Little Nemo

Little Nemo is a fictional character created by American cartoonist Winsor McCay. Nemo was originally the protagonist of the comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland. 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, its timing and pacing, the size and shape of its panels, perspective, architectural and other detail.

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 Aug 3, 1924, until December 26, 1926, when McCay returned to Hearst.

Concept

A weekly fantasy adventure, Little Nemo in Slumberland featured the young Nemo ("No one" in Latin) who dreamed himself into wondrous predicaments from which he awoke in bed in the last panel. The first episode begins with a command from King Morpheus of Slumberland to a minion to collect Nemo. Nemo was to be the Princess of Slumberland's playmate, 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". 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, from Jack Frost's palace to the bizarre architecture and distorted funhouse-mirror illusions of Befuddle Hall.

Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland

Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, known in Japan as simply Nemo, is a 1989 Japanese/American animated adventure fantasy film directed by Masami Hata and William T. Hurtz. Based on the comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland by Winsor McCay, the film went through a lengthy development process with a number of screenwriters. Ultimately, the screenplay was credited to Chris Columbus and Richard Outten; the storyline and art style differed from the original version. The original soundtrack was penned by the Academy Award-winning Sherman Brothers. It was a box office bomb.

Plot

Set in 1905 (the year the Little Nemo comic strip premiered in the New York Herald), the film opens with the young boy Nemo experiencing a nightmare in which he is pursued by a locomotive. Upon awakening the next day, he goes to see a parade welcoming a traveling circus. However, Nemo is unable to see the circus because his father and his mother are too busy to take him. Later that night, Nemo imitates sleepwalking in an attempt to sneak some pie away, which acts against a promise he had made earlier to his mother. Upon falling asleep that night, Nemo is approached by figures from the parade. The circus organist introduces himself as Professor Genius and claims that they had been sent on a mission by King Morpheus, the king of a realm named Slumberland. The mission involves Nemo becoming the playmate of the princess, Camille. Although Nemo initially has reservations about interacting with royalty of the opposite gender, he decides to set off to fulfill his mission after being persuaded with a gift box of cookies from the princess.

Little Nemo: The Dream Master

Little Nemo: The Dream Master (known as Pajama Hero Nemo (パジャマヒーロー NEMO, Pajama Hīrō Nīmō) in Japan) is a platform game released on the NES in 1990 by Capcom. It is based on the Japanese animated film, Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland from Tokyo Movie Shinsha, which itself is based on the comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland by Winsor McCay. The game's music was composed by Junko Tamiya, credited in the game as "Gonzou".

The game revolves around a young boy in his own surreal dreams as he journeys to Slumberland. Nemo can ride certain animals such as a frog, a gorilla, or a mole, by feeding them candy. Each animal has its own skills needed to complete each level. The purpose of the game is to travel to the Nightmare land to rescue Morpheus, the king of Slumberland, from the clutches of the evil Nightmare King.

Gameplay

In Little Nemo: The Dream Master, the player controls Nemo as he proceeds through side-scrolling, 2D levels. In each level, Nemo must collect a specific number of keys, which are generally scattered throughout the rather large levels. The number of keys needed to beat each level is not indicated to the player until reaching the exit at the end of the level, which has a corresponding number of locks. The player must proceed through each level, typically left to right but also up and down, searching for keys.