Pioneers of Animation

Joseph Plateau:

The first person to demonstrate the illusion of a

moving image, Joseph Plateau created the
Phenakistoscope; a small wheel that, when spun,
created the illusion of a moving image through
multiple images or frames.
Joseph Plateaus invention of the craft helped
bring animation to a - albeit niche - commercial
audience, bringing moving pictures to life.
The device functioned by a simple rotating disk of
frames that, when spun in quick succession,
created the illusion of a moving object through
frames of movement. A basic technique of
animation used to this day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqwkdlwmHig

William George Horner:

William George Horner was a Schoolmaster and

Mathematician. His most well known works however, were
based in optics; specifically the invention of the Zoetrope,
an evolution of Plateaus work.
Horners Zoetrope worked on a similar principle to
Plateaus method of moving picture - i.e. spinning a small
array of images. However, Horners innovation was the
redesign of the invention to more specifically play a single
image to be viewed; the Phenakistoscope was designed
to simply spin all frames to the viewer, but Horners design
had a small hole to view through that would focus on a
single rotation of the images, thus refining the animation
through a small strip that would be wound inside the disk,
and spun in a similar fashion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3yarT_h2ws

Emile Reynaud:

Emile Reynaud would later develop a further

improvement of the Zoetrope in france in 1877, where
he would redevelop the technology into what hed call
the Praxinoscope.
This new device would improve yet again on the
Zoetrope, where Emile fixed several issues with image
quality by removing the use of cut-out slits entirely
from the viewing experience, instead using a series of
stationary mirrors to reflect the image into view.
Reynaud would later improve this technology into his
most famous invention; the Thtre Optique.

Edward Muybridge: