This movie is an adaptation of a weekly comic strip created by Winsor McCay that ran from 1905 to 1914. The strip was a journey into the dreams of a young boy named Nemo. Through his sleep, he was trying to reach Slumberland to play with the daughter of King Morpheus. This strips would end with Nemo awakened from his dream, usually because of some terrifying event taking place in his subconscious.
The movie of course takes this fantastical world and does its own meta take on it. The basic plot is that McCay boasts he will create 4000 images from his strip and create an animated movie, an idea that is mocked by his friends. The rest of the movie follows a comedic interpretation of McCay's attempts to bring his strip to life.
The plot of the movie is slight and not terribly interesting. McCay ends up contending with bumbling assistants and a ridiculous amount of paper. Modern audiences will know exactly how this is going to end. Also, after discussing some fun movie tropes with The Lonedale Operator, here we get the equivalent of the money bag with the '$' sign on it as laborers bring in barrels and boxes that helpfully labeled 'INK' and 'DRAWING PAPER'.
That said, this movie has two things to recommend it. First, throughout the film there are shots of McCay drawing his elaborate creations freehand. It really is amazing to watch his hand move over the paper and see these strange characters come to life.
Second, the animated feature at the end is very surreal. We've seen a lot of this type of imagery before, but his work still felt completely fresh and in a strange way even contemporary. And it is in COLOR. Yes, I am seeing my first colors on screen much earlier than I ever thought.
In the end, the movie served to make me more interested in seeking out Little Nemo comic strips. The idea of the fantasy world he created on paper sounds more fascinating than the slight diversion the film represents. But the animation is amazing.
Watched on YouTube.
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