A closer look
The early Zoetrope was fun until the flickering gave you a Victorian migraine. Enter Émile Reynaud in 1877 with the Praxinoscope. By replacing the dreadful viewing slits with an inner circle of mirrors, the image suddenly stabilized into a smooth, bright loop. He then shoved this contraption into a wooden box with a glass viewing window and painted background, creating the Praxinoscope Théâtre. It was the ultimate 19th-century home entertainment system, assuming your idea of a blockbuster was watching a drawn clown juggle forever.
