"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated December 19, 1926:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (JANUARY 24, 2022):
Like the last few strips we've seen, this one is a bit of a callback nostalgia trip. - 1/18
As you might recall, I've not been the biggest fan of holiday strips… but, I'll admit, this one got me a bit… mainly because it is the last Christmas holiday strip that we'll see from Nemo and the gang. - 2/18
I especially liked the bringing together of Nemo's dreaming and waking worlds. In panel 9. Pill and Figures decide to visit Nemo's parents at his home when the Princess can't be found! - 3/18
While we've seen this before, it has been *many* years, and so it works really nicely as a bit of a callback to the early strips when this interaction did occur (no matter how infrequently). - 4/18
It's nice to imagine the unconscious boundaries between the dreamworld and the waking world as permeable and this becomes much easier when they blend together like this. - 5/18
Obviously, we use waking world inspiration for our dreams, but for the most part, Nemo has restricted his to abstract concepts and themes as opposed to including the people that populate his conscious waking world. - 6/18
For that reason, this is an unexpected moment and having Nemo's parents and Pill and Figures meet (at Nemo's house) is a lot of fun! - 7/18
I also had to laugh at the first couple panels. Flip has been meeting Santa Claus over and over again for years! How in the world is he questioning his existence?! - 8/18
I, personally, love that he does because it continues to drive home his character… even as we near the end, McCay isn't willing to back down on Flip! - 9/18
Not only does he change his mind about Santa Claus after his ride to Nemo's house, but he becomes an advocate for the "Santa is Real" club and tells the group that anyone who doesn't believe should come see him! - 10/18
The strip has a sitcom-y feel and I could hear a laugh track going off in the background! I got a kick out of it. - 11/18
On the flip side of this though, is the fact that Santa has also seen the group many times over the years and… well… should know it's them? - 12/18
I mean, these kids aren't just anyone… they're accompanied by the Princess of Slumberland with whom Santa is very well acquainted. - 13/18
Admittedly, maybe he's just stressed out… delivery time on Christmas must not be easy, but I was puzzled as to how this mistake happened and why no one cleared it up as they flew. - 14/18
Finally, I just want to say that McCay's draftsmanship really has not declines in the least over the span of these 20+ years that he's been a working cartoonist. I find this work as impressive (from a purely visual standpoint) as some of his earliest. - 15/18
It's obviously much less formally complex then his early experimental years, but we can forgive him for that. He'd already innovated the medium so much, what more could we want? - 16/18
Only three more days to go until we reach the final #LittleNemo strip… - 17/18
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #546. What's yours? - 18/18
Comments