"In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" dated April 27, 1913:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (JULY 2, 2021):
Today, we have a new title card for the strip and it is the one that I most closely associate with the NY American series! - 1/18
I like it much better than the old red one; it seems to fit the context of the narrative better. Even though it has tended *not* to be the case of late, Nemo is still the centre of the strip… they are his dreams and, without him, none of the shenanigans we see would exist. - 2/18
I find it interesting though that McCay changes the colour of the title card background to the yellow that generally is representative of his bedroom… only to colour the bedroom in the red of the old title card in panel 12. - 3/18
The first few panels of the strip set up the narrative well; the Lilliputians have taken the group to a theatre performance… and Flip is going to perform! - 4/18
Even though he isn't allowed to sit with them, Impie is permitted to attend in the balcony. Presumably, since they had to build new seats for Nemo, the Princess, and Doctor Pill, they would've had to build a seat for Impie, as well. - 5/18
Though the first handful of panels don't have much going on (a pattern of repetitive panel content with slight alterations continuing from last week), I do really enjoy the moment-to-moment transitions that occur with Impie and his reaction to the hose. - 6/18
While most of the panel content changes very little, as each panel passes we see Impie notice the hose, move to it, take it off the wall, and soak himself, before turning it on Flip below on stage. - 7/18
Of course, from here, the hose turns onto his majesty, the King of the Lilliputians, then the crowd of Lilliputians attending the show, then Pill, before the hose is yanked from the wall causing the entire place to begin filling with water! - 8/18
As this is all happening, we have a very peculiar moment in panel 8. First, a Lilliputian asks, "Was ist dies?" which I read as a very anglicized German attempt at "What is this?". - 9/18
That's followed by "wir müssen fort von hier oder wir entrinken", which I Google translated to "we have to get away from here, or we drunk". - 10/18
Though it probably isn't correct German, grammatically, it can still be read and understood; the language is intact and accurate enough that it makes sense. - 11/18
The fact that German, a European language, gets some accurate inclusion (even if it is bastardized slightly), while we saw the Chinese language, for example, in past strips become a simple caricature reflects the Eurocentric attitudes of the times. - 12/18
It also reflects, I think, attitudes towards which cultures and languages were deserving of accuracy in 1913. - 13/18
Panel 10 features Nemo and the Princess huddled together in the bottom right corner… it looks to me as though Nemo is comforting or protecting the Princess in an embrace. - 14/18
This is an surprisingly intimate moment between the two of them, but it also seems very natural and unforced… in panel 9, it looks as though she is reaching to Nemo to help. - 15/18
Of course, the also become perfectly positioned for the soaking that is delivered when the hose becomes detached from the wall… it ruins what is a nice moment between the two by literally "pouring cold water" on them. - 16/18
It also looks as though the amount of water that has been dumped has filled up the Lilliputians seats… I sure hope they all got out in time… otherwise, they're swimming by now… - 17/18
This is my reading of "In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" #381. What's yours? - 18/18