Sign in or register
for additional privileges

Birth of An Industry: Blackface Minstrelsy and the Rise of American Animation

Nicholas Sammond, Author
Performance, page 10 of 25
Previous page on path     Next page on path

 

You appear to be using an older verion of Internet Explorer. For the best experience please upgrade your IE version or switch to a another web browser.

Performance, Page 50

When he designed both Little Nemo (1911), Winsor McCay chose to retain the conceit of the lightning-sketch as the motivating force from which his animation sprang. McCay played himself as animator, a character somewhere between a circus ringmaster and an interlocutor in a blackface minstrel show.

The setup for his early shorts was simple: McCay would make a bet with friends and fellow artists such as George McManus and Tom Powers, or comic film star John Bunny, about his ability to make still drawings come to life. A series of scenes then laid out the intense labor of cartooning, with McCay as the sole craftsman toiling over thousands of drawings, aided only by bumbling assistants. These performance films offered the spectacle of melding two distinct modes of presenting the act of animation, the lightning sketch and the cartoon proper.


Comment on this page
  • Local Discussion
    •
  • Popout
    •
 

Discussion of "Performance, Page 50"

Add your voice to this discussion.

Checking your signed in status ...

Previous page on path Performance, page 10 of 25 Next page on path
Interlocutor    Winsor McCay    Little Nemo    1910s    Cartoons    Moving Image    Silent    Black and White    With Live Characters (Animators)    George McManus

Related:  Space, Page 182,  Performance, Page 35,  Conclusion, Page 291,  Race, Page 204,  Race, Page 248,  Race, Page 229,  Labor, Page 113,  Performance, Page 47,  Space, Page 146,  Conclusion, Page 302,  Race, Page 225,  Performance, Page 70,  Space, Page 175,  Introduction, Page 21,  Race, Page 247,  Space, Page 152,  Labor, Page 96,  Space, Page 187,  Labor, Page 123,  Space, Page 178,  Introduction, Page 2,  Space, Page 181,  Race, Page 206,  Race, Page 252,  Labor, Page 132,  Space, Page 177,  Space, Page 190,  Space, Page 193,  Race, Page 230,  Labor, Page 88,  Performance, Page 54,  Conclusion, Page 298,  Performance, Page 84,  Performance, Page 42,  Space, Page 148,  Race, Page 254,  Conclusion, Page 290,  Labor, Page 109,  Performance, Page 52,  Performance, Page 74,  Performance, Page 45,  Space, Page 165,  Race, Page 224,  Labor, Page 112,  Space, Page 183,  Race, Page 239,  Labor, Page 110,  Performance, Page 82,  Performance, Page 34,  Race, Page 231,  Labor, Page 119,  Introduction, Page 14,  Space, Page 172,  Introduction, Page 6,  Space, Page 197,  Labor, Page 128,  Race, Page 235,  Performance, Page 46,  Race, Page 232,  Space, Page 188,  Conclusion, Page 289,  Introduction, Page 30,  Performance, Page 56,  Space, Page 143,  Labor, Page 122,  Space, Page 163,  Space, Page 155,  Labor, Page 98,  Race, Page 261,  Labor, Page 133,  Labor, Page 115,  Introduction, Page 29,  Performance, Page 60,  Race, Page 220,  Space, Page 194,  Performance, Page 44,  Conclusion, Page 296,  Race, Page 251,  Space, Page 189,  Space, Page 141,  Conclusion, Page 300,  Race, Page 258,  Introduction, Page 1,  Race, Page 213,  Space, Page 162,  Race, Page 253,  Conclusion, Page 286,  Race, Page 221,  Conclusion, Page 303,  Conclusion, Page 278,  Performance, Page 77,  Space, Page 150,  Performance, Page 72,  Conclusion, Page 304,  Performance, Page 43,  Labor, Page 129,  Conclusion, Page 275,  Performance, Page 41,  Space, Page 138,  Conclusion, Page 273,  Labor, Page 97,  Introduction, Page 4,  Conclusion, Page 292,  Introduction, Page 9,  Labor, Page 101,  Space, Page 191,  Conclusion, Page 284,  Introduction, Page 23,  Performance, Page 78,  Space, Page 170