The Centaurs (partially lost footage from unfinished Winsor McCay animated short film; 1918-1921): Difference between revisions

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{{#ev:youtube|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6N3giozPbI|320x240|right|The rediscovered 128 seconds of footage from the film.|frame}}
{{InfoboxLost
Winsor McCay was animation's first true innovator. His shorts, ''How a Mosquito Operates'' and ''Gertie The Dinosaur'' helped innovate many animation techniques. His highly detailed style combined with his heart and passion was passed down to future animation legends such as Tex Avery, Walt Disney, and Otto Messmer.
|title=<center>The Centaurs</center>
|image=WinsorMcCayTheCentaurs-InfoboxScreenshot.jpg
|imagecaption=Still from the surviving footage of the film.
|status=<span style="color:orange;">'''Partially Lost'''</span>
}}
Winsor McCay needs little introduction. He was one of the first major players in animation. His shorts, including ''How a Mosquito Operates'' and ''Gertie The Dinosaur'', led to innovative animation techniques which were used for decades. His detailed style and passion inspired future animators as Tex Avery, Otto Messmer, and even Walt Disney. '''''The Centaurs''''' was one of the last short films McCay worked on before being forced out of the animation industry in 1921.


In 1947, a collection of unfinished/unreleased works by McCay were found to be in the possession of long time collaborator Irving Mendelsohn, who was given them years earlier by McCay's son Robert. Unfortunately, the films had not been stored well, and were somewhat deteriorated by the time they were rediscovered (with several portions of the reels having decomposed completely, accounting for the remaining lost scenes/productions). Amongst this bounty of unreleased (and partially destroyed) materials was a small amount of footage from McCay's (now well-known) production, '''''The Centaurs''''', in the form of a 90-second fragment of animated centaurs wandering through a live-action-filmed forest. The fragment's animation was gorgeous, but made little sense in terms of story. For decades, historians were baffled as to what production the footage had been created for; then, in the mid-2000s, a small set of production notes of an unfinished Winsor McCay film titled ''The Centaurs'' surfaced. Given the animation style and title, the fragment has since been attributed to that production.
==Background==
After work on ''The Sinking of the Lusitania'' was completed in 1918, Winsor McCay began working on a variety of new animation projects, including a sequel to ''Gertie'' and several shorts based on his comic ''Dream of the Rarebit Fiend''<ref name="WMC">''Winsor McCay: His Life and Art'' by John Canemaker</ref> One of the shorts he worked on was an original piece called ''The Centaurs''. The short features a female centaur as she meets, then engages in a romance with a male centaur.


It is unclear as to why exactly the film was never completed. It was probably due to cost or its minor nudity (which was a big deal to audiences at the time). The production notes say the finished footage amounted to over 3 minutes, of which only the aforementioned 90 seconds survive. The film continues to intrigue audiences worldwide, keeping them wondering what might have been.
It is unknown if the short was ever finished and, for many years, what footage was completed fell into obscurity and became lost. McCay himself destroyed many copies of his own films to open up storage space for new projects.<ref name="WMC"/>
 
==Findings==
In 1947, a collection of unfinished/unreleased works by McCay were found to be in the possession of long-time collaborator Irving Mendelsohn, who received them years earlier by McCay's son, Robert. Unfortunately, the films (which were recorded on 35mm nitrate film) had not been stored well and deteriorated over time. When they were rediscovered, several portions of the reels had decomposed completely.<ref name="WMC"/> Among the unreleased and partially destroyed material was 90 seconds of footage from ''The Centaurs''. The fragment showed animated centaurs wandering through a realistic-looking animated forest. The female centaur meets a male centaur, who is then led by the female centaur to her parents, hoping to obtain their consent for a romance.
 
The production materials found in the surviving film stated that about three minutes of animation was completed for ''The Centaurs'', but only the following footage could be recovered. It is currently unknown why the film was not completed, but it is possible that budgetary concerns and the publisher of his comics, Hearst, forcing him out of the animation industry played a role in the cancellation of the project.<ref>''Drawing the Line: The Untold Story of the Animation Unions from Bosko to Bart Simpson'' by Tom Sito</ref>
 
==Gallery==
{{Video|perrow  =1
  |service1    =youtube
  |id1          =_6N3giozPbI
  |description1 =The rediscovered 128 seconds of footage from the film.
}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
 
[[Category:Lost animation|Centaurs]]
[[Category:Lost films|Centaurs]]
[[Category:Partially lost media|Centaurs]]
[[Category:Historic|Centaurs]]

Latest revision as of 03:23, 24 May 2021

WinsorMcCayTheCentaurs-InfoboxScreenshot.jpg

Still from the surviving footage of the film.

Status: Partially Lost

Winsor McCay needs little introduction. He was one of the first major players in animation. His shorts, including How a Mosquito Operates and Gertie The Dinosaur, led to innovative animation techniques which were used for decades. His detailed style and passion inspired future animators as Tex Avery, Otto Messmer, and even Walt Disney. The Centaurs was one of the last short films McCay worked on before being forced out of the animation industry in 1921.

Background

After work on The Sinking of the Lusitania was completed in 1918, Winsor McCay began working on a variety of new animation projects, including a sequel to Gertie and several shorts based on his comic Dream of the Rarebit Fiend[1] One of the shorts he worked on was an original piece called The Centaurs. The short features a female centaur as she meets, then engages in a romance with a male centaur.

It is unknown if the short was ever finished and, for many years, what footage was completed fell into obscurity and became lost. McCay himself destroyed many copies of his own films to open up storage space for new projects.[1]

Findings

In 1947, a collection of unfinished/unreleased works by McCay were found to be in the possession of long-time collaborator Irving Mendelsohn, who received them years earlier by McCay's son, Robert. Unfortunately, the films (which were recorded on 35mm nitrate film) had not been stored well and deteriorated over time. When they were rediscovered, several portions of the reels had decomposed completely.[1] Among the unreleased and partially destroyed material was 90 seconds of footage from The Centaurs. The fragment showed animated centaurs wandering through a realistic-looking animated forest. The female centaur meets a male centaur, who is then led by the female centaur to her parents, hoping to obtain their consent for a romance.

The production materials found in the surviving film stated that about three minutes of animation was completed for The Centaurs, but only the following footage could be recovered. It is currently unknown why the film was not completed, but it is possible that budgetary concerns and the publisher of his comics, Hearst, forcing him out of the animation industry played a role in the cancellation of the project.[2]

Gallery

The rediscovered 128 seconds of footage from the film.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Winsor McCay: His Life and Art by John Canemaker
  2. Drawing the Line: The Untold Story of the Animation Unions from Bosko to Bart Simpson by Tom Sito