"In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" dated May 04, 1913:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (JULY 3, 2021):
I'm starting to realize that when McCay varies his spatial organization, you know that something of note is going to happen. And, indeed, this strip has something that *few* other #LittleNemo strips has… a cliffhanger! - 1/25
There are plenty of interesting seed planted in this strip that seem as though they rest heavily on a continued story arc… The ending of this strip alone sets up a lot of suspense that *must* be dealt with in coming strips (or ignored, but that would be a bummer…). - 2/25
The question about whether the animals get back in their cage will probably not be answered; I think we can safely assume that happens (though do they get *all* of them?!). That said, the other questions are much bigger and seemingly require focus. - 3/25
Will the King ask them to leave Gulliver City? Will Flip be arrested? Tune in next week to #InTheLandofWonderfulDreams to find out! - 4/25
It's unusual for McCay to do this sort of continuity heavy narrative focus. It isn't that he's never done it before, but it isn't a staple feature of #LittleNemo. I'm interested to see how it plays out! - 5/25
As always, McCay's animals are beautifully drawn. By their inclusion, the strip is vibrating with life… I love how the animals continually fill the panels more and more with each new panel. - 6/25
It provides McCay with an opportunity to show off some of the skills that we haven't seen much of recently during his time at the NY American. It seems that animals were much more a NY Herald staple. - 7/25
Narratively, the strip reveals Flip's less than sound judgment… we can't even really call this a trick because he does it thinking that "they're so little they can't hurt anybody." - 8/25
As both Nemo and Doctor Pill point out, that logic holds maybe for the party from Slumberland… but the Lilliputians are terrified. As much as I hate to agree with the old Pill, this action reveals Flip's self-centred, pleasure-seeking-at-the-expense-of-others nature. - 9/25
Now, to Flip's credit, as soon as he recognizes this, he tried to correct his mistake… but it's a little too late by that point. The King is already furious and the Princess is distraught at the thought of being asked to leave. - 10/25
That Pill is so hard on Flip is unsurprising (especially given @AlexxKay's proposed reading of the Pill-Flip relationship yesterday) because it represents the first real and true opportunity to get him out of the group. - 11/25
Would Morpheus go to bat for Flip with the King of the Lilliputians? I'm going to say, "no." So, if he does get arrested, might he be stuck there? - 12/25
I sincerely doubt it. Is there even a jail to hold Flip (he is a giant in Lilliput)? It seems an empty threat in the long run, but the Lilliputians have been known to be resourceful… I'm sure they could tie something together ;). - 13/25 [INSERT IMAGE]
The last thing that I want to mention is about McCay's use of Impie in this strip. At first glance, it isn't much different than other strips; he doesn't speak, isn't spoken too, and acts as background fascination for the action that taking place. - 14/25
Though much is the same, McCay does take the opportunity to do something that might not immediately ring as evident to readers today, but would've definitely elicited responses from his contemporary readers. - 15/25
As we've discussed before, Impie's depiction is predominantly based on the pickaninny caricature. - 16/25
One of the most frequent features of the pickaninny, was that they were often targets of physical abuse. When the potential for that physical abuse was stemming from an animal, it was often an alligator. - 17/25
As Pilgrim (2000) explains, the alligator was the animal most closely associated with the pickaninny and always in a threatening manner. - 18/25
I won't post image examples here on this thread because they are highly offensive and potentially triggering, but the JCMoRM has image galleries (linked below) that include many examples of this trope: - 19/25
Returning to Impie, we see him with his big happy grin in the early panels; he is so happy to be around the animals and his huge smile proves it… but that changes in panel five when he's grabbed by… yup, an alligator. - 20/25
Seeing his grin turn to a frown is bad enough, but recognizing that it's because of the jaws of an alligator was worse. McCay's young readers would likely have found this funny; it was a common trope. - 21/25
Today's readers will either see it as a random occurrence, or read it as I do: a racially problematic element of Impie's caricature promoting untruths about young black children in the early 1910s. - 22/25
I can't believe that McCay chose the alligator as the perpetrating animal by accident or coincidence, but I wouldn't blame anyone today who might think that at first glance. The only reason I read it as I do is because I know the characteristics of a pickaninny… not everyone today does. - 23/25
It's for this reason that I think this strip would work effectively as socio-historic material to help people better understand the role that popular culture played in perpetuating racism and stereotypes. - 24/25
This is my reading of "In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" #382. What's yours? -25/25