RetroClips

McCay, already famous for the comic strip Little Nemo, hand-drew every one of Gertie's roughly 10,000 frames himself and originally performed the film live on vaudeville stages, standing beside the screen with a whip, "commanding" Gertie to bow, dance, and cry on cue as if she were really responding to him. She was the first animated character ever given a distinct, appealing personality rather than just a gag-delivery device, which makes Gertie the direct ancestor of every cartoon character with a face audiences actually cared about, from Mickey Mouse onward.