Zoetrope Replica

About this Zoetrope

The zoetrope was one of the earliest movie toys and was extremely popular in the latter half of the 19th century. It consisted of a slotted cylinder through with one views paper animated movie strips. As the cylinder spins the user looks through the slits at the pictures on the opposite side of the cylinder's interior. The scanning of the slits keeps the pictures from simply blurring together so that the user sees a rapid succession of images producing the illusion of motion, the equivalent of a motion picture (see our video above).

Recently, optical toys and devices like the ones sold here are popping up in movies like The Woman in Black, Oz The Great and Powerful and Jack the Giant Slayer. And we supplied Disney with our very own Zoetrope Replicas and Phenakistoscope Sets to use in The Long Ranger and Saving Mr. Banks.

About THIS Zoetrope

This is a fine replica of an 19th century Zoetrope. Handcrafted with attention to detail; built to last-made to be used.

This Zoetrope includes...

• Fully functional
• A beautiful top with a spinning knob that makes spinning it more fun
• A bright LED light that attaches to the top to light up the animation—this feature adds a lot to the device!
• Hardwood leg
• Cylinder is made of thick stiff Eco-Friendly faux leather with decorative brass nails
• Comes with 14 antique animation strip reproductions and printable strips for you to make your own animation, a booklet of animation instruction and historical background about the toy
• Smooth ball bearing spinning: spins 10X longer then other zoetropes
• Closes together nicely for storage
• Measures 9 1/2 inches (24 cm) high X 5 1/4 inches (13.5 cm) in diameter

View of the 14 antique animated strips: