This is an animation I created for my Survey of Animation class. The assignment was to create something inspired by an animator that we watched in class. I chose to create my animation after Winsor McCay, the creator of Gertie the Dinosaur and many other revolutionary pieces.
This is my research paper that went along with the animation:
Winsor McCay has influenced the way animation is created from the beginning. His influence came through his early life comics, some of the films he created later in his life, and the personified qualities of his characters. Winsor McCay pushed the boundaries of what was possible with moving frames and left his audiences in awe. McCay’s dedication to his work is what gave him that push from average to extraordinary.
In his early life Winsor created comic strips of his characters. He worked as an engraver for a while and produced woodcuts for the circus. After he moved on from his times at the circus he started to create comic strips. He created such series as Little Nemo which was based off of his time at the circus, Tales of the Jungle Imps by Felix Fiddle, and Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend. These comic strips were widespread and went on for a while, progressively getting more complex.
Winsor McCays animations and comics weren’t tied to reality. As he started to create films his work and skills as a comic strip artist transferred over immediately. McCay didn’t use acetate like many other artists would around his time, instead he drew every single frame over again. This is why the looping in his animations is so evident. The process was extremely expensive and time consuming. Most of the frames were drawn completely by Winsor McCay, but occasionally he had an assistant who would draw the backgrounds on for him.
The main reason the animations Winsor McCay created were so popular is because of his characters. He was one of the pioneers of developing fluid character animation and believable personalities for drawings. The biggest thing Winsor McCay is known for is Gertie the Dinosaur. Even though the character didn’t speak, she still came to life on-screen. The timing of his animation gave believable movement and showed many of the principles of animation we know today. The interesting thing about Gertie was his interaction with the animation which was unheard of at the time. He used a loop for almost every sequence he did in his animation. Winsor McCay also created The Sinking of the Lusitania which was propaganda to try to get the American people interested in joining WW1. This film had much more extensive animation than his previous films but didn’t withstand time as long because of the content.
Winsor McCay was an amazing artist who has influenced animation forever. You can see his style directly in many artists work including William Joyce, Andre LeBlanc, Moebius, Maurice Sendak, Chris Ware and Bill Watterson. He helped get animation off the ground from an experiment with frames to the cartoons as we know them today.
Works Cited
Zaleski, Jeff. “WINSOR MCCAY: Early Works.” Publishers Weekly 251.1 (2004): 42-. ProQuest. Web. 16 Nov. 2011.
Raiteri, Steve. “Daydreams and Nightmares: The Fantastic Visions of Winsor McCay.” Library Journal 131.5 (2006): 60-.ProQuest. Web. 17 Nov. 2011.
Tim Troiano 