1876 in animation

Years in animation:	1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879
Centuries:	18th century · 19th century · 20th century
Decades:	1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s
Years:	1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879

Events in 1876 in animation.

Events

• November 9: The English inventor Wordsworth Donisthorpe files a patent for a film camera, which he named a "kinesigraph."[1] The camera would have a mechanism to move photographic plates one by one past a lens and shutter to be exposed for the necessary time and then dropped or carried into a receiver. The recorded images would be printed at equal distances apart on a strip of paper. The strip was to be wound between cylinders and carried past the eye of the observer, with a stroboscopic device to expose each picture momentarily. Such photographic strips only became commercially available several years later and Donisthorpe seems to have been unable to produce motion pictures at this stage.[2] Donisthorpe reportedly produced a model of this camera around the late 1870s.[3] In 1889, Donisthorpe completed his work on an improved version of the camera and the projector necessary to show the motion frames.[4]In 1890, Donisthorpe and his cousin W. C. Crofts created a moving picture of London's Trafalgar Square.[5]
• Specific date unknown:
  • The popular science magazine La Nature publishes a series of articles about optical illusion devices. The articles inspire the magic lantern performer Charles-Émile Reynaud to start developing his own animation device, the praxinoscope. He received a patent for his device in 1877. [6][7][8]
  • The French astronomer Pierre Janssen introduces the chronophotography instrument Janssen revolver to the Académie des Sciences. He suggested to the Académie the possibility of using his apparatus for the study of animal locomotion, especially of the birds, because of the rapidity of the movement of their wings.[9][10] Etienne-Jules Marey would later use Janssen's invention as the primary inspiration for his chronophotographic gun (1882), a precursor to the camcorder.The functioning of the chronophotographic gun is very similar to a normal rifle, with grip, canon and rotating drum, except that it does not carry bullets but photographic plates with which it caught the light at high speed.[11][12]
  • In 1876, Hurter and Driffield began pioneering work on the light sensitivity of photographic emulsions in 1876. Their work enabled the first quantitative measure of film speed to be devised.[13][14][15]

Births

June

• June 22: Raymond Ditmars, American herpetologist and documentary filmmaker on the topic of natural history (pioneer in the use of stop-motion animation, timelapse, macro photography, and sound film in documentary films), (d. 1942).[16]

July

• July 18: Anson Dyer, English director, screenwriter, animator, and actor (directed Adolf Hitler-themed animated short films for Gaumont-British, including The British Lion Awakes, Hitler On His Front Line, Hitler's Peace Pudding, Hitler Dances To Stalin's Tune, and Run, Adolf, Run), (d. 1962).[17][18]
• July 20: Kitazawa Rakuten, Japanese manga artist and nihonga-style painter considered the first professional cartoonist in Japan and the founding father of modern manga, (trained many young manga artists and animators, including Hekoten Shimokawa, the creator of Japan's first cartoon animation, (d. 1955).[19][20][21]

Deaths

May

• May 7: Count Franz Graf von Pocci, German courtier, children's writer, illustrator, and puppeteer founding director of the Munich Marionette Theatre, (reportedly performed shadow plays, one of the precursors of silhouette animation), dies at age 69.[22][23][24][25]
• Specific date unknown: Thomas Mann Baynes, English artist and lithographer (his works include phenakistiscope discs, for use by the first widespread animation device which created a fluent illusion of motion.)[26][27]

References

1. Herbert, Stephen; Coe, Brian (2000). "Who's Who of Victorian Cinema". Retrieved 2009-05-10.
2. Herbert, Stephen (1998). Industry, Liberty, and a Vision: Wordsworth Donisthorpe's Kinesigraph. The Projection Box. ISBN 978-0-9523941-3-6.
3. "Cinema Studies". 1960.
4. Herbert, S. (1998). Industry, Liberty, and a Vision: Wordsworth Donisthorpe's Kinesigraph. London: The Projection Box. ISBN 0-9523941-3-8.
5. Burns, Paul T. "The History of The Discovery of Cinematography – 1885 – 1889". Retrieved 2009-05-10. and "Ten Remaining Frames of Donisthorpe's 1890 'Trafalgar Square' Footage Come To Life" (GIF). Retrieved 2009-05-10.
6. Bendazzi 1994, p. 4.
7. Myrent 1989, p. 192-193.
8. "Le Praxinoscope". emilereynaud.fr (in French). Retrieved 2019-07-25.
9. "Revolver fotográfico | IDIS". proyectoidis.org. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
10. Herbert, Stephen (1996). Who's Who of Victorian Cinema. British Film Institute.
11. "Étienne Jules Marey" (PDF). Retrieved 28 June 2024.
12. "Rifle fotográfico". 9 September 2008.
13. Day Lance McNeil Ian (2002). Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology. Routledge. p. 631. ISBN 1-134-65020-5.
14. Hurter, Ferdinand & Driffield, Vero Charles (1890) Photochemical Investigations and a New Method of Determination of the Sensitiveness of Photographic Plates, J. Soc. Chem. Ind. May 31, 1890.
15. Mees, C. E. Kenneth (May 1954). "L. A. Jones and his Work on Photographic Sensitometry" (PDF). Image, Journal of Photography of George Eastman House. III (5). Rochester, N.Y.: International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House Inc.: 34–36. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
16. Adler, Kraig (1989). Contributions to the History of Herpetology. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR).
17. "BFI Screenonline: Dyer, Anson (1876-1962) Biography". www.screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
18. Pingitore, Silvia (2022-04-16). "La Rosa di Bagdad vs Cinderella, cartoon mystery & similarities: was Walt Disney inspired by an Italian movie you never heard of?". the-shortlisted.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
19. Osamu Tezuka, Tezuka Osamu Manga no Ougi (Secrets of Osamu Tezuka manga), pp. 16-27, ISBN 4-06-175991-4
20. Isao Shimizu, Manga Tanjō (Birth of manga), ISBN 4-642-05475-8
21. Isao Shimizu, Zusetsu Manga no Rekishi (Illustrated history of manga), ISBN 4-309-72611-9
22. Bad Toelz, The History of the Bad Toelz Marionette Theatre, p. 1
23. Dreyer, A (1907). Franz Pocci, der Dichter. Berlin: Künstler und Kinderfruend.
24. Lucas, A (1929). Franz Pocci und das Kinderbuch. Künstler und Kinderfruend.
25. Jouvanceau, Pierre (2004). The Silhouette Film. Pagine di Chiavari. trans. Kitson. Genoa: Le Mani. ISBN 88-8012-299-1.
26. H. L. Mallalieu (1986). The Dictionary of British Watercolour Artists up to 1920. Antique Collectors' Club. p. 34. ISBN 1-85149-025-6.
27. Prince, Stephen (2010). "Through the Looking Glass: Philosophical Toys and Digital Visual Effects" (PDF). Projections. 4 (2). Berghahn Journals. doi:10.3167/proj.2010.040203. ISSN 1934-9688.

Sources

• Bendazzi, Giannalberto (1994). Cartoons: One hundred years of cinema animation. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253209374.
• Myrent, Glenn (1989). "Emile Reynaud: First Motion Picture Cartoonist". Film History. 3 (3). Indiana University Press: 191–202. doi:10.2307/3814977. JSTOR 3814977.