Editing Gertie the Dinosaur (section)

== Release ==
[[File:Gertie Variety.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Black-and-white poster announcing "Winsor McCay and his Wonderful Trained Dinosaur Gertie". A drawing of a long-necked dinosaur appears below the verbose copy at the top.|Advertisements educated audiences about dinosaurs.]]

''Gertie the Dinosaur'' first appeared as part of McCay's vaudeville act in early 1914.{{sfn|Crafton|1993|p=110}} It appeared in movie theaters{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=182}} in an edition with a live-action prologue, distributed by [[William Fox (producer)|William Fox]]'s [[Box Office Attractions Company]] from December 28.{{sfn|Nathan|Crafton|2013|p=32–34}} Dinosaurs were still new to the public imagination at the time of Gertie's release{{sfn|Tanner|2000|p=53}}—a ''[[Brontosaurus]]'' skeleton was put on public display for the first time in 1905.{{sfn|Nathan|Crafton|2013|pp=43}} Advertisements reflected this by trying to educate audiences: "According to science this monster once ruled this planet&nbsp; ... Skeletons {{interp|are}} now being unearthed measuring from 90 ft. to 160 ft. in length. An elephant should be a mouse beside Gertie."{{sfn|Tanner|2000|p=53}}

=== Vaudeville ===
McCay originally used a version of the film as part of his vaudeville act.{{efn|There are no known extant copies of the vaudeville version of ''Gertie''.{{sfn|Nathan|Crafton|2013|p=32}}}} The first performance was on February 8, 1914,{{efn|McCay registered the copyright for ''Gertie the Dinosaur'' on September 15, 1914.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=182}}}}{{sfn|Crafton|1993|p=110}} in Chicago at the Palace Theater. McCay began the show making his customary live sketches, which he followed with ''How a Mosquito Operates''. He then appeared on stage with a whip and lectured the audience on the making of animation. Standing to the right of the film screen, he introduced "the only dinosaur in captivity". As the film started, Gertie poked her head out of a cave, and McCay encouraged her to come forward. He reinforced the illusion with tricks such as tossing a cardboard apple at the screen, at which point he turned his back to the audience and pocketed the apple as it appeared in the film for Gertie to eat.{{efn|In the theatrical version, the intertitles call the apple as a pumpkin.{{sfn|Baker|2012|p=7}}}} For the finale, McCay walked offstage from where he "reappeared" in the film; Gertie lifted up the animated McCay, placed him on her back, and walked away as McCay bowed to the audience.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=175–177}}

The show soon moved to New York.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=177}} Though reviews were positive, McCay's employer at the ''[[New York Journal-American|New York American]]'', newspaper magnate [[William Randolph Hearst]], was displeased that his star cartoonist's vaudeville schedule interrupted his work illustrating editorials. At Hearst's orders, reviews of McCay's shows disappeared from the ''American''{{'}}s pages. Shortly after, Hearst refused to run paid advertisements from the Victoria Theater, where McCay performed in New York.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=181}} On March 8, Hearst announced a ban on artists in his employ from performing in vaudeville.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=181, 261}} McCay's contract did not prohibit him from his vaudeville performances, but Hearst was able to pressure McCay and his agents to cancel bookings, and eventually McCay signed a new contract barring him from performing outside of [[New York metropolitan area|greater New York]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=182}}

=== Movie theaters ===
[[File:Gertie dinner party.jpg|thumb|alt=A black and white film still. A group of men sit around a dining table in the center. To the right, a man stands by and gestures at a large drawing of a dinosaur.|McCay sketches Gertie for his colleagues in a live-action sequence made for the film's theatrical release, at the [[American Museum of Natural History]].]]

In November 1914, film producer [[William Fox (producer)|William Fox]] offered to market ''Gertie the Dinosaur'' to moving-picture theaters for "spot cash and highest prices".{{sfnm|1a1=Canemaker|1y=2005|1p=182 |2a1=Crafton|2y=1993|2p=112}} McCay accepted, and extended the film to include a live-action prologue{{efn|It is not known when the live-action sequences were filmed.{{sfn|Crafton|1993|p=112}}}} and [[intertitle]]s to replace his stage patter. The film successfully traveled the country and had reached the west coast by December.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=182}}

The live-action sequence was likely shot on November 19, 1914.{{sfn|Nathan|Crafton|2013|pp=33–34}} It features McCay with several of his friends,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=182}} such as cartoonists [[George McManus]] and [[Tad Dorgan]], writer [[Roy McCardell]], and actor [[Tom Powers]];{{sfnm|1a1=Cullen|1y=2004|1p=738 |2a1=Crafton|2y=1993|2p=112}} McCay's son [[Bob McCay|Robert]] had a cameo as a camera-room assistant.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=182}} McCay used a bet as a plot device, as he had previously in the ''Little Nemo'' film.{{sfn|Crafton|1993|p=134}}

=== 2018 reconstruction of McCay's vaudeville act ===
Using extant original drawings by McCay, [[David L. Nathan]] reconstructed the lost "Encore" sequence from McCay's original vaudeville version. He initiated a restoration of the entire film and, with animation historian Donald Crafton, proposed a reconstruction of McCay's vaudeville performance.{{sfn|Nathan|Crafton|2013|pp=23-46}} Crafton, Nathan and Marco de Blois of the [[Cinémathèque québécoise]] worked with a team of professionals from the [[National Film Board of Canada]] to complete the project, which premiered live during the closing ceremony of the 2018 [[Annecy International Animated Film Festival]] in France.<ref>{{cite web |title=Closing Ceremony |publisher=[[Annecy International Animated Film Festival]] |url=https://www.annecy.org/programme/index:rdv-200001501093 |access-date=2023-07-18 |archive-date=August 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819134556/https://www.annecy.org/programme/index:rdv-200001501093 }}</ref>