Praxinoscope notes

The Praxinoscope is a typical optical toy from the 19th century. It consists of a cylinder and a strip of paper showing twelve frames for animation. As the cylinder rotates, stationary mirrors in the centre reveal a ‘single image’ in motion. The Praxinoscope was invented in 1876 by Charles-Émile Reynaud (1844-1918), a Paris science teacher, who marked all his examples ‘E.R.’. The toy became a great commercial success and won recognition at the great exhibitions of the period.

What’s in a name?

Like so many of its competitors, the Praxinoscope had a fancy classical name. It was formed from the ancient Greek πρᾶξις  meaning ‘action’, plus σκοπεῖν meaning ‘to look at’.

Reynaud took this idea and turned it into theatrical entertainment. Up until this point animation toys had been limited to repetitive images. Reynaud noted this and devised a method of painting a series of pictures on small glass plates which were joined together in a single flexible strip. The animated characters were projected onto a screen from behind.

The effect he achieved was successful but was jerky and slow. In addition the labour required to draw the strips meant that Reynaud’s films could not easily be reproduced.

Reynaud’s Theatre Optique came remarkably close to the cinema - all that it lacked was the addition of photography.