Flip

Flip is a major villainous protagonist in both the 1905-1911 1911-1914 1924-1927 fantasy comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland. He makes all kinds of mischief in Slumberland.

He was voiced by the late Mickey Rooney, who also portrayed one of the Sub-humans in Fire & Ice and Gus in Night at the Museum. In the 2022 live-action film Slumberland, he was portrayed by Jason Momoa, who also played Drogo in Game of Thrones, Keegan in Bullet to the Head, Dante Reyes in Fast X, and Lobo in the upcoming Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.

Personality

Flip is a smart thinker and he loves trouble-making, fooling his foes and having fun. In the beginning of the movie, he makes friends with Nemo and invites him to make mischief across Slumberland. Flip is always smoking cigars, and he likes to flirt with Princess Camille. However, when it comes to self-preservation he was quick to sell Nemo out and pin all the blame on him when they were both to blame for unleashing the Nightmare King.

Comics

Nemo was to be the Princess of Slumberland's playmate, but it took months of adventures before Nemo finally arrived; Flip was determined to disturb Nemo's sleep with a top hat emblazoned with the words "Wake Up". This always resulted in Nemo falling out of bed and waking up at the end of the strip. He did it partly for his own amusement, and partly because he wanted the princess for himself. At this point he was the closest the comic had to a villain; before his arrival the comic was more focused on lavish visuals than character or plot.

Flip's uncle is the Dawn Guard, who brings forth the sun every night to awaken all dreamers, and he sometimes called in a favor with his uncle to cause mischief and wake Nemo up. Because of his family ties, the government of Slumberland cannot punish him harshly.

Later on, Nemo rescues Flip from being executed by King Morpheus' firing squad, and he and Flip eventually become companions, causing Flip to go from being a villain to an anti-hero. The duo are later joined by a mute African Imp whom Flip finds in the Candy Islands.

After 3 years, Nemo becomes fed up with Flip's rude behavior and challenges him to a fist fight. Upon losing, Flip agrees to behave himself and follow Nemo's lead, and also gives up smoking. Afterwards, Flip generally does not behave poorly unless provoked. The two become close friends. Flip regains his cigar after a short time when they are abducted by monkeys.

Flip is about the same height as Nemo. Although balding and looking to be middle-aged, Flip is constantly called "little boy" and "kid" by the other characters. While they call him these many times before and after, he only corrects someone - Nemo's father - one time, stating that he is 23 years old, when told that a little boy should not smoke. 3 years later, he once again claimed he was 23, to a group of Detroit girls.

Flip's round body seems to be an illusion caused by his clothes, as anytime that he wears a different outfit, he is shown to be as slim as Nemo.

His green face is presumably natural. During a carnival, he and a performer discussed the fact that he "never needs a mask" because his face was "made for carnivals".

1911 Film

In the 1911 film. He make gestures while smoking his cigar. Blocks fall from the sky and assemble themselves into the character Impie, and the pair's figures distort, disappear, and reappear before a fantastically dressed Little Nemo magically materializes. Nemo prevents the two others from fighting and takes control of their forms—he stretches and squashes them with the raising and lowering of his arms. Later, Flip and Impie attempt to follow the dragon in a jalopy, but the car explodes and sends them into the air. Doctor Pill arrives to help, but cannot find anyone until Flip and Impie land on him. The pair try to help the doctor to his feet.

1921 Film (Flip's Circus)

Flip gets his own spin-off film.

To be added.

1989 Film

In the film, Flip has a reputation as a trouble-maker, and Nemo is warned to stay away from him. Eventually, Flip lures Nemo away from his lessons on how to be a prince, and the two cause mischief around Slumberland.

When being chased by the police Flip and Nemo hide in an underground passageway, where they come across the door that is keeping the Nightmares imprisoned. Flip convinces Nemo to open it, just to satisfy his curiosity. They run after looking inside, leaving the door unlocked. Later on the Nightmare King captures King Morpheus. Flip tries to push all the blame on Nemo, and Nemo wakes up.

When Nemo returns to Slumberland, Flip is about to be executed by being fired from a cannon (banished into outer space in the English dub), but Nemo rescues him because he knows Flip has a map of Nightmare Land. Flip is spared because the map is written in a secret code that only he can read. Flip then accompanies Nemo, Icarus, Princess Camille, and Professor Genius to Nightmare Land, where their ship sinks into a whirlpool because Flip was not steering as he was supposed to. He gets them lost when his map is ruined by the water.

When they meet a group of Good Goblins, Camille makes them their navigators and tells Flip, who doesn't want to be left behind, to carry the luggage. Flip later gets kidnapped by the Nightmare King's minions along with Camille and Genius, and is rescued when Nemo defeats the Nightmare King at the Nightmare Castle.

He is last seen bidding Nemo farewell after smoking a huge cigar and having a coughing fit while riding his giant crow over Slumberland as usual.

Gallery

Flip as seen in Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland.

Flip as seen in the film's promotional material.

Trivia

• He swears off smoking every year.
• He loves Boston's brown bread, and once bought 5000 loaves.
• On Mars, Flip once expressed the desire to bring all the homeless back to Earth.
• Flip's grandfather fought in the Battle of Gettysburg.
• While in China, he learned to speak Mandarin.
• Flip convinced Nemo to open the door beneath with the black coiled dragon symbol on it, inadvertently and responsibly released the Nightmare King.
• Flip seems at first to be the main villain of the film. But, in reality it is the Nightmare King.