This Day in History: Oct 15, 1905: Little Nemo in Slumberland by Winsor McCay debuts

Winsor Zenic McCay (September 26, 1869 – July 26, 1934) was an American cartoonist and animator, best known for the comic strip Little Nemo

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Little Nemo is the main fictional character in a series of weekly comic strips by Winsor McCay that appeared in the New York Herald and William Randolph Hearst's New York American newspapers from October 15, 1905 – July 23, 1911 and September 3, 1911 – July 26, 1914; respectively.

 

The strip was first called Little Nemo in Slumberland and then In the Land of Wonderful Dreams when it changed papers. A brief revival of the original title occurred from 1924 to 1927.

 

A prolific artist, McCay's pioneering early animated films far outshone the work of his contemporaries, and set a standard followed by Walt Disney and others in later decades. His comic strip work has influenced generations of artists, including creators such as William Joyce, André LeBlanc, Moebius, Maurice Sendak, Chris Ware and Bill Watterson.

McCay died on July 26, 1934 of a cerebral embolism,^[1] and was buried at the Cemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn.

In 1966, Woody Gelman discovered many of the original Little Nemo strips at a cartoon studio where Bob McCay, Winsor's son, had worked. Many of the original drawings that Gelman recovered were displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art under the direction of curator A. Hyatt Mayor. In 1973, Gelman would publish a collection of Little Nemo strips in Italy.^[2]

On October 15th, 2012, Google showed an animated Doodle for the 107th anniversary of Winsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland. The Google Doodle was the first of its kind to feature an interactive, motion picture comic strip. ^[3]

References

1. ^ Syracuse Herald, Syracuse, New York | July 27, 1934, "Winsor M'Cay Early Comic Artist, Dies"
2. ^ Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession, p.126, Dave Jamieson, 2010, Atlantic Monthly Press, imprint of Grove/Atlantic Inc., New York, NY, ISBN 978-0-8021-1939-1
3. ^ http://qualitypoint.blogspot.in/2012/10/google-shows-excellent-animated-doodle.html

 ^{Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page [15.10.2012]}