From dustjacket: For the professional artist animated cartoons have opened up a new field of endeavor, while to the general public the little animated figures and dancing letters are one the most interesting and mysterious features of any motion-picture performance. This book has been written for both artist and public.
It reviews the development of motion pictures from the toy stage of the old thaumatrope and the beginnings of animated cartoons. It explains, for instance, how simply the letters in a trick title can be made to dance about the screen and finally fall into proper place in the announcement; also the processes, apparatus, photography, and other technical matters - how movement in the human figure is obtained - notes on animal locomotion - dissolving scenes - title balloons - how, by ingenious contrivances, the actual number of drawings required to produce a given effect of motion is lessened - the importance of the animated diagram for educational purposes, etc., etc.