It goes to show how far the medium has come.

No, Disney did not invent animation but he certainly revolutionized techniques for it. Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs was the first full length animated film, but it would not have been the success it was had Disney not had his animators take a careful look at how people moved. By using dancers and actors as a point of reference (in some cases drawing poses over live action film stills) the animators were able to achieve animation with realistic looking movement.