Editing Winsor McCay (section)

===Later career (1921–1934)===
After 1921, McCay was made to give up on animation when Hearst learned he devoted more of his time to animation than to his newspaper illustrations.{{sfn|Sito|2006|p=36}} Unexecuted ideas McCay had for animation projects included a collaboration with ''Jungle Imps'' author George Randolph Chester, a musical film called ''The Barnyard Band'',{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=198}} and a film about the Americans' role in World War I.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=198, 217}}

[[File:Winsor McCay 1922-03-19 Oblivion's Cave.jpg|thumb|upright=2.5|center|alt=The personification of War being led in by the personification of Time to a prison already occupied by a dinosaur, a mastodon, and the Rack.|Editorial cartoon "Oblivion's Cave—Step Right In, Please" (March 19, 1922)]]

McCay's son Robert married Theresa "Tedda" Munchausen on April 9, 1921. McCay bought them a nearby house as a wedding gift. The couple gave McCay two more grandchildren: Janet (named after McCay's mother) in 1922, and Robert in 1928.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=223}} Robert suffered [[shell shock]] during World War I,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=216}} and following the war had difficulty drawing. McCay tried to boost his son's confidence by finding him cartooning work, and some of the elder McCay's editorial cartoons were signed "Robert Winsor McCay, Jr."{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=226}} Robert also briefly revived the ''Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend'' strip as ''Rabid Reveries'' starting in 1924.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-news-announcement-of-rabid-r/145956335/|title=Announcement of "Rabid Reveries|newspaper=The Evening News|date= November 27, 1923}}</ref>

In 1922, McCay resumed doing vaudeville shows for the Keith circuit.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=225}} He had a cameo in a newspaper office scene in the boxing film ''[[The Great White Way (1924 film)|The Great White Way]]'' in early 1924.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=226}}

McCay left Hearst upon the expiration of his contract in May 1924, bitter over not having received a promised $5,000 bonus.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=228}} He returned to the ''Herald Tribune'', and brought back ''Little Nemo'' beginning that August.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=229}} The new strip displayed the virtuoso technique of the old, but the panels were laid out in an unvarying grid. Nemo took a more passive role in the stories,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=226}} and there was no continuity.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=235}} The strip came to an end in December 1926,{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=229}} as it was not popular with readers. Hearst executives had been trying to convince McCay to return to the ''American'', and succeeded in 1927. While McCay was gone, his place had been filled by [[Mel Cummin]], who was let go after McCay's return.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=235}} Due to the lack of the 1920s Nemo's success, the ''Herald Tribune'' signed over all copyrights to the strip to McCay for one dollar.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=237}}

[[File:MaxFleischerPDUS.JPG|thumb|alt=Black and white phot of a moustachioed man|In 1927, McCay expressed his disappointment at the state of the animation industry at a dinner in his honor, where he was introduced by [[Max Fleischer]] ''(pictured)''.]]

In 1927, McCay attended a dinner in his honor in New York. After a considerable amount of drinking, McCay was introduced by animator [[Max Fleischer]]. McCay gave the gathered group of animators some technical advice, but when he felt the audience was not giving him attention, he berated his audience, saying, "Animation is an art. That is how I conceived it. But as I see, what you fellows have done with it, is making it into a trade. Not an art, but a trade. ''Bad Luck!''"{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=199}} That September he appeared on the radio at [[WRKO|WNAC]], and on November 2 he was interviewed by [[Frank Craven]] for ''[[The News Journal|The Evening Journal]]''{{'}}s ''Woman's Hour''. During both appearances he complained about the state of contemporary animation.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=239}}

An executive of the [[American Tobacco Company]] approached McCay in 1929 to do an advertising campaign for a financial "sum in excess of his annual salary". Brisbane refused, noting that McCay's contract didn't allow outside work. When the executive stormed into Brisbane's office threatening to pull American Tobacco's advertising dollars from the ''American'', Brisbane provided a written release for the work.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=238–239}}

In 1932, McCay found himself in what he recalled as "the wildest ride" in his life when Hearst's son [[William Randolph Hearst, Jr.|"Young Bill"]] drove him at {{convert|85|mph|km/h}} to the scene of the [[Lindbergh kidnapping|kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby]]. They arrived there two hours after the crime was first reported to police, and were able to interview the gathered police before the grounds were closed off to the public. McCay sketched the scene, the staff, and the ladders the kidnappers used, which he was allowed to see up close.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=240}}