History MediaNotes / EarlyAnimation

A step up from that are devices such as the phenakistiscope and zoetrope from the 1830s, which incorporate a sequence of images on a spinning disc viewed through slits. The zoetrope has a spinning drum with a sequence of pictures printed around the inside, with vertical slits cut into the upper part of the drum. When you spin the disc, the outer part pierced with slits acts as a shutter mechanism which only lets you see one picture at a time, so that instead of just a blur you will percieve a moving image. The downside of such a method compared to projection is that you can't exhibit to multiple people at once. It is also limited compared to the later medium of film because the limited circumference of the disc restricts the length of animation that can be displayed on it; the animation is limited to a short, continuous loop lasting a few seconds at most.

As times changed and knowledge grew, many toys and gadgets were invented to take advantage of a phenomeonon called ''Persistence of Vision''. If an image appears in front of your eyes and then suddenly dissapears, your brain holds onto that image for a moment even after it's gone. If the missing image is replaced with a different one before your brain has even had time to register the dissapearance of the first one, your brain can be tricked into perceiving one moving image instead of two still images. This is demonstrated by the thaumatrope, a toy consisting of a disc with a picture of a bird on one side, and a cage on the other. The disc is held by strings on either side which can be wound up and then pulled to make the disc flip end over end; at full speed, it looks as if the bird is trapped in the cage.[[note]]You can actually see this device used at several points in Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/{{Sleepy Hollow|1999}}''[[/note]]

As times changed and knowledge grew, many toys and devices were invented to take advantage of a phenomeonon called ''Persistence of Vision''. If an image appears in front of your eyes and then suddenly dissapears, your brain holds onto that image for a moment even after it's gone. If the missing image is replaced with a different one before your brain has even had time to register the dissapearance of the first one, your brain can be tricked into perceiving one moving image instead of two still images. This is demonstrated by the thaumatrope, a toy consisting of a disc with a picture of a bird on one side, and a cage on the other. The disc is held by strings on either side which can be wound up and then pulled to make the disc flip end over end; at full speed, it looks as if the bird is trapped in the cage.[[note]]You can actually see this device used at several points in Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/{{Sleepy Hollow|1999}}''[[/note]]

Now, this era of animation has no known starting point. Why? Because in fact, animation as a whole is as '''old as mankind itself.''' Even in early cave paintings you can see that our ancestors were trying to make pictures that communicated a sense of motion or events happening in sequence.

Charles-Émile Reynaud would take one of the most advanced steps in this era with his ''Théâtre Optique'' system patented in 1888, which was an improvement of his earlier praxiniscope. It involved 300 to 700 pictures painted on glass plates arranged in a long belt which was fed through a projection system. This, combined with some RecycledAnimation, enabled him to exhibit [[WesternAnimation/ReynaudFilms animated films]] up to 15 minutes long.

A step up from that are devices such as the phenakistiscope and zoetrope, which incorporate a sequence of images on a spinning disc viewed through slits. The zoetrope has a spinning drum with a sequence of pictures printed around the inside, with vertical slits cut into the upper part of the drum. When you spin the disc, the outer part pierced with slits acts as a shutter mechanism which only lets you see one picture at a time, so that instead of just a blur you will percieve a moving image. The downside of such a method compared to projection is that you can't exhibit to multiple people at once. It is also limited compared to the later medium of film because the limited circumference of the disc restricts the length of animation that can be displayed on it; the animation is limited to a short, continuous loop lasting a few seconds at most.

A step up from that are devices such as the phenakistiscope and zoetrope, which incorporate a sequence of images on a spinning disc viewed through slits. The zoetrope has a wheel with a sequence of pictures printed around the inside, contained in a cylinder with vertical slits cut into it. When you spin the disc, the outer part pierced with slits acts as a shutter mechanism which only lets you see one picture at a time, so that instead of just a blur you will percieve a moving image. The downside of such a method compared to projection is that you can't exhibit to multiple people at once. It is also limited compared to the later medium of film because the limited circumference of the disc restricts the length of animation that can be displayed on it; the animation is limited to a short, continuous loop lasting a few seconds at most.

Charles-Émile Reynaud would take one of the most advanced steps in this era with his ''Théâtre Optique'' system patented in 1888, which was an improvement of his earlier praxiniscope. It involved 300 to 700 pictures painted on glass plates arranged in a long belt which was fed through a projection system. This, combined with some RecycledAnimation, enabled him to exhibit animated films up to 15 minutes long.

A step up from that are devices such as the phenakistiscope and zoetrope, which incorporate a sequence of images on a spinning disc viewed through slits. The zoetrope has a wheel with a sequence of pictures printed around the inside, contained in a cylinder with vertical slits cut into it. When you spin the disc, the outer part pierced with slits acts as a shutter mechanism which only lets you see one picture at a time, so that instead of just a blur you will percieve a moving image. The downside of such a method compared to projection is that you can't exhibit to multiple people at once. It is also limited compared to the later medium of film because the size of the disc limits the length of animation that can be displayed on it; the animation is limited to a short, continuous loop lasting a few seconds at most.

Charles-Émile Reynaud would take one of the most advanced steps in this era with his ''Théâtre Optique'' system patented in 1888, which was an improvement of his earlier praxiniscope. It involved 300 to 700 pictures painted on glass plates arranged in a long belt which was fed through a projection system. This, with the help of RecycledAnimation, enabled him to exhibit animated films up to 15 minutes long.

Charles-Émile Reynaud would take one of the most advanced steps in this era with his ''Théâtre Optique'' system patented in 1888, which was an improvement of his earlier praxiniscope. It involved 300 to 700 pictures painted on glass plates arranged in a long belt which was fed through a projection system. This enabled him to exhibit animated films up to 15 minutes long.

Charles-Émile Reynaud would take one of the most advanced steps in this era with his ''Théâtre Optique'' system patented in 1888, which was an improvement of his earlier praxiniscope. It involved 300 to 700 pictures painted on glass plates arranged in a long belt which was fed through a projection system. This allowed him to show animated films up to 15 minutes long.

Charles-Émile Reynaud would take one of the most advanced steps in this era with his ''Théâtre Optique'' system patented in 1888, which was an improvement of his earlier praxiniscope. It involved 300 to 700 pictures painted on glass plates arranged in a belt which was fed through a projection system. This allowed him to show animated films up to 15 minutes long.

[[caption-width-right:350:From little acorns do mighty oaks grow...]]

Now, this era of animation has no known starting point. Why? Because in fact, animation as a whole is as '''old as mankind itself.''' Even in early cave paintings you can see and tell that even back in that time we were trying to simulate motion with pictures in some way as a form of communication. As times changed and knowledge grew, many toys and gimmick tools came around to take advantage of what we call ''Persistence of Vision'' - basically, playing a trick on our eyes.

You may know some of these truly ancient examples as tools like a circle with two strings which you spin - a bird on one side, a cage on the other. Spin fast enough, and it looks as if the bird is trapped in the cage. (You can actually see this device used at several points in Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/{{Sleepy Hollow|1999}}''.)

Another well-known tool (and a precursor to even the earliest film projector) is the Zoetrope, which was a wheel with several different pictures stamped on it. Take a wild guess at what happens when you spin the wheel fast enough. A similar, modern equivalent would be something like a View-Master, but not so much like a slide show.

As far back as the late 18th century, there were also "Magic Lantern Shows", which were the forerunners to cinema. Essentially they were someone moving silhouette puppets around on the equivalent of an overhead projector against a translucent painting as background, accompanied by a band or narration.

But it would still be a while before the medium would truly begin to take shape...

You may know some of these truly ancient examples as tools like a circle with two strings which you spin - a bird on one side, a cage on the other. Spin fast enough, and it looks as if the bird is trapped in the cage. (You can actually see this device used at several points in Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/SleepyHollow''.)