Gertie the Dinosaur and the Future of Animation

Posted April 1, 1914 3:00:32

Earlier this year, Winsor McCay released the remarkable Gertie the Dinosaur, a painstakingly crafted two dimensional animated film that clocks in at a robust 12 minutes.

The wild success of McCay's animated dinosaur has industry insiders wondering: is this the end of one dimensional animation?

At the end of last year, animator Dan Baines released what was to be his masterpiece The Adventures of Dot & the Infinite Plane.  However, instead of accolades and box office glory, Dot was met with a tepid critical response and poor ticket sales. What went wrong?

Many point to the wider audience's reaction to two dimensional animation like How a Mosquito Operates and Little Nemo.  However, 1D films still thrived when early 2D line animation was first introduced.

Production Still: Fixed Point Follies

There are rumors that studios will be closing down their 1D animated production houses.  That would be an absolute shame to me.  Fixed Point Follies remains a formative film experience for me and I would hate to live in a world where my children did not have an opportunity to see the work of brilliant animators like Baines.

What can you do? For one, let your voice be heard.  Baines has started a foundation to support the one dimensional arts.  Details can be found here.  I will be donating and hope you can too.  There should be room for both dimensions.