"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated August 02, 1925:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (OCTOBER 19, 2021):
While this might not be the most exciting strip in the world, I do enjoy the Gertie-esque dinosaur and the way that the figure poses and movements reflect gesturalality. - 1/19
The boys don't give off that same sort of energy… they feel very much like static images; photos taken in different poses. - 2/19
The Dinosaurus feel much more kinetic to me than that… I can feel the neck whip around between panel 3 and 4, I feel him begin to trot in panel 7 before breaking into a sprint through 9 and 10. - 3/19
He feels alive to me in a way that the boys don't and I really feel as though a lot of this has to do with McCay's Gertie animation and his understanding of how to make motion so clear. - 4/19
Yes, I know he'd animated Nemo, Flip, and Impie by this point, as well, but Gertie was something different entirely and I think it reflects here. - 5/19
The narrative is built upon a misunderstanding of sorts; Nemo tries to warn Flip, Slivvers, and Impie that the "island" is not an island, but rather King Neptune's pet dinosaur… they don't listen and the dino awakes from his million year nap. - 6/19
After some tumbling, the gang finally gets on it's back and Impie begin beating it with a riding crop with Flip tossing encouragement to him in panel 7. - 7/19
At first, I was a bit displeased that Impie was beating the dino; I couldn't figure out why that was his impulse and thought it, yet again, a coded suggestion of ill-mannered societal behaviour. - 8/19
But that isn't it; they're straight up trying to ride the dinosaur so use of a riding crop makes sense (even if I think it's pretty inhumane today; though it is still used with provisions in horse racing even now). - 9/19
That said, Nemo suggests that it can't even feel the crop through its thick skin, which is possible, so its use seems fairly pointless in the long run… - 10/19
When they finally crash into the Neptune, Pill, and Figures (who are with the Princess giving Morpheus' best to his friend) the King is none-to-pleased to see his pet has been released and fears he'll never wrangle it back again. - 11/19
The Princess' comment to Nemo signals some unhappiness on her part… yet again, her playmate has left to hang out with the boys and she is confined to spending time with her chaperone. - 12/19
This has occurred before and it never sits right with me… the Princess belongs with the gang and should be involved in the shenanigans as much as they are. - 13/19
This seems to be a thread of late where she expresses disappointment in not being with the boys. Though, this time, she tries another tactic and asks Nemo to rejoin her… - 14/19
In response, Nemo tries to warn her about the dino tail swinging back at her, which I found sort of cute. - 15/19
Though he all but ignores her request to rejoin *her* party, he does demonstrate a commitment to her by worrying about her safety. - 16/19
Of course, it is NEMO who actually falls out of bed and hits the floor in the next panel (the wake-up panel), which either speaks to the Princess position as part of his unconsciousness or is just a funny visual-linguistic joke. - 17/19
Heck, why can't it be both? - 18/19
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #475. What's yours? - 19/19