Pencil To Animator

A zoetrope is a device that produces the
illusion of motion from a rapid succession of
static pictures. The term zoetrope is from the
Greek words ζωή zoe , "life" and τρόπος tropos,
"turn". It may be taken to mean "wheel of life".
The zoetrope consists of a cylinder with slits
cut vertically in the sides. On the inner surface
of the cylinder is a band with images from a set
of sequenced pictures. As the cylinder spins,
the user looks through the slits at the pictures
across. The scanning of the slits keeps the
pictures from simply blurring together, and the
user sees a rapid succession of images,
producing the illusion of motion.

The earliest known zoetrope was created in
China around 180 AD by the inventor Ting Huan
(丁緩). Ting Huan's device, driven by
convection , hung over a lamp and was called
chao hua chich kuan (the pipe which makes
fantasies appear). The rising air turned vanes
at the top, from which translucent paper or mica
panels hung. When the device was spun at the
right speed, pictures painted on the panels
would appear to move.
The modern zoetrope was invented in 1833
by British mathematician William George
Horner. He called it the "daedalum", most likely
as a reference to the Greek myth of Daedalus,
though it was popularly referred to as "the
wheel of the devil". The daedalum failed to
become popular until the 1860s, when it was
patented by both English and American makers,
including Milton Bradley . The American
developer William F. Lincoln named his toy the
"zoetrope", meaning "wheel of life". Almost
simultaneously, similar inventions were made
independently in Belgium by Joseph Antoine
Ferdinand Plateau (the phenakistoscope ) and in
Austria by Simon von Stampfer (the
stroboscope ).
The zoetrope worked on the same principles as
the phenakistoscope, but the pictures were
drawn on a strip which could be set around the
bottom third of a metal drum, with the slits now
cut in the upper section of the
drum.  The drum was
mounted on a spindle and spun; viewers
looking through the slits would see the cartoon
strip form a moving image. The faster the drum
was spun, the smoother the animation
appeared.