History | portfolio

Important timelined events in animation:

The Magic Lantern

An early device, of which projected images onto sheets of glass. it was mainly used for educational and entertainment purposes.

There are many theories of who the original inventor is, the widely accepted theory is this; in the late 1650's, the original device was created by Christian Huygens. It was known as the "Lantern of Fright", because he used it to project eerie images of ghosts.

Other theories: 1. In the 15th century, a Venetian engineer, Giovanni Fontana, had developed a lantern that produced an image of a demon.

2. A German Priest, Athanasius Kircher, describes a similar device in his book: "Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae. There are mentions of Kirchers' device as early as 1646.

1930 - Warner Bros.

Looney Tunes was supposed to be a spin off on the Silly Symphonies produced by Disney. It soon took on a life of its own and became very popular.

- Other popular characters

Throughout the 1930's, several now-iconic characters were created. This included Betty Boop, Popeye the Sailor, and Daffy Duck.

1940 - Iconic Cartoon Characters

The next decade brought several new popular characters to life. This included Woody Woodpecker, Mighty Mouse, and Tom and Jerry.

1981 - First movie to use CGI animation; "Looker".

1982 - "Tron" marks the first time CGI is used extensively within a film.

1824 - The first book about animation

A flip book is a book with a series of pictures that gradually change from one page to the next, which, when the pages are turned rapidly, gives the illusion of a moving image.

1832 - Phenakistoscope

Introduced by Joseph Plateau and sons. A type of early animation device that used the persistence of vision principle to create an illusion of motion. By viewing pictures on one disc, through slots in the other, they appeared to move when the discs were spun and viewed in the mirror.

1834 - Zoetrope

Introduced by William George Horner. A pre-film animation device that produced the illusion of motion by displaying a series of sequenced pictures showing progressive phases of that motion. It used the same principe as the Phenakistoscope, however, instead of the discs the slots and pictures were combined in a rotating drum.

1877 - Praxinoscope

Introduced by Emile Raynaud. An animation device that used a strip of pictures placed around the inner surface of the spinning cylinder and an inner circle of mirrors. The illusion of movement was viewed on mirrors in the centre of the drum, rather than through slots like previous devices.

1878 - Eadweard Muybridge, April 9th 1830-May 8th 1904. English photographer, important for his pioneering work in photographic studies in motion and early work in mtion picture production. Achieves success in capturing movement.

1888 - first motion picture film made

1887 - Celluoid film

A man named H.W Goodwin invented a celluiod film which could hold images.

1893 - Kinetoscope

Using the celluloid film developed by H.W. Goodwin, Edison was able to produce moving film pictures on the wall. The film moved over a series of wheels to produce the pictures.

1894 - Mutoscope

Early motion picture device invented by Winsor Mcay. It worked on the same principle as the flip book. Cards with images printed on them, were attached to a circular core. They were viewed through a single lens enclosed by a hood. The reel was operated by a geared down hand crank, They were also coin operated.

1895 - Lumiere brothers

1897 - William Harbutt, February 13th 1844-June 1st 1921.

British artist and the iventor of plasticine.

1898 - Stop motion first used, Albert E. Smith

1899 - Sound is Captured

Using a magnetic recording device, sound was recorded for the first time. Animation enthusiasts would latch onto the technology.

Some time in the 19th century - Thaumatrope

A disc with a picture on each side attached to two pieces of string.When the two pieces of string are quickly twirled between the fingers in each hand, the two picture then seem to blend together due to the persistence of vision.

1900 - First animated sequence recorded on standard film, "The Enchanted Drawing"

A man named James Stuart Blackton used animation techniques to produce a short film. It documented the drawing process of characters, without ever showing the artist; this made it seem that the drawings simply appeared.

1908 - The first offical animated film

A Frenchman name Emile Cohl produced a film called "Fantasmagorie." It was a hit, and is known today as the first true animated film.

1914 - "Gertie the dinosaure"

This short animation film became popular quickly. It was created by Windsor McCay.

1922 - Walt Disney animates his first animated short

1928 - The first animation with sound

Walt Disney releases "Steamboat Willie"

1931 - Stroboscope

Invented by Harold Eugene Edgerton. A series of rapid flashing lights used to make a moving object appear to be slow-moving or stationary.

1933 - King Kong

feature several stop-motion animation is released.

-Multiplane camera invented, allows animators to create a 3D effect with a 2D cartoon.

1937 - First full-length animated film to be shown in colour.

Walt Disney "Snow White and the seven dwarfs".

1963 -The first Anime is released.

1972 - CGI

At the University of Utah, and man named Ed Catmull developed a method of creating computer generated movies. It used scripting language.

1973 - CGI is used for the very first time

In a brief short within "Westworld".

1993 - "Jurassic Park"

becomes the first live-action film to feature photo realistic computer animated creatures.

Ellen Rouse-Barron