Animation filmsare a source of great entertainment, especially for the young. They are usually set in an alternative universe where people fly, cats talk and leopards go to school. This is to say that creating animated pictures requires a lot of imagination and advanced technology for special effects.

From early times, artists drew cartoonish versions of things. For instance, according to Britannica an encyclopedia, there is a mythology about ancient Greek artist Pygmalion who made a cartoonish drawing of a woman who was so perfect that he fell in love with her.

However, cartoon artistry only stopped at drawing as the idea of television and motion pictures had not been conceived. The first fictional animated cartoon character was created in 1809 by British artist Thomas Rowlandson. The character was, according to History Today, an information website, Dr Syntax an elderly schoolmaster.

The first person to give personality and warmth to animated cartoons was French inventor Émile Reynaud. To achieve this, according to Britannica, Reynaud made use of hand-painted ribbons, mirrors and theatre screen. This was 1876. In 1892, Reynaud made an animated movie of 12 to 15 minutes titled Pauvre Pierrot, by projecting a strip of pictures onto a screen.

Émile Cohl, a French cartoonist and animator is credited with bringing the first advanced animated cartoon to life in 1908. Titled "Fantasmagorie,” the animated movie was made by placing drawings on illuminated glass plates. According to Atlantic, a media site, the animated cartoon film was made up of 700 drawings-stick figures which appeared as though they had been drawn using chalk.

There are many other writers, scientists and screen directors who tried their hand at animation. How Stuff Works, an education platform site, notes that cartoonist Stuart Blackton made the first standard motion animated cartoon picture film.

All the people who tried their hand at animation at different stages made a contribution to the development of animated film so that Walt Disney, an American entrepreneur, studied their work to make groundbreaking revolutions.

Some of Disney’s contributions include sound which he added in 1928, and synchronised music the following year. Both of these effects gave animated pictures a fullness and magic that had never been seen before. That’s why his cartoon character Mickey Mouse and those that followed became very popular.  This is according to Wikipedia, an encyclopaedia.

Animation films today are very popular with most children and some adults. They have great catchphrases, melodic songs and humour. They also provide an escape to another world.