Wallace Carlson, a pioneering animator who created films like Dreamy Dud: He Resolves Not to Smoke (1915), joined Bray Studios in 1917, where, among other things, he produced a film called How Animated Cartoons Are Made. According to Cartoon Research, a site dedicated to cartoon history, the film offers perhaps the earliest and truest look at how cartoons were made nearly a century ago. And it's all done with some charm and wit. You can find the nine-minute short added to the Animation section of our collection of 575 Free Movies Online. Meanwhile, if old-time animation fascinates you, you'll want to watch How Walt Disney Cartoons Are Made, a 1939 production that takes you inside the making of Snow White (1937).

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