"The Sinking of the Lusitania" is a war propaganda film made in 1918 by Winsor McCay, an American cartoonist and animator. The film featured an account of the events that took place leading to the sinking of the RMS Lusitania (1915), a civilian ship that was sunk by the torpedo of a German U-boat, which ultimately lead to the United State's involvement in World War I in 1917.
The sinking of the Lusitania marked the not only the destruction of the largest ship of its time, but also one of the largest deaths by an enemy attack, with a death toll of 1,198 of the 1,959 people aboard. The original intensions of the film were to elicit anti-German response from the American public in order to help support the efforts of World War I.
The film is very historically important in animation as it is one of the earliest known surviving animated films that used transparent celluloid paintings. The first known predecessor to Winsor McCay's celluloid technique was John Randolph Bray's first animated film, The Artist's Dream (aka The Dachshund and the Sausage) back in 1913.
All pieces are original vintage production cels from Winsor McCay's 1918 WWI propaganda film "The Sinking of the Lusitania". There are no reproductions, limited editions, or sericels. All of my artwork is 100% original production.
