Rip Van Winkle (1896/1903)

Rip Van Winkle is a series of short films originally produced in 1896 and compiled in 1903. As was the case in those days, there were no onscreen credits for the filmmakers. IMDb lists William K.L. Dickson as the director on all eight films, with G.W. Bitzer as the cinematographer. This contradicts the AFI (American Film Institute) Catalog of Feature Films, which lists Wallace McCutcheon as the director and William K.L. Dickson as the cinematographer.

After the deletions in my first submission immediately came back as "unable to verify" I decided not to bother submitting for the rest of the series and instead came to present the problem here.

Links to each of the eight films on AFI:

https://catalog.afi.com/Film/30185-RIPS-TOAST

https://catalog.afi.com/Film/30184-RIP-MEETINGTHEDWARF

https://catalog.afi.com/Film/31404-EXIT-OFRIPANDTHEDWARF

https://catalog.afi.com/Film/30183-RIP-LEAVINGSLEEPYHOLLOW

https://catalog.afi.com/Film/28936-RIPS-TOASTTOHUDSON

https://catalog.afi.com/Film/28937-RIPS-TWENTYYEARSSLEEP

https://catalog.afi.com/Film/28784-AWAKENING-OFRIP

https://catalog.afi.com/Film/31407-RIP-PASSINGOVERTHEMOUNTAIN

IMDb links:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000111/ - Rip's Toast (1896)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000109/ - Rip Meeting the Dwarf (1896)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000076/ - Exit of Rip and the Dwarf (1896)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000108/ - Rip Leaving Sleepy Hollow (1896)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000112/ - Rip's Toast to Hudson (1896)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000113/ - Rip's Twenty Years' Sleep (1896)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000036/ - Awakening of Rip (1896)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000110/ - Rip Passing Over the Mountain (1896)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000464/ - Rip Van Winkle (1896) [compilation] (p.s. release date should be 1903; 1896 release date should be deleted)

If IMDb would just reveal its sources the way Wikipedia and so many other sites do, then we could compare notes, so to speak, and determine why there is a discrepancy between IMDb and AFI. Until that day comes I'm just going to assume that AFI is a more reliable source than IMDb and go with their assessment. However, there is no point in me going through the trouble of making essentially the same submission eight or nine times just to have it immediately come back as "unable to verify" despite providing a source. Therefore, please investigate this and do something, or something. The end.