This document provides a history of fantasy films from the 1900s to present day. It notes that fantasy films were not very popular until the 1980s when advances in technology allowed for better special effects. Early fantasy films relied on costumes, animation, and musical elements to portray fantasy. Throughout the decades, technology improved visual effects capabilities, and by the 2000s CGI allowed for highly realistic fantasy elements. Recent blockbuster fantasy films like Harry Potter and Disney remakes have been very successful and pushed the genre forward. Future films will continue advancing what can be portrayed through new technologies.

1. The History of
Fantasy Films
Zain Tahir

2. Fantasy film’s were not so popular until the 1980s. This was
because it wasn’t till then that high tech filming techniques
were used. Fantasy films were best portrayed in the style of
animation or musical’s. New technology has caused a wider
audience, making Fantasy films one of the most popular films
today.

3. 1900’s - 1920’s
This period of time was known as the silent era. The first
fantasy film’s were created by the french film pioneer
George Melies. The most famed was 1902s ‘A Trip to the
Moon’. Between 1918 - 1926 was the golden era of silent
films in which the most acclaimed fantasy movies were
Douglas Fairbanks' The Thief of Bagdad (1924), Destiny
1921 and Phantom (1922). These films were highly
dependant on costume and makeup to display the fantasy
conventions as there wasn’t the technology that is
available today. They were also silent and so the fantasy
aspect had to be exaggerated, this is why the genre was
not as popular as we know it is in our day and age.

4. 1930’s
In this decade sound films were
born, the best examples of fantasy
films are 1939’s The Wizard of Oz
and Walt Disney’s ‘Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs’. The technology
although upgraded to sound was not
so high to create what we know as
fantasy movies today, although it
was done in form of animation and
musical’s. Universal studio;s
combined horror with fantasy to
create ‘The Mummy’

5. 1940’s
Fantasy films were mostly in full colour
by now, some of the most famous in this
era were the Thief of Bagdad (1940),
and The Jungle Book (1942). Another is
Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast
(1946) which was acclaimed for
presenting the fantastic elements and
breaking boundaries of the fairy tale
genre in film. The genre still lacked in
visual effects and was highly dependant
on costume. Though the film industry
was introduced to green screen.

6. 1950’s
As technology improved there was
now colour, wide screen experiences
and scope. In the 1950’s Walt Disney
produced four major fantasy movies in
animation; Cinderella (1950), Alice in
wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953),
and Sleeping Beauty (1959). A few
other major fantasy films included;
Jean Cocteau’s Orphic trilogy, and
Scrooge an adaptation of Charles
Dicken’s A Christmas Carol.

7. 1960’s
Technology improves further and surreal
elements are displayed with more effectively.
Walt Disney’s major live action film ‘Mary
Poppins’ was released which was applauded for
it’s mixture of live action and animation footage.
HarryHausen’s masterwork in stop motion for his
film Jason and the argonauts (1963) was
especially awarded. Another film was ‘Chitty
Chitty bang bang’ scripted by Roald Dahl’. Even
though technology improved the visuals were not
as realistic as we see them today. Drawn
animation was still highly dependent on.

8. 1970’s
Restrictions on what was allowed to be shown
on screen were loosened and so more was
able to be shown in terms of violence, sex,
nudity etc. although it didn't have much of a
effect on Fantasy films it did mean they had
competition. Roald Dahl’s famous novel were
recreated as a film; Willy Wonka and the
chocolate factory, and bedknobs and
broomsticks was another to follow the
footsteps of Mary Poppins. Also following the
style of Mary Poppins was Disney’s Pete’s
Dragon. Again these films were costume and
animation heavy. Towards the end of the 70’s
we were introduced to CGI which was used
more in Fantasy films in the 80’s.

9. 1980’s
In the 80’s technology upgraded more than it did
in the other decades, filmmakers started to
portray surreal imagery with the use of CGI and
computer after effects. The fantasy genre
became immensely popular with titles such as
Clash of the titans, and Fire and Ice, which was
when the swords and sorcery style of fantasy
began to rise to fame. There was also a huge
strike of interest for fairytale like fantasy films
such as The Princess bride. The 80’s was the
beginning for a new era for fantasy films.

10. 1990’s
Fantasy films became extremely popular due to the modern twists
and effects. CGI advanced and filmmakers could present surreal
images without them looking cheesy. Advanced IT also helped the
genre become famous. Walt Disney studios carried out shelved
projects such as ‘The Little Mermaid’ and most importantly the film
that broke the barriers of animation ‘Beauty and the Beast’ which
incorporated 3d animation with 2d drawings. Live action fantasy
films included: Edward scissorhands, Jurassic Park, Jumanji and a
spin off version of PeterPan ‘Hook’. The films created in this genre
were mixed with other genres to create hybrids. For example
Jurassic park was a fantasy/sci-fi. Universal studios also released
another film ‘The Mummy’ a loose remake of the 1932. The Film is a
great example of how technology has advanced. CGI plays an
important role, it brings the mummy to life.

11. 2000’s
Following from the 90’s came a huge success in fantasy
films. Mainly because of ongoing development to
technology, CGI was improved which gave way for
fantastic elements to be explored further. In the 2000’s
came films such as; Harry Potter, Pirates of the
Caribbean, and The Haunted Mansion. These films had
to be more realistic to the eye. Harry Potter was heavily
dependant on special effects to create the illusion of
witchcraft and wizardry. The Haunted Mansion dealt
with ghosts and spirits which were created with CGI.
The success of these films gave Walt Disney Studios an
idea to recreate the classics in live action form.

12. 2010’s
The main fantasy films being an audience in the current
era,I would say are the Walt Disney live action remakes.
Using the surreal elements Walt Disney used in his
animation and modernising them to suit an audience of
our time. It all started in 2010 with the release of Alice in
Wonderland. After the success and praise the film gained,
Disney decided to recreate more of their disney classics.
Sleeping Beauty, was retold in the perspective of
Maleficent. Cinderella was the next to get the live action
treatment, followed by The Jungle Book. The films
portray fantastic elements flawlessly, and link to modern
society at the same time. Remakes gave the genre a wider
audience, adults that would have watched the film as
children would want to watch the film to relive the magic.

13. In the future
Technology is catching up with the ideas
portrayed in fantasy films, the best example for
an upcoming feature is the live action remake
of Beauty and the Beast. An enchanting castle
is recreated in CGI, not only that but a Beast as
well. Finance also has a huge impact on the
success of the film, there is more money to
spend on production and so the
cinematography is almost perfect. Beauty and
the Beast has had a huge budget and a huge
amount of effort on production. A few years
ago Disney would not have been able to create
talking objects that look as real as they do now,
and a Beast that looks as close to the original
as possible.

14. Most Fantasy films have a sub-genre, For example Star Wars is a Fantasy/Sci-Fi, or
Pirates of the Caribbean which is a Fantasy/adventure. When creating my own film i
would also use a hybrid. I would use fantasy and horror which I feel like is a
successful combination. Movies like; The Mummy, and The Haunted Mansion are my
inspiration for this idea. Horror Movies are based on stories from gothic writers.
After the silent era did we hear ‘screams’ in horror films. To begin with there were
classics like ‘Dracula’. Living in the 21st century hearing the word horror the first
thing we’d think of is Saw, or Halloween. The horror ele-
ment in my film will be more to do with ghosts than gore
and blood. It will be spine chilling and creepy if anything.