The history of Brazilian animation is relatively recent. In the first half of the 20th century, there were some small experiments produced in animation without much continuity, to the emergence of several animated films in the other half of the century. The 21st century saw the advent of many animated series for television.

Since 1907, Brazilian theaters already presented animated vignettes at the closing of the newsreels.

Kaiser was the first Brazilian autonomous animation. The animated short film was exhibited in 1917 during World War I. The animation was created by cartoonist Álvaro Marins, better known as Seth, and satirirized the German Emperor Wilhelm II with which Brazil declared war in that year.

Kirs Film released the second animated film Traquinices de Chiquinho e seu inseparável amigo Jagûnço (The Escapades of Chiquinho and His Inseparable Friend Jagûnço) on April 26, 1917. In 1918, Avênturas de Bille e Bolle (The Adventures of Bille and Bolle), by Gilberto Rossi and Eugênio Fonsêca Filho, was released, inspired in the characters Mutt and Jeff of Bud Fisher.

In the following ten years, Seth was the main animator. He focused on advertising. In 1929, it was released Macaco fêio, macaco bônito (Ugly Monkey, Pretty Monkey), a film co-directed by Seth's collaborator João Stamato and Luiz Seel. This is the oldest surviving animated film in the country.

Between 1938 and 1939, the caricaturist Luiz Sá released the short-film Avênturas de Virgolino (The Adventures of Virgolino) and Virgolino apânha (Virgolino’s Troubles). Brazilian cinema pioneer Humberto Mauro (1897–1983) introduced the use of animated puppets in Brazil with O dragãozinho manso (The Good Little Dragon) in the 1940s.

In 1940, the brothers Anélio and Mario Latini Filho did their short-film, Azares de Lulu (Lulu's Misfortune), with a style that resembles the Fleischer Brothers and with a rudimentary technique. Anélio learned about animation techniques by reading manuals and watching North American movies. He asked the Brazilian screenwriter Joaquim Ribeiro a folkloric subject. Ribeiro gave him seven legends of the Amazon Indians, that would be the base for the Sinfônia amazônica (Amazon Symphony), which was the first feature-length animated film made in the country. Filmed in black and white, it took 6 years to be completed because it was conducted solely by Anélio Latini, without the help of any other animator. Anélio's brother helped as photographer and wrote the musical score of a samba in the film. Despite good reviews and large audiences, the film was not able to profit.

Norman McLaren inspired several Brazilian animators between the 1950s and 1960s. In 1957, Roberto Miller produced Rumba after a six-month stay with McLaren in Canada. Miller continued into animation with Boogie Woogie (1959), Desenho abstrato (Abstract Drawing, 1960), O átomo brincalhão (The Playful Atom, 1968) and Fotograma Abstrato (Abstract Frame, 1985).