To be the first human being to see a real live dinosaur would be a marvelous thing. Audiences all over America had that very experience thanks to Winsor McCay. Gertie the dinosaur emerged from McCay’s pen onto 10,000 separate drawings which he combined into the first truly successful animation. He toured through vaudeville, entertaining audiences with his miraculous trained pet. Fortunately, film was made of his performance and is available on DVD (Winsor McCay: The Master Edition and Animation Legend: Winsor McCay).

But let us not praise famous dinosaurs, let us instead commemorate the centennial of McCay’s other magnificent creation, Little Nemo in Slumberland. In 1905, Nemo debuted in the New York Herald as a full-page funny. McCay had worked his way through dime museums and small city advertising gigs to reach his position as staff artist at a major paper.

Responding to the incredible popularity of comic strips, McCay made four attempts (Mr. Goodenough, Sister’s Little Sister’s Beau, The Phurious Phinish of Phoolish Philipe Phunny Phrolics, and Little Sammy Sneeze) before Nemo became a cultural icon. In 1908, Little Nemo even provided the basis for a hit musical comedy in New York — music by Victor Herbert, just off his gig as conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony.

Reading Little Nemo in Slumberland today is a lot like watching 1930s animation. Unavoidably, you are seeing something that was hand-drawn. Details are present and unusual choices are made. Nemo’s regular adventures through his dreams presage nothing so much as ’60s alternative comics by way of the Art Deco movement. To venerate the occasion, Little Nemo in Slumberland — So Many Splendid Sundays has just been issued at $120, but there is an accompanying, less expensive 15-month calendar for the new explorer.

December, 2005