A Century of Animation, 1914-2014
A Century of Animation, 1914-2014
New Year’s Eve is, of course, a time for reflection. By some measure, the outgoing year could be considered the one hundredth anniversary of animation. Various experimental films preceded, but 1914 saw the premiere of Winsor McCay’s Gertie the Dinosaur. Certainly, Gertie was the first cartoon star. McCay’s career in print and cinema has been masterfully reconstructed by John Canemaker.
In addition, 2014 marks the centenary of a number of important artists in the history of UPA. John Hubley was born on May 21, 1914, and the past year saw a number of thoughtful retrospectives. Others who would have turned one hundred this past year include animator Lu Guarnier, story man Dick Shaw, background artists Paul Julian and Barbara Begg, and composers George Bruns and Gail Kubik.
One artist who actually did turn one hundred is Willis (Willy) Pyle. His younger brother, Denver, starred on television’s The Dukes of Hazard, as Uncle Jesse. Willis Pyle followed a career at Disney’s and the military with a five-year stint as a UPA animator before he moved to New York City, in 1950. On September 3, 2014, Willy celebrated his one-hundredth birthday at the Waldorf Astoria, thus joining Grim Natwick among long-lived animators.
December 31, 2014