The Art of Animated Titles

During their mid-century boom.

A still from Saul Bass’s title sequence for Bonjour Tristesse (1958)

Welcome! We’re back with another Thursday issue of the Animation Obsessive newsletter. Our topic: the animated movie titles of the mid-century era.

Everyone has seen them — or at least the things they’ve inspired. If you’ve watched the credits to Pixar films like The Incredibles, you get the idea. This is modernist graphic design in motion. Simple shapes and bright colors can tell a whole story of their own.

There’s a reason these title sequences have been admired for so long. Even now, you can browse through a site like Art of the Title and get lost in the imagination and creativity. So, today, we’re taking a look back at this era, its stars and their standout work, with links to YouTube and Art of the Title along the way. Here we go!