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6.8/10
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An animated dramatization of the notorious World War I German torpedoing of the ocean liner, Lusitania.An animated dramatization of the notorious World War I German torpedoing of the ocean liner, Lusitania.An animated dramatization of the notorious World War I German torpedoing of the ocean liner, Lusitania.
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAs First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill allowed civilian ships to transport war munitions for the Western Front. He prevented German U-Boats from searching the ships by illegally arming merchant ships, introducing Q-ships with concealed deck guns, and by ordering merchant captains to evade and submarines that surfaced.
- GoofsThe German submarine fired only one torpedo, not two. The second explosion originated from within the ship near where the torpedo hit. The cause still remains uncertain. It has been widely speculated that the second explosion was caused by war munitions the ship was illegally transporting for the Western Front.
- ConnectionsEdited into Los comienzos de la animación (1995)
Featured review
Animation Landmark
Animation historians must view this film immediately, but I suppose if you can find one McCay cartoon you can find them all - they're compiled on the 'Animation Legend' video and DVD. 'Lusitania' is the film where McCay tries to escape the caricatural confines of the animated picture to produce a serious and moving film, and damn, he succeeds. The meticulous care which he put into the thousands of drawings necessary for this short cartoon meant that by the time it was finished, it was barely topical and WWI was over, leaving its calls for vengeance somewhat stranded. However, as a study of technique it is perhaps unsurpassed. McCay's animation has a dimensionality which is worlds apart from the character animation of Koko the Klown or Felix the Cat, perhaps a deliberate differentiation from such gentle entertainments. The grim monochrome images of the Lusitania's stern raised in the air while hundreds of people leap to their deaths while remind most audiences of shots from James Cameron's 'Titanic'. While the barely-concealed rage and maudlin tributes to the famous noblemen who died in the sinking (as opposed the penniless plebs who we can afford to forget) now appear unpalatably heavy-handed, the elegant curls of smoke from the stricken vessel are simply powerful cinematic touches which seal McCay's reputation as one of the great film artists of the silent era. If only he, and not Disney, had become the template for the future of American animation...
helpful•53
- Puppetmister
- Nov 19, 2002
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- Release date
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- Also known as
- The Sinking of the 'Lusitania', an amazing moving pen picture by Winsor McCay.
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- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime12 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was The Sinking of the 'Lusitania' (1918) officially released in Canada in English?
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