Understanding: Traditional Animation

With the rise of film, artists were able to begin recording their drawings to create the illusion of movement, which would become to be known as traditional animation. There were many artists that were fascinated with bringing their drawings to 'life' and there are also many artists that created some very influential animations.

One example is "Fantasmagori" created by Emile Cohl in 1908. Cohl created this animation by drawing out each frame and then photographing them onto negative film. This is one of the earliest examples of hand-drawn animation and is considered by many as the first ever animated cartoon.

Although Cohl's animation lacks a clear storyline is very evident of the influence it has had on animation throughout the years. This short film opened up eyes to the full potential of animation and the unlimited creativity that can be found within animation. Since then, traditional animation has been developed, experimented with and refined by many different artists. Although more advanced techniques of animation are available, traditional animation is still a big part of many animations that are created today and it is a very good stepping stone for learning how to animate.