The History of Animation

Animation was around from as early as 3000BC, but it started to become more popular in 1603, starting with a machine called a magic lantern, which is an image projector, and uses pictures on sheets on glass. These pictures are seen as moving parts, making it the first animation product.

The next animation product is called the thaumatrope, and was made in 1824. This rotates a circle with a picture on both sides that is connected to two strings on either side, and when it does this you see a combined picture, and this is called persistence of vision.

Another design is called a Phenakitoscopeo and this used disks that were reflected into mirrors to make it look like the pictures were moving and the disks were spinning around.

After the first animations were produced, in the early 20th century studios opened who created lots of animations, but they still didn't know how to include sound, so this was called the silent era. The animations created at this time included Betty Boop and Mighty Mouse.

Next was the "Golden Age" of animation, which started in the 1930s, where Walt Disney started to become known, and here he made Merry Melodies, and later on Snow White. The difference between Snow White from the rest of the animations that had ever been created, was that it was the first hand drawn animation to be made, and 5 million cels were used to create it.

Following this, came the American Television Era, as the TV became more popular to everyone, and this era brought the Flintstones, the first animated series on prime time TV. Then came Yogi Bear, and this debuted on national TV.

Then there was the Modern American Era, which was from 1980-2014, and this was where CGI started to come about. This replaced 2D models, with 3D models, to make the animations more realistic. One example of an animation that was made in this time was called The Adventures of Andre and Wally B.

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