Gertie the dinosaur

Duration: 8

Year Published: 1934

Creator: created by Winsor McCay.

Format: 16mm

Color: B&W

Sound: silent

Credits: McCay, Winsor.; Blackhawk Films.

Description: Credits taken from print.; PFA 1604-01-4216. Restricted: Not for research use.; Pacific Film Archive collection; non-circulating. CBPF.; "In the early years of the century, Winsor McCay was a cartoonist for the 'New York American' and creator of the comic strip, 'Little Nemo.' McCay was also well-known on the vaudeville stage and was a featured act in the early years of the New York Palace. The act was built around his cartoon sketches." (8.5-19.5 ft.) -- A hand draws a dinosaur in white on a black background. (19.6-42 ft.) -- "McCay's 'Gertie the Dinosaur,' done in 1909, may or may not have been absolutely the first animated cartoon, but it was the first of any consequence. Its animation is what today's artists call 'limited,' that is, the drawings change the position of the characters only intermittenly. It is said that 10,000 separate drawings were required for Gertie. Cartoons, by the 1920's, set a faster and more expensive standard with many characters on the screen, all moving in practically every frame. Thus, a Disney cartoon made a quarter of a century after Gertie would rquire many times over the number of individual drawings. Ironically, because of high production costs today, most cartoons have cut back to the limited animation style of 1909's 'Gertie the Dinosaur.'" (43-67 ft.) -- Gertie emerges from the water and sways back and forth. It turns to look at a teradactyl flying by,; tosses a coconut on its nose, eats the coconut, winks, stands on its hind legs, and ties its neck in a knot. When a monkey climbs the coconut tree, the dinosaur bites the trunk in half and eats it. The monkey narrowly escapes death, but the dinosaur picks it up in its mouth, swings it around, and tosses it into the water. Gertie then subjects the remainder of the tree to the same treatment. A mammoth drinking water struggles with a sea monster that pulls on its trunk. After watching their struggle, the dinosaur throws rocks at the mammoth. A man in tails appears and is about to bow to the audience, but Gertie removes him from the scene and bows to the audience instead. (68-288 ft).; Silent with English intertitles.; PFA 1604-01-4216. CONDITION NOTE: Last checked: July 8, 2002, slightly scratched.

Metadata Source:BERKELEY ART MUSEUM AND PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE