Animator Profile

Winsor McCay

Winsor McCay
Born 1871, Died 1934. Winsor McCay is known for being one of Americas 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.
Figure 01. Winsor McCay

Figure 01. is probably the most known image of McCay.

McCays well known cartoon strips called Little Nemo were to become more than still images. Inspired by his son's flick-books, he spent four years and produced four thousand individual drawings in making his first animated cartoon 'Little Nemo', completing it in 1911 (Brooke, unknown) . Figure 02 is of one of his characters.

Figure 02. Little Nemo

Figure 03. Mosquito Arriving

Figure 04. Mosquito Feeding

In 1912 McCay made a short animation titled How a Mosquito Operates. Figures 3 & 4 show how he played with simple line art and although plain in appearance, it worked well with the story and the audience.

In 1914 Gertie the Dinosaur was created. With this character McCay played with another level of animation, audience interaction. He designed a script to give the illusion he was having a conversation with his pet dinosaur. The animal in the animation would do particular actions at a particular time, so with McCays timed responses it would look like he was able
Figure 05. Gertie the Dinosaur

to control the dinosaur like an owner with their dog.

The Sinking of the Lusitania made in 1918 was quite a statement animation. A very passionate and emotional 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. To get the effect as it is seen, around 25,000 illustrations were used.
Figure 06. The Sinking of the Lusitania.

List of Illustrations
Figure 01. Winsor McCay [Photograph] At: http:/ /1.bp.blogspot.com/-SiOBn5kNvus/TaGJZMjoxiI/ AAAAAAAABKU/eYMwcLXE214/s1600/Unknown.jpeg Accessed on: 08.03.2012 Figure 02. Little Nemo (1911) From: Little Nemo Directed by: Winsor McCay [Film Still] USA. At: http:/ /animationreview.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/little-nemo-c2a9-winsor-mccay.png Accessed on: 08.03.2012 Figure 03. Mosquito Arriving (1912) From: How a Mosquito Operates. Directed by: Winsor McCay [Film Still] USA. At: http:/ /animationreview.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/how-a-mosquitooperates-c2a9-winsor-mccay.jpg Accessed on: 08.03.2012 Figure 04. Mosquito Feeding (1912) From: How a Mosquito Operates. Directed by: Winsor McCay [Film Still] USA. At: http:/ /2.bp.blogspot.com/-6CW2BO0q9Hc/TaGJcY4wMWI/AAAAAAAABKY/ FK7MrHG-t50/s1600/mccay-mosquito.jpg Accessed on: 08.03.2012 Figure 05. Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) From: Gertie the Dinosaur. Directed by: Winsor McCay [Film Poster] USA. At: http:/ /www.enchantedlearning.com/ggifs/Gertie.GIF Accessed on: 08.03.2012 Figure 06. The Sinking of the Lusitania. (1918) From: The Sinking of the Lusitania. Directed by: Winsor McCay [Film Still] USA. At: http:/ /3.bp.blogspot.com/-v42gIrLGzBg/TaGTDq7ykeI/ AAAAAAAABKc/-S1gz3rJ_JI/s1600/44577_95541_7.jpg Accessed on: 08.03.2012

Bibliography
Popova, Maria (2011) Winsor McCays Little Nemo: The First True Animation, 1911. In: Brain Pickings 30.06.2011 [Online] http:/ /www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/06/30/winsormccay-little-nemo-first-animation-1911/ Accessed: 08.03.2012 Erickson, Hal (2010) Gertie the Dinosaur. In: NYTimes.com 2010 [Online] http:/ /movies.nytimes.com/movie/151281/Gertiethe-Dinosaur/overview Accessed on: 08.03.2012 Brooke, Michael (2011) Winsor McCay. In: IMDb.com 2011 [Online] http:/ /www.imdb.com/name/nm0565560/bio Accessed on: 08.03.2012