Winsor McCay, a pioneer in the field of animation, has left an indelible mark on the history of American cinema. Despite being overshadowed by later animators such as Walt Disney and Max Fleischer, McCay's innovative work and groundbreaking achievements have cemented his place as a trailblazer in the art of animation.
As a renowned newspaper cartoonist, McCay gained widespread recognition for his iconic strips, including "Little Nemo in Slumberland" and "Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend". His son's flick-books inspired him to venture into the world of animation, and he devoted four years to creating his first animated cartoon, "Little Nemo", comprising an astonishing four thousand individual drawings.
However, McCay's most notable achievement was "Gertie the Dinosaur", a cartoon sensation that premiered in 1913 as the centerpiece of a vaudeville act. McCay single-handedly produced an impressive ten thousand individual drawings, meticulously re-drawing the background for each frame. While often miscredited as the first animated cartoon, "Gertie the Dinosaur" was undoubtedly the first successful one, inspiring countless imitators and paving the way for future animators.
McCay's 1918 production, "The Sinking of the Lusitania", was an even more ambitious undertaking, consisting of an astonishing 25,000 drawings. This feature-length cartoon, the first of its kind in America and the second globally, showcased McCay's mastery of the medium and his ability to craft complex narratives.
After retiring from filmmaking in the 1920s, McCay would later describe himself as "the creator of animated cartoons". Although this distinction technically belongs to Frenchman Emile Cohl, McCay was undoubtedly the first to bring animation to a broad audience, earning him a place in the pantheon of animation pioneers.
