Attached Link: http://www.cocs.com/poser/movies.htm

I thought it would be fun to try to list all of the "important" movies with computer animation. Note: the list doesn't include movies that used computers for minor effects like morphing or backgrounds.

So, my list starts with Star Trek II (yes, it pre-dates Tron!) and continues through Toy Story (1st full-length computer-animated movie), and ending with Finding Nemo (now the highest-grossing animated movie of all time).

So, feel free to take a look at the list... or just argue amongst yourselves about which movie was more "important" in the history of computer animation in the movies.

--John

Hi John, cool list... I'd add "Young Sherlock Holmes" (the stain glass knight), that was the movie that inspired me to get into 3d graphics.

I'd also recommend adding Dragonheart (1996), which predates Lucas' attempt at a major CGI character by three years. And Draco, I might add, is far less annoying than Jar-Jar.

And perhaps Mighty Joe Young (1998), which pioneered many of the fur techniques later used in Monsters, Inc.

Also - Starship Troopers Species Hollow man (might have had a different title in the states, the invisible man movie)

Sorry, Godzilla as well.

Spiderman? The Hulk? Both featured full CGI versions of the characters. And Spiderman's intro titles, as far as I can remember seeing, where the first CGI titles to interact with the background.

Attached Link: http://www.pixar.com/shorts/ljr/index.html

1976 - "Futureworld" (the sequel to "Westworld"). They used a computer generized head of Peter Fonda.

And has everyone forgotten about one of the greatest actors of all time, the incredible stuttering Max Headroom, who even had a hit single with Art of Noise. I am not entirely sure if he was CGI, or some kind of stop start video effect, but I remember everyone was very impressed by how amazing it was. That was sometime around 1984-86. Now, of course, when he watch Max Headroom he just looks like a glitch in the Matrix. Also, in 1986 the German band Kraftwerk had a video in which four wireframe versions of themselves stood on stage and played synthesizers. The actions were the first motion capture sequences ever made as far as I remember. It was so advanced for it's time that they actually had to pay a department of some German or French university to write the software that enabled the characters to be made, the motion to be captured from the band members and then transferred to the wire frame models. So not really movies, but it did advance the technology a bit.

Alas, as entertaining as Max Headroom may have been (depending upon one's subjective viewpoint), the raw footage was that depicting a live actor, Matt Frewer, wearing foam rubber appliances to present a low polygon appearance. Matt's footage was combined with an abstract digital background and edited (read: clipped and repeated) to produce the (in)famous "stuttering" effects. Sorry to shatter the intended illusion, Numanoid. Sincerely, Bill

Don't forget Planetary Traveller created entirely with Bryce3 1997 was the year I think.

In other news, I bought the DVD of "Moulin Rouge" last weekend, and one of the very first things you see in the "behind the curtains" extra are previz shots featuring the ever-popular Dork :-)

ooooh that reminds me, Poser was used to previz all the fight scenes for movie The One.

Before Beauty & the Beast, you need to add the Little Mermaid. The ship in it is computer animated. I believe it's the first instance of a computer generated animation in a Disney Movie, can anyone confirm that?

Certainly for the storm and fire sequence, a digital model was animated to get the perspective correct in the finished images. If I read correctly, they traced the outlines of the animated wireframe to create the more traditional animated cels. However, the "Great Mouse Detective" was the first Disney production to use digital wireframes for perspective reference. However, the concept itself was not new even then. For "Cinderella", a physical model of the pumpkin coach was sculpted. They painted it white with distinctive black lines for all the details they wanted to show in the final product. The model was photographed one frame at a time, changing the position and angle of the model (just like "King Kong") and they projected the images onto the rough sheets for penciling. Earlier productions may have used this technique. It's just that with the advent of digital animation, a physical model was no longer required. The concept is the same. Sincerely, Bill

Oh, for the "Great Mouse Detective" I meant to say digital wireframes were animated for the sequence within Big Ben depicting the rotating, interlocking cogs and gears. This way, they could create sweeping, panning shots while keeping the mechanical elements in proper alignment and perspective. Sincerely, Bill

I think in "The Black Couldron" (1985) Disney used CGI for the first time in an animated feature. They realized a flying crystal ball and a small boat.

Doerp could be right. I seem to remember reading something about having to rotoscope some elements for that film. Sincerely, Bill

"Young Sherlock Holmes" (1985) should really be listed, I think about the first film where a CG character interacted in the "real" world instead of pure CGI scenes like "The Last Starfighter" or humans being bluescreened in like "Tron". I also second the "Dragonheart" nod as easily beating out Jar-Jar for full length (and non-annoying) CG character. If you ever do a television one, I have two nominations off the top. "Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future" (1987) had regular CG characters and vehicles. Mainframe's "ReBoot" (1994) was the first fully CG series (and no one has yet beaten its third season in terms of entertainment).

Pochahontas from Disney was the first full length feature done with fully with computer animation even though it was 2d. Labyrinth (george lucas and jim henson, 1984) featured a computer animated owl throughout the credits.

One point; are you specifically listing 3D animation, or is your coverage more general?

If it's the latter, as well as Doerp's listing of "Futureworld", I'd add "Westworld" itself - I think the brief sequences from the black gunslinger's (Yul Brynner's) point of view were claimed as the first-ever use of specifically computer-generated film stock.

And I'd like to include "Predator" as an noteworthy '80s entry - assuming the camouflage/invisibility sequences were CGI?

Nope, the Predator was a man in a pink????? suit and some very advanced blue screen type techniques. If you purchase the DVD they have a whole section on how they achieved the effect. In Predator 2 there were actually some CGI scenes, but nothing worthy of mention.