s: Adult-oriented cartoons and use in music videos
Other developments by region
The slot machine has taken on many shapes and names since their inception back in the 1800’s. They were first called Bell Machines and have evolved into Fruit Machines and One-Arm Bandits, to Pokies and Video Slots. One common factor has remained though, they are one the most popular forms of gambling played by millions around the world.
We owe this great game to its inventor, Mr. Charles Fey of San Francisco, California. Its original intent was to mimic a poker game, but this was found to be impossible to recreate the number of winning combinations with the technology available at the time. Fey then devised a machine that had 3 reels and just 5 symbols. These symbols were; Hearts, Diamonds, Horseshoes, Spades and a Liberty Bell. The placement of the Liberty Bell is what gave the machines their name. The Liberty Bell is an iconic piece of history in America that represents its freedom from the British. Just a quick history lesson for those who wanted one.
Being Patient and Profiting From Slots
Now that we know the background on slots, let’s get started on how to play and some general tips to help you make some money. By now you’re probably itching to play and want to know how. It’s quite simple really and you only need to follow a few steps
All slots are based on the same premise. You insert money and spin the reels. There’s not much control you have over the outcome of the reels. Slots will have bonus rounds where you can interact with the game and you will have some dictation on the outcome, but for the most part you just pray to lady luck.
Once you pick a machine to play, you will insert your money and pick how much you want to play for and how many pay lines. A lot of machines will have the option to play for multiple coins and pay lines. Use the selector on the machine to choose how many coins and how many pay lines. Once you make your sections, pull the reel, push the button or touch the screen to get the reels spinning. That’s just about it and it’s really that simple.
The very first thing you should do is know the rules of the slot you’re playing. Understand how the bonus rounds play, how many pay lines you can play, how to make a winning combination, etc…. Without knowing how the machine works can make for a frustrating and expensive first time.
As a good rule of thumb when playing slot machines, you always want to play the maximum amount of coins and pay lines if possible. This helps to ensure you can win the most amount possible. It also allows you to hit the jackpots on most machines. Most slots will only pay out the jackpot if you are playing the max coins and pay lines. Hitting the jackpot combo and realizing you weren’t playing the max can be costly.
And speaking of jackpots, you should try to play machines that do have a jackpot of some type. They can be very lucrative when hit and should be chosen over a machine that does not have a jackpot whenever possible. Some live casinos have been heard to pay out over $1 million in jackpots to lucky winners. With one spin of the reel, you may be able to quit your day job and lay your favorite slot for the rest of your days.
Image credit: Julia Bujalski
The earliest forms of Bingo date all the way back to 1530 in Italy. At the time, a game called Lo Giuoco del Lotto D'Italia, or the Italian Lottery, was extremely popular. Lotto boards were rectangular and had 27 squares each – nine squares across and three squares down. Players were given cards with numbered squares and the winning numbers were drawn out of a sack.
The game quickly moved through Europe and gained widespread popularity. In the 1770s, a young Frenchman created an alternate French version of the Italian Lotto, called Le Lotto. The French game featured cards with three rows and nine columns. Each had a random number from 1 – 90 written on it. Numbers were once again drawn from a sack and the winner would be the first person to get all the numbers in a horizontal row.
Eventually, the game was brought to North America. The North American precursor to Bingo was called Beano. In the early 1900s, Beano gained popularity at carnivals throughout America. The game gets its name from the way that players used beans to cover their squares. Also, the winner would shout “Beano!” The game is thought to have been introduced in North America by Hugh J. Ward, who wrote a rulebook for his version of Beano in 1933.
In 1929, a Brooklyn toy salesman named Edwin S. Lowe observed a game of Beano being played and decided to develop his own version of the game. Lowe’s game featured cards with five rows and five columns of numbers. After branding his new game as Bingo, he began selling it in 24-card sets. However, he later worked with a Columbia University mathematician to create over 6,000 unique Bingo cards!
Where did the iconic name come from? Legend has it that while Lowe was developing the game, he invited a group of friends to test the new gameplay. Due to its similarity to Beano, one player became confused and shouted, “Bingo!” upon winning – and the name stuck. However, since the term “Bingo” was already being used for a similar game in the United Kingdom, it’s also possible that Lowe simply borrowed the British game’s name for his own American version.
Early adult-oriented and counterculture animation
Before the end of the 1960s, hardly any adult-oriented animation had been produced. A notable exception was the pornographic short Eveready Harton in Buried Treasure (1928), presumably made by famous animators for a private party in honor of Winsor McCay, and not publicly screened until the late 1970s. After 1934, the Hays code gave filmmakers in the United States little leeway to release risky material, until the code was replaced by the Motion Picture Association of America film rating system in 1968. While television programming of animation had made most people think of it as a medium for children or family entertainment, new theatrical animations proved otherwise.
Arguably, the philosophical, psychological, and sociological overtones of the Peanuts TV specials were relatively adult-oriented, while the specials were also enjoyable for children. In 1969 director Bill Mendelez expanded the success of the series to cinemas with A Boy Named Charlie Brown. The theatrical follow-up Snoopy Come Home (1972) was a box-office flop, despite positive reviews. Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977) and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!) (1980) were the only other theatrical traditionally animated feature films for Peanuts, while the TV specials continued until 2011.
The anti-establishment counterculture boom at the end of the 1960s impacted Hollywood early on. In animation, anti-war sentiments were present in several short underground films like Ward Kimball's Escalation (1968) (made independently from his employment at Disney) and the parody Mickey Mouse in Vietnam (1969). The less political parody Bambi meets Godzilla (1969) by Marv Newland, another underground short film for adults, is considered a great classic and, based on a poll of 1,000 people working in the animation industry, was included in The 50 Greatest Cartoons.
The popularity of psychedelia reportedly made the 1969 re-release of Disney's Fantasia popular among teenagers and college students, and the film started to make a profit. Similarly, Disney's Alice in Wonderland became popular with TV screenings in this period and with its 1974 theatrical re-release.
Also influenced by the psychedelic revolution, The Beatles' animated musical feature Yellow Submarine (1968) showed a broad audience how animation could be quite different from the well-known television cartoons and Disney features. Its distinctive design came from the art director Heinz Edelman. The film received widespread acclaim and would prove to be influential. Peter Max further popularized a similar visual style in his artworks.
s: The Disney Renaissance and the rise of computer animation
The 1990s saw Disney release numerous films that were both critically and commercially successful, returning to heights not seen since their heyday of the 1930s to 1960s. The period from 1989 to 1999 is now referred to as the Disney Renaissance or the Second Golden Age and began with the release of The Little Mermaid (1989). Their success led other major film studios to establish new animation divisions such as Amblimation, Fox Animation Studios or Warner Bros. Feature Animation to replicate Disney's success by turning their animated films into Disney-styled musicals. The 90s are sometimes referred to as the "Renaissance Age of Animation" for animation as a whole, including both theatrical animated films and cartoon TV series.
Disney's Beauty and the Beast (1991) (the first animated film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture), Aladdin (1992) and The Lion King (1994) successively broke box-office records. Pocahontas (1995) opened to mixed reviews from critics but was a financial success, it received two Academy Awards and was well received by viewers. Mulan (1998) and Tarzan (1999) did not surpass The Lion King as the highest-grossing (traditionally) animated film of all time but the viewer and financial reception of both films were successful and each grossing over $300 million worldwide. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) was a financial success at the time but contained very dark and adult themes and has since become one of Disney's lesser-known films, although it has a cult following. Only the sequel The Rescuers Down Under (1990) and Hercules (1997) underperformed box-office expectations, but they were both well received amongst the viewers like the other Disney Renaissance films.
From The Return of Jafar in 1994 to Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast in 2015, Disney continued to produce feature-length sequels to successful titles, but only as direct-to-video releases by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. In many ways, these direct-to-video films were similar to the live action Disney remakes from Alice in Wonderland (2010) onwards.
John Kricfalusi's influential The Ren & Stimpy Show (1991–1996) garnered widespread acclaim. Throughout its initial run, it was the most popular cable TV show in the United States. Although it was programmed as a children's cartoon, it was notoriously controversial for its dark humor, sexual innuendos, adult jokes, and shock value. The Ren & Stimpy Show was the third cartoon that premiered together with Doug (1991–1994, 1996–1999) and Rugrats (1991–1994, 1997–2004) on the paid Nickelodeon television channel. Klasky Csupo, the animation studio behind Rugrats, produced and animated era-defining shows for the children's network, in the 1990s and 2000s. Once the studio faded into obscurity in 2008, they were succeeded by Frederator Studios, the studio behind The Fairly OddParents (2001–2006, 2009–2017). Frederator remained active for most of the 2000s and the 2010s, before fading into obscurity by 2017.
Before 1991, Nickelodeon would import cartoons from other channels to their network, which is a practice that remains ongoing. Examples of cartoons imported to Nickelodeon are Angela Anaconda (1999–2001) from Fox Family Channel (with foreign releases), Wayside (2005, 2007–2008), from the Canadian channel of Teletoon and Growing Up Creepie (2006–2008) from Discovery Kids. The most successful imported cartoon to the channel is PAW Patrol (2013-present), from another Canadian network Spin Master, which is on Nickeoldeon's sub-channel Nick Jr., where programs on that station are aimed at toddlers rather than children or teenagers. The most successful cartoon native to Nick Jr. is Dora the Explorer (2000-2019). Years before Nick's heyday in the 90s, Nickelodeon launched the (unaired) pilot of Video Dream Theatre in 1979 or 1980, and it was soon to be followed by two more failed attempts of original animation, which were the aired pilots of Christmas in Tattertown in 1988 and Nick's Thanksgiving Fest in 1989.
These early shows paved the way for later Nicktoons, including Rocko's Modern Life (1993–1996, 2019), Hey Arnold! (1996–2004, 2017), The Angry Beavers (1997–2001), and CatDog (1998-2001/2005). Initially the long-running Nicktoon Rugrats was the flagship franchise of Nickelodeon before being surpassed by SpongeBob SquarePants (1999–present) in 2004 when the network rebranded itself with the release of the first SpongeBob film.
On September 13, 1993, Fox Kids aired the first episode of Animaniacs (1993–1998, 2020–2023) and in 1999 an Animaniacs film called Wakko's Wish was released. Similarly to The Ren & Stimpy Show, Animaniacs had adult humour and innuendos. The enormous success of The Simpsons (1989-present) and The Ren & Stimpy Show (1991-1996) prompted more original and relatively daring series, including South Park (1997-present), King of the Hill (1997–2010), Family Guy (1999-present), and Futurama (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2023–present).
The use of animation on MTV increased as the channel started to make more shows that did not fit the "music television" moniker. Liquid Television (1991 to 1995) showcased contributions that were mostly created by independent animators specifically for the show and spawned the separate shows Æon Flux, Beavis and Butt-Head (1993–1997) as well as Daria (1997–2002). Other 1990s cartoon series on MTV included The Head (1994–1996) and The Maxx (1995), both under the MTV's Oddities banner. By 2001, MTV closed its animation department, began to outsource its animated series, and eventually imported shows from associated networks.
Warner Brothers' 24-hour cable channel Cartoon Network was launched in the United States on October 1, 1992, and was soon followed by its international versions. Originally the programming consisted of classic cartoons from the back catalogs of Warner Bros, MGM, Fleischer/Famous, and Hanna-Barbera. From 1996 to 2003, new original series ran as Cartoon Cartoons and included the popular titles Dexter's Laboratory (1996–2003), Johnny Bravo (1997–2004), Cow and Chicken (1997–1999), I Am Weasel (1997–2000), The Powerpuff Girls (1998–2005), Ed, Edd n Eddy (1999–2009), and Courage the Cowardly Dog (1999–2002).
Television animation for children also continued to flourish in the United States on other specialized cable channels like Disney Channel/Disney XD, PBS Kids, and in syndicated afternoon time slots. Examples of animated Disney cartoons in the 90s are TaleSpin (1990–1991), Darkwing Duck (1991–1992), Goof Troop (1992, 1995, 2000), Aladdin (1994–1995, 1996), Gargoyles (1994–1997), Timon & Pumbaa (1995–1999), 101 Dalmatians (1997–1998), Pepper Ann (1997–2000), and Disney's Recess (1997–2001, 2003).
The Disney Channel (owned by Disney Branded Television), Nickelodeon (owned by Viacom, now known as Paramount Global), and Cartoon Network (owned by Warner Bros. Animation) dominated the animated television industry. These three channels are considered to be the "Big Three" of children's entertainment even today, but especially in the 1990s.
During the 1990s, 3D animation became more and more mainstream, especially in video games, and eventually had a big breakthrough in 1995 with Pixar's feature film hit Toy Story.
More or less photo-realistic 3D animation has been used for special effects in some commercials and films since the 1980s before breakthrough effects were seen in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Jurassic Park (1993). Since then, techniques have developed to the stage that the difference between CGI and real-life cinematography is seldom obvious. Filmmakers can blend both types of images seamlessly with virtual cinematography. The Matrix (1999) and its two sequels are usually regarded as breakthrough films in this field.
The creation of virtual worlds allows real-time animation in virtual reality, a medium that has been experimented with since 1962 and started to see commercial entertainment applications in the 1990s.
The launch of the World Wide Web increased interest in motion graphics and computer animation, spawning many new applications, techniques, and markets for what became known as new media.
Adult-oriented theatrical animation in the 1980s
Bakshi's rock musical American Pop (1981) was another success, was mostly made with the rotoscope technique in combination with some watercolors, computer graphics, live-action shots, and archival footage. His next film Fire and Ice (1983) was a collaboration with artist Frank Frazetta. It was one of many films in the sword and sorcery genre released after the success of Conan the Barbarian (1982) and The Beastmaster (1982). Critics appreciated the visuals and action sequences, but not its script and the film flopped at the box office. After failing to get several projects off the ground, Bakshi retired for a few years.
The Canadian anthology hit film Heavy Metal (1981) was based on comics published in the popular Heavy Metal magazine and was co-produced by its founder. Mixed reviews thought the film was uneven, juvenile, and sexist. It was eventually followed in 2000 by the poorly received Heavy Metal 2000 and re-imagined as the Netflix series Love, Death & Robots in 2019.
The dark rock opera film Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982) contained 15 minutes worth of animated segments by British cartoonist Gerald Scarfe, who had already designed related artwork for the 1979 album and 1980-81 concert tour. Some of the film's animated material was previously used for the 1979 music video for "Another Brick in the Wall: Part 2" and for the tour. Scarfe had also made animations for Pink Floyd's 1977 In the Flesh tour.
The successful British nuclear disaster film When the Wind Blows (1986) showed hand-drawn characters against real backgrounds, with stop-motion for objects that moved.
The violent post-apocalyptic cyberpunk anime Akira (1988) garnered increased popularity for anime outside Japan and is now widely regarded as a classic.
Breakthrough of adult-oriented and counterculture feature animation
Ralph Bakshi thought that the idea of "grown men sitting in cubicles drawing butterflies floating over a field of flowers, while American planes are dropping bombs in Vietnam and kids are marching in the streets, is ludicrous."[54] He, therefore, created a more sociopolitical type of animation, starting with Fritz the Cat (1972), based on Robert Crumb's comic books and it was the first animated feature to receive an X-rating. The X-rating was used to promote the film and it became the highest-grossing independent animated film of all time. The success of Heavy Traffic (1973) made Bakshi the first since Disney to have two financially successful animated feature films in a row. The film utilized an artistic blend of techniques with still photography as the background in parts, a live-action scene of models with painted faces rendered in negative cinematography, a scene rendered in very limited sketchy animation that was only partly colored, detailed drawing, archival footage, and most characters animated in a consistent cartoon style throughout it all, except the last ten minutes which were fully filmed as a standard live-action film. He continued to experiment with different techniques in most of his next projects. His next projects Hey Good Lookin' (finished in 1975, but shelved by Warner Bros. until release in an adjusted version in 1982) and Coonskin (1975, suffered from protests against its perceived racism while satirizing it) were far less successful, but received more appreciation later on and became cult films.
Bakshi found new success with the fantasy films Wizards (1977) and The Lord of the Rings (1978). Both used rotoscoping for massive battle scenes. For Wizards the technique was used on archival footage as a solution to budgetary problems and rendered in a psychedelic artistic style. For The Lord of the Rings it became a means to create a look that Bakshi described as "real illustration as opposed to cartoons" for a film that he wanted to be true to Tolkien's work, with reference material shot with costumed actors in Spain. The more family-oriented television film The Return of the King (1980) by Rankin/Bass and Topcraft is sometimes regarded as an unofficial sequel after Bakshi's intended second part was not made, but they had already independently started their adaptation of the story on television with The Hobbit in 1977.
The imaginative French/Czech science fiction production La Planète sauvage (1973) was awarded the Grand Prix special jury prize at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival,[55] and in 2016, it was ranked the 36th-greatest animated movie ever by Rolling Stone.[56]
The British production Watership Down (film) (1978) was a huge international success. It featured animal characters that looked more realistic than anthropomorphic, against watercolor backgrounds. Despite its dark and violent aspects, it was deemed suitable for all ages in the UK and rated PG in the United States.
Anime import offered relatively inexpensive animated series, but some European broadcasters thought of animation as something for young children and programmed anime series accordingly. This led to a lot of criticism when some programs were deemed too violent for children.[57] Child-friendly adaptions of European stories ensured much more success in Europe, with popular titles such as アルプスの少女ハイジ (Heidi, Girl of the Alps) (1974) and みつばちマーヤの冒険 (Maya the Honey Bee) (1975).
Only a few animation studios were active in Europe and starting a new studio required a lot of time, effort, and money. For European producers interested in animated series, it made sense to collaborate with Japanese studios that could provide affordable animation of relatively high quality. Resulting productions of these arrangements include Barbapapa (The Netherlands/Japan/France 1973–1977), Wickie und die to starken Männer/小さなバイキング ビッケ (Vicky the Viking) (Austria/Germany/Japan 1974), Il était une fois... (Once Upon a Time...) (France/Japan 1978) and Doctor Snuggles (The Netherlands/West Germany/Japan/US 1979).
Feature animation in the 1940s
Disney's next two features (Pinocchio and the very ambitious concert film Fantasia, both released in 1940) and Fleischer Studios' second animated feature Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1941/1942) were all received favorably by critics, but failed at the box office during their initial theatrical runs. The primary cause was that World War II had cut off most foreign markets. These setbacks discouraged most companies that had plans for animated features.
Disney cut back on costs for the next features and first released The Reluctant Dragon, mostly consisting of a live-action tour of the new studio in Burbank, partly in black and white, with four short cartoons. It was a mild success at the worldwide box office and was followed only a few months later by Dumbo (1941), animated in a relatively simple style and only 64 minutes long. The limited length and economically efficient techniques helped the movie make a profit at the box office, and critics and audiences reacted positively. Disney's next feature Bambi (1942) returned to a larger budget and a lavish style, but the more dramatic story, darker mood, and lack of fantasy elements were not well-received during its initial run and the movie lost money at the box office.
Although all the other eight Disney features of the 1940s were package films, or combinations with live-action (for instance Saludos Amigos (1943) and The Three Caballeros (1944)), Disney kept faith in animated features. Only a few other American animation studios managed to release more than a handful of features before the 1990s.
American cel-animated films dominated the worldwide production and consumption of theatrical animated releases since the 1920s. Disney's work especially proved to be very popular and influential around the world. Studios from other countries could hardly compete with American productions so many animation producers outside the US chose to work with techniques than other cel animation, such as puppet animation or cut-out animation. However, several countries (most notably Russia, China, and Japan) developed their own relatively large "traditional" animation industries. Russia's Soyuzmultfilm animation studio, founded in 1936, employed up to 700 skilled workers and, during the Soviet period, produced 20 films per year on average. Some titles that were noticed outside their respective domestic markets include 铁扇公主 (Princess Iron Fan)[42] (China 1941, influential in Japan), Конёк-Горбуно́к (The Humpbacked Horse) (Russia 1947, winner special jury award in Cannes in 1950), I Fratelli Dynamite (The Dynamite Brothers) (Italy 1949) and La Rosa di Bagdad (The Rose of Baghdad) (Italy 1949, the 1952 English dub starred Julie Andrews).
s: From original artists to "assembly-line" production studios
During the 1910s larger-scale animation studios come into being and solo artists faded from the public eye.[11] The first known professional female animator, Bessie Mae Kelley, began her career in 1917.[12]
Starting with a short 1911 film of his most popular character Little Nemo, successful newspaper cartoonist Winsor McCay gave much more detail to his hand-drawn animations than any animation previously seen in cinemas. His 1914 film Gertie the Dinosaur featured an early example of character development in drawn animation. It was also the first film to combine live-action footage with animation. Originally, McCay used the film in his vaudeville act: he would stand next to the screen and speak to Gertie who would respond with a series of gestures. At the end of the film McCay would walk behind the projection screen, seamlessly being replaced with a prerecorded image of himself entering the screen, getting on the cartoon dinosaur's back and riding out of frame. McCay personally hand-drew almost every one of the thousands of drawings for his films.[11] Other noteworthy titles by McCay are How a Mosquito Operates (1912) and The Sinking of the Lusitania (1918).
Early animated music videos
Although the combination of music and animation has had a long tradition, it took some time before animation became part of music videos after the medium became a proper genre in the mid-1970s.
Halas and Batchelor produced an animated video for Roger Glover's Love Is All (1974) that was broadcast internationally over decades, often as an interstitial program.
Pink Floyd's 1977 Welcome to the Machine music video, animated by Gerald Scarfe, was initially only used as a backdrop for concert performances.
Elvis Costello's Accidents Will Happen (1979) was made by Annabelle Jackel and Rocky Morton, known for their animated commercials. Despite an initially lukewarm reception,[61] the video has since received acclaim.
Roger Mainwood and John Halas created an animated music video for Kraftwerk's Autobahn in 1979.[62] The short wordless documentary Making it move... showed the production process.[63]
A cartoon for Linda McCartney's Seaside Woman was made by Oscar Grillo and won a Palme d'Or for Best Short Film at the Cannes festival in 1980.[64]
