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Revision as of 02:20, 15 October 2012

Winsor McCay
Born
Winsor Zenic McCay

(1869-09-26)September 26, 1869[1]
Spring Lake, Michigan[1]
DiedJuly 26, 1934(1934-07-26) (aged 64)[1]
Brooklyn, New York[1]
Occupation(s)Animator, cartoonist
ChildrenBob McCay
Parent(s)Robert McKay and Janet Murray McKay

Winsor Zenic McCay (September 26, 1869 – July 26, 1934) was an American cartoonist and animator, best known for the comic strip Little Nemo (begun 1905) and the animated cartoon Gertie the Dinosaur (1914). For legal reasons, he worked under the pen name Silas on the comic strip Dream of the Rarebit Fiend.

A prolific artist, McCay's pioneering early animated films far outshone the work of his contemporaries, and set a standard followed by Walt Disney and others in later decades. His comic strip work has influenced generations of artists, including creators such as William Joyce, André LeBlanc, Moebius, Maurice Sendak, Chris Ware and Bill Watterson.[citation needed]

Early life

Little Sammy Sneeze

Winsor Zenic McCay was born in Spring Lake, Michigan, perhaps on 26 September 1869 (this date, found on his tombstone, is debated—his New York Times obituary states 1871).[1] He was the son of Robert McKay (later changed to McCay) and Janet Murray McKay; Robert at various times worked as a teamster, a grocer, and a real estate agent. Winsor's exact place and year of birth are uncertain — he claimed to have been born in Spring Lake, Michigan in 1871, but his gravestone says 1869, and census reports state that he was born in Canada in 1867. He was originally named Zenas Winsor McKay, in honor of his father's employer, Zenas G. Winsor. He later dropped the name Zenas.

In 1886, McCay's parents sent him to Cleary's Business College in Ypsilanti, Michigan to learn to be a businessman. While in Ypsilanti, he also received his only formal art training, from John Goodison of Michigan State Normal College (now known as Eastern Michigan University). Goodison taught him the strict application of the fundamentals of perspective, which he put to significant use later in his career. Goodison, formerly a glass stainer, also influenced McCay's bold use of color.

Career

In 1889, McCay moved to Chicago, intending to study at the Art Institute of Chicago, but due to lack of money had to find employment instead. He worked for the National Printing and Engraving Company, producing woodcuts for circus and theatrical posters. Two years later, he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and went to work as an artist for Kohl and Middleton's Vine Street Dime Museum. While in Cincinnati he married Maude Leonore Dufour. McCay began doing vaudeville chalk talks in 1906.[2] In his The Seven Ages of Man vaudeville act, he drew two faces and progressively aged them.[3]

Little Nemo in Slumberland

McCay's first major comic strip series was A Tale of the Jungle Imps by Felix Fiddle with 43 installments published from January to November 1903 in the Cincinnati Enquirer. The strip was based on poems by George Randolph Chester, then a reporter and editor at the Enquirer. The stories concerned jungle creatures and the ways that they adapted to a hostile world, with individual titles such as How the Elephant Got His Trunk and How the Ostrich Got So Tall.

His strips Little Nemo and Dream of the Rarebit Fiend, published under the pseudonym "Silas",[4] were both set in the dreams of their characters and featured fantasy art that attempted to capture the look and feel of dreams. McCay's cartoons were never overwhelmingly popular, but always had a strong following because of his expressive graphic style. Newspaper pages were physically much larger in that time and McCay usually had a half a page to work with. For fantasy art in comics, his only rival was Lyonel Feininger, who went on to have a career in the fine arts after his comics days were over.

McCay also created a number of animated short films, in which every single frame of each cartoon (with each film requiring thousands of frames) was hand-drawn by McCay and occasionally his assistants. McCay went on vaudeville tours with his films. He presented lectures and did drawings; then he interacted with his animated films, performing such tricks as holding his hand out to "pet" his animated creations.

Gertie the Dinosaur

The star of McCay's groundbreaking animated film Gertie the Dinosaur is classified by film and animation historians as the first cartoon character created especially for film to display a unique, realistic personality. In the film, Gertie causes trouble and cries when she is scolded, and finally she gives McCay himself a ride on her back as he steps into the movie picture.

In addition to a series of cartoons based on his popular "rarebit" gags, McCay also created The Sinking of the Lusitania, a depiction of the attack on the maritime ship. The propaganda cartoon contained a message that was meant to inspire America to enter World War I.

Death and legacy

McCay died in July 26, 1934 of a cerebral embolism,[5] and was buried at the Cemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn.[citation needed]

In 1966 Woody Gelman discovered many of the original Little Nemo strips at a cartoon studio where Bob McCay, Winsor's son, had worked. Many of the original drawings that Gelman recovered were displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art under the direction of curator A. Hyatt Mayor. In 1973, Gelman would publish a collection of Little Nemo strips in Italy.[6]

On October 15th, 2012 Google showed an animated Doodle for the 107th anniversary of Winsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland. [7]

Comic strips

Filmography

Winsor McCay sketching at the 1908 Actors Benefit for Crippled Children.

Books and collections

Winsor McCay's World War I poster urging Americans to buy Liberty Bonds
Flip recruits the aid of his uncle the Dawn Guard to wake Little Nemo and cause Slumberland to fade away, published in March 1906
  • Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend Dover, ISBN 0-486-21347-1
  • Little Nemo in the Palace of Ice and Further Adventures Dover, ISBN 0-486-23234-4
  • The Complete Little Nemo in Slumberland, Vol. I: 1905-1907 Fantagraphics ISBN 0-930193-63-6
  • The Complete Little Nemo in Slumberland, Vol. II: 1907-1908 Fantagraphics ISBN 0-930193-64-4
  • The Complete Little Nemo in Slumberland, Vol. III: 1908-1910 Fantagraphics ISBN 1-56097-025-1
  • The Complete Little Nemo in Slumberland, Vol. IV: 1910-1911 Fantagraphics ISBN 1-56097-045-6
  • The Complete Little Nemo in Slumberland, Vol. V: In the Land of Wonderful Dreams, Part 1: 1911-12 Fantagraphics ISBN 0-924359-35-8
  • The Complete Little Nemo in Slumberland, Vol. VI: In the Land of Wonderful Dreams, Part 2: 1913-14 Fantagraphics ISBN 1-56097-130-4
  • Little Nemo 1905-1914 Taschen, ISBN 3-8228-6300-9
  • The Best of Little Nemo in Slumberland Stewart, Tabori, & Chang, ISBN 1-55670-647-2
  • Little Nemo in Slumberland: So Many Splendid Sundays Sunday Press ISBN 0-9768885-0-5
  • Little Nemo in Slumberland: Many More Splendid Sundays Sunday Press ISBN 0-9768885-5-6
  • Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 1 Checker, ISBN 0-9741664-0-5 (“Tales of the Rarebit Fiend” and “Little Sammy Sneeze”)
  • Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 2 Checker, ISBN 0-9741664-7-2 (More “Tales of the Rarebit Fiend” and “Little Sammy Sneeze,” “Centaurs,” “Hungry Henrietta,” and editorial illustrations.)
  • Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 3 Checker, ISBN 0-9741664-9-9 (More “Tales of the Rarebit Fiend” (1907), “Little Sammy Sneeze,” “A Pilgrim’s Progress,” (1907) and editorial illustrations from New York period.)
  • Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 4 Checker, ISBN 0-9753808-1-8 (more Dream of the Rarebit Fiend (early 1908), A Pilgrim’s Progress (early 1908), various Little Sammy Sneezes, and New York American editorial cartoons.)
  • Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 5 Checker, ISBN 0-9753808-2-6 (Dream of the Rarebit Fiend (late 1908), A Pilgrim’s Progress (late 1908), Phoolish Phillip (all), Hungry Henrietta (all), and New York American editorial cartoons.)
  • Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 6 Checker, ISBN 1-933160-05-5 (“Mr Goodenough”, Dream of the Rarebit Fiend (late 1908), A Pilgrim’s Progress (late 1908), and New York American editorial cartoons.)
  • Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 7 Checker, ISBN 1-933160-05-5 (illustrations from New York editorial period, and collection of comic strips.)
  • Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 8 Checker, ISBN 1-933160-06-3
  • Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 9 Checker, ISBN 978-1-933160-07-8
  • Daydreams and Nightmares Fantagraphics, ISBN 1-56097-569-5
  • Little Sammy Sneeze Sunday Press ISBN 0-9768885-4-8

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Haverstock, Vance & Meggitt 2000.
  2. ^ Film reference: Winsor McCay
  3. ^ Stabile, Carol A. and Mark Harrison. Prime Time Animation: Television Animation and American Culture. Routledge, 2003.
  4. ^ McCay, Winsor (1973). Dreams of the rarebit fiend. Courier Dover Publications. p. ix. ISBN 0-486-21347-1. You will notice that I sign... my rarebit pictures "Silas." Well, my contract would not allow me to sign my real name when I started to draw those pictures for the New York papers and I had to make a name. An old fellow who drives a garbage cart by the New York Herald office everyday is my namesake. He is a quaint character and known as Silas.
  5. ^ Syracuse Herald, Syracuse, New York | July 27, 1934, "Winsor M'Cay Early Comic Artist, Dies"
  6. ^ Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession, p.126, Dave Jamieson, 2010, Atlantic Monthly Press, imprint of Grove/Atlantic Inc., New York, NY, ISBN 978-0-8021-1939-1
  7. ^ http://qualitypoint.blogspot.in/2012/10/google-shows-excellent-animated-doodle.html
  8. ^ "Hungry Henrietta, The Story of". Barnacle Press. Retrieved July 9, 2012.

Sources

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Winsor McCay.

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