How animation made ad land (and how ad land made animation)

The British Film Institute’s (BFI) new archive of animated ads tells the story of two industries bound by symbiosis: while animation broke down the confines of reality for creatives, the ad industry proved a profitable playpen for the first generation of animators.
The earliest ads to feature animation appeared in the cinemas of the 1920s, rolling out in the same pre-feature slot they appear in today. As precursors to advertising’s current love affair with personalisation, these spot