'Tin Toy,' the predecessor to 'Toy Story,' was the first fully computer-generated film to win an Academy Award

Steve Jobs revolutionized animated filmmaking

Steve Jobs left his mark beyond Apple with Pixar, the animated studio he acquired in 1986. In addition to pushing Pixar to focus on storytelling, Jobs led the studio to revolutionize animation via computer-generated imagery.

‘Snow White’ was honored by the Oscars two years in a row

“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was not only Hollywood’s first full-length animated film—it was also Disney’s first massive hit and, at the time, was the highest-grossing film of all time. The Academy Awards honored the film in 1937 with a nomination for best music, though the film didn’t win the award. The following year, the Academy explicitly acknowledged the film’s unprecedented success with a one-of-a-kind award, a rarity in the Academy’s storied history.

The Oscars considered the use of computer-assisted special effects in 'Tron' unfair

The 1982 film relied heavily on computer animation, so much so that the Academy Awards disqualified the film from its special effects category because they considered the computer-assisted graphics "cheating."

Walt Disney's early film 'Alice's Wonderland' was a groundbreaking innovation in the silent film era

'Steamboat Willie' was the first film to feature Mickey Mouse

This short film introduced Mickey Mouse, the character who would define the Disney brand, to the world. It might be almost 100 years old, but you'll be surprised at how much humor still holds up.

A fact about every best picture Oscar winner

Beginning with “Wings,” the best picture winner from the very first Academy Awards in 1927, discover facts about all 96 of the winning pictures leading up to the “Oppenheimer” win in 2024. Find interesting tidbits about each of these movies, including the troublesome making of “Gone with the Wind” and the landmark achievements of the foreign film “Parasite.”

In 1945, Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí and legendary animator Walt Disney began collaborating on a short film that was not completed until 2003, years after both men had died.

Juvenile Oscars were handed out from 1935 to 1961

The Academy Juvenile Award recognized the best child actors in a given year, with luminaries like Shirley Temple, Judy Garland, and Mickey Rooney taking home the prestigious trophies. Fittingly, they were 7 inches tall, about half the size of a regular Oscar.

'Attack of the Clones' was the first major feature film to be shot digitally

George Lucas was frustrated by the degradation of film and began testing digitally shot scenes with 1999's "The Phantom Menace." For the 2002 "Star Wars" film, he decided to go all in with HD digital cameras, leading to brighter pictures, a quicker review process, and a more seamless editing process.

Watch Dalí's surreal collaboration with Disney

Production for "Destino," a surreal short by Salvador Dalí and Walt Disney, began in 1945 but stalled when the Walt Disney Company ran into financial trouble due to the commercial failure of "Fantasia" and the economic downturn of World War II. It was finally released in 2003, after Disney animators completed it based on Dalí's original storyboards.

The 31 best science fiction films ever

This list refreshingly starts off with the best first—1968's "2001: A Space Odyssey," Stanley Kubrick's cerebral, futuristic icon. Coming in at 31st is Disney's "Wall-E."

How 'Star Wars' turned toys into collectibles

George Lucas licensed the "Star Wars" franchise to Kenner Products, which created small figurines that became wildly popular. By the 1977 Christmas season, they were facing a shortage and sold mail-in rainchecks, effectively allowing customers to purchase figures that weren't yet produced. The strategy worked, portraying the toys as valuable collectibles whose price would appreciate.

Why the Linux Foundation partnered with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

In founding the Academy Software Foundation in 2018, the Linux Foundation spread its open-source philosophy to the cinema by establishing a neutral forum for sharing animation, visual effects, and audio technologies across projects. Its founding members include DreamWorks Animation, Epic Games, Google Cloud, Intel, and Walt Disney Studios.

The first robot in literature may have been a 'mechanical man' in 1907's 'Ozma of Oz,' a book in L Frank Baum's 'Wizard of Oz' series.

'Potter Puppet Pals' was one of the internet’s first viral videos

Created by animator Neil Cicierega in the early 2000s, Potter Puppet Pals featured felt puppets parodying the Harry Potter characters. Its 2007 video “The Mysterious Ticking Noise” became an early YouTube sensation, amassing more than 200 million views.

Dorothy's famous entrance into Oz in 'The Wizard of Oz' relied on analog tricks, including a body double and sepia-toned paint, as much as it did on technology

The first robot in literature may have been a 'mechanical man' in 1907's 'Ozma of Oz,' a book in L Frank Baum's 'Wizard of Oz' series.

The first Cannes Lions winner

The first Cannes Lions award went to the German toothpaste brand Chlorodont for the ad “Il Circo,” a surreal short film featuring dancers, a wild animal, and a snake charmer—all constructed from Chlorodont’s product.

An animated short film portraying the arc of addiction

This simple yet profound award-winning animated short film uses the metaphor of a bird discovering golden nuggets to explore how addiction develops, with a special focus on the progressive nature of substance dependency. The film went viral, amassing nearly 30 million views by 2024.

How AI helped the Beatles win their eighth Grammy

It’s been decades since the legendary British rock band broke up, yet they still managed to snag a Grammy at the 2025 awards ceremony. This feat is thanks to AI, specifically machine-learning technology, to isolate and clean up different components of a late 1970s recording. This mini-documentary shows how the band's surviving members crafted “Now and Then” with the modern technology.

How the 'Wallace & Gromit' stop-motion animators nearly ran out of clay

The makers of hit claymation films like "Chicken Run" and "Shaun the Sheep" require a highly complex, waxless recipe for the clay used to create their familiar characters. When clay producer Newplast went up for sale, the studio had to prepare to run out of its beloved material. Luckily, a suitor purchased the company, keeping the clay production alive.

'Barbenheimer' resulted in a historic box-office event

The cultural sensation that erupted when Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" and Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" shared an opening night was something that no one could have predicted. "Barbenheimer," as the pairing was called, became a semiserious litmus test for relationships: Who wanted to see which film, and in what order? The viral moment led to box-office gold for both movies, as well as a few Oscars.

The board game Risk was created by an Academy Award-winning screenwriter.

The history of the iconic Barbie doll

The 1959 debut of the Barbie doll changed the culture of toys permanently, and its many iterations have come to reflect, in a certain way, the aspirations of women around the world. But Barbie's unrealistic looks and plastic substance have prompted...

The Wrights were inspired by a toy helicopter as kids

The pair tinkered with toys and dreamed of building a flying machine at a young age. Founders Podcast host David Senra read David McCullough’s 2015 book on the duo and distilled key insights for leaders to take from their work and lives, focusing on their relentless resourcefulness.

One disco producer saw 'Star Wars' four times on its opening weekend and was so inspired that he recorded the album 'Star Wars and Other Intergalactic Funk,' which produced a chart-topping single.

Imagining if Disney films about animals were scientifically accurate

Then when Scar took over from Mufasa, he would have likely killed all of the existing cubs in the pride, including Nala. Or when Nemo's mom died, his dad would technically have become a female.

Many of Spielberg's films were inspired by childhood experiences

Steven Spielberg was inspired to make “Saving Private Ryan” after seeing the toll war took on his father’s generation. Similarly, he felt called to direct “Schindler’s List” by the Holocaust survivors he met when he was only three years old.

The 'Ratatouille' musical started as a joke on TikTok

It all started as a meme: What if “Ratatouille” were adapted for the stage? Just a few months later, though, it was an actual production, featuring genuine Broadway stars.

'Games That Weren't' preserves lost video game history

Since 1999, this large, online, nonprofit archive has saved the stories of cancelled and unreleased video games. See prototypes, developer history, and assets for various computers and consoles of all ages, including gems like Cartoon Network's "Toon Jam!"

The animatronic shark from Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws,' the first modern blockbuster, was a complex underwater apparatus called 'Bruce.'

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

The distributor behind 'Rocky Horror' pulled the film from its scheduled national release, believing it would be a failure, though it eventually amassed a dedicated fanbase through midnight showings, a trend that continues over 50 years later.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

Watch this video that uses Lego bricks to explain how venture capital works.

A vending machine run with Anthropic's AI went out of business after it was convinced to give away items for free and sell a video game console.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

The tragic Pulitzer Prize-winning image 'The Vulture and the Little Girl' (1993) generated controversy, raised concerns about ethics in photography, and eventually led to the photographer's death.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

Planeterrellas create artificial auroras that mimic the atmospheric displays of light by setting up an electric field between two metal balls in a jar filled with a small amount of air.

Objects can be 3D printed with light by projecting 2D computerized tomography (CT) scans onto rotating cylinders of resin, which solidify upon exposure.

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.

Fireworks make a loud booming sound after exploding due to air expanding faster than the speed of sound.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

Recent research found that the brain doesn't seem to massively rewire following amputation—upending earlier beliefs about the cause of phantom limb pain.