The History of Animation Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

The Age of Discovery 1824 to , Peter Roget presented his paper 'The persistence of vision with regard to moving objects" to the British Royal Society. 1831, Dr. Joseph Antoine and Dr. Simon Rittrer constructed a machine called a phenakitstoscope. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Phenakistoscope images Public Domain Image from Wikimedia Commons Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Phenakitstoscope A phenakitstoscope produced an illusion of movement by allowing a viewer to gaze at a rotating disk containing small windows When the disks were rotated at the correct speed, the synchronization of the windows with the images created an animated effect. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Eadweard Muybridge Public Domain Image from Wikimedia Commons Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Eadweard Muybridge 1872, Eadweard Muybridge started his photographic series examining the positions of of animals in motion. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Thomas Edison Public Domain Image from Wikimedia Commons Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Thomas Edison 1887, Thomas Edison started his research work into motion pictures. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Emile Renynaud Theatre Optique Public Domain Image from Wikimedia Commons Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Emile Reynaud 1892, Emile Reynaud, combining his earlier invention of the praxinoscope with a projector, opens the Theatre Optique in Paris. It displays an animation of images painted on long strips of celluloid. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Thomas Edison, Kinetoscope 1893, Thomas Edison invents the Kinetoscope a device which projected a 50ft length of film in approximately 13 seconds. The Kinetoscope was a machine that allowed one viewer at a time to watch a movie through a viewfinder. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

The Age of Invention About 1875 to 1895 Animation benefits from the Industrial Revolution. Animation is a hobby of the elite, not an entertainment for the masses Animation is not considered an art form, but a technological oddity Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Kinetoscope Public Domain Image from Wikimedia Commons Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Public Domain Image from Wikimedia Commons Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Film is invented Public Domain Image from Wikimedia Commons Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

George Eastman 1889, George Eastman began the manufacture of photographic film-strips using a nitro-cellulose base. Nitro-cellulose is flexible and transparent, but highly inflammable. They caught fire- a lot. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

A Record of a Sneeze Public Domain Image from Wikimedia Commons Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

The Record of a Sneeze 1894, Edison copyrights his first motion picture "The Record of a Sneeze". He opens his Kinetoscope Parlour, in New York City, This earliest instance where people pay to go out to watch a movie. There was no popcorn. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

The Age of Creation About 1895 to 1925 Animation moves from hobbyists and inventors laboratories to an entertainment medium for everyone Animation drawing techniques are developed and perfected Animation because a craft and an industry is created Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Lumiere Brothers Public Domain Image from Wikimedia Commons Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Workers leaving the Lumiere factory Public Domain Image from Wikimedia Commons Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

The Yellow Kid Public Domain Image from Wikimedia Commons Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Humorous Phases of Funny Faces Public Domain Image from Wikimedia Commons Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

The Enchanted Drawing Public Domain Image from Wikimedia Commons Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Winsor McCay, Little Nemo Public Domain Image from Wikimedia Commons Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Old Doc Yak Public Domain Image from Wikimedia Commons Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

W. McCay, Gertie the Dinosaur Public Domain Image from Wikimedia Commons Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Walt Disney Public Domain Image from Wikimedia Commons Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Merrie Melodies Public Domain Image from Wikimedia Commons Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

The Golden Age of Animation About 1925 to 1950 Animation becomes an art form Sound and color are added Like any art form, animation content reflects the social mores of its time Animation reaches a peak of technical and artistic proficiency Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Still from a feature Public Domain Image from Wikimedia Commons Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

WW2 Public Domain Image from Wikimedia Commons Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Atomic Modern About 1950 to 1965 TV is invented and animation is used to fill up time This creates stresses on budgets, forcing ever cheaper and simpler animations As society moves to the “space age” animation tries to follow along, but is increasingly seen as a “children’s media”. Overseas, Japanese and European animation industries start to grow Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

The Dead Years About 1965 to 1985 Animation almost dies as a media in the US Limited animation is almost exclusively used. The big studios either stop making animations or close down. The ones that still make animations create very few new works. Overseas, animation studios are growing because of cheaper production costs, but still don’t turn out the quality of work that the US did 30 years earlier. In the vacuum left by the big studios, small independent animators labor and create. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

The NEW Golden Age of Animation About 1985 to Now. Animation is revived by computers which allow for cheaper, faster animating 3D digital animation is invented Animation skills are actively hunted down and relearned. Animation reaches a new peak of technical and artistic proficiency. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.

Computer Animation Computer animation began around 1985 and continues to the present. How many computer animated productions can you name? Check online for animated movie titles. Search online for some of the trailers for these movies. What do you notice in these productions? Copyright © Texas Education Agency, All rights reserved.