Animation in the United States during the silent era
The silent age of American animation dates back to 1900 when Vitagraph released The Enchanted Drawing. Although early animations were rudimentary, they rapidly became more sophisticated with such classics as Gertie the Dinosaur in 1914, Felix the Cat, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and Koko the Clown.
Source: Wikipedia — Animation in the United States during the silent era (CC BY-SA 4.0)