The golden history of animation | Past and last

Animation is the art of making inanimate objects appear to move. Animation has a long and rich history that spans across cultures, media, and technologies. Here are some of the major milestones and achievements in the history of animation:

- Ancient times: The earliest forms of animation can be traced back to ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, who used paintings, sculptures, and pottery to depict motion and stories. Some examples are the Egyptian murals that show sequential scenes of hunting or farming, the Greek vases that show different phases of a mythological event, and the Roman mosaics that show gladiator fights or chariot races.

- Middle Ages: During the Middle Ages, animation was mostly used for religious and educational purposes, such as illustrating manuscripts, stained glass windows, and tapestries. Some examples are the Book of Kells that shows animated animals and figures in its intricate designs, the Chartres Cathedral that shows biblical scenes and stories in its colorful windows, and the Bayeux Tapestry that shows the Norman conquest of England in its embroidered panels.

- Renaissance: During the Renaissance, animation was influenced by the revival of classical art and science, as well as the invention of printing and perspective. Some examples are the Leonardo da Vinci's drawings that show anatomical studies and mechanical devices in motion, the Albrecht Dürer's woodcuts that show realistic landscapes and animals in action, and the Sandro Botticelli's paintings that show dynamic compositions and expressions in his mythological subjects.

- 17th-18th centuries: During this period, animation was mainly used for entertainment and amusement, as well as for scientific and artistic experiments. Some examples are the magic lantern shows that projected moving images on walls or screens using slides and lenses, the ocular toys that created optical illusions of motion using spinning discs or drums with images, and the automata that simulated lifelike movements using clockwork mechanisms and springs.

- 19th century: During this century, animation was revolutionized by the development of photography and cinematography, which enabled the capture and reproduction of reality in motion pictures. Some examples are the zoetrope that showed a series of images on a rotating drum that created a continuous animation when viewed through slits, the phenakistoscope that showed a series of images on a spinning disc that created a single animation when viewed in a mirror, and the praxinoscope that improved on both devices by using mirrors instead of slits to reflect the images on a central cylinder.

- Early 20th century: During this period, animation became a popular form of mass entertainment and artistic expression, as well as a powerful medium for propaganda and education. Some examples are the flip books that showed a sequence of drawings on pages that created an animation when flipped rapidly, the stop-motion animation that showed objects or puppets moving incrementally between frames when photographed one by one, and the drawn animation that showed drawings on paper or celluloid sheets moving fluidly between frames when photographed one by one. Some of the pioneers of this period are Émile Reynaud who created the first projected animated films using his invention called Théâtre Optique , J. Stuart Blackton who created the first drawn animated film called Humorous Phases of Funny Faces , Winsor McCay who created one of the first character-driven animated films called Gertie

the Dinosaur , Georges Méliès who created one of the first special effects-driven animated films called A Trip to

the Moon , Ladislas Starevich who created one of the first stop-motion animated films using insects called The Cameraman's Revenge , Willis O'Brien who created one of

the first stop-motion animated films using dinosaurs called The Lost World , Walt Disney who created one

of the first sound-synchronized animated films called Steamboat Willie , Ub Iwerks who created one

of the first color-animated films called Fiddlesticks , Max Fleischer who created one

of the first rotoscope-animated films called Out of

the Inkwell , Lotte Reiniger who created one

of the first silhouette-animated films called The Adventures

of Prince Achmed , Norman McLaren who created one

of the first abstract-animated films called Begone Dull Care , Len Lye who created one

of the first direct-animated films by painting or scratching directly on film called A Colour Box , John Hubley who created one

of the first UPA-style animated films with stylized graphics and limited animation called Rooty Toot Toot , Chuck Jones who created one

of the first Looney Tunes.