Misinformation:

One of the things that bugs me is sloppy research in animation. An Animation History text, that I had to teach from and shall go unnamed here, listed Snow White as being first released in 1939 when in fact it premiered on December 21st 1937. The author also dismissed Emile Cohl is one sentence.

Harry Palmer`s Prof. Bonehead (1916) is credited to Emile Cohl (1908) not just on web sites but on a title card on a commercially produced VHS tape in my collection. Cohl also gets credit for Louis Feuillade`s Great Pumpkin Race 1907.

Fantastic Dinosaurs of the Movies lists Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) as the first animation ever. As important as Winsor McCay`s work is he did not invent animation and Gertie was not even his first animation.

Why is shoddy research like this so typical of Animation History (sic) tapes and DVDs and even some books? I don`t think they (the people putting out this crappy reportage) take it seriously. Hell, it`s just cartoons! Lighten up already. Yes, and so are Dumbo and Grave of the Fireflies. People bleed their souls into some of these films but we can`t get no respect. How are you to fight against stuff like this?