Pioneers

Joseph Plateau

Plateau created anorthoscopic discs, two discs which created the effect of movement. These were the first illusions if moving images ever created. This is known as the phenakistoscope.








William Horner

In 1834, Horner created the zoetrope- a cylinder with slits cut in the sides in which the viewer looks through as the cylinder spins to create a moving image.










Emile Reynaud

Emile Reynaud created the first projected animation of a cartoon, known as the praxinoscope, in 1877. 

Persistence of Vision

"Persistence of Vision" refers to the phenomenon where the retina retains an image for a brief split-second after the image was actually seen, and lends itself to animation by fostering the illusion of motion when we view images in closely-timed sequence to one another. We don't notice the fractional skips between images because that persistence fills in the momentary gap to make the motion seem seamless."

- http://animation.about.com/od/glossaryofterms/g/pervision_def.htm