Charles-Émile Reynaud - Pioneer

Charles-Émile Reynaud (8 December 1844 – 9 January 1918) created the first projected animated cartoon films. Reynaud created the Theatre Optique in December 1888 and the Praxinoscope in 1877.

The praxinoscope is an improvement to the zoetrope. A series of images, one slightly different to the other, are placed inside a drum. The difference between this and the zoetrope, is that instead of viewing the images through the slits, the images would reflect onto mirrors which are placed in the centre of the drum. Through this different method, the result of using the mirrors were that it proved to be defined, brighter and more effective.

Later on reynaud developed the  praxinoscope into the theatre optique. He wanted to expand his invention and present his moving images onto a screen. The praxinoscope only produced about a second of animation. Through using the theatre optique, reynaud was able to produce a longer amount of animation as he could use a long roll of film.