HISTORY OF THE FIRST ANIMATED MOVIES

Before digital animation arose in the beginning of this millennium, Charles-Émile Reynaud developed his projection praxinoscope for the “Théâtre Optique.” It was the first place to feature short animation films with transparent hand painted colorful pictures in the 1888 theaters.

The Kinetograph was the first film making device driven by battery and weighed more than 1,000 pounds. This camera made films of less then a minute.
The Kinetoscope/Kinetograph system was an invention of W.K.L. Dickson who devised an early motion picture camera under Thomas Edison who developed many electrical devices and also invented the light bulb.

At first Edison’s films featured short movies called “circus” or “vaudeville acts.” These were mostly satirical couplets, sung in Val-de-Vire (Vau-de-Vire), Normandy, France to popular figures in the 15th century.
They performed their plays in pantomime with lyrics and choruses set to popular tunes. In that time it was forbidden to perform legitimate drama by the authorities.

The Cinématographe was the first portable film making device that functioned as a camera and could be used to make extra prints of a film. This camera was developed for theaters in the early 18th century.
This system based on the Kinetograph and “Théâtre Optique” was produced and distributed all over the world in 1895 from which the early “Lumière films” were displayed.