Let’s make one thing clear. Ted Case’s Thalofide Cell and eventual Movietone system are not the absolute first ever sound film system. From the early 1910s to the time the Case Lab began developing the Cell in the early 20s, a number of different systems were developed as a means of playing sound at the same time as a film strip. One of the best known competing systems, Vitaphone, implemented a sound-on-disc system to play a record at the same time as a film. It should be noted that what Ted Case’s invention brought to the world was the first commercially successful process of synchronized sound film.

Let’s introduce our “Cast of Characters.” You can reference this convenient list of recurring historical figures to help keep track as you explore other parts of the 100th Anniversary digital exhibit. The figures are ordered based on the number of times they are mentioned.