He would have done it to stretch the film. More repeating means he can reuse drawings, saving time and money. It is annoying to us but in those days animation was so cool and new that people probably didn't notice or care.
Amazing. Its hard to believe that this animation is 100 years old. You can see nearly all the key principles of animation in action even from this very early stage! Its also fascinating how much production technique has changed as well. Wonderful!
This meticulously-drawn animation predates Walt Disney's Steamboat Willie by a full 16 years. So early, in fact, that to the common man, the term "animation" itself, if known at all, would have only evoked visions of Kinetoscopes, flipbooks, and Victorian Age magic lanterns. Outside Winsor's studio would have been the clatter of horse-drawn carriages, as this was still the predominant mode of transportation at the time. A wonderfully imaginative, forward-thinking guy, this Winsor McCay.
These films are even more remarkable when you consider he did not have transparent cell to give him separate levels to work on. Each character and every background is redrawn or traced back each frame on a single level of paper. At 24 frames per second that's a heck of a lot of drawing. The draughtsmanship is also superb. An inspiration.
i was in a theater that randomly showed this before the feature years ago. i was astonished by it. i think it was the silent movie theater in los angeles, which may be gone now?
McCay must have added a lot of repetitive motion in order to increase the running time without adding to the already enormous number of drawings he had to make. It's also possible that the audiences of the day savored these repeated actions. Every movement must have been like magic.
I would love to see a version of this where someone has taken out the repeated motions and made it a more continuous flow - admittedly it would be short but it'd be interesting to see.
The cycling or back and forth movement was more for the audiences sake than to just make the cartoon longer or save drawing time. Today we are used to quick action on TV. We catch things that happen in one or two frames but 100 years ago humans where just not conditioned to it. Had he made it flow like today's animation it would have been lost on his audience. History of animation....best history class I ever took. Watch cartoons then talk about them.
LMAO what a demented mosquito, why is he ballancing on the guy's nose? XD; This is so awesome, I love how 3D the guy is when he moves. Winsor sure was into a lot of back-and-forthy motion in his animations though.
No, it's like that. It's 100 years old and it was beginning of animation, and indeed this short was a test for repetitive animation, back and forth movements. Lot of experimentation back in time! It's boring to see nowadays, but it's an important part of the History of Animation!!
I was wondering about the repetition and if it was intentional or accidental. Interesting concept. It makes sense though, we didn't start out driving cars at 80MPH thinking that was normal, we would do the same with animation, something so disconnected from reality we'd need a bit of extra time to process what was going on if we weren't already adapted to it since childhood.
well you shouldn't complain. only a handful of people on earth were alive when this was made and they were entertained by the mere fact that pictures were moving on screen. just enjoy it for what it is.
NO, no, no, if you did that it would have made it an animation of a more current period. This whole animation is perfect, look at "the BIG picture". It has a feel, a style, a character all it's own called Winsor McCay 1912.
big freakin skeeter! ...it's probably from New Jersey,we got ones that'll pick ya up and carry ya away. Mr. McCay must've visited the shore at some point. Ha!
some do.. sad that people consider sliding words across a screen animation these days. It's industria man! you learn to live with it. Doesn't mean you gotta live like it tho ;-)
honestly people back then were insane, how on earth could they think that was a real mosquito!! its the size of his head xD *its still beautifully done im not denyng that much at all!!* but honestly that insect scares the fuck out of me >:(
I wondered about that too...I figure it is to pad out the time of the film. After a while the repetition adds to the internal rhythm of the film. You start anticipating the repetitions, and it helps you key-in to the film maker's peculiar little world...makes you part of it. What an amazing little film this is. Also, the regulation of the repetitions gives a suggestion of sound (as in the buzzing from the purposeful activity of the mosquito) to a soundless film! I didn't miss the lack of a soundtrack. The action filled it completely. I've seen a lot of animation and silent movies in my time...this one blew me away, to use one of my old hippie expressions
Someone needs to set this to some music. Tool or APC seems to be popular choices for bizarre, black-and-white animations. Get to it, Internet. Make something beautiful.
@joshua2443 No, there would have been plenty of opportunity to use cels (not "cells"). For example, when the mosquito is at the door, when he lands on the man, many places there could have been backgrounds and cels. Still, it's all the more amazing that he didn't use cels. The work involved was enormous and the impact... lasting.
I admit that he does LOVE to overuse cycling (which is rather unfortunate and really does take away from some of the appeal) but the cleanliness and beauty of the lines is really unmated. Nice job for 1910 I'd say.
But WHY is the mosquito as tall as the doorknob-and WHY since he IS as tall as the doorknob--is he, seconds later, only as big as the guy's head! (That kind of perspective should have been, and was, elementary to McCay!) And why does the guy do THAT when he's entering his house? And why the repetition? They just could have put a couple extra gags to compensate for running time. Some cute elements though, and brilliant considering the year it was made.
You have to understand that with very limited resources they had to make it long enough to justify the use of a whole reel, that is why he reused his animation and resort to loops. In this century with computers and everything people still do that and worse, they present a 20 second animation with 40 seconds of credits to justify a 1 minute entry on animation festivals and sites like this one.
Wait a sec - this is OLDER that Gertie The Dinosaur?! Are you sure the date is right? And if so, what's with the complete, across-the-board canonical misnomer of calling Gertie the first?!!
Some of the drawings look like Japanese pictures, as with Hokusai's _Manga_. I wonder if the later Japanese animated cartoonists -- there are some '30's cartoons on RUclips -- saw this.
amazing how all of this was hand drawn with 24 drawings shown each second. McCay was really dedicated.
He would have done it to stretch the film. More repeating means he can reuse drawings, saving time and money. It is annoying to us but in those days animation was so cool and new that people probably didn't notice or care.
Very interesting stuff. That mosquitos´s belly almost looked like 3-D. McCay was a true pioneer.
animation had only been around for 17 years when this cartoon was made. this was groundbreaking entertainment for its day.
always loved learning about the earliest animation...thanks 4 posting....
but damn-that mosquito was tearing his ass up(lol).
The movement is so amazingly fluid for that era, particularly when you compare it with Bray.
Thank you for posting this - it was the most peaceful 6 minutes of my day
A 100 year-old piece of animation history, and that's the best you can come up with? Lovely.
Yeah
Amazing. Its hard to believe that this animation is 100 years old. You can see nearly all the key principles of animation in action even from this very early stage! Its also fascinating how much production technique has changed as well. Wonderful!
3:55 are you serious? An animated mosquito from 1912 just teabagged that dude. I am amazed.
I found that mosquito quite horrifying...it was like a short horror film
I agree, "forward-thinking guy". This is quite impressive and very interesting to watch when you put the era in place with this work.
This meticulously-drawn animation predates Walt Disney's Steamboat Willie by a full 16 years. So early, in fact, that to the common man, the term "animation" itself, if known at all, would have only evoked visions of Kinetoscopes, flipbooks, and Victorian Age magic lanterns.
Outside Winsor's studio would have been the clatter of horse-drawn carriages, as this was still the predominant mode of transportation at the time.
A wonderfully imaginative, forward-thinking guy, this Winsor McCay.
This video predates the Queen's birth by 14 years and predates the First World War by 2 years
Let that sink in.
These films are even more remarkable when you consider he did not have transparent cell to give him separate levels to work on. Each character and every background is redrawn or traced back each frame on a single level of paper. At 24 frames per second that's a heck of a lot of drawing. The draughtsmanship is also superb. An inspiration.
i was in a theater that randomly showed this before the feature years ago. i was astonished by it.
i think it was the silent movie theater in los angeles, which may be gone now?
McCay must have added a lot of repetitive motion in order to increase the running time without adding to the already enormous number of drawings he had to make. It's also possible that the audiences of the day savored these repeated actions. Every movement must have been like magic.
That is 100 years old,RESPECT!
BACK IN COLUMBIA ON JANUARY 1912 PEOPLE WERE TRIPPING MASSIVE BALLS!!!!!!
This is pretty amazing. Yea it might not be very exciting but in its own way is cutting edge
Winsor McCay changed the history of comic books and animation!
this is so awsome
they really need 2 do this kind of thing again
Graet! Mc Cay was a really a 100 years advanced genius
It's not everyday you wake up to a huge mosquito exploding in your face.
Time Ta LEEEEEARN SOMETHIN
I would love to see a version of this where someone has taken out the repeated motions and made it a more continuous flow - admittedly it would be short but it'd be interesting to see.
The cycling or back and forth movement was more for the audiences sake than to just make the cartoon longer or save drawing time. Today we are used to quick action on TV. We catch things that happen in one or two frames but 100 years ago humans where just not conditioned to it. Had he made it flow like today's animation it would have been lost on his audience.
History of animation....best history class I ever took. Watch cartoons then talk about them.
LMAO what a demented mosquito, why is he ballancing on the guy's nose? XD;
This is so awesome, I love how 3D the guy is when he moves.
Winsor sure was into a lot of back-and-forthy motion in his animations though.
No, it's like that. It's 100 years old and it was beginning of animation, and indeed this short was a test for repetitive animation, back and forth movements. Lot of experimentation back in time! It's boring to see nowadays, but it's an important part of the History of Animation!!
Somebody should make a modern version of this as "How a Bedbug Operates". Free idea!
that is one DAMN BIG MOSQUITO... I'll crap myself if I see an actual one that size.
I was wondering about the repetition and if it was intentional or accidental. Interesting concept. It makes sense though, we didn't start out driving cars at 80MPH thinking that was normal, we would do the same with animation, something so disconnected from reality we'd need a bit of extra time to process what was going on if we weren't already adapted to it since childhood.
After 4:05 it just makes me want to shout "HEY, LISTEN ! HEY, LISTEN ! HEY, LISTEN ! HEY, LISTEN !"
This is hilarious!!
@visualtim
well considering this was before cel animation I say the guy deserves some credit
That mosquito has to be from Texas! It's huge!
There large mosquitos in Texas?!
From Bavaria
well you shouldn't complain. only a handful of people on earth were alive when this was made and they were entertained by the mere fact that pictures were moving on screen. just enjoy it for what it is.
very nice animation
NO, no, no, if you did that it would have made it an animation of a more current period. This whole animation is perfect, look at "the BIG picture". It has a feel, a style, a character all it's own called Winsor McCay 1912.
Gerti was supposedly the first distinct character, not first animated film. technically, the first animated film is "humorous phases of funny faces"
big freakin skeeter! ...it's probably from New Jersey,we got ones that'll pick ya up and carry ya away. Mr. McCay must've visited the shore at some point. Ha!
some do.. sad that people consider sliding words across a screen animation these days. It's industria man! you learn to live with it. Doesn't mean you gotta live like it tho ;-)
just shows- when this is done it was breaking boundries- big up
Real magic for the eyes
honestly people back then were insane, how on earth could they think that was a real mosquito!! its the size of his head xD *its still beautifully done im not denyng that much at all!!* but honestly that insect scares the fuck out of me >:(
wow 100 years ago, nice
better than most films on netflix
Oh my. The artist that Influenced Disney and the Fleischer brothers, which inspired Ozamu Tezuka, who then influenced the entire Japanese animation.
XD That's hilarious
I know this is masterful animation for the time but I find this hard to watch because of all the repeated animation + disturbing concept.
Why the movement is repeated every time?
I wondered about that too...I figure it is to pad out the time of the film. After a while the repetition adds to the internal rhythm of the film. You start anticipating the repetitions, and it helps you key-in to the film maker's peculiar little world...makes you part of it. What an amazing little film this is. Also, the regulation of the repetitions gives a suggestion of sound (as in the buzzing from the purposeful activity of the mosquito) to a soundless film! I didn't miss the lack of a soundtrack. The action filled it completely. I've seen a lot of animation and silent movies in my time...this one blew me away, to use one of my old hippie expressions
He is creating the animation
5:38 Oh yeah, what was that I think I heard a mosquito blow up
Someone needs to set this to some music. Tool or APC seems to be popular choices for bizarre, black-and-white animations. Get to it, Internet. Make something beautiful.
At the time, the theaters had pianists to provide music.
i'm sure he did many many tests, but i'm not too sure, gonna have to do some digging :)
It freaks me out how deep the needle nose goes...
BOOM! And that's the end of a greedy mosquito.
By Emile Cohl, that's right. But I always thought "Gertie" was McCay's first stab at animation. Was THIS his first or was there another one before it?
that's frggn disturbin
.....This was terrifying.
Love it :D I'm confused though, why does he keep repeating things?
@visualtim appartly it was because it was beleved that the screen had to stay moving. Also it was cheaper for the animator
thats one big mosquito
Excellent. Still better than anime.
@joshua2443 No, there would have been plenty of opportunity to use cels (not "cells"). For example, when the mosquito is at the door, when he lands on the man, many places there could have been backgrounds and cels. Still, it's all the more amazing that he didn't use cels. The work involved was enormous and the impact... lasting.
@Dallasdeckard he never said that it was bad or that it ruined the work, all he did was note it.
I admit that he does LOVE to overuse cycling (which is rather unfortunate and really does take away from some of the appeal) but the cleanliness and beauty of the lines is really unmated. Nice job for 1910 I'd say.
did someone edit this because all I see is alit of repetitive motion it doesn't look right
When I watched this in Animation History, it freaked me out! "Pretty nightmare-ish" is what my teacher said.
Todo un ritual de cazador
If he didn't the cartoon would be around 30 seconds. Common trick in early cartoons....
Mosquito Tea Bagging at 4:12
@TheTwillerZone Because cartoons. It's great :D!
great animation does anybody knows similar animators like winsor mccay?anyone?
I'm here because of the brilliant Mike Leigh
What else could it be, on their opinion?
But WHY is the mosquito as tall as the doorknob-and WHY since he IS as tall as the doorknob--is he, seconds later, only as big as the guy's head! (That kind of perspective should have been, and was, elementary to McCay!) And why does the guy do THAT when he's entering his house? And why the repetition? They just could have put a couple extra gags to compensate for running time. Some cute elements though, and brilliant considering the year it was made.
Oh Crap, What an ending. I'll never visit the Chinese Buffet again!
damn that mosquito raped his face...
You have to understand that with very limited resources they had to make it long enough to justify the use of a whole reel, that is why he reused his animation and resort to loops. In this century with computers and everything people still do that and worse, they present a 20 second animation with 40 seconds of credits to justify a 1 minute entry on animation festivals and sites like this one.
Wait a sec - this is OLDER that Gertie The Dinosaur?! Are you sure the date is right? And if so, what's with the complete, across-the-board canonical misnomer of calling Gertie the first?!!
oh geez he exploded. that was creepy too
Everyone that watched this when it was relevant... is probably without a doubt dead.
0:12 IT'S THE WARDEN!
That's a big ass mosquito! Where is he? Africa? XD
@filmotecamaldita everywhere
Conform to Darwins Evolution Theory you would expect these mosquitos should nowedays be noiseless !
lol.. what the F*** how did that man survives the bite? lol
pretty funny for a 100 years old cartoon.....
Some of the drawings look like Japanese pictures, as with Hokusai's _Manga_.
I wonder if the later Japanese animated cartoonists -- there are some '30's cartoons on RUclips -- saw this.
your right but it doesn't mean it's entertaining now!
how come the mosquito wears a hat ?
@TheTwillerZone
because he's a mosquito
EEEEK!
I have to say, this is incredible animation work for 1912, and it is a funny film, but the subject matter creeps me out a bit! Ew! LOL
good but too stretching
O_O
Que puto mal rollo
that was so annoying! they repeated the same movements several times in a row
Karma.