Animated Optical Illusion Books

When Gallop: A Scanimation Picture Book came out in November of 2007 I thought it was a completely original, stunning new way of using books. Turns out that it's not as original as I thought, but it's still a cool way of introducing books to kids who are used to TV (ie, to things MOVING).

In 1975 the Magic Moving Picture Book came out, containing a ruled acetate screen which, once pulled over the pages makes "volcanoes erupt, houses go up in flames, a steamboat plows through the water, and 15 other illusions come to life".

A similar arrangement is used in the newer Magic Moving Images, from July of 2007, shown working in this video:



The difference between Gallop and these others? With Gallop no hand held acetate is required to make the pictures come to life. The act of opening the pages pulls one across the images, making them move, and making them more child friendly as a result.



It's incredible what can be done with books.