"In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" dated January 21, 1912:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (MAY 02, 2021):
There really is a lot to unpack in this strip, so I figured that I'd start from the "biggest" elements and work my way down. - 1/29
First off, this strip follows one of McCay's most frequently used narrative tropes and that is the large person in the small city. We've seen this before and we'll see it again! - 2/29
That said, this one is a bit different because rather than just big bodies causing chaos by the nature size compared to the city, this one features a battle between Flip and Doctor Pill! - 3/29
Pill begins by "snapping" or flicking Flip, which causes him to knock over a building. At this point, things are fairly consistent with collateral damage, but Flip retaliates by lifting a building (that had previously been in the ground) off of it's foundation to use against Pill! - 4/29
In panel 9, you can see the small people running out of the building's base, desperate to escape the carnage. They do not want to be caught inside the building when it smashes into Pill (panel 11). - 5/29
Panel 10 and 11 represents a wonderful perspective shift, as we move down to ground level and see the battle through the eyes of the little people. - 6/29
Seeing Flip and Pill loom over the crowd of people scattering and rushing around looks like it came right out of a Kaiju movie; King Kong, perhaps? - 7/29
In fact, there are many who speculate that McCay was a defining influence on American Kaiju films (King Kong, specifically). Those interested should look to Ulrich Merkel's "Dinomania: The Lost Art of Winsor McCay, The Secret Origin of King Kong, and the Urge to Destroy New York". - 8/29
I can't reference Merkl right now (I lent my copy out to a colleague), but if @Totter87, @pfxbryan, or anyone else more acquainted with the relationship between Kaiju and McCay want to chime in here, you'll certainly get much more from them than me! - 9/29
Another point of interest is that when the dream ends, and Nemo awakes, he identifies it as a "nightmare". Clearly, monster sized people tearing through a city is a scary prospect, so this shouldn't be surprising. - 10/29
Yet, it's interesting because this means that Nemo must have felt some real sense of danger here… it's not usual, even when things go really wrong, for him to identify his dreams as nightmares (though it has happened before so it isn't without precedent). - 11/29
Panel 7 is also of note because it brings to a head some of the tension that we've been feeling throughout the NY American series between Flip, the Princess, and Nemo. - 12/29
Yesterday, we saw that Nemo was willing to avoid Flip is it meant the continuation of his fun with the Princess. Here, Nemo straight up tells Flip that he "spoils everything for [them]." - 13/29
Or does he? - 14/29
This speech balloon is very strange… there are two tails attached… one pointing somewhat ambiguously between the Princess and Nemo (though seeming to suggest the Princess) and another that points at… Flip? - 15/29
Clearly, this tail was not meant to be there… so what happened? Was it mistakenly added and "corrected" with the second? Was it meant to indicate that the Princess and Nemo are speaking together? - 16/29
Realistically, I think it was a directional mistake that was poorly corrected, but it does create interpretational ambiguity… - 17/29
So either the Princess makes that previous disparaging comment Flip or both she and Nemo do. - 18/29
If it's both, my previous point stands and is reinforced by the Princess' frustration, as well. If it's just the Princess who makes the comment, then we can continue our previous conversations about her dizzying uncertainty about the nature of her relationship with Flip. - 19/29
One minute she wants him around and the next he is a troublemaker ruining their fun. - 20/29
Lastly, I just want to make mention of the terminology chosen in the top tier of the strip. - 21/29
Today, we know that the use of the "M"-word is an inappropriate descriptor of those living with dwarfism. The origins of the word, however, are rooted in circus sideshow acts and carnival curiosities (the word being used as a way to describe little people who were in the act).- 22/29
When used as a descriptor for those living with dwarfism, it (like so many other derogatory terms) "othered" them hurtfully. - 23/29
As we know, McCay's own performance abilities and skills were learned in circuses and carnivals; he was a staunch supporter and truly loved the lifestyle. We've seen this influence MANY times before in #LittleNemo. - 24/29
It makes sense that the terminology of these places that influenced him so much would find it’s way into McCay's vernacular. It isn't an excuse, but an explanation for why he uses it here. - 25/29
As the LPA position states, the word was never coined to describe those with dwarfism, but it became a common way to do so in the 1900s anyway and, though the word has mostly fallen out of use (I think), it did real damage to individuals for a long time. - 26/29
Is McCay's work here guilty of assisting in the normalization of the term out of context? Possibly. Either way, coming across the word in the narrative seems to be a generative way to discuss the harmful nature of the word. - 27/29
As I said, there is a lot here and I've only scratched the surface! I look forward to hearing what others have to say! - 28/29
This is my reading of "In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" #333. What's yours? - 29/29
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