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Ancient cave paintings and petroglyphs suggest early attempts at visual storytelling through sequential art. -
Ancient Egyptians painted or carved scenes onto surfaces, depicting characters in slightly altered positions, suggesting movement and contributing to early forms of visual storytelling. -
Chinese shadow puppetry involves moving intricate cutout figures behind a screen, creating shadows and suggesting motion. -
Cristiaan Huygens begins to develop the magic lantern, a device that projects images from glass slides, laying the groundwork for early optical projection techniques. -
Descriptions of mechanical slides for the magic lantern begin to emerge, involving extra pieces of glass that could be moved by hand, enhancing the visual effects and interactivity of projected images. -
English scientist John Ayrton Paris invents the Thaumatrope, an optical toy that demonstrates the principle of persistence of vision. -
William George Horner invents the Zoetrope, a spinning cylindrical device with slits that creates the illusion of motion when viewed through the slits. -
Photographer Eadweard Muybridge conducts motion studies using multiple cameras to capture sequential images of people and animals in motion. -
The invention of flip books, which consist of a series of images that create the illusion of motion when flipped, further demonstrates animation principles. -
J. Stuart Blackton produces "Humorous Phases of Funny Faces," a pioneering animated film using stop-motion techniques. -
Emile Cohl pioneers cut-out animation with "En Route," using entirely cut-out shapes to save time in the animation process. -
Winsor McCay creates one of the earliest animated characters with personality in "Gertie the Dinosaur," using traditional hand-drawn animation. -
The film 'The Lost World' featured the collaboration of animator Willis O'Brien, who combined stop-motion animation with live-action sequences. -
The 1930s and 1940s witness the rise of iconic animation studios like Disney, Warner Bros., and MGM, producing beloved characters like Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny.