Google doodle brings Little Nemo in Slumberland alive

Googlers the world over today woke up to yet another of Google’s interactive doodles, but this is the first time that the doodle’s featured an entire motion picture comic strip. This doodle commemorates 107 years of the first appearance of Winsor McCay's comic strip series Little Nemo in Slumberland.

The doodle is magnificent, for it does not shy away from telling the tale. Google has gone ahead to re-create McCay’s work splendidly. Type Google.com and you instantly know that you’re in for a surprise today. The screen opens up to a title, 'Little Nemo in Google Land', and soon enough you have Little Nemo taking his first ‘dream’ plunge. Google’s doodle is the recreation of McCay’s comic strip, wherein he captured the fantasy world of the dreams of his fictional characters. In the first visual, at the bottom right is a tab, which lights up prodding you to click on it. From there on, the doodle continues on the page below, highlighting several aspects of Little Nemo’s dream sequence - from his fall, to being rescued by Princess Camille, daughter of Morpheus to him finally landing on his bed. Each level is complete with bright, pictoral descriptions giving not one dull moment to the user.

Little Nemo in Slumberland doodle today

Clearly, with Little Nemo in Google Land, Google has delivered yet another one of its master doodles.

Clicking on the small tab at the bottom right of the final visual, users can read more about McCay and his works. Little Nemo in Slumberland remains to be one of his best known works. Born on September 27, 1869, in Brooklyn, NY, Winsor McCay remains to be a popular cartoonist and animator. Besides Little Nemo in Slumberland, animated cartoon Gertie the Dinosaur is remembered as one of McCay's greatest works.

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Legal reasons pressed him to work under pen name Silas on the comic strip Dream of the Rarebit Fiend. McCay's cartoons managed to rake in a strong following, owing to the very expressive style of the graphics used. It has been known that newspaper pages were much larger in that time and McCay had to his cartoons half a page. McCay died of a cerebral embolism at the age of 64.

Talk of interactive doodles, and one cannot miss the one Google had for inventor of the Moog synthesizer, Robert Moog. The doodle featured a synthsizer which you could either play by clicking on the keys or by typing on your computer keyboard. The sharps and flats (black notes) could be played with the numbers on your keyboard and the regular notes with the letters. The sound that emanated ws electronic and you had the option of adjusting the pitch by using the pitch wheel on the left. Users had the option of recording their composition by hitting the record button on the right and playing back composition.