AllMovie

Animator Earl Hurd is the patented inventor of cel animation, the technique whereby the figures slated to move are painted on individual sheets of celluloid which are carefully laid over a static background painting and photographed. This technique revolutionized the cartoon industry, saving them the considerable cost and countless hours it took to paint new backgrounds for every frame of a character's movement. Hurd devised his innovation in 1915 while working with another key figure in animation, John R. Bray.