ANIMATOR

PROFILE: WINSOR MCCAY Winsor McCay (1869-1934) was an American cartoonist and animator.
A prolic ar<st, McCay's pioneering early animated lms far outshone the work of his contemporaries, and set a standard followed by Walt Disney and others in later decades.

McCay was fascinated by theatre and circus; his comic strip LiLle Nemo in Slumberland (1905-1914 and 1924-1927) recalls the design of theatrical and circus posters. The frozen ac<on of the characters poses suggest the spirit of kine<c live performances by people and animals. (Canemaker 1987)

Animator Mag writer David Williams (1988) claims that McCays concern for the cra_ing of anima<on makes him one of the most important gures of its early history. McCay developed a split system of star<ng with key drawings and then inbetweening, drawing in the stages. Although this id familiar prac<se today, it was not taken up by the anima<on industry for some <me.

McCay was heavily inuenced by Grandville, Frost and most importantly of the art nouveau ar<st Alfonse Mucha. Right: Iris by Mucha c1902

McCay's ground-breaking animated lm Ger$e the Dinosaur is classied by lm and anima<on historians as the rst cartoon character created especially for lm to display a unique, realis<c personality. In the lm, Ger<e causes trouble and cries when she is scolded, and nally she gives McCay himself a ride on her back as he steps into the movie picture.

Winsor McCay - the genius of a popular ar<st extraordinaire, creator of the most beau<ful comic strips ever devised, poli<cal cartoonist, brilliant animator and much loved family man. (Robin Allan)

McCay created the anima<on The Sinking of the Lusitania (1918), a depic<on of the aLack on the mari<me ship. This was meant to inspire America into joining World War I.

Illustra=ons hLp://www.bpib.com/illustrat/mccay.htm References Allan, R (date unknown) hLp://www.animatormag.com/archive/issue-24/issue-24-page-23/#.T1T4z79_Su4 Canemaker, J (1987) Winsor McCay - His Life and Art Abbeville Wikipedia hLp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winsor_McCay