While researching the history of early animation, Nathan reconstructed the lost “Encore” sequence from Winsor McCay’s animated film Gertie using original drawings from 1914. With animation historian Donald Crafton, he coauthored an article about the structure and history of Gertie.Nathan, David L. and Crafton, Donald. “The Making and Remaking of Gertie.” Animation, March 2013 vol. 8 no. 1, pp. 23-46. http://anm.sagepub.com/content/8/1/23.abstract Nathan initiated a restoration of the entire film and a reconstruction of McCay's original vaudeville performance of Gertie. Crafton, Nathan and Marco de Blois of the Cinémathèque québécoise worked with a team of professionals from the National Film Board of Canada to complete the project, which premiered live during the closing ceremony of the 2018 Annecy Film Festival in France.Annecy Film Festival website. https://www.annecy.org/programme/index:rdv-200001501093
