"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated March 14, 1909:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (NOVEMBER 27, 2020):
I'm immediately excited to see the Candy Kid return! YAY! A friend from Slumberland (besides Flip) has come back to us! - 1/28
It's a welcome return and it makes me wonder if their removal wasn't a calculated tactic utilized by McCay… did his readers, like Nemo, long for them to come back to us? Does it make it sweeter when we do see them? - 2/28
I don't know about you, but that's how I felt! Obviously, Nemo feels similarly; he seems so desperate to see the Princess and, at least according to CK, she is desperate to see him, too. - 3/28
The reminder that Flip isn't permitted in Slumberland is, again, reinforced here and, again, Nemo has little qualms with it… he's all consumed with making it to the top of the ladder and seeing the Princess. - 4/28
His willingness to abandon Flip, coupled with his determination to climb, and even face his fear of thunder and lightning are (I think) evidence of his intense desire to be with the Princess again. - 5/28
So, the question that I'm finally asking myself here is… "why isn't he?" They are his dreams, after all? - 6/28
Almost as immediately as I asked this question, it was complicated by Nemo's final words: "Oh! I wish I could dream of someone besides Flip!"… - 7/28
Now, obviously controlling *what* or *who* you dream up is pretty tough (if not impossible…). Sure, one can learn to establish some mastery/control over dreams once in them, but I haven't heard of anyone being able to dictate what they dream. - 8/28
So, now the question evolves into, "are Nemo's dreams truly random, or is someone controlling them?" - 9/28
Of course, the obvious answer is McCay and a possible meta-analysis here. However, in universe, I'm truly interested in whether or not Flip can, somehow, control what Nemo dreams of… - 10/28
It would explain why he has featured so prominently lately, and why everyone else has been excluded… - 11/28
This would turn this particular dream/strip into a type of rescue operation… one that saves Nemo from the overbearing (tyrannical?) friendship of Flip and brings him back into the Princess' loving arms. - 12/28
It's all conjecture though; there's no evidence Flip is in control… it could just as easily be Nemo's subconscious projecting his "Id" (as we've previously suggested Flip could be) into his dream world. - 13/28
In this case, Nemo *himself* would be the tyrannical dictator of the dreamscape… hmm… - 14/28
Moving beyond this point though, I've got to wonder who the fellow flying with Flip is. CSL credits him as the Professor… is it? - 15/28
His jacket seems different and his hat is a green tartan here, while we've only ever seen him in a red one previously (when he does wear one)… again, not saying clothes (or their change) prevents it from being him, but I was just surprised… - 16/28
If it is indeed the Professor, he's also speaking much more than he ever has before. Besides the story book strip (where he was reading to Nemo & Flip), he hasn't said a word. This is what makes me wonder the most about his identity… - 17/28
All of that said, his facial features are remarkably similar to the Professor… if it is indeed him, how did he recover so quickly from that nasty tumble he took? Simply by dream logic, perhaps? - 18/28
What do you think? Is that the Professor? - 19/28
I'm also really intrigued in this notion of Slumberland as an extra-planetary space. The ladder continues well beyond the stratosphere into outer space and looks as though it continues upwards even farther! - 20/28
I'm struck about this… as a young boy being raised Christian… wouldn't he most likely associate that with heaven? - 21/28
We know McCay's stance on organized religion/the question of salvation was quite oppositional to Christian beliefs, so why establish even the most loose association for Slumberland with heaven? - 22/28
Maybe he wasn't (intentionally), but it's hard not to think about it when we see a literal ladder ("stairway?) to the heavens… - 23/28
We've seen language used to this effect before (strip #165 from December 06, 1908 sees Dr. Pill discuss coming "to earth" from Slumberland) and that's part of why it stood out to me so much. - 24/28
Yes, it is also a fantastical concept, and may be nothing more, but I feel as though using this notion a second time indicates some intention behind McCay's choices. - 25/28
As a result, I'm warming up to the idea that we spoke about waaaaay back (I think it was @Totter87 who mentioned it) that Slumberland exists geographically and spatially wherever it needs to be at any given time. - 26/28
In any case, this has been one of my favourite strips in a really long while! I'm eager to hear your thoughts! - 27/28
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #179. What's yours? - 28/28