Winsor McCay’s Little Nemo: The First True Animation, 1911

From Brainpickings

"Cartoonist and artist Winsor McCay (1869-1964) is often considered the father of true animation, pioneering the drawn image in film and influencing iconic creators for generations to come, from Walt Disney to Moebius to Bill Watterson. His celebrated Little Nemo comic strip appeared in the New York Herald and New York American newspapers between 1905 and 1911.

Upon the series end in print, McCay and J. Stuart Blackman, of Enchanted Drawing fame, co-directed a short silent film — though, at 10 minutes, it was practically feature-length by the standards of the early cinema era — about the process of creating comics."