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How cartoons are made... A notable contribution in the development of animation...

Item # 722560

October 14, 1916

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, New York, Oct. 14, 1916

* Noteworthy contribution in animation history (see background below)

The entire front page is taken up with an illustration captioned: "Animated Cartoons In the Making: Filming the Successive Drawings." showing a man doing just that. An inside page is entirely devoted to: "Animated Cartoons in the Making--How 16,000 Drawings are Prepared & Photographed in Producing 1000 Feet of Motion Picture Film" with related photos as well. Note also the nice full page Cadillac car ad.
This gets back to the earliest period of cartoon making for motion pictures and is a significant issue for any collector of cartoon, animation or film history.
Sixteen pages, discrete library stamp at a top corner, a slightly rough bottom margin, in good condition.

Background: The October 14, 1916 issue of Scientific American holds notable historical significance in the early development of animated cartoons. Its feature article, “Animated Cartoons in the Making: Filming the Successive Drawings,” along with a related inside article, documents the animation process at a formative moment in the medium’s history. Appearing just two years after the 1914 cel-animation patent and more than a decade before Disney’s rise, the articles explain and visually illustrate how sequential drawings were photographed to create motion. Scientific American’s coverage reflects early animation’s recognition as a serious technological and industrial innovation, not merely entertainment. Such detailed, contemporary explanations are rare and valued by animation historians, as little original production material from this era survives. While it does not introduce a famous character, this issue serves as an important early record of animation techniques and studio practices during the medium’s transition from individual artistry to standardized production.