Early examples of attempts to capture the phenomenon of motion into a still draw

ing can be found in paleolithic cave paintings, where animals are often depicted
with multiple legs in superimposed positions, clearly attempting to convey the
perception of motion.
An earthen goblet discovered at the site of the 5,200-year-old Burnt City in sou
theastern Iran, depicts what could possibly be the world s oldest example of anima
tion. The artifact bears five sequential images depicting a Persian Desert Ibex
jumping up to eat the leaves of a tree.[1]
Ancient Chinese records contain several mentions of devices that were said to "g
ive an impression of movement" to human or animal figures,[2] but these accounts
are unclear and may only refer to the actual movement of the figures through sp
ace.[3]
In the 19th century, the phenakistoscope (1832), zoetrope (1834) and praxinoscop
e (1877), as well as the common flip book, were early animation devices that pro
duced an illusion of movement from a series of sequential drawings, but animatio
n did not develop further until the advent of motion picture film and cinematogr
aphy in the 1890s.
The cinmatographe was a projector, printer, and camera in one machine that allowe
d moving pictures to be shown successfully on a screen which was invented by his
tory's earliest film makers, Auguste and Louis Lumire, in 1894.[4] The first anim
ated projection (screening) was created in France, by Charles-mile Reynaud, who w
as a French science teacher. Reynaud created the Praxinoscope in 1877 and the Thtr
e Optique in December 1888. On 28 October 1892, he projected the first animation
in public, Pauvre Pierrot, at the Muse Grvin in Paris. This film is also notable
as the first known instance of film perforations being used. His films were not
photographed, but drawn directly onto the transparent strip. In 1900, more than
500,000 people had attended these screenings.
A projecting praxinoscope, 1882, here shown superimposing an animated figure on
a separately projected background scene
The first film that was recorded on standard picture film and included animated
sequences was the 1900 Enchanted Drawing,[5] which was followed by the first ent
irely animated film - the 1906 Humorous Phases of Funny Faces by J. Stuart Black
ton,[6] who, because of that, is considered the father of American animation.
The first animated film created by using what came to be known as traditional (h
and-drawn) animation - the 1908 Fantasmagorie by mile Cohl
File:Charlie in Turkey Pat Sullivan Keen Cartoon Corporation 1916 685703 FLM1126
3.ogvPlay media
Charlie in Turkey (1916), an animated film by Pat Sullivan for Keen Cartoon Corp
oration.
In Europe, the French artist, mile Cohl, created the first animated film using wh
at came to be known as traditional animation creation methods - the 1908 Fantasm
agorie.[7] The film largely consisted of a stick figure moving about and encount
ering all manner of morphing objects, such as a wine bottle that transforms into
a flower. There were also sections of live action in which the animator s hands w
ould enter the scene. The film was created by drawing each frame on paper and th
en shooting each frame onto negative film, which gave the picture a blackboard l
ook.
The author of the first puppet-animated film (The Beautiful Lukanida (1912)) was
the Russian-born (ethnically Polish) director Wladyslaw Starewicz, known as Lad
islas Starevich.[citation needed]
The more detailed hand-drawn animations, requiring a team of animators drawing e
ach frame manually with detailed backgrounds and characters, were those directed

by Winsor McCay, a successful newspaper cartoonist, including the 1911 Little N

emo, the 1914 Gertie the Dinosaur, and the 1918 The Sinking of the Lusitania.[8]
During the 1910s, the production of animated short films, typically referred to
as "cartoons", became an industry of its own and cartoon shorts were produced fo
r showing in movie theaters. The most successful producer at the time was John R
andolph Bray, who, along with animator Earl Hurd, patented the cel animation pro
cess which dominated the animation industry for the rest of the decade.
El Apstol (Spanish: "The Apostle") was a 1917 Argentine animated film utilizing c
utout animation, and the world's first animated feature film.[9] Unfortunately,
a fire that destroyed producer Frederico Valle's film studio incinerated the onl
y known copy of El Apstol, and it is now considered a lost film.
Computer animation has become popular since Toy Story (1995), the first featurelength animated film completely made using this technique.
In 2008, the animation market was worth US$68.4 billion.[10] Animation as an art
and industry continues to thrive as of the mid-2010s, because well-made animate
d projects can find audiences across borders and in all four quadrants. Animated
feature-length films returned the highest gross margins (around 52%) of all fil
m genres in the 2004-2013 timeframe