In light of our seminar this week with guests from Ugobe, who created the robotic dinosaur Pleo, I wanted to call attention to another interactive dinosaur, Gertie.
Gertie is best remembered for being one of the first animated characters with a clear (and very likable) personality. What isn't so well remembered is that Gertie was originally presented to audiences as part of an interactive vaudeville show, hosted by the animator Winsor McCay himself. Highlights included McKay throwing a large pumpkin offstage which is "caught" by Gertie, in whose mouth it looks positively tiny.
In the finale McKay enters the film and rides off on his enormous companion. The video below is from a later repackaging of the live show into a more traditional film.