World, International and National Days.

October 28th International Animation Day.

Today is International Animation Day,

an art form most appreciated by a child,

as they sit and watch cartoon characters,

and let their imagination run wild.

Displayed through a projector are images,

showing different stages of movement,

at speed they give the illusion of movement,

especially with today's technological improvement.

Early cave paintings hundreds of thousands of years ago, show hunting in motion so these could be classed as a very early form of animation. Joseph Plateau, a Belgian, made a phenakistoscope in 1832, a spinning cardboard disc that created the illusion of movement when viewed in a mirror. In 1834 there was the zoetrope, a rotating drum lined with a band of pictures, this was invented by George Horner, the pictures in this could be changed. In 1876 Emile Reynaud, a Frenchman, made the same thing but his images could be projected before an audience. Today's characters are drawn by hand, then the background is next, the storyboards are then drawn showing the scenes based on the script. Animation software is used to create models of characters, props and sets and bring them to life.

© All Rights Reserved 2016