ɪnspˈaɪɚd baɪ bˈoʊθ jˌʊɹɹəpˈiən ʃˈædoʊ plˈeɪ ˈɑːmbɚz tʃˈɪnɔɪsᵻz ænd jˌʊɹɹəpˈiən sˌɪlʊwˈɛt kˈʌɾɪŋ ˌɛɾɪˈɛn də sˌɪlʊwˈɛt ænd jˈoʊhɑːn kˈæspɑːɹ lˈæveɪɾɚ, ðə mˈiːdiəm ʌv sˌɪlʊwˈɛt ˌænɪmˈeɪʃən ɪn fˈɪlm sˈiːmz tə hæv ɪnvˈɛntᵻd ˌɪndᵻpˈɛndəntli baɪ sˈɛvɹəl pˈiːpəl æɾ ɚɹˈaʊnd ðə sˈeɪm tˈaɪm, ðɪ ˈɜːlɪɪst nˈoʊn bˌiːɪŋ ðə ʃˈɔːɹt sˈʌbdʒɛkt ðə spˈoːɹɾɪŋ mˈaɪs nˈaɪntiːnhˈʌndɹɪd nˈaɪn baɪ bɹˈɪɾɪʃ fˈɪlmeɪkɚ tʃˈɑːɹlz ˈɑːɹmstɹɔŋ.
Inspired by both European shadow play (ombres chinoises) and European silhouette cutting (Etienne de Silhouette and Johann Caspar Lavater), the medium of silhouette animation in film seems to have invented independently by several people at around the same time, the earliest known being the short subject The Sporting Mice (1909) by British filmmaker Charles Armstrong.