This is the 14-minute, black-and-white, silent short film that laid the basis for this uncountable number of cartoons that came out in the following decades. It's a black-and-white movie and basically split into two halves. The first half is about two gentlemen having a bet that one of them will bring dinosaurs back to life in the coming month. The second half is the way he did it and shows us a day in the life of dinosaur Gertie. And not only did Winsor McCay manage to bring her to life, he also included a couple other extinct creatures, such as a mammoth with whom Gertie plays and jokes around in a friendly manner. Gertie may not possess the popularity because she was just not as prolific as most other cartoon characters (there is only this one film about her and a shorter sequel), but she will always be known to true animation lovers. This one here is certainly not a truly great film in terms of content, but it definitely is in terms of historic significance. And apart from that, it's also a cute little story. Oh yeah, the pumpkin part was pretty nice to show us how great Gertie actually is. And pay attention to everything she does what McCay is not explicitly telling her. In my opinion it is among the best films from over 100 years ago. Recommended.
Review of Gertie the Dinosaur
