What Was the First 3D Movie? Was It Avatar?

3D pictures are older than film. This is a stereo card of New York's Olympic Theatre (card text: "American Scenery." "New York City." "No. 371.—Olympic Theatre."). Red-cyan version made by Owl3D from the Library of Congress scan; look at it with red-cyan glasses, red over the left eye. Source: Library of Congress, stereo 1s04932 [21].

The first 3D movie, by kind of "first"

The first 3D pictures came long before film: Charles Wheatstone developed the stereoscope in 1832/1833 [2].

Was Avatar the first 3D movie?

No. Other major 3D films came out in 2009 too, such as Coraline, Monsters vs. Aliens and Up [2]. Earlier digital 3D features include Chicken Little (2005) and Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) [2][13].

Many people saw Avatar in 3D. In the US, 2,032 of its 3,457 theatres showed it in 3D, and 90% of advance tickets were for 3D showings [1]. It was the highest-grossing film of all time from 2010 to 2019 and again from 2021 to 2026, and its success led to more 3D films and to 3D TVs [1].

Why Bwana Devil is called "the first"

Its publicity said "The World’s First Feature in Natural Vision 3-Dimension" [5]. The 3-D Film Archive says at least a dozen 3D films had been shown in the US before it [6]. Its writer and director Arch Oboler "was surprised to learn it was not first" [5].

What Bwana Devil did start was the first American 3D craze [7]. It came when cinema attendance had fallen from 90 million in 1948 to 46 million in 1951, largely because of television [7]. Wikipedia gives it two firsts: the first feature-length 3D film in colour and the first 3D sound feature in English [7].

The Power of Love (1922): the lost first feature

The Power of Love was shown in red-and-green 3D [3]. It had two endings. By looking through only the red or only the green lens, you saw the happy or the tragic ending [3].

Sources do not agree on how often it was shown. Wikipedia calls the Los Angeles showing a premiere [3]. The 3-D Film Archive says it was "previewed" and had one confirmed 3D booking, in Newark [4]. The feature is lost. Only one eye (the red side) of its opening Yosemite short survives [4].

Red-blue or polarized glasses?

It depends on the decade:

• 1915 to the 1930s: red/green or red-blue (anaglyph) glasses [2][4].
• 1952 to 1955: clear polarized glasses for every feature, cartoon and short in commercial theatres, except three Lippert shorts and a group of burlesque shorts [5]. House of Wax audiences got "special Polaroid viewers" [10].
• Red-blue copies of 1950s films came later: Creature from the Black Lagoon and It Came from Outer Space were converted for 1970s re-issues, Bwana Devil and Revenge of the Creature for 1980s TV [5]. Red-blue glasses became common with 3D comics from late 1953 [5].
• Today: RealD circular polarized glasses are the standard in cinemas [2].

So if you saw a 1950s feature in red-blue, you saw a later copy: the features were first shown in polarized 3D [5].

How to watch an early 3D film today

These 1950s films were released on 3D Blu-ray in the US, per Blu-ray.com:

Last checked November 12, 2026: Blu-ray.com title pages, read from outside the US; no stock or prices checked.

A release date does not mean a disc is still sold new. Blu-ray.com marks the Bwana Devil set "Not currently available" [15]. The Bwana Devil restoration was made from the original camera negatives in 4K by the 3-D Film Archive [15]. The film had never been released on VHS or DVD [7].

To see a 3D Blu-ray in 3D you need a 3D TV or projector and a 3D Blu-ray player: see 3D Blu-ray. The Bwana Devil set also has an anaglyph version, for coloured glasses instead of a 3D TV [15]. Since 2024, Apple Vision Pro can also play 3D films from Apple TV and Disney+ [2].

Dial M for Murder was made in 3D, but most cinemas showed it flat in 1954 [20]. Many people also saw Creature from the Black Lagoon flat [24].

What viewers say

Two people who saw Bwana Devil in 3D, one on the 2024 disc and one when it was new. We have not tested the disc ourselves.

• A viewer in London on Blu-ray.com forum, November 2024: "I'm so glad I've finally got to experience it in all its 3D glory after being aware of its existence for so long." [22]
• A viewer on Film-Tech forum, July 2012: "I have always loved 3-D of the fifties ever since I first saw BWANA DEVIL" [23]

Why did 1950s 3D end?

Interest fell from August and September 1953 [2]. Each film ran as two prints on two projectors; if they went out of sync, even by one frame, the picture gave headaches and eyestrain [2]. The 3-D Film Archive puts it on the sloppy projection, not the glasses [6]. That autumn, cinemas turned to CinemaScope, which needed one print and no glasses [2][6].

Frequently asked questions

Was Avatar the first IMAX 3D movie?

No. IMAX 3D began with We Are Born of Stars in 1985 [2]. The Polar Express was IMAX's first full-length animated 3D feature, in 2004 [2].

When did 3D movies become common?

Twice. First in the 1950s, after Bwana Devil (1952): the 3-D Film Archive counts exactly 50 English-language 3D films in that "Golden Age" [5][7]. Then after Avatar in 2009 [1].

Does "first 3D movie" mean the first computer-animated movie?

Sometimes. "3D" also means computer animation. Chicken Little (2005) was both Disney Animation's first fully computer-animated feature and the first mainstream digital 3D release [13]. This page is about films you watch with 3D depth.