Editing Dream of the Rarebit Fiend (section)

===Film===
====''Dream of a Rarebit Fiend'' (1906)====
[[File:Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (Edwin Stanton Porter).webm|thumb|alt= Edwin Stanton's live-action film ''Rarebit Fiend''|[[Edwin S. Porter]]'s ''Dream of a Rarebit Fiend'' (1906)]]
{{main article|Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906 film)}}
Film pioneer [[Edwin&nbsp;S. Porter]] produced a seven-minute live-action film adaptation called ''The Dream of a Rarebit Fiend'' in 1906 for the [[Edison Studios|Edison Company]]. The Fiend was played by John&nbsp;P. Brawn, who is tormented by imps in his bed, which flies through the air and leaves him hanging from a steeple—a scene similar to that of an early strips{{sfn|Dover Publications|1973|pp=xii–xiii}} that ran on January 28, 1905.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=78}}

====Animation by McCay====
McCay produced four hand-drawn animated films based upon his ''Rarebit Fiend'' series:

=====''How a Mosquito Operates'' (1912)=====
[[File:Winsor McCay (1912) How a Mosquito Operates.webm|thumb|alt=Early animated film ''How a Mosquito Operates''|''[[How a Mosquito Operates]]'']]
{{Main article|How a Mosquito Operates}}
Put together in December 1911,{{sfn|Theisen|1933|p=84}} and released in 1912,{{sfn|Telotte|2010|p=54}} McCay's [[How a Mosquito Operates|second film]]{{sfnm|1a1=Berenbaum|1y=2009|1p=138|2a1=Telotte|2y=2010|2p=54}} (also known as ''The Story of a Mosquito''){{sfnm|1a1=Eagan|1y=2010|1p=33|2a1=Canemaker|2y=2005|2p=164}} is one of the earliest examples of line-drawn animation. A giant top-hatted mosquito flies in through a window to feed on a man in bed, who tries in vain to defend himself. The mosquito drinks itself so full that it explodes.{{sfnm|1a1=Berenbaum|1y=2009|1p=138|2a1=Telotte|2y=2010|2p=54}} Rather than expanding like a balloon, the mosquito fills up in a naturalistic fashion according to its body structure.{{sfnm|1a1=Barrier|1y=2003|1p=17|2a1=Canemaker|2y=2005|2p=165}} The idea for the film came from a ''Rarebit Fiend'' strip published on June 5, 1909.{{sfnm|Eagan|2010|1p=33|2a1=Canemaker|2y=2005|2p=167}} McCay biographer John Canemaker commends McCay for his ability to imbue the mosquito with character and a personality.{{sfn|Eagan|2010|p=33}}

=====''Bug Vaudeville'' (1921)=====
[[File:Winsor McCay (1921) Bug Vaudeville.webm|thumb|alt=Early animated film ''Bug Vaudeville''|''Bug Vaudeville'']] The series title is pluralized for this film. In the fantasy ''Bug Vaudeville'', a tramp comes out from a group of meticulously drawn trees and falls asleep, muttering that cheese cakes give him strange dreams. A series of bugs put on performance after performance against highly detailed and realistic backgrounds.{{sfn|Telotte|2010|p=52}} The performance ends with a spider who grabs a silhouetted member of the audience and eats him whole.{{sfn|Telotte|2010|p=53}}

The film was released around September 12, 1921,{{sfn|Telotte|2010|p=51}} and draws from McCay's experiences in the  worlds of the circus and vaudeville.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=197}} The film is presented as a vaudeville show, though without the stage interaction McCay used in ''[[Gertie the Dinosaur]]''.{{sfn|Telotte|2010|p=51}} Film critic [[Andrew Sarris]] praised ''Bug Vaudeville'' as his favorite of McCay's films for "the linear expressiveness of the drawings and the intuitive rhythm of the acts". Sarris wrote that a director like [[Federico Fellini]] "would be honored by such insight into the ritual of performance".{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=198}}

=====''The Pet'' (1921)=====
[[File:Winsor McCay (1921) The Pet.webm|thumb|alt=Early animated film ''The Pet''|''The Pet'' is likely the earliest "[[kaiju|giant monster attacking a city]]" film.]]
The series title is pluralized for this title. ''The Pet'' depicts a couple who adopt a mysterious animal with an insatiable appetite. It consumes its milk, the house cat, the house's furnishings, rat poison, and passing vehicles, including airplanes and a blimp, while growing larger and larger.{{sfn|Telotte|2010|p=59}} As it wanders among the skyscrapers of the city a swarm of airplanes and [[zeppelin]]s gather to bomb the beast.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=198}}

A ''Rarebit Fiend'' strip from March 8, 1905, inspired  ''The Pet'',{{sfn|Bissette|2007}} which was released around September 19, 1921.{{sfn|Telotte|2010|p=59}} The dark film was the last over which McCay had "total creative control", according to McCay biographer [[John Canemaker]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=198}} Cartoonist [[Stephen R. Bissette]] called it "the first-ever 'giant monster attacking a city' motion picture ever made".{{sfn|Moody|Bissette|2010}}

=====''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}}