A forerunner of today's comic strip can be found in an Egyptian wall decoration circa 2000 B.C. In successive panels it depicts the actions of two wrestlers in a variety of holds. In one of Leonardo da Vinci's most famous illustrations, he shows how the limbs would look in various positions. Giotto's angels seem to take flight in their repetitive motions. The Japanese used scrolls to tell continuous stories.

Since the beginnings of time, human beings have tried to capture a sense of motion in their art. From the eight-legged boar in the Altamira caves of Northern Spain to paintings alongside the remains of long-dead pharoahs, this quest for capturing motion has been a common theme throughout many of mankind's artistic endeavors.

True animation cannot be achieved without first understanding a fundamental principle of the human eye: the persistance of vision. This was first demonstrated in 1828 by Frenchman, Paul Roget, who invented the thaumatrope.

zoetrope

Two other inventions helped to further the cause of animation. The phenakistoscope, invented by Joseph Plateau in 1826 and zoetrope by Pirre Desvignes in 1860.

phenakistoscope

The development of the motion camera and projector by Thomas A. Edison and others provided the first real practical means of making animation. Even still, the animation was done in the simplest of means. Stuart Blackton, issued a short film in 1906 entitled Humourous Phases of Funny Faces where he drew comical faces on a blackboard, photographed them, and then erased it to draw another stage of the facial expression. This "stop-motion" effect astonished audiences by making drawings come to life.

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TALKING POINTS:

1. Are you a fan of animation?
2. Why do you think animation has become well-known?
3. How influential is animation in Japan?
4. Do you know how animation started in Japan?
5. If you were an animation character, who would you be and why?
6. Agree or disagree: Animation technology is a threat to real actors and moviemakers.