Winsor McCay - How a Mosquito Operates [1912]

[mstk123]

pretty funny for a 100 years old cartoon.....

[george4mon]

that was so annoying! they repeated the same movements several times in a row

[aurorabluewolf]

amazing how all of this was hand drawn with 24 drawings shown each second. McCay was really dedicated.

[TheTwillerZone]

how come the mosquito wears a hat ?

[kitsunechan90]

@TheTwillerZone Because cartoons. It's great :D!

[nigen]

@TheTwillerZone

because he's a mosquito

[abomasnow4]

this one and the Little Nemo one are way better than today's cartoons being shown on Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel.

[delicat87]

good but too stretching

[vanernst]

Conform to Darwins Evolution Theory you would expect these mosquitos should nowedays be noiseless !

[TheBrotherOfSisters]

@vanernst Ahem sorry Micheal we know how and why they look the way they are. 

[meeeemay]

Scary, but at the same time hillarious. I think it's a correct representation of nature.

I like the ending very much. It's not black humor. That's why I like it. Simply realism.

[Orteil42]

After 4:05 it just makes me want to shout "HEY, LISTEN ! HEY, LISTEN ! HEY, LISTEN ! HEY, LISTEN !"

[Joemamma69000]

This is good.

[maximusdarkultima]

that is one DAMN BIG MOSQUITO... I'll crap myself if I see an actual one that size.

[Dragonrider1227]

That's a big ass mosquito! Where is he? Africa? XD

[xxenotronic]

It freaks me out how deep the needle nose goes...

[GeneralArmorus]

that's frggn disturbin

[itena]

When I watched this in Animation History, it freaked me out! "Pretty nightmare-ish" is what my teacher said.

[HolyGK]

wow 100 years ago, nice

[mistermateriel]

The mosquito has OCD.

[uVueD2b]

always loved learning about the earliest animation...thanks 4 posting....

but damn-that mosquito was tearing his ass up(lol).

[starfiremagician]

honestly people back then were insane, how on earth could they think that was a real mosquito!! its the size of his head xD *its still beautifully done im not denyng that much at all!!* but honestly that insect scares the fuck out of me >:(

[bullyword]

really cool.their actions are very smooth.fat man is looks like computer game characters.

[1000Flares]

thats one big mosquito

[Julian9ehp]

Some of the drawings look like Japanese pictures, as with Hokusai's _Manga_.

I wonder if the later Japanese animated cartoonists -- there are some '30's cartoons on Youtube -- saw this.

[crispy336]

These films are even more remarkable when you consider he did not have transparent cell to give him separate levels to work on. Each character and every background is redrawn or traced back each frame on a single level of paper. At 24 frames per second that's a heck of a lot of drawing. The draughtsmanship is also superb. An inspiration.

[objectionalcontent]

@crispy336 actually he did have cells, It's possible he invented them though

[joshua2443]

@objectionalcontent no he used ink on rice paper. there's so much movement cells would be pretty useless anyway.

[Dallasdeckard]

@joshua2443 No, there would have been plenty of opportunity to use cels (not "cells"). For example, when the mosquito is at the door, when he lands on the man, many places there could have been backgrounds and cels. Still, it's all the more amazing that he didn't use cels. The work involved was enormous and the impact... lasting.

[underweightHater]

i was in a theater that randomly showed this before the feature years ago. i was astonished by it.

i think it was the silent movie theater in los angeles, which may be gone now?

[1Godskitchen1]

1:40 lol

[GuacamoleKun]

LMAO what a demented mosquito, why is he ballancing on the guy's nose? XD;

This is so awesome, I love how 3D the guy is when he moves.

Winsor sure was into a lot of back-and-forthy motion in his animations though.

[deadlyshoesalesman]

McCay must have added a lot of repetitive motion in order to increase the running time without adding to the already enormous number of drawings he had to make. It's also possible that the audiences of the day savored these repeated actions. Every movement must have been like magic.

[eureka5]

I'll be dammed if I ever see a mosquito the size of this one when is at the man's door. And it's a bit creepy ahah

But this is amazing.

[danny140]

According to the animators survival kit;

Winsor McCay's first animation were his 4000 drawings of 'Little Nemo - 1911' derived from his popular comic book strip Little Nemo in Slumberland. This was followed by how a mosquito operates and then Gertie in 1914

[narozzz]

Wait a sec - this is OLDER that Gertie The Dinosaur?! Are you sure the date is right? And if so, what's with the complete, across-the-board canonical misnomer of calling Gertie the first?!!

[Articoos]

Gerti was supposedly the first distinct character, not first animated film. technically, the first animated film is "humorous phases of funny faces"

[narozzz]

By Emile Cohl, that's right. But I always thought "Gertie" was McCay's first stab at animation. Was THIS his first or was there another one before it?

[Articoos]

i'm sure he did many many tests, but i'm not too sure, gonna have to do some digging :)

[SIMPFANN]

To set the record straight: the first animated film is widely considered to be "Humorous Phases of Funny Faces" by J. Stewart Blackton (NOT Emile Cohl), from 1906. Winsor McCay's first animated film was 1911's "Little Nemo", followed by "How a Mosquito Operates" in 1912 and then "Gertie the Dinosaur" in 1914.

[INTENSETIM]

people just dont put effort into animation like they used to...

[Articoos]

some do.. sad that people consider sliding words across a screen animation these days. It's industria man! you learn to live with it. Doesn't mean you gotta live like it tho ;-)

[datalal624]

I have to say, this is incredible animation work for 1912, and it is a funny film, but the subject matter creeps me out a bit! Ew! LOL

[jimmybomb11]

this is so awsome

they really need 2 do this kind of thing again

[SupaHOBO333]

love it

[MPOURNOUZIS]

great animation does anybody knows similar animators like winsor mccay?anyone?

[frankotaco]

we watched this in a class I'm taking, history of animation. this was my fav of McCays work. if you like this you would probably like Ladislaw Starewiez's short called "The Camera Mans Revenge" very creepy, very odd, yet very cool and innovative.

[visualtim]

Boy, they really re-used the hell out of some of those animation sequences. It's like they were doing the robot or there would be techno music set to the background of this.

[Dallasdeckard]

@visualtim Try animating it yourself, and you'll find the time and energy (not to mention the talent and skill) will have you re-using sequences where you can. Geez, why do I even respond to such morons.

[MarvelNut]

@Dallasdeckard Last time I checked, Leonerd Maltin wasn't a director. What makes you think that you have to practice a craft in order to critique it?

[IlersichProductions]

@Dallasdeckard he never said that it was bad or that it ruined the work, all he did was note it.

[Fironnathedarkelf]

@visualtim appartly it was because it was beleved that the screen had to stay moving. Also it was cheaper for the animator

[nigen]

@visualtim

well considering this was before cel animation I say the guy deserves some credit

[loperspest]

You know, when this first came out, people refused to beleive it was animation. The cried 'FAKE!' and 'HOAX!'. Reminds me of many Youtubers.

[MerinaWish]

XD That's hilarious

[Urdatorn]

very nice animation

[victorcelmare]

O_O

[RussianTigr]

this should be under the horror category

[Chibikeet]

BOOM! And that's the end of a greedy mosquito.

[elfgod]

this is 1912!!!!! holy crap... man he was ahead of his time.

[randomjunglist]

he was talented yes, but there were alot of good artists back then. It's just the studios became lazier and cheapskates. shame really. check out the book by john canemaker. GREAT stuff

[boscopula]

hOOp xD

[Lyktwz]

Graet! Mc Cay was a really a 100 years advanced genius

[rickthenailer]

Very interesting stuff. That mosquitos´s belly almost looked like 3-D. McCay was a true pioneer.

[Roguemarlfox]

holy shit that motherfucker exPLODED!

[shaktikriya]

Wow this is excellent by Sir Winsor McCay! Thank you so much for posting watchworthy videos like this!

[Darknut]

Excellent. Still better than anime.

[MujakiKid]

oh geez he exploded. that was creepy too

[myranimation]

awesome. Funny, great rotations, great timing.

[Chizpurfle52595]

winsor mccay is a l33t h@x0r. this is ballin and fuckin creepy. did u know all biting mosquitoes are female... the males eat nectar. god damn that mosquito is a greedy fatass he's gonna explode. i knew it, he exploded. lesson against gluttony, children.

[CharlesDickensss]

This is funny because you stated the fact about females being the only biting mosquitoes and went on to refer to it as a him anyways. :P

[Chizpurfle52595]

well winsor mccay did not know that fact about mosquitoes, or ignored it in order to have a male antagonist

[bodemutante]

Winsor McCay changed the history of comic books and animation!

[SIMPFANN]

He didn't just CHANGE the history of animation, he CREATED a lot of it!

[possumwilly]

i love this!