Smithsonian.com

First, go play all the way through this Google Doodle. Then come back. Okay, now that you’ve got your childhood adventure time in, let’s talk.

Yesterday’s Google Doodle celebrated the 107th anniversary of Little Nemo in Slumberland, a comic strip by Winsor McCay that hit the presses for nine years. McCay’s work might look familiar, even if you’ve never seen it, because it inspired people like Maurice Sendak and Alan Moore. McCay’s drawings are whimsical, colorful and, well, just go look at them.

The Los Angeles Times say that McCay’s drawings were inspired by the inner workings of his mind:

McCay, born in Canada in 1867, is best known for “Little Nemo,” the fantastical and magical Sunday comic strip that began in October 1905. Nemo was created during an eight-year period when, propelled by “inner demons,” McCay “was compelled … to draw and draw and draw.”

After Little Nemo, McCay went on to create “The Story of a Mosquito,” in which a mosquito encounters a drunk man, and to experiment with the beginnings of animation.

Here’s the full Doodle, although you have to click through it to see the animations.

More from Smithsonian.com:

“Doodle 4 Google” Theme Announced
Cooper-Hewitt: Doodle 4 Google Contest