(Source: http://www.vegalleries.com).

A key frame from Gertie the Dinosaur

Winsor McCay is a celebrated very early animator. An interseting aspect of his work is that he used his animations as part of live vaudeville shows in which he would interact on stage with the movie character. You can read more about this at the Van Eaton Galleries web site: http://www.vegalleries.com/gerthistory.html.