Who are some famous creators of anime?

Anime was actually greatly influenced by Walt Disney. First introduced as a Propaganda tool to boost morale by showing Japanese war victories.

The oldest one recorded was at 1907. But, the actual growth is actually duting the 70s when Osamu Tezuka, "The God of manga and anime" made it popular. He was the first to introduced the very popular mecha (giant robot) genre. Not till 1980s when anime was accepted and experience a production boom in Japan.