1. ZOETROPES
The zoetrope was invented by William George Horner in 1834. It was an early form of motion picture projector that includes a drum containing a set of still images, that was turned in a circular fashion in order to create the illusion of motion. The zoetrope was originally named the 'Daedatelum' but a French inventor by the name Pierre Desvignes then renamed his version of it the zoetrope. A series of images are drawn in this drum-type device and once it's spun, it creates this illusion of motion. It has slots between each picture which is used to see through. More than one person can see the moving images at a time. These images then represent different movements. Here's an example below:
2. EADWEARD MUYBRIDGE
Eadweard Muggeridge was born in 1830 and died in 1904. He was born and raised in Kingston Upon Thames, England and where he then would leave to explore America at the age of 20. This was mainly because his current home had became too boring for him to reside in. When he settled in America, he first started working in a bookstore but after this stage in his life, he moved to San Francisco in 1955. This is where he first got a taste of photography and where he decided that he should change his name to Muybridge. After his time in America, he went back to England as a photographer and was seen as an artist with the camera.
3. LOTTE REINIGER
Lotte Reiniger, when mentioned at all, is most known for her feature-length silhouette film in 1926, The Adventures of Prince Achmed. At the time, this was a brilliant feature, a wonderful film full of charming comedy and included lyrical romance, vigorous and exciting battles, eerie magic, and truly sinister, frightening evil. The original symphonic score by Wolfgang Zeller, one of the great film composers.
4. PAT SULLIVAN AND OTTO MESSMER
Felix the Cat was the first animated character to ever become so famous that he attracted a movie sized audience. Felix the Cat is one of the most noticeable characters in animation, and was highly popular during the silent era of film. This popular was created by Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer and the cartoon cat actually became more popular than pop stars at one period of time. Starting of in comics, he then made his way onscreen. Felix the Cat was very revolutionary to the world of animation as he was the first cartoon animation to be broadcast on TV.
5. Walt Disney
Walt Disney has definitely got to be one of the most famous animators of all time. He is one of the great minds that created Mickey Mouse which became the biggest characters in cartoon ever and still is to this day. He then created several short animated films and a few feature films. Examples of these movies are Bambi and Cinderella. When Disney died, his legacy lived on and from this, his animations, resorts and awards stay big today.
