Editing Dream of the Rarebit Fiend (section)

=====''The Flying House'' (1921)=====
[[File:Winsor McCay (1921) The Flying House.webm|thumb|alt=Early animated film ''The Flying House''|''The Flying House'']]
Against the backdrop of the rapidly urbanizing United States of the 1910s and 1920s, one house from the artificial grid of modern, planned America takes flight in the dream of a woman who has feasted on Welsh rarebit. ''The Flying House'' is rendered in meticulous realistic detail. The house is conventional in every respect—until the viewer reaches the attic, where the woman's husband is seen tending an enormous engine. He attaches a propeller to a shaft out front of the house, and tells his wife that his actions are in reaction to their landlord's intention to evict them over nonpayment. He says he plans to "steal the house", and the couple fly away to find a place where their landlord will never find them—a swamp, the ocean, even the moon, where they are chased off by the [[Man in the Moon]] with a flyswatter. The film self-consciously directs the viewers to notice the quality and accuracy of the animation when the house takes off into space, calling attention to the "remarkable piece of animation which follows", accurately showing the revolutions of the Earth and Moon and the "beautiful constellation of [[Orion (constellation)|Orion]]". In the end, the house is struck by a military rocket, bringing the nightmare to an end as the woman awakens in her bed.{{sfn|Telotte|2010|pp=54–58}}

The title card reverts to the singular "Dream" for the series title and credits Winsor ''Selias'' McCay as the producer. The film was released on September 26, 1921,{{sfn|Telotte|2010|p=51}} and was credited to McCay's son [[Bob McCay|Robert]], though Canemaker states it is unlikely the elder McCay was not involved. A 1921 ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' review found the film "interesting because of its excellent workmanship and fantastic character" though it was "not as brightly humorous" as it could be. Film critic [[Richard Eder]] contrasted the film's realistic nightmarishness with the more innocent qualities that came to be associated with American cartoons.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=198}} In 2011, animator [[Bill Plympton]] restored the film, using [[Kickstarter]] to fund the project. He had the film [[Film colorization|colorized]], and actors [[Matthew Modine]] and [[Patricia Clarkson]] provided voices.{{sfn|Persons|2011}}