Pioneers of Animation

Apart from Joseph Plateau, there were many other pioneers that made the history of animation. 

William Horner: 

• A mathematician and school headmaster from Bristol
• Born in 1786
• At the ages of 14 he became an assistant master at Kingswood school and then became a headmaster 4 years later
• Created his own school called 'The Seminary' which he then created Zoetrope, which he used to teach maths to his students.

Source: The Bill Douglas Centre for the History of cinema and popular culture; 2002; http://www.exeter.ac.uk/bdc/young_bdc/animation/animation4.htm

Charles-Emile Reynauds:

• Born in 1844
• His father taught him precision mechanics this meant that he was able to become a professor and teach physics.
• His mother taught him to draw 
• He created the praxinoscope in 1877. Furthermore Reynauds created and developed the Theatre Optique, which was a moving picture show. 
• On 28 October 1892 he projected his first animation fim called 'Pauvre Pierrot'
• His work was important to the development of cinematography. 

Source: Youtube; uploaded by Change Before Going Productions; Sept 26, 2012; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib3xjIWiYZY

Eadweard Muybridge Edison:

• Born in Kingston in 1830
• Was an English photographer
• Known as the 'Grandfather of motion pictures'
• Edison began to experiment in 1872, with photographs of animals grouped together but failed due him not having a fast shutter.
• 'The horse in Motion' (1882)  which was the first moving pictures therefore leading to modern cinemas
• He developed the Zoopraxiscope in 1879 

Source: National Library of Scotland; 2009; http://www.nls.uk/about-us/publications/discover-nls/2009/muybridge/pop-ups/horse-in-motion---eadweard-muybridge

Lumiere Brothers:

• Antione Lumiere (their father) run a photography firm and was a painter.
• They went to La Martiniere which was the largest technical school
• 'La Mer' was one of their films which was created in 1895
• They based their work on everyday life
• They were known as the "the fathers of film making" 

Source: Youtube; Uploaded by Change Before Going Productions; May 12 2012; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAbTn3KzkgY

George Pal: 

• Born on February 1st 1908
• Pal went to Buddpest Academy 
• He invented the 'Pal-Doll"
• He began to work for paramount pictures when he was 32
• Pal created a series called the 'Puppetoons' which was based on his 'Pal-Doll' in the 1940's
• The film Destination Moon which he created in 1950 was given a oscar for special effects
• His most famous film was 'The Time Machine' in 1960
• 6 Oscars mostly for special effects

Source: Cartoon Brew; Article written by Amid Amidi; Oct 31 2008; http://www.cartoonbrew.com/classic/philips-revue-of-1938-by-george-pal-8387.html

Willis O'Brien:

• Born on March 2nd 1886
• Animated 'King Kong' 1933
• He was a newspaper cartoonist and created short films in 1914
• He won a oscar in 1950 on the movie of "Mighty Joe young"
• He inspired the generation of 'effect artist'

Source: Youtube; uploaded by tgpsub; Jan 13 2008; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CSLN23h3Lo

Ray Harryhausen:

• Parents let him follow his dream career
• Learnt how to create model miniature at grammar school
• He started to create his own short films and replicated a few of the king kong moments within his films.
• One of his films which he created was 'The story of Hansel and Gretel' which was created in 1951
• Harryhausen inspired the generation of film directors

Source: Youtube; uploaded by toongrr; Sept 7 2013; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8I5iYXSsIo

Jan Svankmajer:

• Was born in 1934
• He studied at the institute of applied arts and Prague academy of performing arts
• He was involved in the Theatre of Masks and the Black Theatre, which is where he was introduced to film 
• One of most celebrated animators in the world
• One of his most famous films were Alice in 1988
• He is a surrealist film maker

Source: Anadromous Life; Svankmajer Effect #1; Sept 7 2012; http://theanadromist.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/the-svankmajer-effect-1/