A Timeline of Animation

Animation did not just happen instantly. Many people contributed to make animation what it is today, and to make computer animation at all possible.

Many steps had to take place, first to make moving images possible, and then developing techniques for creating animations. Here are some of the major milestones which made animation what it is today.

Year	Animation Timeline Events
1824	Peter Roget presented his paper 'The persistance of vision with regard to moving objects" to the British Royal Society.
1831	Dr. Joseph Antoine Plateau and Dr. Simon Rittrer constructed a machine called a phenakitstoscope which produced an illusion of movement by allowing a viewer to gaze at a rotating disk containing small windows, behind which was another disk containing a sequence of images. When the disks were rotated at the correct speed, the synchronization of the windows with the images created an animated effect.
1834	Horner developed the zoetrope from Plateau's phenakistoscope.
1872	Eadweard Muybridge started his photographic compilation of animals in motion.
1887	Thomas Edison started research work into motion pictures.
1889	Thomas Edison announced his kinetoscope which projected a 50ft length of film in approximately 13 seconds.
1889	George Eastman began the manufacture of photographic film strips using a nitro-cellulose base.
1895	Louis and Augustine Lumiere issued a patent for a device called a cinematograph capable of projecting moving pictures.
1896	Thomas Armat designed the vitascope which projected the films of Thomas Edison; this machine had a major influence on all sub-sequent projectors.
1906	J. Stuart Blackton made the first animated film called "Humorous phases of funny faces".
1908	Emile Cohl produced a film depicting white figures on a black background.
1908	Winsor McCay produced an animation sequence using his comic strip character "Little Nemo".
1909	Winosr McCay produced a cartoon called "Gertie the Trained Dinosaur" consisting of 10,000 drawings.
1913	Pat Sullivan created an American cartoon series called "Felix the Cat". J.R. Bray devised "Colonel Heeza Liar", and Sidney Smith created "Old Doc Yak".
1915	Earl Hurd developed cel animation.
1917	The International Feature Syndicate released many titles including "Silk Hat Harry","Bringing Up Father", and "Krazy Kat".
1923	Walt Disney extended Max Fleisher's technique of combining live action with cartoon characters in the film "Alice's Wonderland".
1926	Lotte Reiniger produced the first feature-length animated film called "Prince Achmed".
1927	Warner Brothers released "The Jazz Singer" which introduced combined sound and images.
1928	Walt Disney created the first cartoon with synchronized sound called "Mickey Mouse".
1943	John and James Whitney produced "Five Abstract Film Exercises".
1945	Harry Smith produced animation by drawing direct onto film.
1957	John Whitney used 17 Bodine motors, 8 Selsyns, 9 different gear units and 5 ball integrators to create analogue computer graphics.
1961	John Whitney used differential gear mechanisms to create film and television title sequences.
1964	Ken Knowlton, working at Bell Laboratories, started developing computer techniques for producing animated movies.