Little Nemo - Cultural Influences

Cultural Influences

Since its publishing, Little Nemo has had an influence on other artists, including 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" – showed Moore's inspiration and debt to McCay's landmark 1905 strip. The Sandman 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 The Endless).

In children's literature, Maurice Sendak has said that this strip inspired his book In the Night Kitchen, and William Joyce included several elements from Little Nemo in his children's book Santa Calls, including appearances by Flip and the walking bed.

In 1984, Italian comic artist Vittorio Giardino started producing a number of few-page stories under the title Little Ego, a parodic adaptation of Little Nemo, in the shape of erotic comics. Although not suitable for children, Giardino's work succeeded in imitating Winsor McCay's exquisite drawing technique, and the level of surrealism was fairly achieved. Similar results were achieved by Brian Bolland's early comic strip, Little Nympho In Slumberland.

The 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 2006, electronic artist Daedelus used Little Nemo artwork for his album Denies the Day's Demise.

On October 15, 2012, celebrating the 107th anniversary of Winsor Zenic McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland, Google displayed an interactive animated "doodle" called "Little Nemo in Google-land" on its homepage. The doodle shows the story of Little Nemo in Slumberland, through various panels, each featuring a letter from the word "Google". The doodle also ends in the same way as the comic strips, with Nemo falling from his bed.