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IMDbPro

Gertie the Dinosaur

  • 1914
  • Not Rated
  • 12m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
3.9K
YOUR RATING
Gertie the Dinosaur (1914)
Dinosaur AdventureHand-Drawn AnimationAnimationComedyFamilyFantasyShort

The cartoonist, Winsor McCay, brings the Dinosaurs back to life in the figure of his latest creation, Gertie the Dinosaur.The cartoonist, Winsor McCay, brings the Dinosaurs back to life in the figure of his latest creation, Gertie the Dinosaur.The cartoonist, Winsor McCay, brings the Dinosaurs back to life in the figure of his latest creation, Gertie the Dinosaur.

  • Director
    • Winsor McCay
  • Writer
    • Winsor McCay
  • Stars
    • Winsor McCay
    • George McManus
    • Roy L. McCardell
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.1/10
    3.9K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Winsor McCay
    • Writer
      • Winsor McCay
    • Stars
      • Winsor McCay
      • George McManus
      • Roy L. McCardell
    • 25User reviews
    • 13Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win total

    Photos2

    View Poster
    View Poster

    Top cast5

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    Winsor McCay
    Winsor McCay
    • Winsor McCay
    George McManus
    George McManus
    • George McManus
    Roy L. McCardell
    Roy L. McCardell
    • Roy McCardell
    Thomas A. 'Tad' Dorgan
    • Thomas A. 'Tad' Dorgan
    Tom Powers
    Tom Powers
    • Clumsy Copy Boy
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Winsor McCay
    • Writer
      • Winsor McCay
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews25

    7.13.8K
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    Featured reviews

    10planktonrules

    Super-important film that features some very early animation as well as odd insights into the creator of the cartoon

    This is an odd little film featuring Winsor McCay--the creator of Gertie the Dinosaur and Little Nemo. And, just as in his first Little Nemo film, much of this film features Winsor McCay with his friends (all animators and lovers of animation) and only in the second half do you get to see Gertie. Ostensively, the film is about a bet Winsor made with his friends that he can make a dinosaur come to life--and he does in the form of a short cartoon featuring the lovable character "Gertie". While Gertie is very crude and simple compared to later color cartoons, there is still a lot of charm in the character and the film is a wonderful time capsule. Of great importance to Cinephiles and lovers of early animation.
    deickemeyer

    Will create mirth

    Another unique offering which will create mirth wherever it is exhibited. In this film George McManus bets Windsor McCay on a trip which they take through the Museum of Natural History, that he cannot, as per McCay's boast, draw a picture of the mammoth Dinosarus and make it live again. McCay wins the bet, and the result of his work as presented by the Box Office Attraction Co. is one of the most entertaining examples of the animated cartoon ever presented. - The Moving Picture World, January 9, 1915
    GeneralB

    Shows that ancient cartoons can still be funny

    This short and rather old cartoon about a dinosaur is quite enjoyable. It was one of the earlier cartoons, and one of the first dinosaur movies. It may also have introduced cartoon violence to the world; Gertie chucks a mammoth named Jumbo into the ocean. I have found that it is more fun to watch the original silent version than the one with sound, although others may disagree.
    7ackstasis

    "And now Mr. McCay will show us what he thinks a Dinosaurus looked like in real life."

    Often erroneously touted as the first animation film ever made (J. Stuart Blackton's 'An Enchanted Drawing' of 1900 takes that title, at least in America), Gertie the Dinosaur remains, to this day, a charming example of early animation. The live-action segments bookending the animation scenes involve a group of real-life animators portraying themselves, as one of them, Winsor McCay, bets George McManus that he can make a "Dinosaurus" live again by a series of hand-drawn cartoons.

    Six months – and ten thousand hand-drawn cartoons – later, McCay is ready to show off his hand-made creation. During dinner, McCay introduces his young, playful female Apatosaurus (?) named Gertie. She emerges somewhat tentatively from her cave, before proceeding to swallow a rock and then an entire tree. As McCay gives her instructions from off-screen, Gertie attempts to follow them, though her endless enthusiasm for mischief often leads her master to scold her. Gertie's playful persona is further explored when Jumbo, a passing Woolly Mammoth, threatens to steal her limelight. Though warned not to hurt the little creature, Gertie doesn't hesitate in picking up poor Jumbo by the tail and hurling him into the lake.

    McCay's vision of a dinosaur – allegedly the first time that one had appeared on film – is a little scientifically shaky (I don't expect any dinosaurs to have been able to dance on their hind legs for any prolonged period of time), but I'm more than willing to forgive this in such an early film. What is a Woolly Mammoth doing back then, you may even find yourself asking? The trick is to completely shut out what we all know more than ninety years later, and to just appreciate what a stunning achievement this piece of animation actually was.

    Just as the film explicitly states, the animation of Gertie required about ten thousand hand-drawn images (by both McCay and his assistant, John A. Fitzsimmons, who traced the backgrounds), which they inked on rice paper and mounted on cardboard. In the film, it took McCay six months. But, we might ask, shouldn't he have wagered something a little more valuable than just a single dinner? George got off easy, I say!
    10kamerad

    A Key Film in Animation History

    Winsor McCay's "Gertie the Dinosaur", is an early animation masterpiece that I believe can be enjoyed by both extreme animation buffs, and the average casual viewer. On different levels of course. The average viewer would see a pleasant little film about a baby like dinosaur showing off for us. An animation fanatic like me would see a lot more. For the time it was made, the animation is fantastic. It's leaps and bounds ahead of anything else I have seen from that time. The detail is sharp, the movements are smooth, and the backgrounds, all hand drawn frame by frame, are vivid and hardly shake at all. I overheard someone mentioning during the class break that he could see an early use of rotoscoping when "McCay" walks onto the screen. The guy was mistaken. Rotoscoping wasn't invented until the 1930's. This is a testament to McCay's artistry: to make characters so life-like that people still think today that they are real.

    That previous statement was in reference to McCay's realistic drawing style. However, it could also be applied to the character of Gertie. She is very believable as a real "person." We come to like Gertie and her child-like antics, understanding her needs to be the focus of attention. I liked the way Gertie tried to hog the screen from Jumbo, first by throwing him into the lake, then by hurtling a rock at him. This of course shows us Gertie's infantile character, but, going back to the artwork, is also a perfect example of McKay's mastery of smooth animated movement. All said, this is probably one of the key films in the transition from cartoon characters just being moving drawings to being characters that we can understand and care about.

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    Related interests

    Sam Neill in Jurassic Park (1993)
    Dinosaur Adventure
    Jodi Benson, Jason Marin, and Samuel E. Wright in The Little Mermaid (1989)
    Hand-Drawn Animation
    Daveigh Chase, Rumi Hiiragi, and Mari Natsuki in Spirited Away (2001)
    Animation
    Will Ferrell in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
    Comedy
    Drew Barrymore and Pat Welsh in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
    Family
    Elijah Wood in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
    Fantasy
    Benedict Cumberbatch in The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023)
    Short

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Some film histories erroneously cite this as the first animated cartoon, ignoring not only Humorous Phases of Funny Faces (1906) (probably the first true animated cartoon), but even Winsor McCay's own earlier work, Winsor McCay, the Famous Cartoonist of the N.Y. Herald and His Moving Comics (1911) and How a Mosquito Operates (1912).
    • Quotes

      Winsor McCay: [Gertie swallows a large stump, later on, Gertie is thrilled to see a small mastodon] Gertie, don't hurt Jumbo.

    • Connections
      Edited into Los comienzos de la animación (1995)

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 28, 1914 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Library Of Congress Catalogue
    • Languages
      • None
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Gertie
    • Filming locations
      • American Museum of Natural History - Central Park West at 79th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA(exterior and interior with dinosaur skeleton)
    • Production companies
      • McCay
      • Vitagraph Company of America
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 12m
    • Color
      • Black and White
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Silent
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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