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Charles-Émile Reynaud, a French inventor achieved importance in the sphere of cinema prehistory for his Praxinoscope, an improvement of the Zoetrope, and especially its development* for use in his Théâtre Optique (optical show), which he presented from 1892 at the Musée Grévin in Paris. Using perforated film, and hand painted images this exhibition of 'moving drawings' was a forerunner of the animated cartoon.

Source: The Oxford Companion to Film

Praxinoscope (Prax*in"o*scope) n. [Gr. action + -scope.] (Opt.) An instrument, similar to the phenakistoscope, for presenting to view, or projecting upon a screen, images the natural motions of real objects.

Source: Websters Encylopedia of 1913

* The inventor's advanced Praxinoscope used two projectors: One cast a permanent background scene on the screen; the other projected a reel of perforated, hand-drawn moving characters in the foreground. The animated drawings passed in front of a lens and projected off a mirror onto the screen. One cartoon might involve more than 600 painstakingly drawn images on a 140-foot ribbon. Reynaud's projector was large and unwieldy, with a drive about 3 feet in diameter.

When Louis Lumière saw his Théâtre Optique in action, they promptly made use of several of his ideas, critics say. Years later, in a fit of depression, presumably brought on by the Lumières' seven-figure revenues, Reynaud threw all his inventions in the river. Only two 'cartoons' survive.

In 1996, as part of the its film centenary celebrations, a recreation of the Théâtre Optique was staged by the Museum of The Moving Image using a Praxinoscope constructed from contemporary drawings.

Source: tba

1888: Charles-Emile Reynaud créé le Théâtre Optique. Il peint des centaines d'images sur un ruban de celluloïd transparent et perforé. En les projetant à bonne vitesse sur un mur, il crée l'illusion du mouvement.

Source: http://www.pratique.fr/~chtrain/Histoire.html

Projection Praxinoscope - 1889 to 1900

Devised by Charles-Émile Reynaud - "band form Praxinoscope" - British Patent 2295, February 8, 1889 - also called Praxinoscope Projecting Theatre or Optical Theatre or Theatriaxinoscope.

Hopwood, 'Living Pictures', 1899.

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Projection system developed by Charles-Émile Reynaud, - based on his earlier Praxinoscope and Praxinoscope Theatre. It utilised a combination of lamps and mirrors to project images on a screen. The images were hand painted on a strip of individual celluloid plates. A subsidiary 'magic lantern', projected a stationary background on the same screen.

The Projection Praxinoscope had however one defect, the spools of film had to be manually rotated by a skilled operator and often Reynaud had to be his own projectionist. In 1892 he signed a contract with a well known wax museum, Musée Grévin which provided many different attractions and Reynaud ran his The´ater Optique daily to enthusiastic audiences.

He exhibited his first 'films', his Pantomimes Lumineuses, on October 28, 1892. Throughout the years he improved his machine and in 1900, when his 'films' had stopped being shown, it is estimated that over half a million people had viewed them.

Soon, a new style of film began, 'lumiere style', where photographs were used instead of drawings. Not far from Grevin Museum, the public no longer wanted to see the 'old' style of 'films'. Reynaud tried desperately to compete, but failed miserably. With his stubbornness not to change to the 'lumiere style' he soon went out of business. In 1900, Reynaud now poverty stricken destroyed the three Projection Praxinoscopes he owned and threw all but two of his seven 'films' into the Seine river.

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In 1888, Frenchman Charles-Émile Reynaud patented his apparatus called the Projecting Praxinoscope. From 1892, he used this apparatus in his The´ater Optique in the Paris Wax Museum. He used it for screening 'films' made by himself.

Hand-painted, coloured pictures on celluloid plates were stuck in between two paper bands reinforced by steel sheet strips and bordered with a textile edging. In the middle of the band there were perforation holes ensuring its precise transport through the apparatus. The length of one band was about 50 metres. A performance comprising three such bands lasted about 40 minutes and until 1895 there were 4000 such performances.

With the introduction of the cinematograph by the Lumiere Brothers, the public interest decreased and in 1900 Reynaud was forced to close his theatre. He did not manage to cope with this fact and he destroyed his three Projection Praxinoscopes and threw the 'films' into Seine. A fragment of one accidentally saved film 17 frames long was presented by the inventor's son Paul Reynaud to the National Museum of Prague where it is kept as a document of man's ingenuity and perseverance.

The National Museum of Prague

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