Charles-Emile Reynaud

Charles-Emile Reynaud was a French inventor who was born 8th December 1844 and died 9th January 1918.

Reynaud was the first person to produce projected animation cartoons. He created the praxinoscope in 1877. This was an animation device which replaced the zoetrope. It was very alike to the zoetrope as they were both devices that used a strip of pictures placed around the inside of a spinning cylinder to create the illusion of a moving image. However, even though the zoetrope and the praxinoscope were very alike in the way they were made, the praxinoscope was an improvement on the zoetrope. This was because the praxinoscope replaced the narrow viewing slits which the zoetrope had with circular mirrors so the reflections of the pictures inside it appeared as if they were stationary whilst in position. So now as the wheel turned the viewer would see a rapid sequence of images to produce an illusion of motion. This would have been brighter and less distorted than the zoetrope.

Here is a picture of a zoetrope and then a praxinoscope to show you the differences between the two:

Reynaud also created his Theatre Optique in December 1888. This was a perfected version of his Praxinoscope Theatre which he created in 1878. This was created using a glass viewing screen which allowed a moving image to be covered over a changeable background. His first projection version of this creation was made in 1880 in which he used a lantern to project moving images into a small screen so it could be viewed by a larger audience, although it was still limited to twelve images. Reynaud's Theatre Optique where he managed to create a continuous series of moving images instead of just the twelve that he was limited to before. He created this by using glass plates that he individually painted by himself and mounting them in leather bands. Each of these bands were then connected by one big metal strip with a hole through it which allowed it to be placed on a pin on a rotating drum to align the image with his lantern that he used for projecting. These image strips were then mounted on a pair of wheels which are relatively similar to modern day film reels.

Here is a poster of Reynaud's first Theatre Optique show:

In 1892 Reynaud projected his first ever animated film for the viewing of the public. This was called Pauve Pierrot and was shown in the Musee Grevin, in Paris. This is also significant as it was the first time that film perforations were used.

Here is a picture of some of the more original film perforations that would have been used around Reynaud's time: