Gertie the Dinosaur (1914)

The cartoonist, Winsor McCay, brings the Dinosaurus back to life in the figure of his latest creation, Gertie the Dinosaur.

Director:

Winsor McCay

Writer:

Winsor McCay

Stars:

Winsor McCay, George McManus, Roy L. McCardell

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview:
Winsor McCay	...	Winsor McCay
George McManus	...	George McManus
Roy L. McCardell	...	Roy McCardell
Thomas A. 'Tad' Dorgan	...	Thomas A. 'Tad' Dorgan

Storyline

Winsor McCay bets another cartoonist that he can animate a dinosaur. So he draws a big friendly herbivore called Gertie. Then he gets into his own picture. Gertie walks through the picture, eats a tree, meets her creator, and takes him carefully on her back for a ride.

---

Plot Keywords:

national film registry | animal character name as title | three word title | gertie the dinosaur character | silent | 

---

Taglines:

Gertie: she's a scream. She eats, drinks and breathes! She laughs and cries. Dances the tango, answers questions and obeys every command! Yet, she lived millions of years before man inhabited this earth and has never been seen since!!

---

Genres:

Animation | Short | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film required Winsor McCay and his assistant John A. Fitzsimmons (who traced the backgrounds) to create 10,000 drawings, which they inked on rice paper and mounted on cardboard. Although later animators created techniques (such as the "slash system" and especially celluloid-over-paper) that would eliminate the need to redraw backgrounds or stable objects, McCay was working without precedents. Consequently, he chose to redraw the entire picture-- Gertie and the richly-detailed background-- for each frame.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Gentleman: We've got a puncture. Let's go into the museum while he fixes it.

---

Connections

Featured in Pieces of Silver (1989)

User Reviews

Almost 90 years later, it still works.

Winsor McCay did a great many things of which he could be justifiably proud, but I think Gertie the Dinosaur ranks at the top of that lengthy list of accomplishments and I suspect McCay may have felt the same way, for it is still remarkable all these years later. Gertie is more life-like than some people I know! Funny, believable, touching and fascinating, sometimes all at once. This is one of the cornerstones of modern animation and also succeeds on its own terms and merits as both art and entertainment. Winsor McCay grew unhappy and somewhat disgruntled and disillusioned as animation became, in his eyes, more commercial and less artistically inclined. I've often wondered what McCay would have made of the independents, such as Will Vinton and Bill Plympton, among others, and the different forms, like Claymation and the stop-motion work of George Pal and others. I hope he would be pleased with at least some of the work done in the last 90 or so years. An absolute gem. If you haven't seen Gertie, I envy you for the treat you have in store. She's a delight. Well worth getting. Most highly recommended.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

None English

Release Date:

28 December 1914 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gertie

Filming Locations:

American Museum of Natural History - Central Park West at 79th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

McCay, Vitagraph Company of America

Technical Specs

Runtime:

12 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1