Pencil To Animator

A thaumatrope is a toy that was popular in
Victorian times. A disk or card with a picture on
each side is attached to two pieces of string.
When the strings are twirled quickly between the
fingers the two pictures appear to combine into
a single image due to the phi phenomenon and
persistence of vision .
Examples of common thaumatrope pictures
include a bare tree on one side of the disk, and
its leaves on the other, or a bird on one side
and a cage on the other. They often also
included riddles or short poems, with one line
on each side. Thaumatropes were one of a
number of simple, mechanical optical toys that
used persistence of vision. They are recognised
as important antecedents of cinematography
and in particular of animation.
The coined name translates roughly as "wonder
turner", from Ancient Greek : θαῦμα "wonder" and
τρόπος "turn".
The invention of the thaumatrope is usually
credited to either John Ayrton Paris or Peter
Mark Roget  . Paris used one to
demonstrate persistence of vision to the Royal
College of Physicians in London in
1824  .He based his invention
on ideas of the astronomer John Herschel and
the geologist William Henry Fitton , and some
sources attribute the actual invention to Fitton
rather than Paris. Charles Babbage reported
being introduced to the concept by Herschel
and Fitton
In 2012, it was reported that a prehistoric
thaumatrope had been discovered in caves in
France, particularly the Chauvet Caves.
Thaumatropes in popular culture
In the film The Prestige , Michael Caine's
character repeatedly uses a thaumatrope as a
way of explaining persistence of vision.
In the Martin Scorsese film Hugo , the final scene
begins in the middle of a conversation about
cinema precursors, including the thaumatrope