Did you know there is a lost Centaurs animated film from the early 20th Century?
This video will show the surviving remnants of the film here after some brief commentary about centaurs and a background of the film.
Centaurs are mythological creatures that are half-man, half-horse. From the waist up they are similar to a human, but below the waist their body and legs are equine.
They are famously depicted in Greek mythology as beings that inhabited the regions of Magnesia and Thessaly in Greece. The centaurs were believed to be primordial, being the offspring of Ixion, king of the Lapiths, and Nephele, a cloud made in the image of Hera.
Centaurs were thought to be half-civilized, half-wild, and often drank wine and were prone to violence when intoxicated. They had a reputation for being crude and lustful.
One of the most famous stories involving centaurs is the Centauromachy, or the Battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs. At the wedding of Pirithous and Hippodamia, the centaurs got drunk and tried to abduct the bride and bridesmaids, sparking a violent conflict.
Other notable centaurs included Nessus, who was killed by Heracles for attempting to abduct his wife; Pholus, noted for his wisdom and hospitality; and Chiron, known for his kindness and wisdom, unlike his wilder brethren.
Centaurs were ultimately seen as less civilized than humans due to their dual natures. In art and literature they represented man’s struggle between reason and bestial passion. They lived in the shadow of mankind.
Winsor McCay was an American cartoonist, animator and producer best known for creating the comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland.
In 1911, McCay embarked on animating Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey as a series of animated films. This included the film The Centaurs, based on the scene from the poem describing the battle between Centaurs and Lapiths.
The Centaurs took McCay over a year to animate frame-by-frame and was incredibly detailed and life-like for its time. McCay animated every element himself, including complex scenes of centaurs, horses and humans interacting.
It is believed The Centaurs was around 15 minutes long and contained over 10,000 drawings. McCay utilized innovative animation techniques like cel animation to bring the characters to life.
The Centaurs premiered in February 1914 in New York City. Audiences were amazed by the quality and realism of the animation for the era. However, like most of McCay’s films, no print is known to exist today.
McCay’s Odysseus animation project was ultimately abandoned. The Centaurs and his other early animated shorts were likely not properly preserved, so this landmark early animated film is now lost to history. McCay is still recognized as a pioneer of animated storytelling.
Here is what remains of the film today. (Video at top of this essay.)
References
Canemaker, J. (2018). Winsor McCay: his life and art. CRC Press.
McKenna, D. (2013). Impression and Expression: Rethinking the Animated Image through Winsor McCay. Synoptique, 2(2), 1.
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