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An Original Gertie the Dinosaur Production Drawing.

Currency:USD Category:Memorabilia Start Price:4,000.00 USD Estimated At:4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD
An Original Gertie the Dinosaur Production Drawing.
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[?]Live Online Auction Starts In 2025 Mar 22 @ 10:00 (UTC-08:00 : PST/AKDT)
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(McCay, 1914) Although Bob Clampett was only a year old when Winsor McCay's "Gertie the Dinosaur" came to life, its impact on generations of animators including Clampett cannot be understated. Created by McCay in 1914 and integrated into his Vaudeville act and later released as a silent film, it is considered the first animated cartoon to feature a set character with a defined personality. The film was a commercial success and made Gertie a cultural icon of the time. It demonstrated that animation could entertain and engage audiences beyond simple novelty, paving the way for animation as a legitimate art form and encouraging other studios to produce animated shorts. The success of "Gertie the Dinosaur” encouraged experimentation and innovation in animation techniques, sparking the development of the industry as we know it today. Each drawing of the production was drawn on rice paper with the background inked onto each piece and Gertie animated into the scene. The drawings were then mounted on board and photographed one at a time to create the short. This image appears as Gertie takes her final bow at the end of the vaudeville show. Bob Clampett received it directly from another early animation pioneer, Paul Terry, right after the Animation Conference at the Montreal Expo in 1967. Terry, best known for creating Mighty Mouse and producing over 1,300 Terrytoons cartoons, inscribed the back “This is an original by Winsor McCay. With all good wishes to Bob Clampett from Paul Terry, Aug. 24 1967.” The drawing is in very good condition, considering its age, with the rice paper measuring 6.75” x 8.5” mounted to a 7.25” x 8.5” display board. The drawing has very faint discoloration from age mainly towards the top, slight spotting, six spots of discoloration at the top and bottom edge from mounting, seven tiny ink spots to the right of Gertie’s face, and a 0.75” V-shaped tear near the right edge that does not affect the image.