History of Animation

Why was Animation considered magic?

• Nobody had every seen anything like animation before
• People in that day and age thought it was impossible to ever see something like a dinosaur to walk onto a stage.

Zoetrope

What is a Zoetrope?

• Zoetropes were big round drums with slits on the sides
• You would look through the slits and spin the drum and because of how fast it was moving, you would see the illusion of movement

Thaumatrope

What is a Thaumatrope

• A Thaumatrope was a disc with different pictures on either side (the original being a bird and a bird cage)
• The disc was attached to strings on either side and was spun really fast
• It created the illusion that both images were infant of you at the same time

How were drawings originally turned into films?

How?

• The drawings were placed in sequence on a table
• The camera was directly above the drawing and there was light shinning on them
• You take a picture of the drawing, then take a picture of the next drawing and continue until the scene is complete

The Sinking of the Lusitania

Political Purpose?

• The Sinking of the Lusitania was WWI propaganda
• It was created to make more people fight in the war because the animation showcased the heartlessness of the germans
• It was created as a patriotic response to the disaster

Why a cartoon?

• Cartoons were McCay's specialty
• It would have been difficult to recreated torpedoes and a sinking ship with so much emotion in back then with live action

Early Animation

Modern Animation