"In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" dated June 16, 1912:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (MAY 21, 2021):
To begin, we have another strip that blends nursery rhymes together. This time, it's "Simple Simon" (a nursery rhyme that I am wholly unfamiliar with), "Old Mother Goose", and "Jack & Jill". - 1/18
For those of you who might be in the same boat as me, here's some information about "Simple Simon": - 2/18
The verses of the nursery rhyme tell a story of a character (his age is ambiguous) that is rather… untrained in the ways of the world. Indeed, McCay plays with that notion quite frequently here in this strip. - 3/18
Our Simon not only burns his finger on Flip's cigar (panel 2), and inhales so many of Doctor Pill's pills that he begins to convulse (panel 5), but also destroys the broom he and the boys are riding while they're on it (panel 11). - 4/18
This final act of silliness acts as the impetus for Nemo's wake-up (as he and the other boys fall out of the sky off of Mother Goose's now broken flying broom. - 5/18
Before this though, the strip actually gives Flip and Impie an opportunity to be the "heroes", which I thoroughly enjoyed. - 6/18
Though they are a bit cruel when Simon burns his finger (Flip does nothing to stop him and Impie laughs), the two rush to his aid when he has a bad reaction to Pill's pills causing him to convulse. - 7/18
Gratefully, Jack & Jill are coming by with a pail of water that they use to help Simon. Without their quick action, things may have gone horribly wrong for Simon. - 8/18
I do blame this on Pill for not keeping track of his surgical case, though… - 9/18
As this is happening, Pill and the Princess acknowledge Mother Goose's arrival! We haven't seen her for a few strips and, this time, she arrives here on a broomstick. - 10/18
I found this really interesting. As far as I could recall, the "Old Mother Goose" nursery rhyme mentions her flying on a "gander" (goose) not a "broomstick": - 11/18
A flying broomstick is, of course, pretty closely linked to the ideas of witchcraft… what is most fascinating about this is that McCay's Mother Goose actually has a witch-like hat, as well! - 12/18
Apparently, there is a tradition that draws a connection between Mother Goose and witchcraft! This was news to me, but it seems as though maybe McCay was aware of it? - 13/18
I can't see both the hat and the broomstick (which departs from the more traditional goose) being a coincidence… she does have a physical depiction *close* (if not exact) to what one might associate with witches. - 14/18
The idea also fits in with the dream idea, no? Maybe Mother Gooseville is powered by her witch magic, meaning that the nursery rhymes that children know and love are somehow hoisted upon them magically? - 15/18
I'm not sure how far this idea might be taken. What do others think? - 16/18
I'll end by adding a disappointment that the spatial structure has been so stagnant lately… I'm craving the more experimental layouts and formal explorations and instead we're often getting very structured grids. - 17/18
This is my reading of "In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" #341. What's yours? - 18/18
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