The history of film animation begins with the earliest days of silent film and continues through the present day.

The first animated cartoon was from French Émile Reynaud, that created praxinoscope, animation system of 12 pictures, and films of about 500 pictures, projected on its own théatre optique, system near from modern film projector, at Musée Grévin in Paris, France, on October 28, 1892.

The first animated cartoon on standard picture film was Fantasmagorie by the French director Émile Courtet (also called Émile Cohl), projected for the first time August 17, 1908 at 'Théâtre du Gymnase', in Paris. Émile Courtet went to Fort Lee, New Jersey near New York City in 1912, where he worked for French studio Éclair and spread its technique in the US.

The first animated feature-length film was El Apóstol (1917) from Argentine Quirino Cristiani, shown in Argentina.

The second animated feature film was The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) from German Lotte Reiniger and French/Hungarian Berthold Bartosch.

Americas

History of Argentinian animation

• First Long feature film animated cartoon from Quirino Cristiani

History of Canadian animation

• Early Work
• Contributions of the National Film Board of Canada's animation department
• Early commercial productions
  • Contributions of Canadian voice actor recordings
• The 1980s- of rise of the major indigenous industry

History of Cuban animation

• ¡Vampiros en la Habana!
• Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano

Animation history of the United States

• Beginning of industrial production of animated cartoon.

Because the history of Hollywood animation as an art form has undergone many changes in its hundred-year history, Wikipedia presents four separate chapters in the development of its animation:

Animation Before Hollywood: The Silent Period (1900s through 1920s)

• The beginnings of theatricathe earliest animated cartoons in the era of silent film, ranging from the works of Winsor McCay through Koko the Clown and Felix the Cat

• The Bray Studios was the first and foremost cartoon studio, housed in New York City. Many aspiring cartoonists started their careers at Bray, including Paul Terry of "Mighty Mouse" fame, Max Fleischer of "Betty Boop" fame, as well as Walter Lantz of "Woody Woodpecker" fame. The cartoon studio operated from circa 1915 to until 1928. Some of the first cartoon stars from the Bray studios were Farmer Alfalfa (by Paul Terry), Bobby Bumps (by Earl Hurd), etc.

Hollywood Animation: The Golden Age (1930s and 1940s)

• The dominance of Walt Disney throughout the 1930s
• The rise of Warner Bros. and MGM
• The departure from realism, and UPA

Hollywood Animation: The TV Era (1950s through 1980s)

• The emergence of TV animated series from Hanna-Barbera Productions
• The decline of theatrical cartoons and feature films
• Saturday morning cartoons
• The attempts at reviving animated features through the 1960s and 1970s
• The onslaught of commercial cartoons in the 1980s

Hollywood Animation: The Renaissance (1990s through present)

• Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the return of Disney
• Steven Spielberg's collaborations with Warner Bros.
• A flood of newer, bolder animation studios
• The Simpsons, South Park, and animation for adults
• The mainstream popularization of anime
• The rise of computer animation
• The decline of Saturday morning cartoons, the rise of Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network

Europe

• Animation before film in XIXe century.

History of French animation

• 1908-1925, Work of Émile Courtet:

The first animated cartoon (1908), and most animation techniques: morphing (1909), puppet animation and color animated cartoon (1910), pixilation (1911), first animated series (Le chien Flambeau, 1917).

History of Italian animation

• The 1970 Italian animated cartoon art and industry (La Linéa, Caliméro...)

History of Russian animation

• 1911-1913 V.A.Starevich creates volume animation

History of animation in the former Yugoslavia

• The Zagreb school, cf. Zagreb Film
• The Čakovec school, cf. Škola Animiranog Filma Čakovec

Asia

• Shadow animation around Asia (VIe century)

History of Chinese animation

• Wan brothers since 1926 and the fourth long feature animated cartoon film, Princess Iron Fan inspired from Journey in west.

History of Japanese animation

• Anime from manga