How Cartoons Are Made: A lot of people wonder about how cartoons are made. In the ideal world, every frame would be individually drawn, so that even the backgrounds move. This, for instance, was how Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was made in 1937. However, if this were the case, cartoons would take forever. Instead, there are several tricks that cartoonists use to ensure that cartoons can be made in far less time.

Stable Backgrounds: One of the most important shortcuts that have almost always been used in the film is the use of stable backgrounds. A stable background is a single picture that is put in the background of every frame. When this is done, the cartoonist does not need to redraw the background for every shot.

Repeating Backgrounds: Sometimes characters run, often for long distances. When this is the case, cartoonists often use a “repeating background”. A repeating background is a background picture that loops so that when the characters reach one end of the background, they return to the beginning.

Stable Body Parts: A common trick is to only redraw the moving portions of the characters’ bodies. So, for instance, if the character is moving his or her head, the body will be the same picture throughout the motion.

Cells: Cells are used to create images where one portion of the image is moving, while another portion stays stable. They are transparent, so the final frame is layered, with only one layer being redrawn in each frame. With computer technology, this laying can also be done electronically.

Fill-in Technology: With the advent of computers, it has become less and less common for colors to be drawn by hand. Instead, the computer is used to fill in solid colors into the drawn portions of the image.

Putting it All Together: Before the advent of the computer, each image was individually photographed and put together into a single moving image. Now, these images are scanned electronically or layered right on the computer. When the film is played, it creates the illusion of movement and a cartoon is made.