Animation: Winsor McCay

Winsor McCay

Fig. 1 Winsor McCay

1871- 1934

Winsor McCay is known for being one of America's first cartoon animators. His comic strips in newspapers is where his name first started to get recognised. In 1911 he produced an animation titled Winsor McCay and His Animated Comics. 

In 1912 McCay made a short animation titled How a Mosquito Operates, this played with simple line art and although plain in appearance worked well with the story and audience reaction. 

Fig. 2 How a Mosquito Operates, Still Image

In 1914 Gertie the Dinosaur was created. With this character McCay animated the dinosaur to look as if it were responding to some commands. As a pet dog would do. This was a very clever way of getting the animation to interact with the audience. 

The Sinking of the Lusitania made in 1918 was quite a statement animation. A very passionate and emotion building experience to watch. 

The incredible detail he included enhanced the attention grabbing short. This propaganda animation was designed to stir Anti- German sentiment during the war.

This animation took around 25,000 illustrations to get the effect as it is seen.