"In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" dated December 21, 1913:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (AUGUST 08, 2021):
It's Christmas in Antediluvia! - 1/15
There isn't much to this strip; it's a pretty straight forward holiday strip. Admittedly, the characters are (for the most part) on their best behaviour for the holidays! - 2/15
McCay frames today's strip as a little prank to be pulled on Nemo and the Princess by Doctor Pill, but it is less a prank than it is a kind gesture. The two are certainly missing Christmas celebrations (see panel 7). - 3/15
What Pill does (dressing up as Santa) is no different than what most adults do around Christmas, so I see it *less* of a prank (though, I suppose by definition…). - 4/15
Now, the mischief that Flip and Impie get into is certainly a prank. Even though it's spoiled by the Antediluvian guide that joins Pill in his sled. - 5/15
The strip never explains where, when, or how Impie dumps the toys to hide in the second sack, but it's a really funny moment in panel 10 (when the prank actually works and we see his head poking out of the bag. - 6/15
Though Pill asks him to "beat it", the usual abuse is toned down, which is nice to see at Christmas time. Similarly, Flip (who is now soaked from his dip in the lake) is quite calm about the whole thing. - 7/15
He doesn't get mad; he seems to accept that his prank failed and that "the jokes on [him]". Slightly unusual to see this from Flip, but it's Christmas and he's showing some good Christmas spirit here. - 8/15
One moment I found interesting was the Princess asking "am I in a dream Nemo?". We, obviously, know that the answer is "yes"; she's in Nemo's dream. - 9/15
She also should know that the answer is "yes"… her father is the king of Slumberland, after all. I'm not entirely sure what to make of it… anyone have some thoughts? - 10/15
Finally, I also want to mention that this strip created a funny coincidence for me that I found really great! - 11/15
Yesterday, at #CSS2021, I saw a presentation about Nancy Collins' run on #SwampThing that discussed "Bayou Santa" and his sled pulled by alligators! - 12/15 [insert image]
Today, we have Santa's sled being pulled by Gertie the Dinosaur… er… I guess I should say a Proto-Gertie the Dinosaur. I actually laughed out loud when I saw it. I love the absurdity of it! - 13/15
Overall, I thought this was a fun addition to the #LittleNemo holiday collection of strips (and you all know how little I enjoy the holiday strips, usually). This one lands pretty well for me, overall! I'm eager to hear what you think! - 14/15
This is my reading of "In the Land of Wonderful Dreams" #413. What's yours? - 15/15