Credited with featuring the first-ever instance of animation on celluloid, this one's place in movie history is thus forever assured; yet, that alone hardly makes it eligible for a place on polls compiling the all-time best films (which is the main reason I got round to watching it)! Incidentally, the on-screen title here is actually "Winsor McCay: America's Greatest Cartoonist and Gertie" – with editions of it available online running anywhere between 6 (cutting to the chase, as it were, by eliminating the live-action bookends and showing only the prehistoric action involving the "dinosuarus") and 14 minutes (including expository footage of N.Y.C.'s Museum of Natural History)!
The 'plot' revolves around a bet made by McCay to his once equally illustrious friends that he can 'breathe life' anew into a gigantic ancient fossil; the group is completely won over (and, needless to say, so was the general public of the time) by his achievement – which was considerable, given that he states it took some 10,000 sketches to fully execute! The primitive drawings – understandable for a century-old pioneering effort, yet perfectly fitting in view of the subject matter – still have a certain charm to them, particularly in conveying Gertie's unruly behaviour; special effects are then incorporated into the finale, where McCay is seen 'riding' his own creation!
The 'plot' revolves around a bet made by McCay to his once equally illustrious friends that he can 'breathe life' anew into a gigantic ancient fossil; the group is completely won over (and, needless to say, so was the general public of the time) by his achievement – which was considerable, given that he states it took some 10,000 sketches to fully execute! The primitive drawings – understandable for a century-old pioneering effort, yet perfectly fitting in view of the subject matter – still have a certain charm to them, particularly in conveying Gertie's unruly behaviour; special effects are then incorporated into the finale, where McCay is seen 'riding' his own creation!