British Universities Film & Video Council

moving image and sound, knowledge and access

Winsor McCay: Animation Legend

Synopsis
A compilation of the work of Winsor McCay, one of the founding fathers of cinema animation and a key figure in the development of cinema. He became famous as a newspaper strip cartoonist, then developed a stage act which incorporated a series of ‘lightning sketches’, which in turn led to his creation of actual moving pictures which he incorporated into his vaudeville act. All ten of his films and fragments are included in this compilation.
LITTLE NEMO (1911, director J S Blackton, 10 min), partly hand-coloured, consisting of 4000 drawings plus a live action sequence.
HOW A MOSQUITO OPERATES (1912, 5 min), a line drawing (ink on rice paper) based on one of McCay’s ‘Rarebit Fiend’ strip cartoons.
GERTIE THE DINOSAUR (1914, 12 min), live action and animation, based on McCay’s strip cartoons. In his stage McCay, dressed as a ringmaster, gives orders to Gertie which would be dutifully obeyed. This mixture of live stage act and filmed animation was unlike any other public entertainment of the time.
THE SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA (1918, 10 min), the first animation based on an actual event. It took two years to complete and consisted of over 25,000 drawings.
THE CENTAURS (c1918-1921, 3 min), fragments.
GERTIE ON TOUR (c1918-1921 2 min), fragments.
FLIP’S CIRCUS (c1918-1921), 8 min; fragments.
BUG VAUDEVILLE (c1921, 13 min).
THE PET (c1921, 13 min).
THE FLYING HOUSE (c1921, 16 min); a collaboration between McCay and his son Robert.
THE FLYING HOUSE (c1921, 2 min); fragment.
Language
English
Country
United States
Medium
Video; Videocassette. VHS. b&w/col. 100 min.
Year of production
1911-21
Availability
Sale; 1996 sale: £15.99 (inclusive)
Subjects
Drama; Media studies
Keywords
animation films; early cinema; McCay, Winsor; music hall

Credits

Producer
Albert M Miller
Writer
Winsor McCay

Sections

Title
Bug Vaudeville

Title
Centaurs, The

Title
Flip’s circus

Title
Flying house, The

Title
Gertie on tour

Title
Gertie the dinosaur

Title
How a mosquito operates

Title
Little Nemo

Title
Pet, The

Title
Sinking of the ‘Lusitania’, The

Production Company

Name

CinémathËque Québecoise

Name

Lumivision

Name

USA

Distributor

Name

BFI Video

Email
video.films@bfi.org.uk
Web
http://www.bfi.org.uk External site opens in new window
Phone
020 7957 8957
Fax
020 7957 8968
Address
21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN
 

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