Winsor McCay

Gertie the Dinosaur

Winsor McCay

Winsor McCay, George McManus

Although not the first feature-length animated film, as is sometimes thought, it was the first cartoon to feature a character with an appealing personality. The appearance of a true character distinguished it from earlier animated "trick films", such as those of Blackton and Cohl, and makes it the predecessor to later popular cartoons such as those by Walt Disney. The film was also the first to be created using keyframe animation.

Little Nemo

J. Stuart Blackton, Winsor McCay

Winsor McCay, John Bunny

Cartoon figures announce, via comic strip balloons, that they will move - and move they do, in a wildly exaggerated style. Also known as "Winsor McCay, the Famous Cartoonist of the N.Y. Herald and His Moving Comics".

Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend: The Pet

Winsor McCay

After eating a rarebit, a man falls asleep and dreams his wife adopts a mysterious animal with an insatiable appetite. The pet eats its milk, the house cat, the house's furnishings, rat poison, and passing vehicles, including airplanes and a blimp, while growing larger and larger. This cartoon is part of a Dream trilogy animated by Winsor McCay in 1921. (CBGP)

The Sinking of the Lusitania

Winsor McCay

Winsor McCay

Winsor McCay recreates the sinking of the ocean liner Lusitania by a German U-boat in this propaganda piece designed to stir up anti-German sentiment during World War I.

Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend: The Flying House

Winsor McCay

After eating a rarebit at a party, a woman has a strange dream in which her husband converts their home into a flying machine to escape having to pay the exorbitant interest on the mortgage, on a flight that takes them around the world and to the moon.

How a Mosquito Operates

Winsor McCay

A hungry mosquito spots and follows a man on his way home. The mosquito slips into the room where the man is sleeping, and gets ready for a meal. His first attempts startle the man and wake him up, but the mosquito is very persistent.

The Centaurs

Winsor McCay

A female centaur enters a clearing in the woods and picks flowers. She is met by a male centaur and the two romance each other. They then seek parental consent for their union. Surviving footage of a now lost film.

Gertie on Tour

Winsor McCay

Windsor McCay's partially lost follow-up to his tremendouly successful Gertie the Dinosaur. Gertie has been brought into the modern world. Continually perplexed by her new surroundings, she begins to explore the new sights. But when she sleeps, she dreams of the way it used to be, in the days when the world was full of dinosaurs like herself.

Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend: Bug Vaudeville

Winsor McCay

After eating a cheesecake given to him by a kind-hearted lady, a hobo goes to sleep and has a bizarre dream in which insects are putting on a vaudeville show for him, with a grasshopper juggling an ant, a dancing daddy long-legs, etc.

Flip's Circus

Winsor McCay

Flip is balancing his hat on his face while leaning forwards and backwards. He eventually falls face forward. Flip opens the tent flap to reveal a lot of large animals behind him. A large animal creature-I have no idea what it is-comes out and starts to interact with Flip. Flip keeps hitting him. Flip puts his head in the animal's mouth. At one point, the animal swallows him as we see moving bumps on the stomach. He then spits him back out!

Winsor McCay: The Master Edition

Winsor McCay

Winsor McCay was the first master of animation. This movie features every surviving film by this cinema pioneer with lovely piano score by famed composer Gabriel Thibaudeau. Highlights in this collection include: Little Nemo (1911), Gertie the Dinosaur (1914), How A Mosquito Operates (1912), The Sinking Of The Lusitania (1918), The Centaurs (1918-21), Gertie On Tour (1918-21), Flip’s Circus (1918-21), Bug Vaudeville (1921), The Pet (1921) and The Flying House (1921). DVD features a commentary by film historian John Canemaker and his charming documentary Remembering Winsor McCay.

Walt Disney Treasures: The Adventures Of Oswald The Lucky Rabbit

Leslie Iwerks, Ub Iwerks

Walt Disney, Bernice Hansen

Before Mickey there was Oswald, the floppy-eared star of Walt Disney's first cartoon series, THE ADVENTURES OF OSWALD THE LUCKY RABBIT. Fun and mischievous, the cheerful rabbit's popularity quickly multiplied, and so did his shorts. Between 1927 and 1928, Disney created a bounty of legendary and rarely seen Oswald cartoons. Now for the first time ever on DVD, the premiere collection of Disney's Oswald shorts -- all featuring new scores composed by Robert Israel especially for this release. The long-lost rabbit's life story, from his birth to his long-awaited return to Disney, and a documentary on the legendary Ub Iwerks set the stage for the comeback of one of the most important stars in Disney's menagerie. Featuring exclusive introductions by film historian Leonard Maltin, this is a timeless collection from generations past for generations to come.