Keaton in "The Three Ages"
McCay emerges in his masterpiece,
"Gertie the Dinosaur"
Winsor McCay
Meeting McCay
Spring Lake, MI was the childhood home to animation pioneer
Winsor McCay - a mere 15 miles away from Bluffton.
"Even Buster Keaton paid homage to McCay, in his 1923 film
The Three Ages. He
asked his writer, Clyde Bruckman, 'Remember
Gertie the Dinosaur?
. . . The first cartoon comedy ever made. I saw it in a
nickelodeon when I was fourteen. I'll ride in on an animated
cartoon.' "
"Before
Mickey: The Animated Film" by Donald Crafton