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Winsor McCay

2025-11-02T03:35:58Z

2603:8001:5900:1E2E:8922:C3A5:6DCB:E713:

{{Short description|American cartoonist and animator (c.1866–1934)}}
{{good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Winsor McCay
|image = Winsor McCay 1906.jpg
|alt = A black and white photograph of a middle-aged man in a suit posing reclined in a chair
|caption = McCay in 1906
|birth_name = Zenas Winsor {{not a typo|McKay}}
|birth_date = {{circa|1866–1871}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2018|p=28}}
|birth_place = [[Spring Lake, Michigan]], US; or Canada (disputed)
|death_date = {{Death date|1934|7|26}}{{sfn|Haverstock|Vance|Meggitt|2000}} (aged 63–68)
|death_place = New York City, US{{sfn|Haverstock|Vance|Meggitt|2000}}
|resting_place = [[Cemetery of the Evergreens]], Brooklyn, New York{{sfn|Wilson|2016}}
|resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord|40|41|2.0|N|73|54|4.3|W|type:landmark|name=Winsor McCay's resting place|display=inline}}
|occupation = {{flatlist|
*Animator
*[[cartoonist]]}}
|notable_works = {{flatlist|class=nowraplinks|
*''[[Gertie the Dinosaur]]''
*''[[Little Nemo]]''}}
|spouse = {{marriage|Maude Leonore Dufour|1891}}
|children = 2, including [[Bob McCay|Bob]]
|signature = Winsor McCay signature.png
|signature_size = 100px
}}

'''Zenas Winsor McCay''' ({{circa|1866–1871}} – July 26, 1934) was an American [[cartoonist]] and animator. He is best known for the comic strip ''[[Little Nemo]]'' (1905–1914; 1924–1927) and the animated film ''[[Gertie the Dinosaur]]'' (1914). For contractual reasons, he worked under the pen name Silas on the comic strip ''[[Dream of the Rarebit Fiend]]''.

From a young age, McCay was a quick, prolific, and technically dextrous artist. He started his professional career making posters and performing for [[dime museum]]s, and in 1898 began illustrating newspapers and magazines. In 1903 he joined the ''[[New York Herald]]'', where he created popular comic strips such as ''[[Little Sammy Sneeze]]'' and ''Dream of the Rarebit Fiend''. In 1905, his signature strip ''Little Nemo in Slumberland'' debuted—a fantasy strip in an [[Art Nouveau]] style about a young boy and his adventurous dreams. The strip demonstrated McCay's strong graphic sense and mastery of color and [[Perspective (graphical)|linear perspective]]. McCay experimented with the formal elements of the comic strip page, arranging and sizing panels to increase impact and enhance the narrative. McCay also produced numerous detailed [[editorial cartoon]]s and was a popular performer of [[chalk talk]]s on the [[vaudeville]] circuit.

McCay was an early animation pioneer; between 1911 and 1921, he self-financed and animated ten films, some of which survive only as fragments. The first three served in his vaudeville act; ''Gertie the Dinosaur'' was an interactive routine in which McCay appeared to give orders to a trained dinosaur. McCay and his assistants worked for twenty-two months on his most ambitious film, ''[[The Sinking of the Lusitania]]'' (1918), a patriotic recreation of the [[Sinking of the RMS Lusitania|German torpedoing in 1915]] of the ''[[RMS Lusitania]]''. ''Lusitania'' did not enjoy as much commercial success as the earlier films, and McCay's later movies attracted little attention. His animation, vaudeville, and comic strip work was gradually curtailed as newspaper magnate [[William Randolph Hearst]], his employer since 1911, expected McCay to devote his energies to editorial illustrations.

In his drawing, McCay made bold, prodigious use of linear perspective, particularly in detailed architecture and cityscapes. He textured his editorial cartoons with copious fine [[hatching]], and made color a central element in ''Little Nemo''. His comic strip work has influenced generations of cartoonists and illustrators. The technical level of McCay's animation—its naturalism, smoothness, and scale—was unmatched until the work of [[Fleischer Studios]] in the late 1920s, followed by [[The Walt Disney Company|Walt Disney]]'s feature films in the 1930s. He pioneered [[inbetweening]], the use of [[Printing registration|registration marks]], [[Traditional animation#Animation loops|cycling]], and other animation techniques that were to become standard.

==Personal history==
===Family history===
McCay's paternal grandparents, farmers Donald and Christiana {{not a typo|McKay}}, immigrated from Scotland to [[Upper Canada]]{{efn|Upper Canada became the southern portion of the Canadian province of [[Ontario]] upon [[Canadian Confederation]] in 1867.}} in the mid-1830s. McCay's father, Robert {{not a typo|McKay}} (1840 – March 21, 1915) was born in [[Woodstock, Ontario|Woodstock]], Upper Canada, the third of six children. McCay's maternal grandparents, Peter and Mary Murray, were also Scottish immigrants, and settled as farmers in [[East Zorra-Tavistock|East Zorra]] in Upper Canada. Their daughter Janet was the third of nine children.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=21}}

Robert was a member of King Solomon's No. 43 [[Masonic Lodge]] in Woodstock.{{sfn|Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon|2002}} In 1862, Robert first traveled to the U.S.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=22}} Robert and the twenty-five-year-old Janet married on January 8, 1866, at Woodstock's Methodist Episcopal Church. The couple moved across the [[Canada–United States border]] later in the year and settled in [[Spring Lake, Michigan]], on the eastern coast of [[Lake Michigan]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=21}} Robert was employed by American entrepreneur Zenas G. Winsor (1814–1890), with whom he had made contact in Canada.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=22}}

Records of McCay's birth are not extant. He stated in an interview in 1910 that he was born in 1869, and this is the year listed on his grave marker. {{not a typo|Late}} in life, he told friends he was born September 26, 1871, in Spring Lake, and they published this information in a magazine.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=22}} Michigan census records from 1870 and 1880 list a Zenas W. {{not a typo|McKay}}, who was born in Canada in 1867,{{sfnm|1a1=Canemaker|1y=2005|1p=22|2a1=Bien|2y=2011|2p=123}} and others have speculated 1866 or 1868 based on evidence on how the censuses were carried out.{{sfn|Canemaker|2018|p=28}} No Canadian birth record has been found, and a fire in Spring Lake in May 1893 could have destroyed any American birth record he may have had.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=22}} His obituary in the ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]'' stated, "not even Mr. McCay knew his exact age".{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=46}}<ref>Alexander Braun, in discussing the conflicting evidence, comes to the following conclusion:"The most reliable source on the child's birth, due to its chronological proximity, is the McCay family Bible, the entry in which was quoted directly by O'Glasain. Unmistakeably written there are the words, "September 26, 1869—God blessed the union of Robert and Janet (of the clan Murray) McCay this morning with an eight pound son. He shall be named after our dear friend, Winsor Zenis[sic]." Alexander Braun: The Complete Little Nemo 1905-1927, Taschen, 2014, p.11</ref>

The McCays had two more children: Arthur in 1868, and Mae in 1876. Both were born in Michigan. Robert worked as a [[teamster]] under Winsor, and by May 1870 had saved enough money to buy a parcel of land. From 1879 to 1881, he worked as a retail grocer.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=22}} In 1885 he moved the family to [[Stanton, Michigan]], and expanded his land holdings; he was successful in real estate with his brother Hugh, who moved from {{not a typo|Canada}} in 1887.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=23}}

By 1905, Robert was also a [[notary public]]. He had settled in [[Edmore, Michigan]], and by this point had changed the spelling of his surname from "McKay" to "McCay".{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=23}} His son related this story about the change:

{{blockquote|Three Scotsmen of the [[Clan Mackay|clan McKay]] were looking for a fourth member to fight four members of the Irish clan Magee ... 'I'm not one of you', my father pointed out. 'You see, I'm one of the clan M-{{not a typo|c}}-C-A-Y.' And that is how I got both my name and my sense of humor.|Winsor McCay{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=23}} }}

===Early life===
{{quote box
|quote = I just couldn't stop drawing anything and everything.
|source = —Winsor McCay{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=23}} }}

McCay came to be known by his middle name, Winsor. His drawing skills emerged early. According to a story told within the family, McCay made his first drawing in the aftermath of one of the many fires that hit Spring Lake: he picked up a nail and etched the scene of the fire in the frost of a windowpane. Drawing became obsessive for him;{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=23}} he drew anything he saw, and the level of detail and accuracy in his drawing was noted at a young age. He was able to draw accurately from memory even things he had never before drawn—what McCay called "memory sketching". His father thought little of his son's artistic talents, though,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=24}} and had him sent to [[Cleary University|Cleary Business College]] in [[Ypsilanti, Michigan]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=28}} McCay rarely attended classes. He bragged about how he would catch the train to Detroit to show off his drawing skills at the Wonderland and Eden Musee [[dime museum]]. He drew portraits there for 25{{Abbrlink|¢|cent (United States coin)}} apiece, of which he kept half.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=28–29}}

McCay thrived on the attention he received, and his talents soon drew wider attention. John Goodison, a geography and drawing professor at [[Eastern Michigan University|Michigan State Normal School]], offered to teach art to McCay privately, and McCay eagerly accepted. The lessons were practical and focused on using observation to learn to draw in geometrical [[perspective (graphical)|perspective]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=30}} Goodison, a former [[stained glass|glass stainer]], influenced McCay's use of color. McCay learned how to draw quickly using drills on a blackboard, and gained an appreciation for master artists of the past.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=31}}

===Early career (1889–1903)===
McCay spent two years in Chicago{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=38}} after making his way there sometime in 1889 with his friend Mort Touvers.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=33}} He traded art techniques there with painter [[Jules Guérin (artist)|Jules Guérin]], whom he met at a boarding house in which he lodged, and did artwork for posters and pamphlets at the National Printing and Engraving Company.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=34}}

[[File:Philippine-American War.png|thumb|upright=0.8|left|alt=A black-and-white political cartoon. Uncle Sam (representing the United States) gets entangled with rope around a tree labeled "Imperialism" while trying to subdue a bucking colt or mule labeled "Philippines" while a figure representing Spain walks off over the horizon.|McCay did editorial cartoons early in his career (1899).]]

In 1891, McCay moved to [[Cincinnati]], where he did more dime museum work{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=38}} while living in a boarding house near his workplace. He spent nine years making posters and other advertisements for the Kohl & Middleton Dime Museum,{{efn|The Kohl & Middleton Dime Museum was previously called the Vine Street Dime Museum.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=38}} }}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=38}} and later Heck and Avery's Family Theater (1896), Avery's New Dime Museum (1898), and Will S. Heck's Wonder World and Theater (1899){{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=43}} on [[Vine Street, Cincinnati|Vine Street]]. At the museum in 1896, a demonstration of [[Thomas Edison]]'s [[Vitascope]] was given, which was likely McCay's first exposure to the young medium of film.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=40}} He also did work during this time for Ph. Morton's printing and lithography company. McCay's ability to draw quickly with great accuracy drew crowds when he painted advertisements in public.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=43–44}}

His first year at Kohl & Middleton, McCay was smitten when Maude Leonore Dufour walked into the dime museum with her sister while he was painting. He rushed to his studio to change into a custom-tailored suit, returned, and introduced himself to the fourteen-year-old Maude.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=45}} Soon they [[Elopement (marriage)|eloped]] in [[Covington, Kentucky]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=46}}

McCay began working on the side for the ''[[Cincinnati Commercial Tribune]]'', where he learned to draw with a [[dip pen]] under the tutelage of ''Commercial Tribune'' art room manager Joseph Alexander. In 1898, he accepted a full-time position there.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=47}} His many illustrations for the paper displayed his bold use of perspective and mastery of [[Hatching|hatchwork]]. Soon after, he began [[Freelancer|freelancing]] for the humor magazine ''[[Life (magazine)#1883 humor and general interest magazine|Life]]'' as well.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=48}}

In 1900, McCay accepted a position with a higher salary at ''[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]]''. There, he produced a prolific number of drawings, did some reporting, and became head of the art department. In his drawings, he began using line thickness to indicate depth, and used thick lines to surround his characters in an [[Art Nouveau]]-inspired style that became a trademark of his work.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=57}}

===Comic strips (1903–1911)===
[[File:Little Nemo in Slumberland (1908-07-26) panels 11 to 15.jpg|thumb|upright=2.25|center|alt=Six panels from Little Nemo comic strip. Nemo dreams his bed grows legs and walks through the city.|Nemo's bed takes a walk in the July 26, 1908, episode of ''[[Little Nemo|Little Nemo in Slumberland]]''.]]

From January until November 1903, McCay drew an ongoing proto-comic strip for the ''Enquirer'' based on poems written by [[George Randolph Chester]] called ''A Tale of the Jungle Imps by Felix Fiddle''.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=60}} Before the last two installments appeared in print, McCay had moved to New York City to work for [[James Gordon Bennett, Jr.]]'s ''[[New York Herald]]'',{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=64}} at first doing illustrations and editorial cartoons.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=71}} He worked alongside comic strip pioneer [[Richard F. Outcault]], who was doing the ''[[Buster Brown]]'' strip at the ''Herald''. A rivalry built up between the two cartoonists which resulted in Outcault leaving the ''Herald'' to return to his previous employer, [[William Randolph Hearst]] at ''[[New York Journal-American|The New York Journal]]''.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=74}}

McCay's first continuing comic strip, ''Mr. Goodenough'', debuted in the ''[[New York Evening Telegram]]'' on January 21, 1904. The formula for the strip was that a sedentary millionaire would seek ways to become more active, with embarrassing results. ''Sister's Little Sister's Beau'', McCay's first strip with a child protagonist, lasted one installment that April, and his first color strip, ''Phurious Phinish of Phoolish Philipe's Phunny Phrolics'', appeared in the ''Herald''{{'}}s Sunday supplement that May.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=75}}

[[File:Little Sammy Sneeze 1905-09-24.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Six-panel Little Sammy Sneeze comic strip in which Sammy Sneeze destroys the strip's panel borders with a sneeze|''[[Little Sammy Sneeze]]'', September 24, 1905]]

McCay's first popular comic strip was ''[[Little Sammy Sneeze]]''. The strip starred a young boy whose sneeze would build panel by panel until it was released, with explosively disastrous results, for which he was usually punished or chased away by those affected. The strip debuted in July 1904 and ran until December 1906.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=75}}

McCay's longest-running strip, ''[[Dream of the Rarebit Fiend]]'', first appeared in ''The Evening Telegram'' in September 1904. The strip was aimed at an adult audience,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=78}} and had no recurring characters. The characters that appeared in the strip would have fantastic, sometimes terrifying dreams, only to wake up in the last panel, cursing the [[Welsh rarebit]] they had eaten the night before, which they blamed for bringing on the dream.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=79}} ''Rarebit Fiend'' was so popular that a book collection appeared in 1905 from publisher [[Frederick A. Stokes]]. It was adapted to film by [[Edwin Stanton Porter|Edwin S. Porter]], and plans were made for a "comic opera or musical extravaganza" for stage that failed to materialize.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=78}} McCay signed the ''Rarebit Fiend'' strips with the pen name "Silas", as his contract required that he not use his real name for ''Evening Telegram'' work.{{sfn|Dover Publications|1973|p=ix}}

The McCays had been living in Manhattan, close to the ''Herald'' offices; before 1905 they moved to [[Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn|Sheepshead Bay]] in Brooklyn, New York, a seaside resort on [[Long Island]]. It was an hour commute from the ''Herald'' offices, but they believed it to be a better place to raise children. They lived at a number of addresses before settling into a three-story house at 1901 Voorhies Avenue, where McCay resided for the rest of his life.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=125–126}} As his reputation grew, his employers allowed him to work from his home studio more often.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=127}}

[[File:Little Nemo 1907-09-29 (borderless).jpg|thumb|alt=Comic strip of two giant characters wandering around a city|The most successful of McCay's comic strips was ''[[Little Nemo]]''<br />September 9, 1907]]

While still turning out illustrations and editorial cartoons daily,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=87}} McCay began three more continuing strips in 1905. In January, he began ''The Story of Hungry Henrietta'', in which the child protagonist visibly ages week by week, and eats compulsively in lieu of the love she craves from her parents.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=92}} ''A Pilgrim's Progress by Mister Bunion'' was another "Silas" strip for ''The Evening Telegram'',{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=94}} which ran from June 1905 until May 1909{{sfn|McKinney|2015|pp=2, 13}}. Mr. Bunion spent each strip unsuccessfully scheming to rid himself of his suitcase, labeled "Dull Care".{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=94}}

McCay got "an idea from the ''Rarebit Fiend'' to please the little folk",{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=87}} and in October 1905 the full-page [[Sunday comics|Sunday strip]] ''[[Little Nemo|Little Nemo in Slumberland]]'' debuted in the ''Herald''.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=97}} Considered McCay's masterpiece,{{sfnm|1a1=Harvey|1y=1994|1p=21|2a1=Hubbard|2y=2012|3a1=Sabin|3y=1993|3p=134|4a1=Dover Publications|4y=1973|4p=vii|5a1=Canwell|5y=2009|5p=19}} its child protagonist had fabulous dreams, interrupted each week with his awakening in the final panel.{{sfn|Harvey|1994|p=21}} Nemo's appearance was based on McCay's son Robert.{{sfn|Crafton|1993|p=97}} McCay experimented with formal aspects of the comics page: he made inventive use of timing and pacing, the size and shape of panels, perspective, and architectural and other details.{{sfn|Harvey|1994|p=21}} The ''Herald'' was considered to have the highest quality color printing of any newspaper at the time; its printing staff used the [[Ben-Day dots|Ben Day process]] for color,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=94}} and McCay annotated the ''Nemo'' pages with precise color schemes for the printers.{{sfnm|1a1=Harvey|1y=1994|1p=22|2a1=Canemaker|2y=2005|2p=107}}

Impresario [[Frederick Freeman Proctor|F. F. Proctor]] approached McCay in April 1906 to perform [[chalk talk]]s for the [[vaudeville]] circuit.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=131}} For $500 per week he was to draw twenty-five sketches in fifteen minutes before live audiences, as a pit band played a piece called "Dream of the Rarebit Fiend".{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=132}} In his ''The Seven Ages of Man'' routine, he drew two faces and progressively aged them.{{sfn|Stabile|Harrison|2003|p=3}} His first performance was on June 11, 1906,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=132}} in a show that also featured entertainer [[W. C. Fields]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=132}} It was a success, and McCay toured with the show throughout 1907,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=135}} while managing to complete his comic strip and illustration work on time, often working in hotel rooms or backstage.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=137}}

[[File:Little Nemo score cover.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Little Nemo characters ascending a staircase|Cover to the score of the extravagantly expensive ''Little Nemo'' stage musical, 1908]]

As early as 1905, several abortive attempts were made to produce a stage version of ''Little Nemo''. In mid-1907, [[Marcus Klaw]] and [[A. L. Erlanger]] announced they would put on an extravagant ''Little Nemo'' show for an unprecedented $100,000, with a score by [[Victor Herbert]]{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=141}} and lyrics by [[Harry B. Smith]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=141}} It starred midget Gabriel Weigel as Nemo, [[Joseph Cawthorn]] as Dr. Pill, and [[Billy B. Van]] as Flip.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=143}} Reviews were positive; it played to sold-out houses in New York and toured for two seasons.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=148}} McCay brought his vaudeville act to each city where ''Little Nemo'' played. When the [[Benjamin Franklin Keith|Keith]] circuit{{efn|Keith had partnered with Proctor in 1906.}} refused McCay to perform in Boston without a new act, McCay switched to the [[William Morris Endeavor|William Morris]] circuit, with a $100-a-week raise.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=149}} In several cities, McCay brought his son, who as publicity sat on a small throne dressed as Nemo.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=151}}

As part of an improvised story, Cawthorn introduced a mythical creature he called a "[[Whiffenpoof]]". The word caught on with the public, and became the name of a [[s:The Whiffenpoof Song|hit song]] and a [[The Whiffenpoofs|singing group]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=143}} Despite the show's success, it failed to make back its investment due to its enormous expenses{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=149}} and came to an end in December 1910.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=151}}

McCay displayed his [[Social consciousness|social awareness]] in the last strip he created for the ''Herald'', ''Poor Jake''. Its title character was a silent laborer who worked thanklessly for a Colonel and Mrs. Stall, who exploit him. The strip ran from 1909 until spring 1911.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=121}}

McCay was approached in early 1910 to bring his vaudeville show to Europe. McCay requested the ''Herald''{{'}}s permission, but the plans never materialized. His show stayed within the Eastern United States until he ceased performing in 1917. Biographer [[John Canemaker]] assumed McCay's request to tour Europe was turned down, and that the refusal added to McCay's growing frustration with the ''Herald''. A distrust of big business became pronounced in McCay's work around this time, including a [[story arc]] in ''Little Nemo'' in which the characters visit a Mars oppressed by a greedy business magnate.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=151–153}}

===Animation (1911–1921)===
McCay said he was most proud of his animation work.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=153}} He completed ten animated films between 1911 and 1921,{{sfn|Beckerman|2003|pp=18–19}} and three more were planned.{{sfn|Harvey|1994|p=33}}

[[File:Winsor McCay 1911 Little Nemo film still.jpg|thumb|upright=2.25|center|alt=McCay seated at center, surrounded by massive stacks of paper and barrels of ink|McCay in a scene from his first animated film, ''Little Nemo'' (1911)]]

Inspired by the [[flip book]]s his son brought home,{{sfnm|1a1=Beckerman|1y=2003|p=18|2a1=Canemaker|2y=2005|2p=157}} McCay "came to see the possibility of making moving pictures"{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=157}} of his cartoons. He claimed to be "the first man in the world to make animated cartoons", though he was preceded by others such as [[James Stuart Blackton]] and [[Émile Cohl]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=157}} McCay made four thousand drawings on [[washi paper|mulberry paper]] for his first animated short, which starred his ''Little Nemo'' characters. They were shot at [[Vitagraph Studios]] under Blackton's supervision. Live-action sequences were added to the beginning and end of the film, in which McCay bets his newspaper colleagues that in one month he can make four thousand drawings that move. Among those featured in these sequences were cartoonist [[George McManus]] and actor [[John Bunny]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=160}} ''[[Little Nemo (1911 film)|Little Nemo]]'' debuted in movie theatres on April 8, 1911, and four days later McCay began using it as part of his vaudeville act.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=160}} Its good reception motivated him to hand-color each of the frames of the originally black-and-white animation.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=163}}

[[File:Winsor McCay - Dream of the Rarebit Fiend (1909-06-05) Mosquito panel 6.png|left|thumb|alt=A giant mosquito drinks the blood of a sleeping man.|McCay based ''[[How a Mosquito Operates]]'' (1912) on the June 5, 1909 episode of ''[[Dream of the Rarebit Fiend]]''.]]

McCay had become frustrated with the ''Herald'', partly over money issues{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=164}} and partly because he perceived a lack of freedom.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=153}} He accepted a higher-paying offer in spring 1911 from Hearst at the ''[[New York Journal-American|New York American]]'' and took ''Little Nemo''{{'}}s characters with him. The ''Herald'' held the strip's copyright,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=164}} but McCay won a lawsuit that allowed him to continue using the characters,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=168}} which he did under the title ''In the Land of Wonderful Dreams''. The ''Herald'' was unsuccessful in finding another cartoonist to continue the original strip.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=164}}

McCay began work that May on his next animated film, ''[[How a Mosquito Operates]]'',{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=164}} based on a ''Rarebit Fiend'' episode from June 5, 1909,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=167}} in which a man in bed tries in vain to defend himself from a giant mosquito, which drinks itself so full that it explodes.{{sfnm|1a1=Berenbaum|1y=2009|1p=138|2a1=Telotte|2y=2010|2p=54}} The animation is naturalistic—rather than expanding like a balloon, with each sip of blood the mosquito's abdomen swells according to its body structure.{{sfnm|1a1=Barrier|1y=2003|1p=17|2a1=Canemaker|2y=2005|2p=165}} The film was completed in January 1912,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=164}} and McCay toured with it that spring and summer.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=167}}

[[File:Gertie the Dinosaur (retouched frame).jpg|thumb|right|alt=Gertie the Dinosaur stands between a lake and a cave.|''[[Gertie the Dinosaur]]'' (1913) was an interactive part of McCay's vaudeville act.]]

''Gertie the Dinosaur'' debuted in February 1914 as part of McCay's vaudeville act. McCay introduced Gertie as "the only dinosaur in captivity",{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=175}} and commanded the animated beast with a whip.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=175}} Gertie seemed to obey McCay, bowing to the audience, and eating a tree and a boulder, though she had a will of her own and sometimes rebelled. When McCay admonished her, she cried. McCay consoled her by throwing her an apple—in reality pocketing the cardboard prop apple as a cartoon one simultaneously appeared on screen.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=176}} In the finale, McCay walked offstage, reappeared in animated form in the film, and had Gertie carry him away.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=177}} Producer [[William Fox (producer)|William Fox]]'s Box Office Attractions obtained distribution rights to a modified version of ''Gertie'' that could be played in regular movie theaters. This version was prefaced with a live-action sequence and replaced the interactive portions with [[intertitle]]s.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=182}}

''Gertie'' was McCay's first piece of animation with detailed backgrounds.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=168}} McCay drew the foreground characters, while art student neighbor John A. Fitzsimmons traced the backgrounds.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=169}} McCay pioneered the "McCay Split System" of [[inbetweening]], in which major poses or positions were drawn first, and the intervening frames drawn after. This relieved tedium and improved the timing of the film's actions. McCay refused to patent his system,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=171}} and was sued in 1914 by animator [[John Randolph Bray]],{{sfnm|1a1=Sito|1y=2006|1p=36|2a1=Canemaker|2y=2005|2p=172}} who took advantage of McCay's lapse by patenting many of McCay's techniques, including the use of [[Printing registration|registration marks]], tracing paper, the [[Mutoscope]] action viewer, and the [[Traditional animation#Animation loops|cycling]] of drawings to create repetitive action.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=172}} The lawsuit was unsuccessful, and there is evidence that McCay may have countersued—he thereafter received [[Royalties|royalty payments]] from Bray for licensing the techniques.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=174}}

[[File:His Best Customer.jpeg|left|thumb|upright=0.8|alt=Editorial cartoon in which Death buys bodies from War.|Hearst pressured McCay into giving up his comic strips and non-newspaper work to concentrate on editorial cartoons.<br />"His Best Customer", 1917]]

Hearst was disappointed with the quality of McCay's newspaper work. Infuriated that he couldn't reach McCay during a vaudeville performance, Hearst pulled from his papers advertising for the theatre where McCay performed.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=181}} Editor [[Arthur Brisbane]] told him that he was "a serious artist, not a comic cartoonist",{{sfnm|1a1=Heer|1y=2006a|2a1=Canemaker|2y=2005|2p=181}} and that he was to give up his comic strip work to focus on editorial illustrations.{{sfnm|1a1=Heer|1y=2006a|2a1=Canemaker|2y=2005|2p=181}} Hearst pressured McCay's agents to reduce the number of his vaudeville appearances, and he was induced to sign a contract with Hearst that limited his vaudeville appearances to greater New York,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=182}} with occasional exceptions.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=185}} In February 1917, Hearst had McCay give up entirely on vaudeville and all other paid work outside the Hearst empire, though he was occasionally granted permission for particular shows. Hearst increased McCay's salary to cover the loss of income.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=187}}

McCay was expected to report daily to the ''American'' building, where he shared a ninth-floor office with humorist [[Arthur "Bugs" Baer]] and sports cartoonist Joe McGurk.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=204}} There, he illustrated editorials by Arthur Brisbane, who often sent back McCay's drawings with instructions for changes.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=205}} The quality of his drawings varied depending on his interest in the subject of the assignment,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=207}} whether or not he agreed with the sentiments portrayed,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=209}} and on events in his personal life.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=207}} For example, in March 1914 he was subjected to a blackmail plot by a Mrs. Lambkin, who was seeking a divorce from her husband. Lambkin alleged that McCay's wife Maude was seeing her husband. With McCay's level of fame, such a story would likely be in the papers, and Mrs. Lambkin and her husband told McCay that she would keep it secret for $1,000. McCay did not believe the allegations, and gave testimony at the Lambkins' divorce trial. The blackmail failed, and the divorce was not granted.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=182–184}}

Hearst animation studio [[International Film Service]] began in December 1915, and brought Hearst cartoonists to the screen. McCay was initially listed as one of them, but the studio never produced anything either by his hands or featuring his creations. McCay derived satisfaction from doing the work himself. Begun in 1916, ''[[The Sinking of the Lusitania]]'' was his follow-up to ''Gertie''. The film was not a fantasy but a detailed, realistic recreation of the [[Sinking of the RMS Lusitania|1915 German torpedoing]] of the [[RMS Lusitania|RMS ''Lusitania'']]. The event counted 128 Americans among its 1,198 dead, and was a factor leading to the [[American entry into World War I]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=186}}

McCay's daughter Marion married military man Raymond T. Moniz, eighteen years her senior, on October 13, 1917.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=212}} She gave birth to McCay's first grandchild, Ray Winsor Moniz, on July 16, 1918.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=212}} Moniz and McCay's son Robert were called up for service when the U.S. entered World War I.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=212}}

[[File:The Sinking of the Lusitania (Winsor McCay, signed cel).jpg|right|thumb|alt=Cel from The Sinking of the Lusitania. Smoke billows from the sinking RMS Lusitania.|''[[The Sinking of the Lusitania]]'' (1918) required 25,000 drawings to be made over two years, and was McCay's first film to use acetate [[cel]]s.]]

McCay's self-financed ''Lusitania'' took nearly two years to complete.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=193}} With the assistance of John Fitzsimmons and Cincinnati cartoonist William Apthorp "Ap" Adams, McCay spent his off hours drawing the film on sheets of [[cellulose acetate]] (or "[[cel]]s") with white and black [[India ink]] at McCay's home.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=188}} It was the first film McCay made using cels,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=193}} a technology animator [[Earl Hurd]] had patented in 1914; it saved work by allowing dynamic drawings to be made on one or more layers, which could be laid over a static background layer, relieving animators of the tedium of retracing static images onto drawing after drawing.{{sfn|Kundert-Gibbs|Kundert-Gibbs|2009|p=46}} McCay had the cels photographed at the Vitagraph studios.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=188}} The film was naturalistically animated, and made use of dramatic camera angles that would have been impossible in a live-action film.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=196}}

Jewel Productions released the film on July 20, 1918. Advertising touted it as "the picture that will ''never'' have a competitor";{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=193}} the film itself called McCay "the originator and inventor of Animated Cartoons"{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=193}} and drew attention to the fact that it took 25,000 drawings to complete.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=195}} ''The Sinking of the Lusitania'' did not greatly return on McCay's investment—after a few years' run in theaters, it netted $80,000.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=193}}

McCay continued to produce animated films using cels. By 1921, he had completed six, though three were likely never shown commercially to audiences and have survived only in fragments: ''The Centaurs'', ''Flip's Circus'', and ''Gertie on Tour''. In 1921, he released three films based on ''Dream of the Rarebit Fiend'': ''Bug Vaudeville'', in which insects and other creepy-crawlies perform on stage; ''The Pet'', in which a creature with a bottomless appetite grows enormously and terrorizes the city in a way reminiscent of ''[[King Kong (1933 film)|King Kong]]''; and ''The Flying House'', in which a man attaches wings to his house to flee from debt. McCay's son Robert is credited with the animation on this last film, but Canemaker notes it is highly unlikely that a first-time animator could have produced such an accomplished piece of animation.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=197–198}}

===Later career (1921–1934)===
After 1921, McCay was made to give up on animation when Hearst learned he devoted more of his time to animation than to his newspaper illustrations.{{sfn|Sito|2006|p=36}} Unexecuted ideas McCay had for animation projects included a collaboration with ''Jungle Imps'' author George Randolph Chester, a musical film called ''The Barnyard Band'',{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=198}} and a film about the Americans' role in World War I.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=198, 217}}

[[File:Winsor McCay 1922-03-19 Oblivion's Cave.jpg|thumb|upright=2.5|center|alt=The personification of War being led in by the personification of Time to a prison already occupied by a dinosaur, a mastodon, and the Rack.|Editorial cartoon "Oblivion's Cave—Step Right In, Please" (March 19, 1922)]]

McCay's son Robert married Theresa "Tedda" Munchausen on April 9, 1921. McCay bought them a nearby house as a wedding gift. The couple gave McCay two more grandchildren: Janet (named after McCay's mother) in 1922, and Robert in 1928.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=223}} Robert suffered [[shell shock]] during World War I,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=216}} and following the war had difficulty drawing. McCay tried to boost his son's confidence by finding him cartooning work, and some of the elder McCay's editorial cartoons were signed "Robert Winsor McCay, Jr."{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=226}} Robert also briefly revived the ''Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend'' strip as ''Rabid Reveries'' starting in 1924.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-news-announcement-of-rabid-r/145956335/|title=Announcement of "Rabid Reveries|newspaper=The Evening News|date= November 27, 1923}}</ref>

In 1922, McCay resumed doing vaudeville shows for the Keith circuit.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=225}} He had a cameo in a newspaper office scene in the boxing film ''[[The Great White Way (1924 film)|The Great White Way]]'' in early 1924.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=226}}

McCay left Hearst upon the expiration of his contract in May 1924, bitter over not having received a promised $5,000 bonus.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=228}} He returned to the ''Herald Tribune'', and brought back ''Little Nemo'' beginning that August.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=229}} The new strip displayed the virtuoso technique of the old, but the panels were laid out in an unvarying grid. Nemo took a more passive role in the stories,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=226}} and there was no continuity.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=235}} The strip came to an end in December 1926,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=229}} as it was not popular with readers. Hearst executives had been trying to convince McCay to return to the ''American'', and succeeded in 1927. While McCay was gone, his place had been filled by [[Mel Cummin]], who was let go after McCay's return.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=235}} Due to the lack of the 1920s Nemo's success, the ''Herald Tribune'' signed over all copyrights to the strip to McCay for one dollar.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=237}}

[[File:MaxFleischerPDUS.JPG|thumb|alt=Black and white phot of a moustachioed man|In 1927, McCay expressed his disappointment at the state of the animation industry at a dinner in his honor, where he was introduced by [[Max Fleischer]] ''(pictured)''.]]

In 1927, McCay attended a dinner in his honor in New York. After a considerable amount of drinking, McCay was introduced by animator [[Max Fleischer]]. McCay gave the gathered group of animators some technical advice, but when he felt the audience was not giving him attention, he berated his audience, saying, "Animation is an art. That is how I conceived it. But as I see, what you fellows have done with it, is making it into a trade. Not an art, but a trade. ''Bad Luck!''"{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=199}} That September he appeared on the radio at [[WRKO|WNAC]], and on November 2 he was interviewed by [[Frank Craven]] for ''[[The News Journal|The Evening Journal]]''{{'}}s ''Woman's Hour''. During both appearances he complained about the state of contemporary animation.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=239}}

An executive of the [[American Tobacco Company]] approached McCay in 1929 to do an advertising campaign for a financial "sum in excess of his annual salary". Brisbane refused, noting that McCay's contract didn't allow outside work. When the executive stormed into Brisbane's office threatening to pull American Tobacco's advertising dollars from the ''American'', Brisbane provided a written release for the work.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=238–239}}

In 1932, McCay found himself in what he recalled as "the wildest ride" in his life when Hearst's son [[William Randolph Hearst, Jr.|"Young Bill"]] drove him at {{convert|85|mph|km/h}} to the scene of the [[Lindbergh kidnapping|kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby]]. They arrived there two hours after the crime was first reported to police, and were able to interview the gathered police before the grounds were closed off to the public. McCay sketched the scene, the staff, and the ladders the kidnappers used, which he was allowed to see up close.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=240}}
===Death===
McCay enjoyed robust health most of his life. On July 26, 1934, he complained to his wife of a severe head-ache. To his horror, he found his right arm—his drawing arm—was paralyzed. He lost consciousness and was pronounced dead later that afternoon, with his wife, children, and son-in-law by his side.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=249}} He had died of a [[embolism|cerebral embolism]],{{sfn|Syracuse Herald staff|1934}} and was buried at the [[Cemetery of the Evergreens]] in Brooklyn{{sfn|Wilson|2016}} in a family plot. He had a [[Masonic funeral]] in his home, attended by his newspaper colleagues, Hearst and his son, and the [[Society of Illustrators]], among others.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=251}}

Brisbane hired back Mel Cummin to replace McCay.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=251}} Due to his lavish life-style, McCay left a smaller fortune than those around him had expected. By the early 1940s, Maude had used up her inheritance and sold the house on Voorhies Avenue. When she died of a heart attack on March 2, 1949, she was living with her daughter and son-in-law.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=251}} Son Robert was also careless with his inheritance, and less successful in art than his father. He worked for a short time at the Hearst papers, and tried unsuccessfully to get a job at the Disney studios, before finding a career as illustrator for Training Aids/Special Services at [[Fort Ord]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=251–252}}

==Personal life==
Self-conscious and introverted in private, McCay was nevertheless a charismatic showman and self-promoter,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=40, 139}} and maintained several lifelong friendships.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=40}} McCay was a light but frequent drinker; he drank for [[comrade|camaraderie]] rather than for a love of drinking.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=244}} To his wife's chagrin, McCay was a smoker of cigars and cigarettes.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=202}} He was self-taught at the piano,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=202}} and was an avid reader of poetry, plays and novels; he admired [[W. B. Yeats]], knew the works of [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]] and [[John Keats]], and could quote the Bible and Shakespeare.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=244}}

McCay stood barely five feet ({{convert|5|ft|cm|disp=output only}}) tall,{{sfn|Taylor|2007|p=555}} and felt dominated by his wife, who was nearly as tall as he was.{{sfnm|1a1=Canemaker|1y=2005|1p=45|2a1=Merkl|2y=2007|2p=512}} McCay married Maude Leonore Dufour, the youngest of three daughters of French-Canadian carriage painter John Dufour.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=45}} About a decade separated the couple's ages:{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=45}} Maude was 14 when they married.{{sfn|Heer|2006a}} Biographer Canemaker speculates this may explain the lack of certainty behind McCay's birthdate, even by McCay himself, as he may have claimed to be younger than he was to justify marrying a teenaged girl. Maude was also age-conscious: she preferred her grandchildren to call her "Nan" instead of "Grandma" and dyed her hair as she got older.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=46}} The McCays took on the traditional roles of a married couple of the time, in that Winsor was the breadwinner and Maude the homemaker. Neither spouse got along well with the other's mother.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=202}}

[[File:Bobbie McCay Little Nemo.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|left|alt=A black-and-white photograph of a curly-haired young boy, seated with one leg crossed over the other, and wearing a sailor suit.|McCay's son [[Bob McCay|Robert]], posing as Little Nemo in 1908]]

The couple had two children: [[Bob McCay|Robert Winsor]], born June 21, 1896; and Marion Elizabeth, born August 22, 1897.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=47}} McCay was said to be easy-going with the children, and left discipline to their stern mother.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=202}} Marion felt domineered by her mother and perceived that her brother was her mother's favorite; she was closer to her father and often appeared in public with him.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=202}} Robert looked up to his father and became an artist himself. He was proud to have served as the model for Little Nemo.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=252}}

The McCays lived lavishly. McCay disliked driving, so he kept a chauffeur who also served as a bodyguard, as the editorial cartoons McCay drew for Hearst sometimes attracted threatening letters. Maude made daily trips by limousine to shop in upscale [[downtown Brooklyn]] with other well-to-do wives. Maude often complained to her husband, but he refused to discuss matters with her.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=202–203}}

McCay's politics are unclear, and it is disputed whether he sympathized with the views displayed in his editorial cartoons.{{sfn|Shannon|2010|p=197}} He was agnostic and believed in [[reincarnation]]. He was a [[Freemasonry|Freemason]], whose ranks he may have joined as early as when he was living in Chicago. His father had also been a Freemason, and was buried in 1915 with full Masonic rites,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=34}} with funerals arranged by his Masonic lodges in both Woodstock, Ontario, and Edmore, Michigan. His mother often visited him in Brooklyn, and attended ''Little Nemo''{{'}}s Philadelphia premiere. She died in Edmore, Michigan, in 1927.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=185}}

McCay's brother Arthur was placed in a mental hospital in Traverse City, Michigan on March 7, 1898, where he stayed until his death from [[bronchopneumonia]] and [[arteriosclerosis]] on June 15, 1946. He never received family visits. McCay never let his children know about his brother, nor did they know about the existence of his sister Mae,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=55–56}} who died in 1910.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=153}}

==Legacy==
{{quote box
|quote = It is as though the first creature to emerge from the primeval slime was Albert Einstein; and the second was an amoeba, because after McCay's animation it took his followers nearly twenty years to find out how he did it. The two most important people in animation are Winsor McCay and Walt Disney, and I'm not sure which should go first.
|source = —Animator [[Chuck Jones]]{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=257}}
|width = 30em}}

In 1937, McCay's son Robert attempted to carry on his father's legacy by reviving ''Little Nemo''. [[Comic book packager]] [[Harry "A" Chesler]]'s syndicate announced a Sunday and daily ''Nemo'' strip, credited to "Winsor McCay Jr." Robert also drew a comic book version for Chesler called ''Nemo in Adventureland'' starring grown-up versions of Nemo and the Princess. Neither project lasted long.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=253}} In 1947, Robert and fabric salesman Irving Mendelsohn organized the McCay Feature Syndicate, Inc. to revive the original ''Nemo'' strip from McCay's original art, modified to fit the size of modern newspaper pages. This revival also did not last.{{sfnm|1a1=Waugh|1y=1947|1pp=20–21|2a1=Canemaker|2y=2005|2p=253}}
{{multiple image

| align = left
| direction = vertical
| width = 180

| image1 =Little Nemo 1906-10-14.jpg
| alt1 =
| caption1 =

| image2 =Winsor McCay, Little Nemo in Slumberland - "I don't like this, one little tiny bit, not one tiny weenie bit", 1906, NGA 142153.jpg
| alt2 =
| caption2 = McCay's drawing for the ''Little Nemo'' strip running October 14, 1906, is in the collection of the [[National Gallery of Art]].
}}
McCay's original artwork has been poorly preserved.{{sfn|Heer|2006}} McCay insisted on having his originals returned to him, and a large collection that survived him was destroyed in a fire in the late 1930s. His wife was unsure how to handle the surviving pieces, so his son took on the responsibility and moved the collection to his own house.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=253}} The family sold off some of the artwork when they were in need of cash. Responsibility for it passed to Mendelsohn, then later to daughter Marion. By the early twenty-first century, most of McCay's surviving artwork remained in family hands.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=253–254}}

McCay destroyed many of his original cans of film to create more storage space. Of what film he kept, much has not survived, as it was photographed on 35mm [[Nitrocellulose#Film|nitrate film]], which decomposes and is highly flammable. Mendelsohn's son and a friend, both young animators, discovered the film in Mendelsohn's possession in 1947 and rescued what they could. In some cases, such as ''The Centaurs'', only fragments could be saved. A [[negative (photography)|negative]] and incomplete positive was discovered of ''Performing Animals'', a film of animals playing instruments that may have been intended for McCay's vaudeville act; it was deemed unsalvageable and destroyed.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=254}}

In 1966, cartoonist [[Woody Gelman]] discovered the original artwork for many ''Little Nemo'' strips at a cartoon studio where McCay's son Robert had worked. Many of the recovered originals were displayed at the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] under the direction of curator [[A. Hyatt Mayor]]. In 1973, Gelman published a collection of ''Little Nemo'' strips in Italy.{{sfn|Jamieson|2010|p=126}} His collection of McCay originals is preserved at the [[Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum]] at [[Ohio State University]].{{sfn|Spencer|2005}}

[[File:Walt disney portrait.jpg|upright=0.8|thumb|alt=Photograph of the head of a middle-aged man with a moustache, facing outwards to the left.|[[Walt Disney]] acknowledged his debt to McCay's example.]]

McCay's work, grounded solidly in his understanding of realistic perspective, presaged the techniques featured in [[The Walt Disney Company|Walt Disney]]'s feature films.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=31}} Disney paid tribute to McCay in 1955 on an episode of ''[[Walt Disney anthology television series|Disneyland]]''. The episode, "The Story of Animated Drawing", gave a history of animation, and dramatized McCay's vaudeville act with ''Gertie''. Robert was invited to the Disney studios as a consultant on the episode, where Disney told him, "Bob, all this should be your father's".{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=255}}

Animator and McCay biographer John Canemaker produced a film in 1974 called ''Remembering Winsor McCay'', narrated by McCay's animation assistant John Fitzsimmons. Canemaker helped coordinate the first retrospective of McCay's films at the third International Animation Film Festival in 1975 in New York, which led to a film show at the [[Whitney Museum of American Art]] in winter 1975–76.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=255}} Canemaker also wrote a biography in 1987 called ''Winsor McCay: His Life and Art''. In 2005, a revised and expanded version of the biography was released, which comics scholar Jeet Heer called "far and away the most scholarly and intelligent biography ever written about an American cartoonist".{{sfn|Heer|2006}} Animation scholar Paul Wells stated, "McCay's influence on the history of animation cannot be understated".{{sfn|Wells|2006|p=89}} Film critic [[Richard Eder]] lamented that as an animation pioneer McCay was not able to reach the potential suggested by his work. Eder compared McCay to the [[Italian primitives]] of the early Renaissance, highly skilled "in the limited techniques they could command".{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=199}} Heer wrote that McCay's strength was in his visuals, but that his writing and characters were weak.{{sfn|Heer|2006}}

[[File:Little_Nemo_in_Slumberland_mural_downtown_Cincinnati,_OH_Oct_2016.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|left|alt=Mural of a ''Little Nemo in Slumberland'' comic in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio|Mural of a Little Nemo in Slumberland comic in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio]]
Italian filmmaker [[Federico Fellini]] read ''Little Nemo'' in the children's magazine ''[[Corriere dei Piccoli|Il corriere dei piccoli]]'', and the strip was a "powerful influence" on the filmmaker, according to Fellini biographer [[Peter Bondanella]].{{sfn|Bondanella|2002|p=10}} Comics historian [[R. C. Harvey]] has called McCay "the first original genius of the comic strip medium" and in animation. Harvey said that McCay's contemporaries lacked the skill to continue with his innovations, so that they were left for future generations to rediscover and build upon.{{sfn|Harvey|1994|p=21}}

McCay's work has inspired cartoonists from [[Carl Barks]]{{sfn|Ault|Andrae|Gong|2003|p=91}} to [[Art Spiegelman]].{{sfn|Jacobowitz|2007|p=164}} [[Robert Crumb]] called McCay a "genius" and one of his favorite cartoonists. [[Art Spiegelman]]'s 1974 "Real Dream" strip was partially inspired by ''Rarebit Fiend'',{{sfn|Young|2000}} and his ''[[In the Shadow of No Towers]]'' in 2004 appropriated some of McCay's imagery, and included a page of ''Little Nemo'' in its appendix.{{sfn|Heer|2006}} [[Maurice Sendak]]'s children's book ''[[In the Night Kitchen]]'' (1970) was an homage to McCay's work,{{sfn|Nel|2005|p=204}} as was [[Rick Veitch]]' comic book series ''Roarin' Rick's Rarebit Fiends'' (1994–96).{{sfn|Markstein|2007}} [[Kim Deitch]] and Simon Deitch's graphic novel ''[[The Boulevard of Broken Dreams (comics)|The Boulevard of Broken Dreams]]'' revolved around a character named Winsor Newton,{{efn|A pun on [[Winsor & Newton]], whose ink brushes are popular with cartoonists.}} based on an aged McCay.{{sfn|Gardner|2012|p=158}} Cartoonist [[Berke Breathed]] lamented that the conditions of newspaper cartooning had devolved to such a degree since McCay's time that, had he worked later in the century, he would not have been allotted space sufficient for his expansive full-page fantasies.{{sfn|Harvey|1994|p=28}}

[[File:A French Nurse's Dream (crop).jpg|thumb|alt=Two panels from a comic strip. In the first panel, a nurse watches as a young boy urinates, and an ocean liner tavels through the mass of urine. In the second panel, the nurse awakens in her bed to the child's crying.|[[Sigmund Freud]]'s ''[[The Interpretation of Dreams]]'' (1914) contained a comic strip by Nándor Honti that resembled McCay's work.]]

As [[Sigmund Freud]]'s ''[[The Interpretation of Dreams]]'' first appeared in print in 1899, McCay's major dream strips work have invited speculation of a Freudian influence. But it can be proved that McCay's influence, at least in a secondhand manner, reached Freud: Hungarian artist Nándor Honti, heavily inspired by McCay's ''Rarebit Fiend'', which he had seen when he lived in the United States from 1903 to about 1907, created a comic page titled "A Francia Bonne Álma" ("A French Nanny's Dream", often called "A French Nurse's Dream", 1911), which was passed to Sigmund Freud by the Hungarian psychoanalyst Sándor Ferenczi.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lambiek.net/artists/b/bit.htm |title=Nándor Honti |last=Knudde |first=Kjell |date=August 27, 2022 |website=lambiek.net |access-date=August 22, 2023 |archive-date=May 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530085945/https://www.lambiek.net/artists/b/bit.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Freud then included the comic in the 1914 edition of his book. Honti's comic strongly resembles the work of McCay in its theme,{{sfn|Roeder|2014|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=I_gaBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA205 205]}} pacing, Art Nouveau style, and closing panel of the dreamer awakening in bed.

The [[Winsor McCay Award]] was established in 1972 to recognize individuals for lifetime or career contributions in animation, and is presented as part of the [[Annie Award]]s.{{sfn|Dixon|2008}} The [[Hammer Museum]] in Los Angeles devoted a room to McCay's work as part of the ''Masters of American Comics'' exhibit in 2005.{{sfn|Heer|2006}} German publisher [[Taschen]] published a complete, boxed, full-size edition of ''Little Nemo'' in two volumes in 2014 entitled ''The Complete Little Nemo''.{{sfn|Taube|2014}}

The American astronomer [[Roy A. Tucker]] named the asteroid [[113461 McCay|113461]] after McCay in 2002.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=113461 |title=IAU Minor Planet Center |publisher=IAU Minor Planet Center |access-date=September 15, 2018 }}</ref>

Despite dispute over his birthplace, a public park and historical marker honor McCay in [[Spring Lake, Michigan]]. The marker, unveiled in 2009, is located in Winsor McCay Park.<ref>Morpheus. [http://springlakemccay.blogspot.com/2009/06/historical-marker.html "Historical Marker!!!"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230222060405/http://springlakemccay.blogspot.com/2009/06/historical-marker.html |date=February 22, 2023 }}. ''Meeting McCay''. Published June 5, 2009. Accessed February 22, 2023.</ref> Winsor McCay Park is the modern-day location of where Union School once stood,<ref>[https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/winsor-mccays-the-sinking-of-the-alpena/ "Winsor McCay's 'The Sinking of The Alpena'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230222060353/https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/winsor-mccays-the-sinking-of-the-alpena/ |date=February 22, 2023 }}. ''Cartoon Research''. Published September 7, 2017. Accessed February 22, 2023.</ref> wherein McCay "illustrated his first 'commercial' for-sale illustration" in 1880.<ref name="Winsor McCay Park">{{Cite web |url=https://winsormccaypark.weebly.com/ |title=Winsor McCay Park Official Site |access-date=February 22, 2023 |archive-date=February 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230222060402/https://winsormccaypark.weebly.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Developers have been working since 2009 to develop the park into a more sophisticated memorial to McCay including "a large [[Gertie the Dinosaur]] statue at the entrance of the park...a bronze statue of Winsor McCay that will be placed next to the historical marker/sign [and] Gertie the Dinosaur stepping-stone footprints [that] will meander through the park, leading back to a scaled-down replica of Union School."<ref name="Winsor McCay Park"/>

==Style==
Virtually from the beginning, McCay innovated with the forms of his chosen media. He varied the size and shape of comic strip panels for dramatic effect, as in the second instalment of ''Little Nemo'' (October 22, 1905), where the panels grow to adapt to a growing forest of mushrooms.{{sfn|Harvey|1994|p=21}} Few of McCay's contemporaries were so bold with their page layouts. Near-contemporary [[George Herriman]] with ''[[Krazy Kat]]'' was the most notable example, but it was not until a generation later that cartoonists such as [[Frank King (cartoonist)|Frank King]] with ''[[Gasoline Alley (comic strip)|Gasoline Alley]]'', [[Hal Foster]] with ''[[Prince Valiant]]'', and [[Roy Crane]] with ''[[Captain Easy]]'' attempted such daring designs on their Sunday pages.{{sfn|Harvey|1994|pp=21–22}}

[[File:Little Nemo in Slumberland (1905-10-22) bottom half.jpeg|thumb|upright=2.5|center|alt=Little Nemo in Slumberland comic strip episode from October 22, 1905. Nemo dreams he is in a growing mushroom forest. Panels grow to accommodate the growing mushrooms.|McCay experimented with the formal elements of his strips, as when he had panels grow to accommodate a growing mushroom forest in a ''[[Little Nemo]]'' episode for October 22, 1905.{{efn|{{Commons file|Little Nemo in Slumberland (1905-10-22).jpeg|the full strip}} }}]]

McCay's detailed [[hatching]]{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=48}} and mastery of [[Perspective (graphical)|perspective]] enhanced the illusions in his drawings, particularly in ''Little Nemo''.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=31}} Fantastic grotesqueries such as what McCay witnessed during his time at the Wonderland and Eden Musee appeared often in McCay's work.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=28}} McCay was noted for the speed and accuracy with which he could draw; crowds of people would gather around to watch him paint billboards.{{sfn|Taylor|2005|loc=Introduction}}

[[File:Rip 1888 Un projet téméraire.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|alt=|Pages from ''Images Enphantines'' displayed the same sort of formal playfulness as in McCay's work<br />Rip, "Un projet téméraire", 1888]]

McCay had a taste for the ornate. The architecture he drew was inspired by that of carnivals, the 1893 [[World's Columbian Exposition]] in Chicago and the detailed illustrations in British illustrated newspapers ''[[The Illustrated London News]]'' and ''[[The Graphic]]''. The {{Interlanguage link|Maison Quantin|fr}} of Paris published a series of illustrated books called ''Images Enphantines'', whose pages bear a striking resemblance to McCay's early ''Little Nemo'' strips, both in their graphic sense and their imaginative layouts.{{sfn|Smolderen|2014|p=}}

To Canemaker, McCay had an "absolute precision of line"{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=209}} akin to those of [[Northern Renaissance]] artist [[Albrecht Dürer]] and 19th-century French illustrator [[Gustave Doré]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=209, 212}} McCay drew with Higgins black drawing ink, [[Joseph Gillott's (pens)|Gillott]] {{Numero|290}} pens, [[Eraser#Artist's gum eraser|art gum]], a [[T-square]] and [[Set square|angle]], and an assortment of [[Venus Pencils|Venus]] lead pencils.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=127}} In his early magazine cartoons McCay often painted in [[gouache]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=55}}

McCay used [[metafiction]]al techniques such as [[Self-reference|self-referentiality]] in his work. This was most frequent in ''Dream of the Rarebit Fiend'', where McCay sometimes put himself in the strip, or had characters address the reader. Sometimes characters become aware of the strip itself—a jealous lover tears the very strip apart in which he appears; another character fastens panel borders to his strip when he realizes the artist has forgotten them;{{sfn|Bukatman|2012|p=63}} and in a ''Sammy Sneeze'' episode Sammy's sneeze destroys the panel borders.{{sfn|Harvey|1994|p=25}}

In contrast to the high level of skill in the artwork, the dialogue in McCay's speech balloons is crude, sometimes approaching illegibility,{{sfnm|1a1=Gutjahr|1a2=Benton|1y=2001|1p=166|2a1=Heller|2y=2007}} and "disfigur[ing] his otherwise flawless work",{{sfn|Harvey|1994|p=28}} according to critic [[R. C. Harvey]].{{sfn|Harvey|1994|p=28}} This is further highlighted by the level of effort and skill apparent in the title lettering.{{sfn|Gutjahr|Benton|2001|p=166}} McCay seemed to show little regard for the dialogue balloons, their content, and their placement in the visual composition. They tended to contain repetitive monologues expressing the increasing distress of the speakers, and showed that McCay's gift was in the visual and not the verbal.{{sfn|Taylor|2007|p=554}}

In his comics and animation McCay used stock ethnic stereotypes common in his era.{{sfnm|1a1=Shannon|1y=2010|1p=197|2a1=Canemaker|2y=2005|2pp=52–53}} A conscious attempt to offend is not apparent.{{sfn|Shannon|2010|p=200}} He depicted [[Black people|blacks]] as savages, or wishing they could be [[White people|white]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=52–53}} Most prominent were a pair of characters in ''Little Nemo'': the ill-tempered Irishman Flip and the rarely speaking grass-skirted African Little Imp. In the animated ''Little Nemo'', the Anglo-Saxon Nemo is shown drawn in a dignified Art Nouveau style, and controls by magic the more grotesquely caricatured Flip and Imp.{{sfn|Winokur|2012|pp=58, 63}} Women were few in McCay's work, and were depicted as superficial, jealous, and argumentative; the Princess in ''Little Nemo'' never partook in the camaraderie the males shared.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=46–47}}

==List of comic strips==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ Comic strips by Winsor McCay
|-
! scope="col"|Title
! scope="col"|Begin date
! scope="col"|End date
! scope="col" class="unsortable"|Notes
|-
!scope="row"|''{{sort|tale|A Tale of the Jungle Imps by Felix Fiddle}}''{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=60}}
|align="right"| {{dts|1903|01|11|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=60}}
|align="right"| {{dts|1903|11|09|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=60}}
|align="left"|
* based on poems written by [[George Randolph Chester]]{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=60}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Mr. Goodenough''{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=75}}
|align="right"| {{dts|1904|01|21|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=75}}
|align="right"| {{dts|1904|03|04|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=75}}
|align="left"|
|-
!scope="row"|''Sister's Little Sister's Beau''{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=75}}
|align="right"| {{dts|1904|04|24|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=75}}
|align="right"| {{dts|1904|04|24|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=75}}
|align="left"|
|-
!scope="row"|''Phurious Phinish of Phoolish Philipe's Phunny Phrolics''{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=75}}
|align="right"| {{dts|1904|05|28|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=75}}
|align="right"| {{dts|1904|05|28|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=75}}
|align="left"|
|-
!scope="row"|''[[Little Sammy Sneeze]]''{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=75}}
|align="right"| {{dts|1904|07|24|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=75}}
|align="right"| {{dts|1907|05|26|abbr=on}}<ref>Alexander Braun states: "''Little Sammy Sneeze'' ran much longer than comic researchers believed up until now. Thanks to the support of an extensive collection in Switzerland, evidence has been found of episodes dating up to May 26, 1907." Alexander Braun: The Complete Little Nemo 1905 - 1927, Taschen 2014, p. 27</ref>
|align="left"|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan="2"|''[[Dream of the Rarebit Fiend]]''{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=78}}
|align="right"| {{dts|1904|09|10|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=78}}
|align="right"| {{dts|1911|06|25|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=78}}
|align="left"|
|-
|align="right"| {{dts|1913|01|19|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=78}}
|align="right"| {{dts|1913|08|03|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=78}}
|align="left"|
* revived by the ''[[New York Herald]]'', printing left-over strips{{sfn|Merkl|2007|p=488}} in color{{sfn|van Opstal|2008}}
|-
!scope="row"|''{{sort|story|The Story of Hungry Henrietta}}''{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=92}}
|align="right"| {{dts|1905|01|08|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=92}}
|align="right"| {{dts|1905|07|16|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=92}}
|align="left"|
|-
! scope="row" |''{{sort|pil|A Pilgrim's Progress By Mister Bunion}}''{{sfn|McKinney|2015|p=1}}
| align="right" | {{dts|1905|06|26|abbr=on}}{{sfn|McKinney|2015|p=2}}
| align="right" | {{dts|1909|05|04|abbr=on}}{{sfn|McKinney|2015|p=11}}
|align="left"|
* appeared in the ''New York Evening Telegram''{{sfn|McKinney|2015|p=1}}
|-
!scope="row" rowspan="2"|''[[Little Nemo|Little Nemo in Slumberland]]''{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=97}}
|align="right"| {{dts|1905|10|15|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=97}}
|align="right"| {{dts|1911|07|23|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=97}}
|align="left"|
* 1911–14 under the title ''In the Land of Wonderful Dreams''{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=97}}
|-
|align="right"| {{dts|1924|08|03|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=229}}
|align="right"| {{dts|1926|12|26|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=229}}
|align="left"|
* restarted after McCay returned to the ''Herald Tribune''{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=229}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Poor Jake''{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=121}}
|align="right"| {{dts|1909|||abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=121}}
|align="right"| {{dts|1911|||abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=121}}
|align="left"|
* appeared in the ''New York Evening Telegram''{{sfn|McKinney|2015|p=1}}
|-
!scope="row"|''In the Land of Wonderful Dreams''{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=97}}
|align="right"| {{dts|1911|09|03|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=97}}
|align="right"| {{dts|1914|12|26|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=97}}
|align="left"|
* ''Little Nemo'' retitled when McCay moved to [[William Randolph Hearst|Hearst]]'s papers{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=97}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Rarebit Reveries''{{sfn|Merkl|2007|p=466}}
|align="right"| {{dts|format=hide|1923}}{{circa|1923}}{{sfn|Merkl|2007|p=485}}
|align="right"| {{dts|format=hide|1925}}{{circa|1925}}{{sfn|Merkl|2007|p=485}}
|align="left"|
* revival of ''Dream of the Rarebit Fiend''{{sfn|Merkl|2007|p=466}}
* signed "Robert Winsor McCay Jr.", though most likely McCay's artwork{{sfn|Merkl|2007|p=466}}

|-class="sortbottom"
!Title!!Begin date!!End date!!Notes

|}

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ Films by Winsor McCay
|-
! scope="col"|Title
! scope="col"|Year
! scope="col" class="unsortable"|Notes
! scope="col" class="unsortable"|File
|-
!scope="row"|''Winsor McCay, the Famous Cartoonist of the N.Y. Herald and His Moving Comics''{{sfn|Bukatman|2012|p=109}}
|align="right"|April 11, 1911{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=160}}
|align="left"|
*more commonly called ''[[Little Nemo (1911 film)|Little Nemo]]''{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=160}}
|[[File:Winsor McCay, the Famous Cartoonist of the N.Y. Herald and His Moving Comics - Little Nemo (1911).webm|thumb|alt=Winsor McCay, the Famous Cartoonist of the N.Y. Herald and His Moving Comics|100px|none]]
|-
!scope="row"|''[[How a Mosquito Operates]]''
|align="right"|January 1912{{sfn|Bendazzi|1994|p=16}}
|align="left"|
*also known as ''The Story Of A Mosquito''{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=164}}
|[[File:Winsor McCay (1912) How a Mosquito Operates.webm|thumb|alt=How a Mosquito Operates|100px|none]]
|-
!scope="row"|''[[Gertie the Dinosaur]]''
|align="right"|February 18, 1914{{sfnm|1a1=Crafton|1y=1993|1p=110|2a1=Canemaker|2y=2005|2p=183}}
|align="left"|
*Lost original stage show version{{sfnm|1a1=Crafton|1y=1993|1p=110|2a1=Canemaker|2y=2005|2p=183}}
|
|-
!scope="row"|''Winsor McCay, the Famous Cartoonist, and Gertie''
|align="right"|December 28, 1914{{sfnm|1a1=Crafton|1y=1993|1p=110|2a1=Canemaker|2y=2005|2p=183}}
|align="left"|
*Expansion of the stage show version, adding a live action introduction in a museum and dialogue inter-titles.{{sfnm|1a1=Crafton|1y=1993|1p=110|2a1=Canemaker|2y=2005|2p=183}}
|[[File:Winsor McCay (1914)Gertie the Dinosaur.webm|thumb|thumbtime=9:48|alt=Gertie the Dinosaur|100px|none]]
|-
!scope="row"|''[[The Sinking of the Lusitania]]''
|align="right"|May 18, 1918{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=195}}
|align="left"|
|[[File:The Sinking of the Lusitania (1918).webm|thumb|alt=The Sinking of the Lusitania|100px|none]]
|-
!scope="row"|''[[Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend#Bug Vaudeville (1921)|Bug Vaudeville]]''
|align="right"|September 12, 1921{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=197}}
|align="left"|
|[[File:Winsor McCay - Bug Vaudeville (1921).webm|thumb|alt=Bug Vaudeville|100px|none]]
|-
!scope="row"|''[[Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend#The Pet (1921)|The Pet]]''
|align="right"|September 19, 1921{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=198}}
|align="left"|
|[[File:Winsor McCay (1921) The Pet.webm|thumb|alt=The Pet|100px|none]]
|-
!scope="row"|''[[Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend#The Flying House (1921)|The Flying House]]''
|align="right"|September 26, 1921{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=197–198}}
|align="left"|
|[[File:Winsor McCay (1921) The Flying House.webm|thumb|alt=The Flying House|100px|none]]
|-
!scope="row"|''[[The Centaurs (1921 film)|The Centaurs]]''
|align="right"|1921
|align="left"|
* survives only in fragments{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=197–198}}
|[[File:Winsor McCay - The Centaurs (c. 1921).webm|thumb|alt=The Centaurs|100px|none]]
|-
!scope="row"|''Gertie on Tour''
|align="right"|{{circa|1918–21}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=194}}
|align="left"|
* survives only in fragments{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=197–198}}
|[[File:Winsor McCay (1921) Gertie on Tour.webm|thumb|alt=Gertie On Tour|100px|none]]
|-
!scope="row"|''Flip's Circus''
|align="right"|{{circa|1918–21}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=194}}
|align="left"|
* survives only in fragments{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=197–198}}
|[[File:Winsor McCay (1921) Flip's Circus.webm|thumb|alt=Flip's Circus|100px|none]]
|-
!scope="row"|''Performing Animals''
|align="right"|unknown
|align="left"|
*original 35mm [[Nitrocellulose#Nitrate film fires|nitrate film]] has not survived{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=254}}
|
|-class="sortbottom"
!Title!!Year!!Notes!!File

|}

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=20em}}

===Works cited===
====Books====
{{Refbegin|colwidth=35em}}

* {{cite book
|last1 = Ault
|first1 = Donald
|author-link1 = Donald Ault
|last2 = Andrae
|first2 = Thomas
|last3 = Gong
|first3 = Stephen
|chapter = An Interview with Carl Barks: Duckburg's True Founding Father
|pages = 91–108
|editor-last = Ault
|editor-first = Donald
|title = Carl Barks: Conversations
|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=f20xMWyka3oC
|year = 2003
|publisher = [[University Press of Mississippi]]
|isbn = 978-1-57806-501-1
}}
* {{cite book |last = Barrier |first = Michael |author-link = Michael Barrier (historian) |title = Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zDJXnzMh7bkC |year = 2003 |publisher = Oxford University Press |isbn = 978-0-19-516729-0 }}
* {{cite book |last = Beckerman |first = Howard |title = Animation: The Whole Story 
|year = 2003 |publisher = Skyhorse Publishing |isbn = 978-1-58115-301-9 }}
* {{cite book |last = Bendazzi |first = Giannalberto |title = Cartoons: One Hundred Years of Cinema Animation |year = 1994 |publisher = [[Indiana University Press]] |isbn = 978-0-253-31168-9}}
* {{cite book |last = Berenbaum |first = May R. |author-link = May Berenbaum |title = The Earwig's Tail: A Modern Bestiary of Multi-Legged Legends |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SPxvx0X22XEC |year = 2009 |publisher = [[Harvard University Press]] |isbn = 978-0-674-03540-9 }}
* {{cite book |last = Bien |first = Laura |title = Hidden History of Ypsilanti |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qFbFd-yibP4C |year = 2011 |publisher = [[The History Press]] |isbn = 978-1-60949-289-2 }}
* {{cite book |first = Peter |last = Bondanella |author-link = Peter Bondanella |title = The Films of Federico Fellini |publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]] |year = 2002 |isbn = 978-0-521-57573-7 |url = https://www.questia.com/read/105418504|archive-url = https://archive.today/20130411164341/http://www.questia.com/read/105418504|url-status = dead|archive-date = April 11, 2013}}
* Alexander Braun: The Complete Little Nemo 1905 - 1927, Taschen 2014
* {{cite book |last=Bukatman |first=Scott |author-link=Scott Bukatman |title=The Poetics of Slumberland: Animated Spirits and the Animating Spirit |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JUzsFWq97UUC |year=2012 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-95150-1 }}
* {{cite book |last = Canemaker |first = John |author-link = John Canemaker |title = Winsor McCay: His Life and Art |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vs82AQAAIAAJ |edition = Revised |year = 2005 |publisher = Abrams Books |isbn = 978-0-8109-5941-5 }}
*{{cite book
|last = Canemaker
|first = John
|title = Winsor McCay: His Life and Art
|edition = 3
|year = 2018
|publisher = CRC Press (Taylor & Francis)
|isbn = 978-1138578876
}}
* {{cite book |editor-first = Dean |editor-last = Mullaney | editor1-link = Dean Mullaney |last = Canwell |first = Bruce |title = Bringing Up Father: From Sea to Shining Sea the Cross-Country Tour of 1939–1940 |year = 2009 |publisher = [[IDW Publishing]] |isbn = 978-1-60010-508-1}}
* {{cite book |title = Before Mickey: The Animated Film 1898–1928 |first = Donald |last = Crafton |year = 1993 |publisher = University of Chicago Press |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yaeJFVTedysC |isbn = 9780226116679 }}
* {{cite book
|author = Dover Publications
|section = Publisher's Note
|title = Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend
|year = 1973
|publisher = [[Dover Publications]]
|isbn = 978-0-486-21347-7}}
* {{cite book |last = Gardner |first = Jared |title = Projections: Comics and the History of Twenty-First-Century Storytelling |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=epynqSJYX_wC |year = 2012 |publisher = [[Stanford University Press]] |isbn = 978-0-8047-8178-7 }}
* {{cite book |last1 = Gutjahr |first1 = Paul C. |last2 = Benton |first2 = Megan L. |title = Illuminating Letters: Typography and Literary Interpretation |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=c6CuK-vq5DcC |year = 2001 |publisher = [[University of Massachusetts Press]] |isbn = 978-1-55849-288-2 }}
* {{cite book |last = Harvey |first = Robert C. |author-link = R. C. Harvey |title = The Art of the Funnies: An Aesthetic History |url = https://archive.org/details/artoffunniesaest0000harv |url-access = registration |year = 1994 |publisher = [[University Press of Mississippi]] |isbn = 978-0-87805-612-5}}
* {{cite book
|last1 = Haverstock
|first1 = Mary Sayre
|last2 = Vance
|first2 = Jeannette Mahoney
|last3 = Meggitt
|first3 = Brian L.
|title = Artists in Ohio, 1787–1900: A Biographical Dictionary
|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZdICm_W8xKwC&pg=PA549
|year = 2000
|publisher = [[Kent State University Press]]
|isbn = 978-0-87338-616-6
|page = 549
|chapter = McCay, Winsor Zenic (1869–1934)}}
* {{cite book
|last = Jacobowitz
|first = Susan
|chapter = 'Words and Pictures Together': An Interview with Art Spiegelman
|pages = 152–162
|editor-last = Witek
|editor-first = Joseph
|title = Art Spiegelman: Conversations
|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZKd1aGW7EMoC&pg=PA152
|year = 2007
|publisher = [[University Press of Mississippi]]
|isbn = 978-1-934110-12-6
}}
* {{cite book |title = Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession |first = Dave |last = Jamieson |year = 2010 |publisher = [[Grove/Atlantic, Inc.|Atlantic Monthly Press]]  |isbn = 978-0-8021-1939-1 }}
* {{cite book |last1 = Kundert-Gibbs |first1 = John |last2 = Kundert-Gibbs |first2 = Kristin |title = Action!: Acting Lessons for CG Animators |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=UZPr6xvPnokC |year = 2009 |publisher = [[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn = 978-0-470-59605-0 }}
* {{cite book
|last = Merkl
|first = Ulrich
|title = The Complete Dream of the Rarebit Fiend (1904-1913) by Winsor McCay 'Silas'
|location = Catalog of episodes & text of the book
|type = .doc
|year = 2007
|publisher = Ulrich Merkl
|isbn = 978-3-00-020751-8}} {{link note|note=on included DVD}}
* {{cite book |last = Nel |first = Philip |author-link = Philip Nel |title = Dr. Seuss: American Icon |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=IjvHQsCn_pgC |year = 2005 |publisher = Continuum |isbn = 978-0-8264-1708-4 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Roeder|first=Katherine|year=2014|title=Wide Awake in Slumberland: Fantasy, Mass Culture, and Modernism in the Art of Winsor McCay |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi|isbn=978-1-62674-117-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I_gaBwAAQBAJ}}
* {{cite book |last = Sito |first = Tom |author-link = Tom Sito |title = Drawing the Line: The Untold Story of the Animation Unions from Bosko to Bart Simpson |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XZ0PsCWPSZ0C |year = 2006 |publisher = University Press of Kentucky |isbn = 978-0-8131-2407-0 }}
* {{cite book |last1 = Stabile |first1 = Carol A. |last2 = Harrison |first2 = Mark |title = Prime Time Animation: Television Animation and American Culture |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=H3USAr6i1e0C |year = 2003 |publisher = [[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn = 978-0-415-28326-7 }}
* {{cite book |last = Telotte |first = J. P. |title = Animating Space: From Mickey to Wall-E |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mZ5CfCXl3u4C |year = 2010 |publisher = [[University Press of Kentucky]] |isbn = 978-0-8131-2586-2}}
* {{cite book |last = Sabin |first = Roger |author-link = Roger Sabin |title = Adult Comics: An Introduction |publisher = [[Routledge]] |year = 1993 |isbn = 978-0-415-04419-6 }}
*
* {{cite book |last = Smolderen |first = Thierry |author-link = Thierry Smolderen |title = The Origins of Comics: From William Hogarth to Winsor McCay |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JU1xAwAAQBAJ |year = 2014 |publisher = University Press of Mississippi |isbn = 978-1-61703-149-6 }}
* {{cite book |editor-last = Taylor |editor-first = Constance |title = Winsor McCay: Early Works |volume = VI |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SEjmB2pV9jYC |year = 2005 |publisher = Checker Book Publishing Group |isbn = 978-0-9753808-3-3 }}
* {{cite book
|first = Jeremy
|last = Taylor
|editor-last = Merkl
|editor-first = Ulrich
|title = The Complete Dream of the Rarebit Fiend (1904-1913) by Winsor McCay 'Silas'
|location = Catalog of episodes & text of the book
|chapter = Some archetypal symbolic aspects of ''Dream of the Rarebit Fiend''
|pages = 552–561
|type = .doc
|year = 2007
|publisher = Ulrich Merkl
|isbn = 978-3-00-020751-8}} (on included DVD)
* {{cite book |author-link = Coulton Waugh |first = Coulton |last = Waugh |title = The Comics |publisher = [[University Press of Mississippi]] |year = 1947 |isbn = 978-0-87805-499-2 }}
* {{cite book |last = Wells |first = Paul |title = The Fundamentals of Animation |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7sbOu5oEp4oC |year = 2006 |publisher = AVA Publishing |isbn = 978-2-940373-02-4 }}
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FOHgDAAAQBAJ&q=winsor+mccay+Cemetery+of+the+Evergreens&pg=PA494|page=494|first=Scott|last=Wilson|title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons|edition=3rd|year=2016|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476625997}}
* {{cite book
|first = Mark
|last = Winokur
|editor1-last = Kessel
|editor1-first = Martina
|editor2-last = Merziger
|editor2-first = Patrick
|title = The Politics of Humour: Laughter, Inclusion, and Exclusion in the Twentieth Century
|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=UbS62_iyhjAC&pg=PA52
|year = 2012
|publisher = [[University of Toronto Press]]
|isbn = 978-1-4426-4292-8
|pages = 52–81
|chapter = Creole Cartoons}}

{{Refend}}

====Magazines and journals====
{{Refbegin|colwidth=35em}}
* {{cite journal
|first = Jeet
|last = Heer
|title = Little Nemo in Comicsland
|journal = [[Virginia Quarterly Review]]
|publisher = [[University of Virginia]]
|volume = 82
|issue = 2
|year = 2006
|issn = 2154-6932
|pages = 104–121
|url = https://www.vqronline.org/essay/little-nemo-comicsland
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140707182454/https://www.vqronline.org/essay/little-nemo-comicsland
|archive-date = July 7, 2014
|url-status = live
}}
* {{cite journal
|last = McKinney
|first = Kirsten
|title = The Waking Life of Winsor McCay: Social Commentary in A Pilgrim's Progress by Mr. Bunion
|date = July 2015
|url = http://scholarship.richmond.edu/student-publications/1/
|journal = International Journal of Comic Art
|volume = 17
|issue = 1
|archive-date = September 23, 2020
|access-date = April 6, 2016
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200923153807/https://scholarship.richmond.edu/student-publications/1/
|url-status = live
}}
* {{cite journal
|last = Shannon
|first = Edward A.
|title = Something Black in the American Psyche: Formal Innovation and Freudian Imagery in the Comics of Winsor McCay and Robert Crumb
|journal = Canadian Review of American Studies
|issn = 1710-114X
|pages = 187–211
|volume = 40
|issue = 2
|year = 2010
|doi = 10.3138/cras.40.2.187
|pmid = 20827838
|s2cid = 11674940
}}
* {{cite journal
|first = David R.
|last = Spencer
|title = The Cartoon Research Library at Ohio State University
|journal = Journalism History
|volume = 31
|issue = 1
|year = 2005
|pages = 46–50
|doi = 10.1080/00947679.2005.12062671
|s2cid = 142471191
|url = https://www.questia.com/read/1P3-841835911
|archive-url = https://archive.today/20130411172008/http://www.questia.com/read/1P3-841835911
|url-status = dead
|archive-date = April 11, 2013
|url-access= subscription
}}
{{Refend}}

====Newspapers====
{{Refbegin|colwidth=35em}}
* {{cite news
|last = Heer
|first = Jeet
|title = The Dream Artist
|date = January 8, 2006a
|newspaper = [[The Boston Globe]]
|url = http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2006/01/08/the_dream_artist/
|access-date = June 25, 2012
|url-status = live
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060227154620/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2006/01/08/the_dream_artist/
|archive-date = February 27, 2006
}}
* {{cite news
|title = Celebrating Little Nemo by Winsor McCay; his 'demons' made him do it
|date = October 15, 2012
|first = Amy
|last = Hubbard
|newspaper = [[Los Angeles Times]]
|url = https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-xpm-2012-oct-15-la-na-nn-little-nemo-google-doodle-20121015-story.html
|access-date = December 15, 2012
|url-status = live
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130213141842/http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/15/nation/la-na-nn-little-nemo-google-doodle-20121015
|archive-date = February 13, 2013
}}
* {{cite news
|title = The Cartoonist Group: Background About Winsor McCay
|url = http://www.cartoonistgroup.com/properties/daydream/about.php/
|access-date = May 9, 2008
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080511211755/http://www.cartoonistgroup.com/properties/daydream/about.php
|archive-date = May 11, 2008
|url-status = dead
}}
* {{cite news
|author = ''Syracuse Herald'' staff
|newspaper = [[Syracuse Herald-Journal|Syracuse Herald]]
|date = July 27, 1934
|page = 12
|title = Winsor {{not a typo|M'Cay}} Early Comic Artist, Dies
|ref = {{SfnRef|Syracuse Herald staff|1934}} }}
{{Refend}}

====Web====
{{Refbegin|colwidth=35em}}
* {{cite web
|last = Dixon
|first = Gretchen
|work = Reuters
|title = Winsor McCay Award Recipients Announced at Comic Con, San Diego
|date = July 26, 2008
|url = https://www.reuters.com/article/2008/07/26/idUS41547+26-Jul-2008+PRN20080726
|access-date = November 30, 2013
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131203024808/http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/07/26/idUS41547+26-Jul-2008+PRN20080726
|archive-date = December 3, 2013
|url-status = dead
}}
* {{cite web
|ref = {{SfnRef|Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon|2002}}
|title = Zenas Winsor McCay
|date = January 26, 2002
|author = Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon staff
|publisher = Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon
|url = http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/mccay_w/mccay_w.html
|access-date = December 10, 2012
|archive-date = March 9, 2021
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210309111519/http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/mccay_w/mccay_w.html
|url-status = live
}}
* {{cite web
|last = Heller
|first = Steven
|title = The Rarebit Fiend Dreams On: An Interview with Ulrich Merkl
|publisher = [[AIGA]]
|url = http://www.aiga.org/the-rarebit-fiend-dreams-on-an-interview-with-ulrich-merkl/
|date = November 13, 2007
|access-date = June 25, 2012
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150510225940/http://www.aiga.org/the-rarebit-fiend-dreams-on-an-interview-with-ulrich-merkl/
|archive-date = May 10, 2015
}}
* {{cite web
|url = http://www.toonopedia.com/rarebit.htm
|title = Dream of the Rarebit Fiend
|publisher = [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]
|first = Don
|last = Markstein
|year = 2007
|access-date = June 25, 2012
|archive-date = May 27, 2024
|archive-url = https://archive.today/20240527105249/https://www.webcitation.org/6aIJbrYk7?url=http://toonopedia.com/rarebit.htm
|url-status = live
}}
* {{cite web
|last = van Opstal
|first = Huib
|title = Dreams and Obsessions on Shelf and Screen
|date = January 2008
|url = http://forinspirationonly.com/inspiration/rarebit/
|access-date = September 4, 2012
|publisher = For Inspiration Only
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080429104418/http://forinspirationonly.com/inspiration/rarebit/
|archive-date = April 29, 2008
}}
* {{cite web
|last = Taube
|first = Michael
|title = Book Review: ''The Complete Little Nemo''
|work = [[The Washington Times]]
|date = December 25, 2014
|url = https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/25/book-review-the-complete-little-nemo/
|access-date = August 28, 2018
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141226192713/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/25/book-review-the-complete-little-nemo/
|archive-date = December 26, 2014
}}
* {{cite news
|url = https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/y/young-edge.html
|newspaper = [[The New York Times]]
|title = Art Spiegelman's Maus and the After-Images of History
|first = James E.
|last = Young
|year = 2000
|access-date = July 4, 2012
|archive-date = June 16, 2001
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20010616102348/http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/y/young-edge.html
|url-status = live
}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
*{{cite book
|last = Bracero
|first = Rocky
|title = Winsor McCay: Illustrator Turned Animator and His Influence on Pixar
|year = 2008
|publisher = Fashion Institute of Technology}}
*{{cite book
|last = Braun
|first = Alexander
|title = Winsor McCay. The Complete Little Nemo
|year = 2014
|publisher = Taschen
|isbn = 978-3-8365-4511-2}}
* {{cite book
|last = Collier
|first = Kevin Scott
|title = Growing Up McKay: The Untold Story of Winsor McCay's Life and Times in Spring Lake, Michigan, 1867–1885
|year = 2015
|publisher = Book Patch Publishing
|isbn = 978-15-1929-424-1}}
*{{cite book
|last = Collier
|first = Kevin Scott
|title = Winsor McCay's The Sinking of The Alpena
|year = 2017
|publisher = CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
|isbn = 978-1975954574}}
* {{cite book
|title = Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons; Revised and Updated
|first = Leonard
|last = Maltin
|author-link = Leonard Maltin
|year = 1987
|publisher = Plume Books
|isbn = 0-452-25993-2}}
* {{cite journal
|title = Penmen of the Past: Winsor McCay
|first = Rick
|last = Marschall
|author-link = Richard Marschall
|journal = [[Nemo (magazine)|Nemo]]
|date = April 1986
|issue = 18
|pages = 34–43
|publisher = [[Fantagraphics Books]]}}
*{{cite journal
|first = Winsor
|last = McCay
|editor-first = Richard
|editor-last = Marschall
|journal = Nemo
|issue = 3
|year = 1983
|title = In His Own Words: Winsor McCay on Life, Art, Animation and the Danger of Greasy Foods
|pages = 34–40
|publisher = [[Fantagraphics Books]]}}
* {{cite journal
|title = Cartoon Library Acquires McCay Collection
|journal = University Libraries New Notes
|publisher = [[Ohio State University]]
|date = June 1, 2006
|url = http://www.lib.ohio-state.edu/sites/staff/Newsnotes/nn060601.pdf
|access-date = June 21, 2006
|archive-date = July 11, 2007
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070711052815/http://www.lib.ohio-state.edu/sites/staff/Newsnotes/nn060601.pdf
|url-status = dead
}}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{sister project links|commons=category:Winsor McCay|d=Q207960|v=no|wikt=no|voy=no|species=no|mw=no|m=no|q=no|n=no|b=no|s=no}}
* {{IMDb name|nm0565560}}
* [https://www.lambiek.net/artists/m/mccay.htm Lambiek Comiclopedia article]

{{Winsor McCay navbox}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Winsor McCay
|list =
{{Society of Illustrators' Hall of Fame}}
{{Winsor McCay Award 1970s}}
}}

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{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:Progressive Era in the United States]]

John R. Neill

2025-11-02T03:33:53Z

2603:8001:5900:1E2E:8922:C3A5:6DCB:E713:

{{Short description|Children's book illustrator (1877–1943)}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = John R. Neill
| image = John R. Neill, noted illustrator.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name = John Rea Neill
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1877|11|12|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], US
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1943|9|13|1877|11|12|mf=y}}
| death_place = [[Flanders, New Jersey]], US
| occupation = Illustrator
| training =
| movement =
| notable_works = [[Land of Oz]]
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Elsie G. Barrows|1902|1915|reason=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Margaret Carroll|1919}}
}}
| children = 3
| patrons =
| awards =
}}

'''John Rea Neill''' (November 12, 1877 – September 19, 1943) was a [[magazine]] and [[children's book]] [[illustrator]] primarily known for illustrating more than forty books set in the [[Land of Oz]]. Those books include all but one of those written by [[L. Frank Baum]], as well as those written by [[Ruth Plumly Thompson]], and three that Neill himself wrote.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/15288/John_R_Neill/index.aspx |title=John R. Neill |access-date=24 February 2010 |publisher=HarperCollins Publishers |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524204552/http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/15288/John_R_Neill/index.aspx |archive-date=24 May 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He also illustrated other books, and magazine and newspaper stories.

It has been said that "Neill possessed a sweeping flair and whimsicality that brought Oz even more vividly to life,"<ref>Fricke, John. ''The Wonderful World of Oz; An Illustrated History of the American Classic''. Down East Books. 2013. {{ISBN|9781608932573}} p. 22</ref> and that although Neill "is particularly remembered for his imaginative concepts; his technique, composition, and draftsmanship were equally outstanding."<ref>Guptill, Arthur. ''Rendering in Pen and Ink''. Watson Guptill Random House. 1997. {{ISBN|0823045293}}</ref>

==Early life==
[[File:JNeillRoyalBook.jpg|thumb|right|John R. Neill's artwork for the cover of ''The Royal Book of Oz'' (1921)]]
Neill was born in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]. Neill’s father, Robert Rea Neill, was born in Ireland in 1845, and came to the United States when he was 17. Neill’s mother, Mary, was born in [[Nyack, New York]] in 1847. Robert and Mary wed in 1870; they had eight children. They settled in the Bella Vista area of Philadelphia. Robert ran a neighborhood laundry. Neill’s father died when Neill was 10.<ref>[https://www.pulpartists.com/Neill.html Saunders, David. "Pulp Artists" webpage. 2011]</ref><ref>[https://illustratorslounge.com/editorial/john-r-neill-1877-1943/ "Illustrator’s Lounge" webpage]</ref><ref>Snow, Jack. ''Who's Who in Oz''. Illustrated by John R. Neill, Frank Kramer, and “Dirk”. The Reilly & Lee Company. Chicago. 1954. Pp 274-5. [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015081918230&seq=1]</ref>

John R. Neill did his first illustration work for the Philadelphia's Central High School newspaper and yearbook in 1894–95. Neill then enrolled in [[Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts]], but left after one semester, purportedly saying, "They have nothing to teach me". He was 18.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.johnrneill.net/Biography.html|title=John R Neill Gallery|work=johnrneill.net|access-date=20 January 2017}}</ref><ref>Snow, Jack. ''Who's Who in Oz''. Illustrated by John R. Neill, Frank Kramer, and “Dirk”. The Reilly & Lee Company. Chicago. 1954. Pp 274-5. [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015081918230&seq=1]</ref>

In 1900 he settled in Brooklyn, New York. He was hired by ''The New York Evening Journal'', where he met the artist [[Joseph Clement Coll]].<ref>[https://www.pulpartists.com/Neill.html Saunders, David. "Pulp Artists" webpage. 2011]</ref><ref>Snow, Jack. ''Who's Who in Oz''. Illustrated by John R. Neill, Frank Kramer, and “Dirk”. The Reilly & Lee Company. Chicago. 1954. Pp 274-5. [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015081918230&seq=1]</ref>

He moved back to Philadelphia in 1901, and was hired by ''The Philadelphia Public Ledger''. He married Elsie Barrows in Philadelphia on October 7, 1902.<ref>[https://www.ozclub.org/oz/oz-timeline/1900-1910-the-baum-oz-years/ ''1900-1910: The Baum Oz Years'' International Wizard of Oz Club webpage. Accessed 2025-10-5]</ref> He then turned to advertising art for the [[Wanamaker's|Wanamaker]] department store in Philadelphia. In 1904, he became a staff artist of the ''Philadelphia North American'' newspaper, where he met L. Frank Baum, and he produced features including the comics strip ''Toyland'', illustrations for the serialization of ''The Fate of a Crown'' (a book by L. Frank Baum), ''Children's Stories That Never Grow Old'', and the Sunday comics page "The Little Journeys of Nip and Tuck" with verses by W.R. Bradford (1909–1910).<ref>Snow, Jack. ''Who's Who in Oz''. Illustrated by John R. Neill, Frank Kramer, and "Dirk". The Reilly & Lee Company. Chicago. 1954. Pp 274-5. [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015081918230&seq=1]</ref><ref>[https://www.pulpartists.com/Neill.html Saunders, David. "Pulp Artists" webpage. 2011]</ref><ref>[https://illustratorslounge.com/editorial/john-r-neill-1877-1943/ "Illustrator’s Lounge" webpage]</ref>

He was first commissioned to illustrate ''[[The Marvelous Land of Oz]]'', the second Oz book L. Frank Baum wrote, published in 1904. For each Oz book, Baum's publishers would send Neill the manuscript, and Neill would work on the illustrations in a studio in [[Lumberville, Pennsylvania]].<ref>Snow, Jack. ''Who's Who'' in Oz. Illustrated by John R. Neill, Frank Kramer, and "Dirk". The Reilly & Lee Company. Chicago. 1954. Pp 274-5. [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015081918230&seq=1]</ref><ref>[https://www.pulpartists.com/Neill.html Saunders, David. "Pulp Artists" webpage. 2011]</ref><ref>Baum, L. Frank. ''The Annotated Wizard of Oz: The wonderful Wizard of Oz''. Clarkson N. Potter, inc./Publisher New York. 1973. p. 50.</ref>

He and Margaret Carroll, an actress, were wed in 1919. She gave birth to three children, and they moved to Kensington Gardens, on Long Island, New York, where he had a studio and a small theater, where his daughters staged plays, and Neill painted sets. His daughters sometimes served as models for Neill as he drew the characters in the Oz books. They bought a farm in Flanders, New Jersey, where they lived for almost a decade, before Neill died of a heart ailment.<ref>Snow, Jack. ''Who's Who in Oz''. Illustrated by John R. Neill, Frank Kramer, and “Dirk”. The Reilly & Lee Company. Chicago. 1954. Pp 274-5. [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015081918230&seq=1]</ref><ref>[https://www.pulpartists.com/Neill.html Saunders, David. "Pulp Artists" webpage. 2011]</ref>

The first Oz book ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]'', had been illustrated by [[William Wallace Denslow|W. W. Denslow]]. Baum and Denslow shared the copyright for books they worked on. A disagreement arose when Denslow published images from his works with Baum, but gave Baum a diminished credit line, and again in 1900 minimized Blaum’s contribution. In a letter to his publishers in 1915 Baum said, "Denslow was allowed to copyright his pictures jointly with my claim to authorship," and "having learned my lesson from my unfortunate experiences with Denslow, I will never permit another artist to have an interest in the drawings he makes of my described characters, if I ever can help it." Then in 1901 Denslow insisted on a share of the royalties for the dramatization of the musical version of ''The Wizard of Oz'' and threatened to sue. To avoid that Baum agreed to his terms, but they parted ways.<ref>Baum, L. Frank. ''The Annotated Wizard of Oz: The wonderful Wizard of Oz'' Clarkson N. Potter, inc./Publisher New York. 1973. P 43.</ref><ref>"W. W. Denslow’s Illustrations for the Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)". ''The Public Domain Review''. January 8, 2020. [http://publicdomainreview.org/collection/w-w-denslow-illustrations-wonderful-wizard-of-oz-1900/]</ref><ref>[http://bernews.com/2013/03/the-oz-artist-who-would-be-king-in-bermuda/ "Oz Artist Denslow: The Who Would Be King". ''Bunews''. March 9, 2013]</ref>

==Career==
Neill's illustrations were published in the leading magazines of the first few decades of the twentieth century, including ''[[Collier's]]'', ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', ''[[The Saturday Evening Post]]'', ''[[The Ladies Home Journal]]'', ''[[The Century Magazine|Century]]'', ''[[Pictorial Review]]'', ''[[The Delineator]]'', ''[[Boys' Life]]'', ''[[St. Nicholas Magazine|St. Nicholas]]'', ''The People's Home Journal'', ''[[Adventure (magazine)|Adventure]]'' <ref>[[Frank M. Robinson|Robinson, Frank M.]] & Davidson, Lawrence. ''Pulp Culture - The Art of Fiction Magazines''. Collectors Press Inc 2007 (p.33-48).</ref> and many others. In 1930 and 1931, he contributed a great deal of artwork to ''[[Argosy (magazine)|Argosy]]''.<ref>Snow, Jack. ''Who's Who in Oz''. Illustrated by John R. Neill, Frank Kramer, and "Dirk". The Reilly & Lee Company. Chicago. 1954. Pp 274-5. [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015081918230&seq=1]</ref>

==Dorothy==
[[File:Cover ~ The Lost Princess of Oz.jpg|alt=Dorothy (left) with a Frog Man under/around the text "The Lost Princess of Oz"|thumb|John R. Neill's depiction of Dorothy in ''The Lost Princess of Oz'' (1917)]]
[[Dorothy Gale|Dorothy]] drawn by Denslow appeared to be a chubby five- or six-year-old with long brown hair in two thick braids that remained untied at the ends. Neill chose to illustrate a new Dorothy in 1907 when the character was reintroduced in ''[[Ozma of Oz]]''. He illustrated the young girl in a more fashionable appearance. She is shown to be about ten years old, dressed in contemporary American fashions, with blonde hair cut in a fashionable bob. A similar modernization was given to other female characters.

Neill and Denslow each had their own way or style of drawing the characters of Oz. In ''The Road to Oz'', Neill toys with that difference: In the Tin Woodman’s garden, Dorothy and her dog, Toto come across statues of themselves–just as "they first appeared in the Land of Oz." Neill portrays Dorothy and Toto in his graceful pen-and-ink style, while the statues are portrayed in Denslow’s style. Toto seems especially amused by this encounter.<ref>Baum, L. Frank. ''The Annotated Wizard of Oz: The wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum. Clarkson N. Potter, inc./Publisher New York. 1973. P. 50</ref>
[[File:Dorothy and Toto see statues of themselves.jpg|thumb|Dorothy and Toto encounter statues of themselves, illustration from ''The Road to Oz'' by L. Frank Baum]]
[[File:An image of Dorothy's Boston bulldog, Toto, as drawn by J. R. Neill in "The Road to Oz" published in 1909.jpg|thumb|Toto from ''The Road to Oz'']]

==Oz work==
Neill illustrated 13 Oz books written by L. Frank Baum, 19 by Ruth P. Thompson, and 3 that he wrote himself.<ref>[https://www.pulpartists.com/Neill.html Saunders, David. Pulp Artists webpage. 2011]</ref> Neill has been referred to as the "Imperial Illustrator of Oz".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Greene |first=David L. |url=http://archive.org/details/ozscrapbook00gree |title=The Oz scrapbook |last2=Martin |first2=Dick |date=1977 |publisher=New York : Random House |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-394-41054-8 |pages=100}}</ref>

Neill continued to illustrate the [[List of Oz books|Oz books]] after Baum's death. His artwork was praised for helping to give Ruth Plumly Thompson's books "legitimacy" in the eyes of Baum's fans. Neill would eventually succeed Thompson as the designated "Oz historian" and write several books himself.

Author John Goldthwaight states that "Much of the credit for those images of Oz that settle lastingly in the mind must go to his illustrators, W. W. Denslow in the inaugural volume and John R. Neil thereafter."<ref>Goldthwaite, John. "The Natural History of Make Believe". Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0195038061}} 1996. pp 204-206</ref>

''[[The Wonder City of Oz]]'', ''[[The Scalawagons of Oz]]'', and ''[[Lucky Bucky in Oz]]'', which debuted each year from 1940 to 1942, were written by Neill for the publisher Reilly & Lee and are considered part of the ''[[Famous Forty]]''. His last work, ''[[The Runaway in Oz]]'', was drafted before his death, but the full illustrations were never finished and Reilly & Lee decided not to publish the manuscript. However, Neill's widow kept the manuscript safe, and, in 1995, it was finally published by [[Books of Wonder]] and edited and illustrated by [[Eric Shanower]]. The book's design reproduces the design used throughout almost all of the Baum, Thompson, and Neill Oz books (without the color plates), and the story itself follows the adventures of the [[Patchwork Girl]] with some new characters invented by Neill.

[[File:Dorothy and Ozma by John. R. Neill (1908).jpeg|thumb|Dorothy and Ozma by John. R. Neill (1908)]]

==Non-Oz work==
[[File:John R. Neill - Pictorial Review - An Actor's Love Story by R. Connell.jpg|thumb|Illustration by John R. Neill for the story "An Actor's Love Story" written by R. Connell, published in ''Pictorial Review'' magazine]]
Here is a partial list of books, illustrated by Neill, that are not part of the Oz series.
* ''The Enchanted Castle; a Book of Fairy Tales'', edited by Hartwell James, 1906<ref>James, Hartwell, editor. ''The Enchanted Castle; a Book of Fairy Tales''. H. Altemus Company, 1906</ref>
* ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'', by Lewis Carroll, 1908<ref>Carroll, Lewis. ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. Reilly & Britton Co., 1908</ref>
* ''Black Beauty'', by Anna Sewell, 1908.<ref>Sewell, Anna. ''Black Beauty''. Reilly & Lee, Co. 1908.</ref>
* ''The Story of Peter Rabbit & Dick Whittington and His Cat'', by Beatrix Potter, 1908<ref>Potter, Beatrix. ''The Story of Peter Rabbit & Dick Whittington and His Cat''. Reilly & Britton. 1908.</ref>
* ''The Story of Little Black Sambo, and The Story of Topsy from Uncle Tom's Cabin'', by Helen Bannerman, 1908, a book originally written in 1899, and is now disfavored.<ref>Bannerman, Helen. ''The story of Little Black Sambo''. Reilly and Britton Co., 1908.</ref><ref>Robin Bernstein, [https://books.google.com/books?id=f_mgPpS-xXsC&q=racial+innocence%27%27Racial ''Innocence: Performing American Childhood from Slavery to Civil Rights,''] (New York: New York University Press, 2011), 66-67.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/childrn/cbcbhbat.html|title=The Story of Topsy|work=virginia.edu|access-date=20 January 2017}}</ref>
* ''Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper'', 1908<ref>''Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper''. Reilly & Britton Co. 1908</ref>
* ''Snow-bound'', by John Greenleaf Whittier, 1909<ref>Whittier, John Greenleaf. ''Snow-bound''. Reilly and Britton Co., 1909</ref>
* ''Hiawatha : a Poem'', by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1909<ref>Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. ''Hiawatha : a poem''. Reilly and Britton Co., 1909</ref>
* ''The Raven and other Poems'', by Edgar Allan Poe, 1910<ref>Poe, Edgar Allan. ''The Raven and other Poems''. Reilly & Britton 1910.</ref>
* ''The Sea Fairies'', by L. Frank Baum, 1911<ref>Baum, L. Frank. ''The Sea Fairies''. Reilly & Britton, 1911</ref>
* ''A Man of Means'', by P. G. Wodehouse and C. H. Bovill, 1914<ref>Wodehouse, P. G. Bovill, C. H. ''A Man of Means''. Porpoise Books. 1914.</ref>
* ''A Christmas Carol'', by Charles Dickens, 1915.<ref>Dickens, Charles. ''A Christmas Carol''. Reilly & Lee. 1915</ref>
* ''Andersen’s Fairy Tales'', by Hans Christian Anderson, 1923.<ref>Anderson, Hans Christian. ''Andersen’s Fairy Tales''. Cupples & Leon, 1923</ref>

==Legacy==

In 2018, "The Lost Art of Oz" project was initiated to locate and catalogue the surviving original artwork John R. Neill, [[William Wallace Denslow|W.W. Denslow]], Frank Kramer, Richard 'Dirk' Gringhuis and Dick Martin created to illustrate the Oz book series. According to "The Lost Art of Oz" project, as he worked on illustrating the Oz books, Neill created "created approximately 4,000 pen and ink and watercolor illustrations. Only about 350 are known to have survived."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lostartofoz.com/about.html|title = Lost Art of Oz}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{official website}} – maintained by granddaughter Jory Neill Mason, (c) 2015 John R Neill Illustrator
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20210624063750/https://johnrneill.com/john-r-neill Biographical information on John R. Neill]
*[http://www.lostartofoz.com Lost Art of Oz. Original John R. Neill artwork from the Oz books]
*[http://www.halcyon.com/piglet/author040.htm Piglet Press entry on Neill]
*[http://www.pulpartists.com/Neill.html Pulp Artists entry on Neill]
* {{Gutenberg author | id=26521}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=John Rea Neill |sopt=t}}
* {{LCAuth|n83134215|John R. Neill|89|}}

{{Oz}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neill, John R.}}
[[Category:1877 births]]
[[Category:1943 deaths]]
[[Category:American children's book illustrators]]
[[Category:Oz (franchise)]]
[[Category:Artists from Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Art Nouveau illustrators]]
[[Category:Progressive Era in the United States]]

Little Nemo

2025-11-02T02:54:49Z

2603:8001:5900:1E2E:8922:C3A5:6DCB:E713:

{{Short description|American 20th century comic strip}}
{{About|the comic strip and character}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{Infobox comic strip
| title = Little Nemo
| image = [[File:Little Nemo 1906-02-11 last panel.jpg|300px]]
| caption = Nemo in bed where he awoke at the end of each strip (here February 11, 1906)
| alt = Cartoon drawing of a boy waking up in bed. A word balloon from the right reads: "What's the trouble in there, Nemo? Go to sleep!"
| author = [[Winsor McCay]]
| status = 
| first = {{start date|1905|10|15}}
| last = {{end date|1927|1|9}}
| altnames = ''In the Land of Wonderful Dreams'' (1911–1914)
| publisher = {{plainlist|
* ''[[New York Herald]]''
* ''[[New York Journal-American|New York American]]''}}
| preceded by = [[Dream of the Rarebit Fiend]]
| followed by = }}

'''Little Nemo''' is a fictional character created by American cartoonist [[Winsor McCay]]. He originated in an early comic strip by McCay, ''[[Dream of the Rarebit Fiend]]'', before receiving his own spin-off series, '''''Little Nemo in Slumberland'''''.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.lambiek.net/artists/m/mccay.htm | title=Winsor McCay}}</ref> The full-page weekly strip depicted Nemo having fantastic dreams that were interrupted by his awakening in the final panel. The strip is considered McCay's masterpiece for its experiments with the form of the comics page, its use of color and perspective, its timing and pacing, the size and shape of its panels, and its architectural and other details.

''Little Nemo in Slumberland'' ran in the ''[[New York Herald]]'' from October 15, 1905 until July 23, 1911. The strip was renamed '''''In the Land of Wonderful Dreams''''' when McCay brought it to [[William Randolph Hearst]]'s ''[[New York American]]'', where it ran from September 3, 1911 until July 26, 1914. When McCay returned to the ''Herald'' in 1924, he revived the strip, and it ran under its original title from August 3, 1924 until January 9, 1927, when McCay returned to Hearst.<ref name=Holtz>{{cite book |last1=Holtz |first1=Allan |title=American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide |date=2012 |publisher=The University of Michigan Press |location=Ann Arbor |isbn=9780472117567 |page=241}}</ref>

==Concept==
A weekly fantasy adventure, ''Little Nemo in Slumberland'' featured the young Nemo ("No one" in Latin) who dreamed himself into wondrous predicaments{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=97}} from which he awoke in bed in the last panel.{{sfn|Harvey|1994|p=21}}

The first episode{{efn|{{Commons file|Little Nemo 1905-10-15.jpg|this strip (October 15, 1905)}}}} begins with a command from King Morpheus of Slumberland to a minion to collect Nemo.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=97, 113}} Nemo was to be the playmate of Slumberland's Princess, but it took months of adventures before Nemo finally arrived. A green, cigar-chewing clown named Flip was determined to disturb Nemo's sleep with a top hat emblazoned with the words "Wake Up".{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=97}} Nemo and Flip eventually become companions and are joined by an African Imp whom Flip finds in the Candy Islands. The group travels far and wide, from shanty towns to [[Mars]], to [[Jack Frost]]'s palace, to the bizarre architecture and distorted [[Distorting mirror|funhouse-mirror]] illusions of Befuddle Hall.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=113, 118}}

[[File:Little Nemo 1907-12-01 panels 3 and 4.jpg|thumb|center|500px|alt=|Flip, Nemo and Impie [[breaking the fourth wall]] by breaking apart the panel's outlines and eating the letters of the title.]]
The strip shows McCay's understanding of dream psychology, particularly of dream fears—falling, drowning, impalement. This dream world has its own moral code, perhaps difficult to understand.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=107}} Breaking it has terrible consequences as when Nemo ignores instructions not to touch Queen Crystalette who inhabits a cave of glass. Overcome with his infatuation, he causes her and her followers to shatter and awakens with "the groans of the dying guardsmen still ringing in his ears".{{efn|{{Commons file|Little Nemo 1905-11-19.jpg|this strip (November 11, 1905)}}}}{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=113}}

[[File:Little Nemo 1907-09-29.jpg|thumb|alt=|Nemo and the Little Imp explore the city as giants, September 9, 1907.]]
Although the strip began October 15, 1905, with King Morpheus, ruler of Slumberland, making his first attempt to bring Little Nemo to his realm. Nemo did not get into Slumberland until March 4, 1906. Due to Flip's interfering, Nemo did not get to see the Princess until July 8. His dream quest is always interrupted, either by his falling out of bed, Nemo suddenly waking up, or by his parents forcing him to wake up.

On July 12, 1908, McCay made a major change of direction: Flip visits Nemo and tells him that he has had his uncle destroy Slumberland (it had been dissolved before, into day, but this time it appeared to be permanent). After this, Nemo's dreams take place in his home town, though Flip—and a curious-looking boy named the Professor—accompany him. These adventures range from the down-to-earth to [[Dream of the Rarebit Fiend|Rarebit-fiend]] type fantasy; one very commonplace dream had the Professor pelting people with snowballs. The famous "walking bed" story was in this period. Slumberland continued to make sporadic appearances until it returned for good on December 26, 1909.

Story-arcs included Befuddle Hall, a voyage to Mars (with a well-realized Martian civilization), and a trip around the world (including a tour of New York City).

==Style==
McCay experimented with the form of the comics page, its timing and pacing, the size and shape of its panels, perspective, and architectural and other detail.{{sfn|Harvey|1994|p=21}} From the second installment, McCay had the panel sizes and layouts conform to the action in the strip: as a forest of mushrooms grew, so did the panels, and the panels shrank as the mushrooms collapsed on Nemo. In an early Thanksgiving episode, the focal action of a giant turkey gobbling Nemo's house receives an enormous circular panel in the center of the page.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=107}} McCay also accommodated a sense of proportion with panel size and shape, showing elephants and dragons at a scale the reader could feel in proportion to the regular characters.{{sfn|Harvey|1994|p=21}} McCay controlled narrative pacing through variation or repetition, as with equally-sized panels whose repeated layouts and minute differences in movement conveyed a feeling of buildup to some climactic action.{{sfn|Harvey|1994|p=21}}

[[File:Little Nemo 1905-11-26 middle five panels.jpg|center|500px|alt=Five panels of a color comic strip. The circular center panel overwhelms the others with an image of a giant turkey lifting up and eating a house. In the other panels, a boy is shaken from the house and falls into a lake of cranberry sauce.|McCay sized and placed panels to conform to the action they contained (November 25, 1905).{{efn|{{Commons file|Little Nemo 1905-11-26.jpg|The full version of this strip (November 26, 1905)}}}}]]

In his familiar [[Art Nouveau]]-influenced style, McCay outlined his characters in heavy blacks. Slumberland's ornate architecture was reminiscent of the architecture designed by [[McKim, Mead & White]] for the 1893 [[World's Columbian Exposition]] in Chicago, as well as [[Luna Park (Coney Island, 1903)|Luna Park]] and [[Dreamland (Coney Island, 1904)|Dreamland]] in [[Coney Island]], and the Parisian [[Luxembourg Palace]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=100}}

{{multiple image
|footer = ''Nemo''{{'}}s ornate architecture was inspired by McCay's memories of the 1893 [[World's Columbian Exposition]] in Chicago, and his experience working at [[Coney Island]] ([[Luna Park, Coney Island (1903)|Luna Park]] pictured).
|align = center

|image1 = Little Nemo 1905-12-17 panel nine.jpg
|width1 = 197
|alt1 = A comic strip panel. A character in a frilled red suit points a boy at a city with ostentatious architecture.

|image2 = The Dragon's Gorge, Luna Park, Coney Island, NY.jpg
|width2 = 303
|alt2 = A colored photograph of an ornately-decorated amusement park.
}}

McCay made imaginative use of color, sometimes changing the backgrounds' or characters' colors from panel to panel in a [[psychedelic (disambiguation)|psychedelic]] imitation of a dream experience. The colors were enhanced by the careful attention and advanced [[Ben-Day dots|Ben Day]] lithographic process employed by the ''Herald''{{'}}s printing staff.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=100–101}} McCay annotated the ''Nemo'' pages for the printers with the precise color schemes he wanted.{{sfnm|1a1=Harvey|1y=1994|1p=22|2a1=Canemaker|2y=2005|2p=107}}

For the first five months the pages were accompanied with captions beneath them,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=107}} and at first the captions were numbered.{{sfn|Bukatman|2012|p=27}} In contrast to the high level of skill in the artwork, the dialogue in the speech balloons is crude, sometimes approaching illegibility,{{sfnm|1a1=Gutjahr|1a2=Benton|1y=2001|1p=166|2a1=Heller|2y=2007}} and "disfigur{{interp|ing McCay's}} otherwise flawless work", according to critic [[R. C. Harvey]].{{sfn|Harvey|1994|p=28}} The level of effort and skill apparent in the title lettering highlights{{sfn|Gutjahr|Benton|2001|p=166}} what seems to be the little regard for the dialogue balloons, their content, and their placement in the visual composition.

McCay used ethnic stereotypes prominently in ''Little Nemo'', as in the ill-tempered Irishman Flip, and the nearly-mute African Impie.{{sfn|Winokur|2012|pp=58, 63}}

==Background==
[[Winsor McCay]] ({{circa|1867–71}} – 1934){{efn|Different accounts have given McCay's birth year as 1867, 1869, and 1871. His birth records are not extant.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=22}}}} had worked prolifically as a commercial artist and cartoonist in carnivals and [[dime museum]]s before he began working for newspapers and magazines in 1898. In 1903, he joined the staff of the ''[[New York Herald]]'' family of newspapers,{{sfn|Eagan|2010|p=32}} where he had success with comic strips such as ''[[Little Sammy Sneeze]]'' (1904–06).{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=75}} and ''[[Dream of the Rarebit Fiend]]'' (1904–11){{efn|''Rarebit Fiend'' was revived between 1911 and 1913 under other titles, such as ''Midsummer Day Dreams'' and ''It Was Only a Dream''.{{sfn|Merkl|2007|p=478}}}}{{sfn|Eagan|2010|p=32}}

[[File:Bobbie McCay Little Nemo.jpg|thumb|alt=A black-and-white photograph of a curly-haired young boy, seated with one leg crossed over the other, and wearing a sailor suit.|Winsor McCay's son [[Bob McCay|Robert]] served as the model for Nemo.]]

In 1905, McCay got "an idea from the ''Rarebit Fiend'' to please the little folk".{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=87}} That October, the full-page [[Sunday comics|Sunday strip]] ''Little Nemo in Slumberland'' debuted in the ''Herald''.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=97}} Considered McCay's masterpiece,{{sfnm|1a1=Harvey|1y=1994|1p=21|2a1=Hubbard|2y=2012|3a1=Sabin|3y=1993|3p=134|4a1=Dover editors|4y=1973|4p=vii|5a1=Canwell|5y=2009|5p=19}} its child [[protagonist]], whose appearance was based on McCay's son [[Bob McCay|Robert]],{{sfn|Crafton|1993|p=97}} had fabulous dreams that would be interrupted with his awakening in the last panel. McCay experimented with the form of the comics page, its timing and pacing, the size and shape of its panels, perspective, architectural and other detail.{{sfn|Harvey|1994|p=21}}

==Publication history==
''Little Nemo in Slumberland'' debuted on the last page of the Sunday comics section of ''[[The New York Herald]]'' newspaper, on October 15, 1905. The full-page, color comic strip ran until July 23, 1911.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=97}} In spring 1911, McCay moved to [[William Randolph Hearst|William Randolph Hearst's]] ''[[New York Journal-American|New York American]]'' and took ''Little Nemo''{{'}}s characters with him. The ''Herald'' held the strip's copyright,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=164}} but McCay won a lawsuit that allowed him to continue using the characters.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=168}} In the ''American'', the strip ran under the title ''In the Land of Wonderful Dreams''. The ''Herald'' was unsuccessful in finding another cartoonist to continue the original strip.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=164}}

McCay left Hearst in May 1924{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=228}} and returned to the ''Herald Tribune''. He began ''Little Nemo in Slumberland'' afresh on August 3 of that year.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=229}} The new strip displayed the [[virtuoso]] technique of the old, but the panels were laid out in an unvarying grid. Nemo took a more passive role in the stories,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=226}} and there was no continuity.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=235}} The strip came to an end in January 1927,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=229}} as it was not popular with readers. Hearst executives had been trying to convince McCay to return to the ''American'', and they succeeded in 1927.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=235}} Due to the lack of the 1920s Nemo's success, the ''Herald Tribune'' signed over all copyrights to the strip to McCay for one dollar.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=237}}

In 1937, McCay's son Robert attempted to carry on his father's legacy by reviving ''Little Nemo''. [[Comic book packager]] [[Harry "A" Chesler]]'s syndicate announced a Sunday and daily ''Nemo'' strip, credited to "Winsor McCay, Jr." Robert also drew a comic-book version for Chesler called ''Nemo in Adventureland'' featuring grown-up versions of Nemo and the Princess. Neither project lasted long.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=253}} Production continued on both after the syndicate was closed in 1938, being utilized in various comic books including Cocomalt Comics and [[Blue Ribbon Comics|Blue Ribbon]], published by MLJ Publications (later [[Archie Publications]]). Chesler closed his shop (the first of several times) around 1940. [[Street & Smith]] ran Little Nemo in 1942 in ''[[Shadow Comics]]''. In 1945, McCay was again with Chesler’s shop, producing Little Nemo in Adventureland for Red Seal and Punch Comics until 1947, when the shop closed down for the final time.<ref name="ww.lambiek.net">[http://www.lambiek.net/artists/m/mccay_bob.htm Bob McCay] at the [[Lambiek Comiclopedia]]</ref>

In 1947, Robert and fabric salesman Irving Mendelsohn organized the McCay Feature Syndicate, Inc. to revive the original ''Nemo'' strip from McCay's original art, modified to fit the size of modern newspaper pages. This revival also did not last.{{sfnm|1a1=Waugh|1y=1947|1pp=20–21|2a1=Canemaker|2y=2005|2p=253}} The McCay-Richardson Syndicate distributed this version from approximately March to December 1947.

In 1966, cartoonist [[Woody Gelman]] discovered the original artwork for many ''Little Nemo'' strips at a cartoon studio where McCay's son Bob had worked. In 1973, Gelman published a collection of ''Little Nemo'' strips in Italy.{{sfn|Jamieson|2010|p=126}} His collection of McCay originals is preserved at the [[Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum]] at [[Ohio State University]].{{sfn|Spencer|2005}}

In 2005, collector Peter Maresca self-published a {{convert|21|xx|16|in|cm|adj=on}} volume of ''Nemo'' Sundays as ''Little Nemo in Slumberland: So Many Splendid Sundays!'' via his [[Sunday Press Books]]. The volume was large enough to reproduce the pages at their original size, as they appeared in newspapers. Restoration work took Maresca between five and twenty hours per page.{{sfn|Boxer|2005}} A second volume, ''Little Nemo in Slumberland: Many More Splendid Sundays!'', appeared in 2008.{{sfn|Doctorow|2008}}

==Adaptations==
===Theatre===
[[File:Master Gabriel Little Nemo.jpg|thumb|alt=A black-and-white photographed of a neatly-dressed young boy in a hat, sitting on a pedestal.|Master Gabriel as the star of the 1908 ''Little Nemo'' musical]]

As early as 1905, several abortive attempts were made to put ''Little Nemo'' on stage. In summer 1907, [[Marcus Klaw]] and [[A. L. Erlanger]] announced they would put on an extravagant ''Little Nemo'' show for an unprecedented $100,000, with a score by [[Victor Herbert]]{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=141}} and lyrics by [[Harry B. Smith]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=141}} It starred Gabriel Weigel, an actor with dwarfism, as Nemo, [[Joseph Cawthorn]] as Dr. Pill, and [[Billy B. Van]] as Flip.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=143}} Reviews were positive, and it played to sold-out houses in New York. It went on the road for two seasons.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=148}} McCay brought his vaudeville act to each city where ''Little Nemo'' played. When a [[Benjamin Franklin Keith|Keith]] circuit{{efn|Keith had partnered with Proctor in 1906.}} refused to let McCay perform in Boston without a new act, McCay switched to the [[William Morris Agency|William Morris]] circuit, with a $100-a-week raise.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=149}} In several cities, McCay brought his son, who sat on a small throne dressed as Nemo as publicity.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=151}}

As part of an improvised story, Cawthorn introduced a mythical creature he called a "[[Whiffenpoof]]". The word stuck with the public, and became the name of a [[s:The Whiffenpoof Song|hit song]] and a [[The Whiffenpoofs|singing group]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=143}} One reviewer of the 1908 operetta gave a paragraph of praise to the comic hunting tales presented in a scene in which three hunters are trying to outdo each other with hunting stories about the "montimanjack", the "peninsula", and the "whiffenpoof". He calls it "one of the funniest yarns ever spun" and compares it favorably to [[Lewis Carroll]]'s [[The Hunting of the Snark]].<ref>"Some Dramatic Notes", ''The [Duluth] Sunday News Tribune'', November 15, 1908, p. 4</ref> One source indicates that the dialogue in fact began as an [[ad lib]] by actor [[Joseph Cawthorn]], covering for some kind of backstage problem during a performance.<ref>Gerald Boardman, ''American Musical Theatre, A Chronicle'', as cited by {{cite web|url=http://members.cox.net/jeepers/woof.html|title=Cracker Jack Gobbler|author=Jim Davis|date=February 18, 2006|access-date=2008-07-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907023713/http://members.cox.net/jeepers/woof.html|archive-date=September 7, 2008|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The whiffenpoof is also referred in one of the Little Nemo [[:File:Little Nemo 1909-04-11.jpg|comic strips published in 1909 (April 11)]]. After being held down by nine policemen during a hysteria crisis, Nemo's father tells the doctor: "Just keep those whiffenpoofs away. Will you?".
[[:File:Little Nemo 1909-09-26.jpg|The strip for September 26]] starts with a hunt for whiffenpoofs but instead the hunters find a "montemaniac" and a "peninsula".

Despite the show's success, it failed to make back its investment due to its enormous expenses,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=149}} and came to an end in December 1910.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=151}} In mid-2012 Toronto-based theatre company Frolick performed an adaptation of the strip into ''Adventures in Slumberland'', a multimedia show featuring puppets large and small and a score that included as a refrain "Wake Up Little Nemo", set to the tune of [[The Everly Brothers]]' 1957 hit "[[Wake Up Little Susie]]".{{sfn|Morrow|2012}} [[Talespinner Children's Theatre]] in [[Cleveland]], OH produced a scaled-down, "colorful and high-energy 45-minute"{{sfn|Howey|2013}} adaptation in 2013, ''Adventures In Slumberland'' by [[David Hansen (playwright)|David Hansen]].

In March 2017, a short, one-act adaptation of the "Little Nemo" adventures was staged at Fordham University in New York City. The play, simply entitled ''Little Nemo in Slumberland'', was written by Aladdin Lee Grant Rutledge Collar, and directed by student Peter McNally. The six person cast, as well as creative team, consisted of students and alums at the university.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theatre.blog.fordham.edu/studio-season-spring-2017/|title=Studio Season Fall 2017 - Theatre|website=fordham.edu|access-date=April 8, 2018}}</ref>

===Film===
[[File:Winsor McCay, the Famous Cartoonist of the N.Y. Herald and His Moving Comics - Little Nemo (1911).webm|thumb|alt=Silent, black and white film, partially animated. A man bets his colleagues that he can make pictures move. He wins the bet by animating cartoon characters.|''Little Nemo'' (1911)]]

McCay played an important role in the early history of animation. In 1911, he completed his first film, ''Winsor McCay, the Famous Cartoonist of the N.Y. Herald and His Moving Comics'' (also known as ''[[Little Nemo (1911 film)|Little Nemo]]''), first in theatres and then as part of his vaudeville act.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=160}} McCay made the 4,000 [[washi paper|rice-paper]] drawings for the animated portion of the film. The animated portion took up about four minutes of the film's total length.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=161}} Photography was done at the [[Vitagraph Studios]] under the supervision of animation pioneer [[James Stuart Blackton]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=160}} During the live-action portion of the film, McCay bets his colleagues he can make his drawings move. He wins the bet by animating his ''Little Nemo'' characters, who shapeshift and transform.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=161}}

In 1984, Arnaud Sélignac produced and directed a film titled ''[[Nemo (1984 film)|Nemo]]'',<ref>{{Citation | url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087784/ | title = IMDb | contribution = Nemo}}</ref> a.k.a. ''Dream One'', starring [[Jason Connery]], [[Harvey Keitel]], and [[Carole Bouquet]]. It involves a little boy called Nemo, who wears pajamas and travels to a fantasy world, but otherwise the connection to McCay's strip is a loose one. The fantasy world is a dark and dismal beach, and Nemo encounters characters from other works of fiction rather than those from the original strip. Instead of Flip or the Princess, Nemo meets [[Zorro]], [[Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)|Alice]], and [[Jules Verne]]'s [[Nautilus (Verne)|Nautilus]] (which was led by [[Captain Nemo]]).

A joint American-Japanese feature-length film ''[[Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland]]'' was released in Japan in 1989 and in the United States in August 1992 from [[Hemdale Film Corporation]], with contributions by [[Ray Bradbury]], [[Chris Columbus (filmmaker)|Chris Columbus]], and [[Jean Giraud|Moebius]],{{sfn|Grant|2006|p=46}} and music by the [[Sherman Brothers]]. The story tells of a quest by Nemo and friends to rescue King Morpheus from the Nightmare King. The Princess is named Princess Camille, Flip has a bird companion named Flap, and Nemo has a pet flying squirrel named Icarus.{{sfn|Beck|2005|p=149}} It received mixed reviews from critics, where it earned $11.4 million on a $35 million budget and was a [[box-office bomb]], but it sold well on home video and has since developed into a [[cult film]].

A live-action film adaptation, ''[[Slumberland (film)|Slumberland]]'', directed by [[Francis Lawrence]], was released in 2022. It features a gender-swapped version of the title character played by Marlow Barkley. [[Jason Momoa]] stars as a radically altered version of Flip, who is described as a "nine-foot tall creature that is half-man, half-beast, has shaggy fur and long curved tusks". The plot centers on Nemo and Flip traveling to Slumberland in search of the former's father.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fullcirclecinema.com/2020/01/31/jason-mamoa-to-star-in-francis-lawrences-little-nemo-in-slumberland-adaptation/|title=Jason Mamoa To Star In Francis Lawrence's 'Little Nemo In Slumberland' Adaptation|website=Full Circle|last=Hubbard|first=Christian|date=January 31, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://movieweb.com/slumberland-netflix-movie-jason-momoa-images/|title=Jason Momoa Has Horns in First Look at Netflix's Slumberland|last=Fuge|first=Jon|work=[[MovieWeb]]|date=April 6, 2021|access-date=July 28, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/director-francis-lawrence-lightens-slumberland-171830118.html | title=Director Francis Lawrence Lightens up with Slumberland: 'Everything I Had Done Was Pretty Dark' | date=November 22, 2022}}</ref>

===Opera===
The [[Sarasota Opera]] commissioned composer [[Daron Hagen]] and librettist [[J. D. McClatchy]] to create an opera based on ''Little Nemo''. Two casts of children alternated performances when it debuted in November 2012. The dreamlike nonlinear story told of Nemo, the Princess, and their comrades trying to prevent the Emperor of Sol and the Guardian of Dawn from bringing daylight to Slumberland. Special effects and shifting backgrounds were produced with projections onto a scaffolding of boxes.{{sfn|Williams|2012}} The work was first performed on November 10 and 11, by members of the Sarasota Opera, Sarasota Youth Opera, Sarasota Prep Chorus, The Sailor Circus and students from Booker High school.

===Video games===
In 1990, [[Capcom]] produced a video game for the [[Nintendo Entertainment System|NES]], titled ''[[Little Nemo: The Dream Master]]'' (known as ''Pajama Hero Nemo'' in Japan), a licensed game based on the 1989 film. The film would not see a US release until 1992, two years after the game's Japanese release, so the game is often thought to be a standalone adaptation of ''Little Nemo'', not related to the film. An [[arcade game]] called simply ''[[Nemo (arcade game)|Nemo]]'' was also released in 1990.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8843 |title=Nemo – Videogame by Capcom |publisher=Klov |access-date=October 15, 2012}}</ref> In 2021, a new game, titled ''Little Nemo and the Nightmare Fiends'' based on the original comic strip was launched on Kickstarter. It is developed by Chris Totten of Pie For Breakfast Studios and Benjamin Cole of PXLPLZ.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pfbstudios.com/games/little-nemo |title=Little Nemo and the Nightmare Fiends |publisher=Chris Totten |access-date=March 7, 2021}}</ref> In 2022, a new game, titled ''Little Nemo and the Guardians of Slumberland'' based on the original comic strip was launched on Kickstarter. It is developed by Dave Mauro of DIE SOFT.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://diesoft.games/|title=Little Nemo and the Guardians of Slumberlan |publisher=Dave Mauro |access-date=March 7, 2023}}</ref>
===Other media===
Throughout the years, various pieces of Little Nemo merchandise have been produced. In 1941, Rand, McNally & Co. published a Little Nemo children's storybook. ''Little Nemo in Slumberland in 3-D'' was released by [[Blackthorne Publishing]] in 1987; this reprinted Little Nemo issues with [[Anaglyph image#Viewing|3-D glasses]]. A set of 30 Little Nemo postcards was available through Stewart Tabori & Chang in 1996. In 1993, as promotion for the 1989 animated film, Hemdale produced a Collector's Set which includes a VHS movie, illustrated storybook, and cassette soundtrack. In 2001, [[Dark Horse Comics]] released a Little Nemo statue and tin lunchbox.

== Cultural influence ==
Little Nemo itself is influenced by children stories in general, and some French comic pages in particular.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.topfferiana.fr/2008/11/le-petit-lucien-au-pays-des-reves/|title=Le Petit Lucien au Pays des Rêves - Töpfferiana|website=www.topfferiana.fr|date=November 24, 2008 |access-date=April 8, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.topfferiana.fr/2008/12/le-petit-lucien-deuxieme-episode/|title=Le Petit Lucien, deuxième épisode - Töpfferiana|website=www.topfferiana.fr|date=December 21, 2008 |access-date=April 8, 2018}}</ref> Since its publishing, ''Little Nemo'' has had an influence on other artists, including [[Peter Newell]] (''The Naps of Polly Sleepyhead''), [[Frank King (cartoonist)|Frank King]] (''Bobby Make-Believe''), [[Clare Briggs]] (''Danny Dreamer'') or [[George McManus]] (''Nibsy the Newsboy in Funny Fairyland''). Through the Paris edition of the [[New York Herald]], his influence reached [[France]] and other European countries.<ref>Nocturnes, le rêve dans la bande dessinée, CNBDI, 2013</ref><ref>Little Nemo, un siècle de rêves, Impressions Nouvelles, 2005</ref>

In children's literature, [[Maurice Sendak]] said that this strip inspired his book ''[[In the Night Kitchen]]'', and [[William Joyce (writer)|William Joyce]] included several elements from Little Nemo in his children's book ''Santa Calls'', including appearances by Flip and the walking bed. Another tribute to Little Nemo is the comic, then made into a short film, ''Little Remo in Pinchmeland'', by Ellen Duthie and Daniela Martagón.

The character and themes from the comic strip ''Little Nemo'' were used in a song "Scenes from a Night's Dream" written by [[Tony Banks (musician)|Tony Banks]] and [[Phil Collins]] of the progressive rock group [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]] on their 1978 recording, ''[[...And Then There Were Three...]]''.<ref>
Bowler, Dave; Dray, Bryan (1992). Genesis – A Biography. Sidgwick & Jackson. {{ISBN|978-0-283-06132-5}}
</ref>

A progressive rock group from Germany named Scara Brae also recorded a musical impression of the comic on their rare self-titled disc from 1981 (the track was actually recorded 2 years earlier). Their concept piece was revived on the second album by the Greek band Anger Department, titled ''The Strange Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend'', again after a McCay-comic. Their ''Little Nemo'' was chosen for a theatre play, which was suggested for the cultural program for the Olympic Games in 2004.

In 1984, Italian comic artist [[Vittorio Giardino]] started producing a number of stories under the title ''[[Little Ego]]'', a [[parody|parodic]] adaptation of ''Little Nemo'', in the shape of adult-oriented [[erotic comics]]. [[Brian Bolland]]'s early comic strip ''Little Nympho in Slumberland'' employed a similar technique.

The bar in ''[[A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors]]'' is called 'Little Nemo's'.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093629/trivia?item=tr0659459|title=A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)|publisher=IMDb}}</ref>

The strip influenced [[Alan Moore]], in ''Miracleman'' #4, when the [[Miracleman]] family end up in a palace called "Sleepy Town", which has imagery similar to Little Nemo's. In Moore (and [[J.H. Williams III]])'s ''[[Promethea]]'', a more direct [[pastiche]] – "Little Margie in Misty Magic Land"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.angelfire.com/comics/eroomnala/LM.html |publisher=Angelfire |title=LM}}.</ref> – showed Moore's inspiration and debt to McCay's landmark 1905 strip. Little Nemo makes a visual cameo in Volume 4, issue #4 of Moore and [[Kevin O'Neill (comics)|Kevin O'Neill]]'s ''League of Extraordinary Gentleman'', during the Shakespearean Theatre scene that includes many other cameos.

The [[Sandman (Vertigo)|Sandman]] comics and graphic novel series occasionally references ''Little Nemo'' as well. Examples include ''[[The Sandman: The Doll's House]]'', where an abused child escapes into dreams styled after McCay's comics and using a similar "wake-up" mechanism, and ''[[The Sandman: Book of Dreams]]'' (pub. 1996), which features [[George Alec Effinger]]'s short "Seven Nights in Slumberland" (where Nemo interacts with [[Neil Gaiman]]'s characters [[Endless (comics)|The Endless]]).

In 1989, teen comic book [[Power Pack]] ran an issue (#47) which paid direct homage to one of McCay's Nemo storylines, featuring a castle that was drawn sideways and [[Katie Power]] re-enacting a classic Nemo panel with a sideways-drawn hallway that served as a bottomless pit with the line "Don't fall in, y'hear?"

The video of the 1989 song for "[[Runnin' Down a Dream]]" by [[Tom Petty]] is directly inspired by ''Little Nemo in Slumberland'' by Winsor McCay, which features a drawing style reminiscent of McCay's and showing Petty and a character who resembles Flip travelling through Slumberland.

The band [[Queensrÿche]] paid homage to Little Nemo in their 1990 video [[Silent Lucidity]].{{cn|date=November 2022}}

In 1994–1995, French artist [[Jean Giraud|Moebius]] wrote the story to a sequel comic series, ''Little Nemo'', drawn by Bruno Marchand in two [[comic album|albums]]. In 2000–2002, Marchand continued the story with two additional albums.<ref>https://www.lambiek.net/artists/m/marchand_bruno.htm</ref>

In 2006, electronic artist [[Daedelus (musician)|Daedelus]] used Little Nemo artwork for his album ''[[Denies the Day's Demise]]''.

The comic strip ''[[Cul de Sac (comic strip)|Cul de Sac]]'' includes a strip-within-the-strip, ''Little Neuro'', a parody of Little Nemo. Neuro is a little boy who hardly ever leaves his bed.

In 2009, the [[ToonSeum|Pittsburgh ToonSeum]] established its NEMO Award, given to notable individuals "for excellence in the cartoon arts". Recipients to date include veteran comic-book artist, [[Ron Frenz]],<ref>Uricchio, Marylynn [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09160/976092-460.stm "ToonSeum cartoon museum holds annual Ka-Blam! fundraiser"] ''[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]'' June 9, 2009 Retrieved December 21, 2010</ref> editorial and comic-strip artist, [[Dick Locher]],<ref>JimHillMedia.com [http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_chief1/b/press_releases/archive/2011/03/30/legendary-cartoonist-dick-locher-receives-toonseum-s-nemo-award.aspx#.USRpex3qlio "Legendary Cartoonist Dick Locher Receives ToonSeum's Nemo Award"] March 30, 2011</ref> cartoonist and comics historian, [[Trina Robbins]],<ref>trinarobbins.wordpress.com [http://trinarobbins.wordpress.com/2011/06/01/fear-of-blogging-gets-around/ "Fear of Blogging Gets Around"] June 1, 2011</ref> and comics artist, editorial cartoonist and artists' rights advocate [[Jerry Robinson]].<ref>Riggenberg, Steven [http://www.tcj.com/jerry-robinson-january-1st-1922-december-7th-2011/ "Jerry Robinson: January 1st, 1922 – December 7th, 2011"] ''[[The Comics Journal]]'' December 13, 2011</ref>

On October 15, 2012, celebrating the 107th anniversary of the first ''Little Nemo'' story, Google displayed an interactive animated "[[Google Doodle]]" called "Little Nemo in Google-land" on its homepage. The doodle showed a typical Little Nemo adventure through a series of panels, each featuring a letter from the word "Google".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh3BdDTFSFo |title=Winsor McCay 's Little Nemo |format=Doodle; HD 1080p |publisher=YouTube |access-date=October 15, 2012}}</ref> The doodle also ends in the same way as the comic strips, with Nemo falling from his bed.<ref>{{Citation |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-10-15/internet/34471783_1_colourful-doodle-animated-google-doodle-nemo |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004213506/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-10-15/internet/34471783_1_colourful-doodle-animated-google-doodle-nemo |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 4, 2013 |newspaper=[[The Times of India]] |title=Google celebrates 107th anniversary of Winsor Zenic McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland |date=October 15, 2012}}.</ref>

[[Eric Shanower]] and [[Gabriel Rodriguez (artist)|Gabriel Rodriguez]] revived the characters in 2014 in an IDW comic book series entitled ''Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comicbookdb.com/title.php?ID=44712|title=Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland (2014) – Comic Book DB}}</ref> That same year, Locust Moon Press released a new anthology and [[Taschen]] published the complete series (1905–1926).

A comic strip ''[[Mutts (comic strip)|Mutts]]'' has one of the strip's recurring characters, a naughty squirrel, "bonking" Nemo with an acorn, and wishing him "sweet dreams".<ref>{{Cite web |title=September 17 2022, Daily Comic Strip |url=https://mutts.com/products/strip-091722 |access-date=2024-02-02 |website=MUTTS |language=en}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Little_Nemo_in_Slumberland_mural_downtown_Cincinnati,_OH_Oct_2016.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Mural of a Little Nemo in Slumberland comic in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio|Mural of a Little Nemo in Slumberland comic in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio]]
Comics historian [[R. C. Harvey]] has called McCay "the first original genius of the comic strip medium". Harvey claims that McCay's contemporaries lacked the skill to continue with his innovations, so that they were left for future generations to rediscover and build upon.{{sfn|Harvey|1994|p=21}} Cartoonist [[Robert Crumb]] called McCay a "genius" and one of his favorite cartoonists.{{sfn|Young|2000}} [[Art Spiegelman]]'s ''[[In the Shadow of No Towers]]'' (2004) appropriated some of McCay's imagery, and included a page of ''Little Nemo'' in its appendix.{{sfn|Heer|2006}} [[Federico Fellini]] read ''Little Nemo'' in the children's magazine ''[[Corriere dei Piccoli|Il corriere dei piccoli]]'', and the strip was a "powerful influence" on the filmmaker, according to Fellini biographer Peter Bondanella.{{sfn|Bondanella|2002|p=10}}

McCay's original artwork has been poorly preserved.{{sfn|Heer|2006}} McCay insisted on having his originals returned to him, and a large collection survived him, but much of it was destroyed in a fire in the late 1930s. His wife was unsure how to handle the surviving pieces, so his son took on the responsibility and moved the collection into his own house.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=253}} The family sold off some of the artwork when they were in need of cash. Responsibility for it passed to Mendelsohn, then later to daughter Marion. By the early twenty-first century, most of McCay's surviving artwork remained in family hands.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=253–254}}

==Notes==
{{Notelist|30em}}

==References==
{{Reflist|20em}}

===Works cited===
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}}
* {{cite book
|first = Jeremy
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|location = Catalog of episodes & text of the book
|chapter = Some archetypal symbolic aspects of ''Dream of the Rarebit Fiend''
|pages = 552–561
|type = .doc
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|isbn = 978-3-00-020751-8}} (on included DVD)
* {{cite book |author-link = Coulton Waugh |first = Coulton |last = Waugh |title = The Comics |publisher = [[University Press of Mississippi]] |year = 1947 |isbn = 978-0-87805-499-2}}
* {{cite news
|newspaper = Sarasota Herald-Tribune
|title = Opera Review: 'Little Nemo in Slumberland' has a timeless appeal
|last = Williams
|first = Gayle
|date = November 12, 2012
|access-date = September 28, 2013
|url = http://arts.heraldtribune.com/2012-11-12/section/opera-review-little-nemo-in-slumberland-has-a-timeless-appeal/
|archive-date = October 2, 2013
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131002030719/http://arts.heraldtribune.com/2012-11-12/section/opera-review-little-nemo-in-slumberland-has-a-timeless-appeal/
|url-status = dead
}}
* {{cite book
|first = Mark
|last = Winokur
|editor1-last = Kessel
|editor1-first = Martina
|editor2-last = Merziger
|editor2-first = Patrick
|title = The Politics of Humour: Laughter, Inclusion, and Exclusion in the Twentieth Century
|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=UbS62_iyhjAC&pg=PA52
|year = 2012
|publisher = [[University of Toronto Press]]
|isbn = 978-1-4426-4292-8
|pages = 52–81
|chapter = Creole Cartoons
}}
* {{cite web
|url = https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/y/young-edge.html
|work = [[The New York Times]]
|title = Art Spiegelman's Maus and the After-Images of History
|first = James E.
|last = Young
|year = 2000
|access-date = July 4, 2012
}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Little Nemo}}
{{Portal|Comics|Children's literature}}
* ''Little Nemo'' and other public-domain McCay strips for download at [http://www.comicstriplibrary.org The Comic Strip Library]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20150905224638/http://www.comicstriplibrary.org/ Archived] from the original on September 5, 2015.
* {{Citation | url = http://www.vqronline.org/essay/little-nemo-comicsland | title = Little Nemo in Comicsland: Winsor McCay's influence on comics | first = Jeet | last = Heer | journal = [[Virginia Quarterly Review]] | date=Spring 2006 | archive-date= September 6, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150906041819/http://www.vqronline.org/essay/little-nemo-comicsland | url-status=live}}.
* [http://www.toonopedia.com/nemo.htm ''Little Nemo in Slumberland''] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]. [https://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091016103309/http://www.toonopedia.com/nemo.htm Archived] from the original on November 16, 2015.

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