Gertie the Dinosaur (1914)

Gertie is touted as being one of the first animated films and for its place in cinema history I decided to watch it. Having seen many very ordinary films from the first decade or so of silent film (trains pulling into stations etc) it was fun to see a sense of creativity here. The animator enters a museum and gets into a bet that he can bring a dinosaur to life with his drawing. This he does with the creation of Gertie the Dinosaur and it is not long before he is interacting with her, giving her instructions and, ultimately, entering the frame to ride on her. In a period where even the ordinary was viewed with wonder, it is something to have the creativity to not just animate a dinosaur but do so in a way that sees interaction with real life and in particular see real life enter the film in a way that is perhaps normal a century later – but not then.

In terms of the actual film, it is less good than its historical value but is still quite fun. The dinosaur animation is basic for sure, but for me what made the difference was that it is pretty static and repetitive at times – with lots of the dinosaur repeating actions and rocking in a manner that seemed looped. Specific episodes with an elephant and with the creator himself were stronger and offered more, but they were still built around these sections. Perhaps it was because I had just watched a very creative and energetic short film from the same sort of period and this seemed very static next to it.

So, not as great as a film to just watch, but it is pretty entertaining and watching it within a historical context will enhance what you are watching.