Creating Movement: The Origins

of Animation
The originators of animation are
nearly all toys
 Thaumatrope
– Invented in the 1820s
– Name means “magic turn”
– Designed to amuse children
– Made of 2 pieces of paper and string
– One image on the front, another on the back. As it spins it gives
the illusion of combining the images.
 How Does a Thaumatrope Work?
• When the strings are twirled quickly between the fingers the two
pictures appear to combine into a single image due to persistence
of vision

• Persistence of vision - the eye's ability to retain an image for

roughly 1/20 of a second after the object is gone.

• The eye continues to see the two images on either side of the
thaumatrope shortly after each has disappeared. As the
thaumatrope spins, the series of quick flashes is interpreted
as one continuous image.
Thaumatrope
Examples of Great Thaumatrope
Images
 Persistence of Vision
• As defined before, persistence of vision is
what enables humans to view a long sequence
of images as animation.

• Our persistence of vision helps us view

cartoons and optical illusions every day!
 Zoetrope
– Invented in the 1860s
– Designed to actually animate
– Was an expensive toy for children and adults
– Made of a cylinder with slits in it
– Images were put on the inside of the cylinder.
– The viewer would spin the cylinder to see the images move.
Zoetrope Animations

How is persistence of vision at work here?

 Animation Development
• As time went on and paper was more
available, people wanted to make their own
animation toys

• This introduced the flip-book.

 Flip-Book

• Flip books are made by

layering sheets of paper with
slightly altered images in a
sequential order.

• As the viewer quickly “flips”

through the book, they see a
quick animation.
Flip Book
Flip Book
Flip Book
Flip Book
 Photography and Film
The invention of photography and moving pictures aided in
the development of animation

– 1906 J. Stuart Blackton made the

first animated film.
• He drew faces on board
• Photographed them onto film
• Ran the film sequentially to show
the faces
• Titled the film: “
Humorous Phases of Funny Phases”
• It is considered stop-motion
 What is Stop-Motion?
• Stop-motion is the basis of animation.

• Stop-motion is a form of animation that relies on photographs

of still objects to create movement. Objects are manipulated
and photographed sequentially. When the photographs move
together in a quick sequence (like in a film) it creates the
illusion of movement. This is similar to the way a flip-book
works.

• Clay figures are often used in stop-motion for their ease of

repositioning. Stop-motion animation using clay is called clay-
mation.
Stop-Motion
Stop-Motion/Clay-Mation
Clay-mation
 Famous Clay-mation
• Early: During the late 1950s and early 1960s
Davey and Goliath was featured on television.
It was a show for children.

• Mid: Gumby was a show that premiered on

Saturday morning T.V. in the 1970s and 1980s
for children.

• Modern: Wallace and Gromit are popular

clay-mation characters today.
 From Stop-Motion to Cartoons
• Artists began to realize that by
drawing and using the stop-motion
animation technique they could
create seamless animation.

• In 1914 Winsor McCay, using

drawing and the stop-motion
technique, created the first
character-based cartoon called
“Gertie the Dinosaur”

• “Gertie the Dinosaur,” which is

only approximately 5 minutes
long, contains 10,000 drawings.
 Growing Technology
• From 1914-1928 artists developed
the animation technology and
began to teach others about
animation.

• 1928 Walt Disney debuts the first

cartoon to feature animation and
sound.

• It is called Steamboat Willie.

 Looking to the Future
• After Steamboat Willie, the
animation world grew in leaps and
bounds.

• Even as technology advances, the

basics of animation are still based
stop-motion

• During the next 40 years animation

transitions from a fanciful toy into a
major business (1930s-1970s)
– Walt Disney Company
– Fox Animation
– Hanna-Barbera
– Warner Brothers Animation
– MGM Animation
 Computer Generated Imagery
• In the late 1970s to early
1980s Computer Generated
Imagery or CGI is used in film
for the first time.

• CGI allows animators to

create fantasy situation and
illusions within real live
action.

• The first mainstream movie

that used CGI was
The Last Starfighter in 1984.
 CGI Grows
• In 1995 Toy Story premiered. It was the first
full-length motion picture to be entirely CGI.
 Pinnacle of Animation
• The movie Avatar uses CGI animation
alongside other image-based technologies to
create stunning visual effects.