is mainly based on Theodore Roosevelt and the general stereotype of the 19th and early 20th century former adventurer and lion hunter. The series ran from 1913 to 1917 and restarted in 1922 until 1924. It was produced by Bray Productions and directed by Vernon Stallings. The series was animated by Walter Lantz from 1922 to 1924 and featured live-action segments interacting with the animation, much like the popular contemporary series Out of the Inkwell.

Many aspiring cartoonists started their careers at Bray, including Paul Terry (later of Heckle and Jeckle fame), Max Fleischer (later of Betty Boop and Popeye fame), and Walter Lantz (later of Woody Woodpecker fame). The cartoon studio operated from circa 1914 until 1928. Some of the first cartoon stars from the Bray studios were Farmer Alfalfa (by Paul Terry) and Bobby Bumps (by Earl Hurd).

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