"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated December 23, 1906:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (JULY 29, 2020):
Well, this strip is just delightful! I'm so glad to have a break from the repetitive strips we've seen the last couple of days! In this way, I'm actually excited for a Holiday strip! - 1/30
This one doesn't disappoint either! It's the right mix of magic, surreality, and whimsy and features many of the traditional visual elements that have come to define Christmas (and Santa, in particular). - 2/30
First, I really love the start of the strip! As (presumably) Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen are strapped up and ready to go, Nemo is rubbernecking as he walks towards Santa's helper… - 3/30
He just can't seem to take his eyes off of the magical reindeer, even as the Princess tells him not to "stop here" because they’re running out of time to see Santa! - 4/30
Now, if you recall, exactly 364 nights ago, Nemo already met Santa for the first time! Strip #11 (Dec. 24, 1905) sees Nemo climb aboard the magic sleigh and go for a turbulent sleighride over the rooftops! - 5/30
Maybe this explains his reaction to the reindeer? The last time he saw them, he almost fell to his death… might also explain why it's a different sleigh (did his rooftop shenanigans break the other one?). - 6/30 [INSERT IMAGE]
Tiers two and three are also really fun. Even though they're just simple, traditional panels in a regular grid, the panel content serves to pique the curious mind… particularly childlike ones (ex. mine)! - 7/30
Each door is labelled (Stable, Toys, Dolls, etc.) and with every passing panel, when Nemo DOESN'T open the door, I became more desperate to see inside the inner workings of Santa Clause's workshop! - 8/30
That is until we can to the first door on the third tier, which caused me to stop dead in my "reading" tracks… Does that door say "Ladies"? - 9/30
A *very* strange label to assign to a door within the house/workshop of a toymaker, I'm going to go ahead and presume that he's making ladies clothing in there… Unless someone can convince me of another word that could replace this strange one (please try…)? - 10/30
That Nemo stops in front of the "Bicycle" door might be an indication for us as to what he asked for Santa to bring him this Christmas! Does Nemo want a bike? Or, like many children, does he want the freedom from his parents that a bike symbolizes? - 11/30
There's also a moment here where I, again, feel bad for Flip. After getting tossed in the snow in the previous strip, the Princess comments about how thankful she is that they "lost" him now… - 12/30
Personally, I think that he should have been able to meet the real Santa after being tricked last week… would've been the nice thing to do! - 13/30
Now, we get to my *favourite* part about this strip! Admittedly, it's probably my favourite because of the way I read it (which you can take or leave), but I really love the penultimate panel! - 14/30
As Nemo and the Princess come upon Santa Clause, Nemo notices that he is speaking to none other than his parents! Santa tells them that Nemo has been a good boy and will be receiving the pony as a gift! - 15/30
For their part, Nemo's parents act nonchalant as they speak with Santa; his father declares that he is glad his son has been good this year and his mother, noticing Nemo, wonders how he arrived at the workshop. - 16/30
The real question though isn't what Nemo is doing there (we know the answer to that already even if his parents don't), it's what are *his parents* doing there? - 17/30
Obviously, this is a really important and wonderful moment; though we've seen his parents in the strips before, I don't think we've seen them *in* Slumberland, yet… - 18/30
Truthfully, you could argue that Santa's workshop isn't Slumberland either, and that they were a big feature in the first Thanksgiving strip (#7 - Nov. 26, 1905), but it still stands out as important here either way. - 19/30
For me, this signals the beliefs of a young boy. As a kid, who didn't believe that their parents had a personal relationship with Santa Clause? I sure did. Whether it be by letter, or telephone, I thought that Santa and my parents were on a first name basis. - 20/30
Now, if Nemo thinks similarly, he might believe that his parents, the night before Christmas Eve, are just meeting with Big Red (or Big Blue… Coca-Cola hadn't popularized the modern Santa suit quite yet…) to do their due diligence on whether he's been naughty or nice. - 21/30
I think, for Nemo, this could be seen as a really disorienting moment… Are his parents really there? Are they dreaming themselves there? How did they get into his dream? How has his dream crossed into reality? - 22/30
Of course, we know it isn't reality… but to a young boy who believes that Santa is real, I could understand how this could be a really strange experience. - 23/30
It also isn't really made clear why he wakes up… Sure he says, "I thought I heard Papa and Mama talking", but personally, I think that explains more about how his parents entered into his dream, and less about why he woke up… - 24/30
I feel as though this strip emphasizes that blurry boundary between the waking world and the dreamscape really well… I think that Nemo's parents in the dreamscape and their voices in the waking world combine to create a really interesting liminal experience… - 25/30
…where you only have to cross the threshold of the gutter in either direction to be firmly in the dreamscape or firmly in the waking world (final panel). - 26/30
This leads me to read this moment as if Nemo wakes up from the tension caused by the dissonance and instability of surreality-reality coming to bear on one another… - 27/30
If Nemo feels his dream-adventures are on any level "real", than the moment when he sees his parents in this context might cause him some serious confusion/anxiety… maybe even enough to jolt him awake as if in shock? He is standing up in his bed… - 28/30
I'd be eager to hear how others read this panel. Maybe you have a drastically different reading that to share? - 29/30
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #63. What's yours? - 30/30