How have female cartoonists shaped the development of American comics?

Answer 1

This question is under the Animation category, but it sounds more like a comics / cartooning question. In that case, you probably want to read up on artists like Rose O'Neill (creator of the Kewpie doll), Ramona Fradon, Marie Severin (both artists for DC and Marvel, respectively), and Trina Robbins just to get you started. Unfortunately in the early days of comics (and up until fairly recently, really) it was primarily a male-driven art and business, but women were definitely creating important work in the early and mid 20th century. As we get closer to the modern era, the work of artists like Alison Bechdel (of the Bechdel Test) becomes more important.

As regards animation, some of the big female artists are Lotte Reiniger (creator of the first animated film), Mary Blair (Disney, mid 20th century), and in the modern era, women like Lauren Faust and Rebecca Sugar.