"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated March 12, 1911:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905; Guest Curated by @Totter87 (MARCH 22, 2021):
Hello everyone – I’m Chris Totten (@totter87) and I’m one of the guest contributors to the #WelcomeToSlumberland project. I’m also a native Northeast Ohioan! If you haven’t read one of my guest posts before, here’s a bit about me: - 1/24
I’m an assistant professor at @KSUTusc in the Animation Game Design program, specializing in animation and world design for video games. I’ve made games for 15 years, taught for 11, have authored multiple game design books, and co-founded the Smithsonian @AmericanArt Arcade! - 2/24
I’m also currently making a #LittleNemoGame called Little Nemo & the Nightmare Fiends, which is live on Kickstarter and in its final days. It features hand-animated art in the style of the original #comics as well as scenes inspired by McCay’s work! www.LittleNemoGame.com - 3/24
But I’m here today to talk about this magnificent strip, where Little Nemo visits a place near and dear to my heart, Cleveland! - 4/24 [INSERT CLEVELAND ROCKS]
The characters are coming into Cleveland from the North via Lake Erie (despite the last panel of the previous comic being a shot of Public Square similar to the one from panel 3.) - 5/24 [INSERT PUBLIC SQUARE POSTCARD]
The Captain makes a joke about “the kids” from Cleveland making so much noise about their town that it makes it hard to land. Presumably this is what sent them out to the lake. - 6/24
It’s true! Clevelanders are very proud of their city. It’s a shame that @CLECLOTHINGCO didn’t exist yet or Nemo could have also worn some Cleveland pride during his trip to the next city! - 7/24
They land in Public Square next to the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, first dedicated in 1894 and designed by architect Levi Scofield. - 8/24 [INSERT SOLDIERS & SAILORS IMAGE]
As someone who grew up in NE Ohio, it’s amazing to see this view that features so little of what we associate with Public Square today, like Terminal Tower (opened in 1930.) - 9/ 24
In a story arc where McCay experimented little with the formal aspects of the strips, having this double-tall panel (#3) is rather daring. - 10/24
Beyond being a place I know well, I like this shot because it’s not just of a single building or landmark, but is more of a scene with surrounding landscape. - 11/24
If you’ve seen the movie A Christmas Story – this might all look familiar, as it was famously filmed in Cleveland. - 12/24 [INSERT PUBLIC SQUARE CHRISTMAS]
The Higbee’s store window scene and the later parade scene were filmed right on Public Square. The city even has a Christmas Story museum: - 13/24
The plot here is rather thin. Everything revolves around Nemo’s feeling that they can’t stay long, so he seems to be only half-listening to the enthusiastic young Clevelander as he rattles off some facts about the city. - 14/24
I can’t say I blame Nemo here – there are some great unique facts listed here but most are…uh…rather mundane? - 15/24
Come on kid, you can’t list Cleveland’s world-class symphony orchestra or public library? Later, Cleveland would even have one of the tallest buildings in the world (Terminal Tower). - 16/24
Flip suddenly rolls up with a carriage full of chewing gum boxes and brags throughout the rest of the trip that he saw the biggest chewing gum factory in the world. That would be William J. White and Son's American Chicle Co. - 17/24
Since this is a comic-focused thread, I’d be remiss if I covered a Cleveland-based comic without mentioning the “Poet Laureate of Cleveland” himself: underground comics writer Harvey Pekar. - 18/24 [INSERT IMAGE OF PEKAR]
According to Pekar’s excellent comic, "Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland", the city would have been one of the most populated in the country at the time of Little Nemo’s visit, spurred by a period of great industrial growth. - 19/24 [INSERT PEKAR CLEVELAND]
Pekar’s comics, including his most famous, American Splendor, highlight the life and problems of everyday Clevelanders, and of the city itself. It includes looks inside Cleveland’s eventual economic decline and difficult race relations, but also its more recent comeback narrative. - 20/24
[AMERICAN SPLENDOR + Cleveland Pekar x2]
The graphic novel "Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland" paints a realistic picture of a flawed but culturally vibrant city apart from the popular “that’s so Cleveland” narratives: the woes of its sports team or the time that the river caught fire. - 21/24
It also talks about the city’s importance to the history of Rock & Roll (radio DJ Alan Freed who coined the term Rock & Roll was from Cleveland) and features the cities other vibrant musical, architectural, and artistic scenes. - 22/24 [INSERT CLEVELAND MUSIC]
It’s those cultural bright spots that I highlight in my own work on #LittleNemoGame. Included are many architectural references and nods to Cleveland, such as the airship platforms in our cloud level, based on the Old Arcade, or the Hope Memorial Bridge Guardians. - 23/24
[Put picture of arcade, then picture of screenshot of cloud level, then real life pic of guardians, then game guardian art]
That’s my reading of Little Nemo in Slumberland #. What are your thoughts? - 24/24