So what is animation?
Animation is the use of multiple images or pictures created in a succession that creates the illusion of movement. The means of how this done has differed throughout the ages as technology has advanced.
Animation first started out as hand drawn pictures shown in succession. The production would start small from storyboards (as shown here) and details would be filled in later.
Later down the line there began to take a more detailed three dimensional take on animation and soon studios began taking a more modern approach to animation.