From Spinning Discs to Storyboards: How Animation Began

 When we watch an animated movie or play a video game today, it’s easy to forget how far the art of animation has come. Smooth characters, dramatic camera moves, and expressive faces are the result of centuries of experimentation. To understand animation, it helps to look back at the earliest attempts people made to bring still images to life.

Pre-Cinema Inventions

Long before film or digital tools existed, artists and inventors were fascinated with the illusion of motion. Three devices stand out:


Thaumatrope – This was a small disc with a picture on each side, attached to strings. When spun quickly, the images seemed to blend together. For example, a bird on one side and a cage on the other would appear as a bird inside a cage. This was one of the first toys to show how persistence of vision works—the way our eyes and brain hold onto an image for a fraction of a second, making pictures appear to move.


Zoetrope – Invented in the 1800s, the zoetrope was a cylinder with slits along the sides. Inside was a strip of drawings. When spun and viewed through the slits, the images appeared to come alive. People saw running horses, dancing figures, or even a ball bouncing up and down. This device was a direct ancestor of film reels and animation loops.




Phantasmagoria – Less of a toy and more of a theatrical experience, the phantasmagoria used lanterns to project spooky moving images onto walls or smoke. In the 1700s and 1800s, audiences were thrilled (and sometimes terrified) by glowing ghosts and skeletons. This early special effect showed how projected imagery could create powerful emotions.

These pre-cinema technologies may look simple today, but they opened the door for animation by showing that a sequence of still images could create the illusion of life.

Principles of Animation: Squash and Stretch



Fast forward to the 20th century, when studios like Disney refined animation into a professional art form. One of the most important discoveries was the principle of Squash and Stretch.

Imagine a rubber ball bouncing. When it hits the ground, it squashes down. When it rebounds into the air, it stretches out. Without these changes in shape, the ball would look stiff and unnatural. Squash and stretch communicate weight, flexibility, and even emotion. A character’s face might squash when surprised or stretch when yelling.

This principle became the foundation for all character animation, from classic cartoons like Steamboat Willie to modern 3D films like Toy Story or Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

From Animation to Storyboards

Once animators understood how to bring drawings to life, they faced another challenge: how to plan stories visually. That’s where storyboards came in. A storyboard is like a comic strip of a film. Each panel shows what the camera will see.

Understanding camera shots is key to making storyboards work:

  • Extreme Wide Shot (EWS): Shows a large environment, like a desert or cityscape. Useful for setting the scene.

  • Wide Shot (WS): Shows a character from head to toe, giving context and body language.

  • Medium Shot (MS): Frames the character from the waist up, often used in conversations.

  • Close-Up (CU): Focuses on the face or a detail, showing emotion or importance.

  • Extreme Close-Up (ECU): Pushes in even further—for example, showing only the eyes to build intensity.

StudioBinder example of common CAMERA SHOT TYPES


By combining these shots, animators can guide the audience’s emotions and attention. Just as squash and stretch make characters feel alive, smart storyboard composition makes stories feel clear and powerful.

Why It Matters

Animation isn’t just about moving drawings—it’s about storytelling. From the spinning discs of the zoetrope to the planned shots of a storyboard, the goal has always been the same: to create the illusion of life and share ideas with an audience. As you explore Wick Editor and other tools, remember that you’re part of this long tradition of experimentation. Every frame you draw is a step in the same journey that began centuries ago.

Popular posts from this blog

Acting in Animation: Bringing Characters to Life

Image
 When we watch a great animated film, we often forget that the characters on screen are just drawings, sprites, or digital models. They feel alive because animators use the principles of acting in animation . Animators are sometimes called “actors with pencils” because they communicate thoughts and emotions through poses, timing, and exaggeration rather than spoken words. This week’s assignment focuses on learning how to show emotions and reactions in your animations. The key to acting in animation is clarity. The audience must be able to instantly read how a character feels, even if the sound is off. To do this, animators use poses and silhouettes . A strong pose shows emotion through the whole body, not just the face. If you filled the character in with solid black, the pose should still tell you whether the character is scared, happy, or surprised. That’s called the silhouette test . Another important idea is exaggeration . In real life, emotions may be subtle, but in animat...
Read more

🎬 From Flipbooks to Pixels: A Short History of Animation

Image
The Wild Robot promotional still ( SOURCE ) When most people think of animation , they imagine colorful movies, TV shows, or video games. But animation has much older roots, beginning with simple experiments to create the illusion of movement. ( SOURCE ) The magic of animation works because of something called persistence of vision . Our eyes and brains hold onto an image for a fraction of a second after it disappears. When we see a series of still images quickly, our brains connect them together as movement. That’s the foundation of every animation you’ve ever watched. 2-Frame Flipbook animation ( SOURCE ) Flipbook Animation ( SOURCE ) One of the earliest forms of animation was the flipbook . By drawing slightly different pictures on each page and flipping them quickly, people could see a ball bounce or a stick figure walk. It was simple, but it proved that pictures could move. Mickey Mouse cartoon, Walt Disney Studios ( SOURCE ) As animation developed, artists invented new techniqu...
Read more