Winsor McCay & the Education of Animation
Who was Winsor McCay? Winsor McCay was an American artist who developed his techniques in the field of comic strip drawing into the production of short animation features. While McCay’s works were simplistic by the standards of today’s designs, it is McCay who is considered “the father of animation” (Illustration History). Without his contribution to the art form, we wouldn’t have the style of animation that has come to exist through Disney animation studios or any other major animation studios. McCay developed the style of animation called “Personality Animation” (Furniss, 40). This animation took the concepts of the art form, which had previously just been used to animate illustrated images, and instead emphasized story and character. These characters displayed personality—making them both memorable and entertaining. Thus began the enduring nature of animated shorts (and eventually animated features) that depended on the personality and like-ability ...