Animation Theatre: Winsor McCay

26th September 1869- 26th July 1934

Fig. 1 Winsor McCay

Winsor McCay was and still is well known for his animation and techniques, perhaps the animator who inspires and arouses the world of animation even now. McCay started out in an engraving firm after he could not afford to study at the Art Institute of Chicago, but that isnt to say he came out of nowhere. McCay had already acquired a knack for perspective, something he is still well known for and along with his love for bold colour this took him from engraver to artist publishing comic strips in American newspapers. This perspective expertise as well as his architectural rendering got his comic strips noticed. Robert C Harvey explores McCays rise in the art world stating that McCays use of layout and page design to give dramatic emphasis to his narrative was unusual on the comics pages of the day (Harvey: 1994) which explains why even when his comic strips were not vastly popular they were still acknowledged and thought of highly, his Little Nemo strips being one of his most well-known.

Fig. 2 Little Nemo Comic Strip

It was his Little Nemo strip that he fittingly decided to attempt to bring to life through animation first producing each of its hundreds of drawings himself alone with it becoming a huge success. It was with this accomplishment that McCay continued his experimentation within the process of animation and just like his Little Nemo short focusing on the workings of animation especially through timing and movement just look at his How a Mosquito Operates (1912) animation which follows the dislikeable Mosquito on its routine of sucking out a humans blood. The audience watches this character plan out its method of attack, but keep in mind it isnt dialogue, background knowledge, subtitles or anything of this sort that allows us this thought. It is the animations pauses and movement of the mosquitos head identifying its next point of puncture which does so and which in fact takes us deeper into understanding and establishing the character than a line of dialogue could have. It is the procedure of the animation which powerfully affects us and as Lauren Rabinovitz writes McCay meant for the nuts and bolts of the creation he was making to have more impact itself than anything added on top of it. Throughout his career, McCay emphasized the revelation of the mechanics and process of animation, a self-reflexive approach that grew naturally out of the way he self-consciously undermined conventions of comic strip art and constantly called attention to the form itself. (Rabinovitz: Unknown)

Fig. 3 How a Mosquito Operates http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvzAJouHh7k

Again this attention to the animation itself is apparent in his most renowned animation Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) which even in the storyline pays close attention to the movement of the characters. Gertie the Dinosaur is seen as the first original cartoon character and McCays ability to take her from paper to film revolutionised animation especially as she was still a drawing rather than a built animatronic model and thats where the magic and charm of McCays work lies. It was McCay who was the first to use it as a time and expense saver. He drew the repetitions cycles to show continuous motion as his character moved across the scene. McCay is considered the father of American animation. (Bohl: 1998)

Fig. 4 Gertie the Dinosaur http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiL4qplyi7Y

His animated shorts were even used for propaganda with The Sinking of the Lusitania (1918) a truly moving documentary which takes all of McCays advanced knowledge and techniques and produces something that isnt thought of as drawing but a recollection of true events. He was so far ahead of his time that many of his innovations were beyond the abilities of his contemporaries. Harvey: 1994) His ability to have such an impact on an audience is enthusing especially in a time where his work was so advanced against others and perhaps this is why he has become such an inspirational figure to later animators including Walt Disney.

Bibliography
Bohl, Al, (1998) Guide to Cartooning. U.S.A. Pelican Publishing. (Accessed 10/03/2012) Harvey, Robert. C, (1994) The Art of the Funnies: an aesthetic history. U.S.A. University Press of Mississippi (Accessed 10/03/2012) Rabinovitz, Lauren, (Unknown) filmreference.com http://www.filmreference.com/Writers-andProduction-Artists-Lo-Me/McCay-Winsor.html (Accessed 10/03/2012)

List of Illustrations
Fig. 1. Winsor McCay. On yahoo images http://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A0PDodq5pVZP0AQAyIZNBQx.;_ylu=X3oDMT BlMTQ4cGxyBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1n?back=http%3A%2F%2Fuk.images.search.yahoo.com%2Fsear ch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dwinsor%2Bmccay%26fr%3Dchr-nectar%26fr2%3Dpivweb%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D91&w=370&h=539&imgurl=latimesherocomplex.files.wordpress.c om%2F2011%2F04%2Fwinsormccay.jpg%3Fw%3D370%26amp%3Bh%3D540&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fherocomplex.latimes.com%2F 2011%2F04%2F11%2Fwinsor-mccays-little-nemo-brought-a-new-animated-spirit-to-film-100-yearsago%2F&size=118.2+KB&name=Winsor+McCay%E2%80%99s+%E2%80%98Little+Nemo%E2%80%99 +brought+a+new+animated+spirit+to+...&p=winsor+mccay&oid=90ec0bbac643b79df85c4e24856bf d18&fr2=piv-web&fr=chrnectar&tt=Winsor%2BMcCay%25E2%2580%2599s%2B%25E2%2580%2598Little%2BNemo%25E2%2

580%2599%2Bbrought%2Ba%2Bnew%2Banimated%2Bspirit%2Bto%2B...&b=91&ni=160&no=91&ta b=organic&ts=&sigr=13orjg25d&sigb=13aabqvjk&sigi=12ffap2nk&.crumb=y7KkOaBQZId (Accessed 10/03/2012) Fig. 2. Little Nemo Comic Strip. From: Little Nemo in Slumberland Created by: Winsor McCay. madinkbeard.com http://madinkbeard.com/blog/wp-content/images/nemo5.jpg (Accessed 10/03/2012) Fig. 3. How a Mosquito Operates. From: How a Mosquito Operates. Directed by: Winsor McCay. [film still] On blogspot.com http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jNfLasUQDFg/SKvLDYEyHqI/AAAAAAAABC8/tcC28tDNplw/s400/mccaymosquito9a.jpg (Accessed 10/03/2012) Fig. 4. Gertie the Dinosaur. From: Gertie the Dinosaur. Directed by: Winsor McCay. On blogspot.com http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VaGCj6RxYAE/SFOHHH9iFSI/AAAAAAAAE9Y/G6zGls1bJlk/s320/gertie.JPG (Accessed 10/03/2012)