Gertie the Dinosaur is a 1914 animated short film by American cartoonist and animator
Winsor McCay. It is the earliest animated film to feature a
dinosaur. McCay first used the film before live audiences as an interactive part of his
vaudeville act; the frisky, childlike Gertie did tricks at the command of her master. McCay's employer
William Randolph Hearst later curtailed McCay's vaudeville activities, so McCay added a live-action introductory sequence to the film for its theatrical release. McCay abandoned a sequel,
Gertie on Tour , after producing about a minute of footage.