Watch Gertie the Dinosaur For Free

That was an excellent one.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Cinema's first look at dinosaurs has all the creativity that anyone could want. Winsor McCay's "Gertie the Dinosaur" is a simple but funny short. I first saw the cartoon in a documentary about the history of animation. McCay stood in front of an audience and explained what he was about to do. Then the playful reptile made her grand entrance. It shows what one can do with animation. It is, after all, simply another form of filmmaking. Since then, animation has ranged from the soft and cute (the Silly Symphonies) to the mordant (Ralph Bakshi's "Fritz the Cat").You have to see "Gertie the Dinosaur", if for no other reason except to get a look at early animation. A masterpiece.

This is the 14-minute, black-and-white, silent short film that laid the basis for this uncountable number of cartoons that came out in the following decades. It's a black-and-white movie and basically split into two halves. The first half is about two gentlemen having a bet that one of them will bring dinosaurs back to life in the coming month. The second half is the way he did it and shows us a day in the life of dinosaur Gertie. And not only did Winsor McCay manage to bring her to life, he also included a couple other extinct creatures, such as a mammoth with whom Gertie plays and jokes around in a friendly manner. Gertie may not possess the popularity because she was just not as prolific as most other cartoon characters (there is only this one film about her and a shorter sequel), but she will always be known to true animation lovers. This one here is certainly not a truly great film in terms of content, but it definitely is in terms of historic significance. And apart from that, it's also a cute little story. Oh yeah, the pumpkin part was pretty nice to show us how great Gertie actually is. And pay attention to everything she does what McCay is not explicitly telling her. In my opinion it is among the best films from over 100 years ago. Recommended.

Credited with featuring the first-ever instance of animation on celluloid, this one's place in movie history is thus forever assured; yet, that alone hardly makes it eligible for a place on polls compiling the all-time best films (which is the main reason I got round to watching it)! Incidentally, the on-screen title here is actually "Winsor McCay: America's Greatest Cartoonist and Gertie" – with editions of it available online running anywhere between 6 (cutting to the chase, as it were, by eliminating the live-action bookends and showing only the prehistoric action involving the "dinosuarus") and 14 minutes (including expository footage of N.Y.C.'s Museum of Natural History)!The 'plot' revolves around a bet made by McCay to his once equally illustrious friends that he can 'breathe life' anew into a gigantic ancient fossil; the group is completely won over (and, needless to say, so was the general public of the time) by his achievement – which was considerable, given that he states it took some 10,000 sketches to fully execute! The primitive drawings – understandable for a century-old pioneering effort, yet perfectly fitting in view of the subject matter – still have a certain charm to them, particularly in conveying Gertie's unruly behaviour; special effects are then incorporated into the finale, where McCay is seen 'riding' his own creation!

Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) *** 1/2 (out of 4)This Winsor McCay film starts off very much like his first as McCay and a friend are inside a dinosaur exhibit when the artist says he could make them walk. The friend and others at a local club laugh at him so he makes a bet that he can bring a dinosaur to life. A month later McCay displays Gertie, a lovable dinosaur who will do whatever he says. I will admit that the start of this film is a tad bit slow because we've already seen this same opening in an earlier film. With that said, there's no question that this is a very important film and one that is a must see. The most amazing thing to me about this film is how much life McCay is able to give Gertie. There's not a single frame where you feel as if you're watching a bit of animation because the director does such a nice job at bringing her to life and making her seem so real. The animation includes Gertie doing various tricks, a dance and a few other things but we also get a sea serpent that shows up. The animation looks incredibly strong and we're given some great humor throughout. I hate using the word cute but that's exactly what this film is and it's so impressive that even those who can't stand older movies should be drawn into it.