Winsor McCay’s “Gertie the Dinosaur” and Emile Cohl’s “Fantasmagorie” are two of the earliest animated films. “Fantasmagorie” is considered the first wholly animated film and is a series of transformations, with the unnamed main character continually evolving into another scene. Cohl drew each drawing on white paper with a black line and inverted the process for the final product, which was only a little over a minute long.
McCay’s “Gertie” is a more complex short that combines animation and real scenes, with a much longer result at almost 14 minutes. McCay developed techniques, such as using registration marks and identifying key positions, that later became standard in animation.
A notable difference in the films is the inverted process in “Fantasmagorie,” which gives it its black background, whereas “Gertie” has a white background. “Fantasmagorie” is a very fast-paced short with a lot of activity happening with the simplistic, stick-figured main character transforming into several different scenes and objects in what appears to be a very fluid storyline. “Gertie” has a more developed storyline involving the relationship between the main character, Gertie and McCay. Gertie interacts with McCay and engages with other objects in the scenes, such as an elephant and a tree that she devours. Both shorts take on a comical approach.
