The Sinking of the Lusitania

[BloodyChamp]

Wow..............that last shot of the baby going under really puts this cartoon up there with "The Litt Match Girl" and "There's Good Boos Tonight" in terms of painfully sad cartoons that are still entertaining because of how perfectly the story was done. I'm to that point on my McCay DVD that I just got. I can confidently say that this man was every bit as good as everybody says he was even though I'm not even halfway through the DVD.

I was expecting something that was in existance not because of how well done and entertaining it is, but for the simple reason that it came first. In other words, these things are so old I was expecting them to stink and figured they were only here because they were the first cartoons. I bought this with the intention of watching it to just get it out of the way. I'm an animation enthusiast and was only watching it atleast one time out of necessity.

This DVD really is fun though and "The Sinking..." is my favorite so far. It's right up there with some of the other highly regarded cartoons of it's nature, as I said. Everything is carefully animated and more attention is paid to detail that I expected. Being the first guy to transfer such a thing to the screen with a pen is incredible. Hat's off to Mr McCay :)

Now, were the 3 Stooges esque portions of theater a part of the original cartoons? Was that Windsor playing the part of himself?

[Tom Stathes]

Yes, Winsor appeared in the added live-action segments as himself. These portions were added later for theater exhibition. Originally the animation was individual and Winsor would present them live to an audience.
I'm glad you're enjoying these masterpieces. Perhaps other enthusiasts would appreciate these just the same if they would give them a chance. :o

[Ray Pointer]

Because McCay took as much as two hears to make his films, the commercial animation studios were in force at the time he was showing GERTIE THE DINOSAUR. THE SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA was McCay's first use of cels.
It was also intended as a documentary in animation form since there were no cameras around to capture the event. That explains the newsreel type structure.

McCay's vision for animation was on an artistic level, and not on a cartoony farcical level that is became. As he continued to see the industry pass him by, he was both embittered and disappointed that his vision for animated cartoons becoming an art form was not coming true. He was troubled by it becoming a trade. McCAy died in 1934, and had he lived a few years longer, he would have seen his visions materialize through the achievements of Walt Disney.

[Stanislav]

McCay's vision for animation was on an artistic level, and not on a cartoony farcical level that is became. As he continued to see the industry pass him by, he was both embittered and disappointed that his vision for animated cartoons becoming an art form was not coming true. He was troubled by it becoming a trade. McCAy died in 1934, and had he lived a few years longer, he would have seen his visions materialize through the achievements of Walt Disney.

Wasn't there some dinner or other gathering of animators McCay spoke at late in his life where his entire brief speech consisted of his bitterly lamenting that they had turned the "art" of animation into the "business" of animation, then wishing them all "bad luck?"

[dandu]

I appreciate Windsor McCay very much, I enjoy his animated work and his printed work, Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend is my favorite of them all since it is very surreal. Gertie the Dinosaur and Little Nemo are beautiful, but I wonder how Little Nemo was processed, did Windsor paint the frames, like I heard the Lumiere's did to some of their films, or was it developed for color?

[Geezil]

"There's Good Boos Tonight"?!??!!??? No comparison. (Sorry, B.C.)

But "The Sinking of the Lusitania" is indeed an animation classic by any yardstick, then or now. It also belongs front and center in any retrospective of films about the scope of war, whether animated or live-action. (And why not as part of an assortment of both?)

[Tom Stathes]

Stanislav: Yes, this dinner took place in 1928 if memory serves correctly. All the big animation honchos attended and McCay was the guest of honor. He was rather cynical about how the industry became just that, an industry, and not an outlet of "fine art" as his cartoons were.

Dandu: McCay hand-painted each frame on one or more original 35mm prints. Someone else may have helped but I'm pretty sure he did it himself. The guy stopped at nothing!