Gertie the Dinosaur

Imagine a dinosaur that’s not scary, but super fun! That’s Gertie! She was a special animated dinosaur, meaning she was drawn and then brought to life, frame by frame, to move on screen.

She was like a playful pet, doing funny dances and even eating a watermelon when her creator, Winsor McCay, asked her to. She was the star of a movie made way back in 1914, which is older than your grandparents' grandparents!

Making Gertie move was like drawing a flipbook, but super-duper big! Winsor McCay drew thousands of pictures of Gertie. For each picture, he’d draw her just a little bit differently.

When you flip through them really fast, it looks like she’s really moving! He even used special marks to make sure Gertie stayed in the same spot and didn't wiggle around too much. It was like magic, but with lots and lots of drawing!

When Gertie first showed up, she wasn't just on a screen. Winsor McCay would show her live on a stage, like a magician! He’d stand there and pretend to talk to her, and then Gertie would appear and do her tricks. It was so amazing that people thought she was real! This was one of the very first times a cartoon character felt like a real friend you could see and interact with.

Gertie was a HUGE deal! She was the very first animated dinosaur ever, which is super cool. Because she was so lively and had a personality, she inspired lots of other cartoonists. Think of your favorite cartoons today; Gertie helped make them possible! She’s so important that a special place in America called the Library of Congress keeps her movie safe forever.