As a kid, most of us grew up with some sort of T.V. in the living room or kitchen where we would always watch cartoons while snacking or having dinner or maybe not eating anything. These cartoons are a form of animation. Animation is a huge influence on us since we've been seeing it almost for our entire lives.
The original animation was the magic box (1650) that would display images in a fashion to make them look like a character was doing an action. From there is started to grow into longer animations telling short stories with crude pictures. Eventually those curse pictures turned into vibrant colors, much better designed and much longer. Eventually going to 3-D and lasting hours long.
Animation has almost lasted 400 years and is still growing and getting better every day. In the link at the end, it talks all about how animation has evolved from the magic box to Walt Disney on the big screens.
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