The History of Animation

Animation is simply the illusion of movement, generated by a succession of quick-moving images. It can be in the format of both 2D and 3D and takes on a range of mediums. Today, animators' drawings and the backgrounds are either scanned into or drawn directly into a computer system. During the 20th century, cel (or hand-drawn) animation was primarily utilised. Each frame of the film was individually drawn, with slight differences to imitate animation. The animator’s drawings of the characters were traced onto transparent acetate sheets called cels, and the colours painted on the opposite side to the lines. Each of these character cels were placed onto the motion-picture film against the background and photographed using a rostrum camera. With this process becoming obsolete in the 21st century,

Animation can be traced back to early-human cave drawings, where the image of movement has tried to have been captured with animals having “extra” limbs to demonstrate movement. Ancient Egyptian structures can be found to contain murals of animation panels, often depicting daily life. While...