The Birth of Whiteboard Animation

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You’d have to be living under a rock for the past decade... or so not to have seen the popular hand drawing technique commonly referred to as whiteboard animation, fast draw, video scribing or video telestration. Call it what you wish, but this technique is by no means new. Believe it or not, Walt Disney was the first person to experiment with this type of style. Early in his career, around 1919, he actually filmed himself doing hand-drawn cel-animation.
Walt Disney animates WhiteboardWalt Disney whiteboard Mickey Mouse
Nearly 100 years later and Walt’s early experimentation is being used as a vehicle for message dissemination by corporations, agencies, broadcast outlets, public advocacy organizations, Montessori School, and everything in-between.
Modern 321 Fastdraw Whiteboard Animation
Here at 321 Fast Draw, we are honored to continue the whiteboard legacy that fellow Chicagoan, Walt Disney, started as a fluke so many years ago.  While technology has helped us streamline the process since the days Walt doodled around under the lens of his second-hand Bell & Howell camera, the art of storytelling is still at the heart of everything we do…and no one did it better than our idol, Walt Disney.
Of all of our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language.
                                                                                                                                    -Walt Disney

For more information about Walt Disney’s early years and life in Chicago, check out the Walt Disney Family Museum, 104 Montgomery St., San Francisco or visit waltdisney.org



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