The combination of moving picture 'toys' and vaudeville exhibition devices such as the magic lantern was inevitable and one of the first successful attempts at such a marriage came in the form of the Praxinoscope.
Patented in 1877, the Praxinoscope was the result of work carried out by Frenchman Emile Reynaud. In essence the Praxinoscope was an adaptation of Horner’s Zoetrope which at the time had become extremely popular.