In this thesis, with the help of available literature, the historical development of animation in the US and the SSSR is presented, along with the differences between animation industries that came to be in these two countries and everything that laid ground for them. The work traces the evolution of animation from its earliest days, before film as a medium even existed until the appearance of the first big names in animation who, with their innovative approach and creative use of animation techniques, popularized this medium and broke the ice for the entire art form. A special focus is given to Walt Disney, the man who, with his work philosophy and artistic vision, shaped the world of modern American animation, as well as the standard for what is expected of animation at the level of the whole globe, and created characters that are so recognizable that every living generation can say that they grew up with them. As objectively as possible, I tried to look critically at the various conventions and socio-political circumstances of the USA and the Soviet Union, and what made Soviet animation a kind of antithesis to American animation, both so different in terms of political purpose and aesthetic sensibility, but also mention their sometimes surprising common points. The topics of the development of television and sudden social changes in the 20th century were covered, and how this shaped the styles of numerous animators and the topics they dealt with in their animated films. Of course, it is not possible to cover such a rich history in too much detail in the format of the final paper, so I kept the focus on the most important creators in the world of animation and their stylistic contributions to such an extensive and complex branch of art.