I Survived 2015

Have you ever seen Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland?

If you haven't, you're definitely not alone. It's one of the more obscure cartoon movies of my childhood. But you're gonna need to get up to speed for this post, so here's a quick download.

First off, this is Nemo:

Not this:

                                           

Got it?

What basically happens is that Nemo, the lucky little guy, gets an invitation in the middle of the night from the king of Slumberland to become the heir to the Slumberland throne. Also, the princess of Slumberland sends him cookies. Because Nemo can't resist monarchical power or cookies, he and his flying squirrel Icarus board this magical dirigible that takes them to Slumberland.

Yes, dirigible. The comic strip that this movie is based on was written around the turn of the century. And I mean not the recent turn of the century but the other one, the one where dirigibles and other flying craft were all the rage.

So when Nemo gets to Slumberland, he meets all kind of fascinating people. He meets Princess Camille, she who sends cookies. And speaking of Princess Camille, why does the king of Slumberland need an heir to the throne when he has a perfectly good princess? That's never explained, but there seems to be a weirdly implied subtext that because Nemo is the heir, he and Camille are now engaged, even though they're like ten years old. So that's a thing.

Nemo also meets Flip, a ne'er-do-well clown played by Mickey Rooney. And, of course, he meets the king of Slumberland, Morpheus. King Morpheus seems like really nice guy, king, and future father-in-law. He gives Nemo free prince lessons, nice clothes, and a fancy key necklace. After giving Nemo the key, though, the king warns him that he must never unlock the door that has the same symbol as the key on it.

This seems like a bad idea, because probably the first thing anyone would do is unlock the door that matches the key. Even though the king warned him, and even though he's becoming the prince of Slumberland, Nemo's still just a kid. He's not ready for this kind of responsibility! Especially when there's probably something awful behind that door.

Within hours of the king's warning, Flip convinces Nemo to open up the forbidden door. And, yup, there's something awful behind it. Specifically, the Nightmare King. The Nightmare King kidnaps Morpheus and takes him away to Nightmare Land.

Determined to set things right, Nemo and Icarus and Princess Camille and company head out for Nightmare Land to rescue King Morpheus.

Luckily, Morpheus left behind his magical scepter, which Nemo can use to defeat the Nightmare King. Also luckily, they have a copy of the incantation that makes the scepter work. Said incantation goes something like this: "Kazama Kablama Pajama Obama" and so on and so forth. Less luckily, in fact downright unluckily, Nemo has a heck of a time memorizing the incantation. Every time they get into trouble, he amateurishly waves the scepter around and yells something along the lines of, "PAJAMA PAJAMA PAJAMA PAJAMA PAJAMA!" Which isn't super effective, but is a valiant effort.

You're probably wondering where I'm going with this. I'll tell you: it's a metaphor. In this metaphor, I'm Nemo. Nightmare Land is 2015. Icarus the flying squirrel is probably Baby Brother. I don't know who Princess Camille is.

The point is, this metaphor represents the year 2015 for me. 2015 was hard. And every time I found a spot of trouble, I did the only thing I knew how to do: I amateurishly waved a scepter around and yelled, "PAJAMA PAJAMA PAJAMA PAJAMA PAJAMA!" Which wasn't super effective, but was a valiant effort.

I feel you, Nemo. I'm ineffective, too.

There is surely something profound that could be said about this new year, 2016. New chances and all that. I've made some resolutions. There are some things that I hope for, some things I wish would happen to me. But in all honesty, I will be almost satisfied so long as this year is not like last year, where I was constantly thrown into awful situations where I had no control and there was nothing I could do.

But if in 2016 I cannot avoid awful situations where I have no control and there's nothing I can do, I would surely appreciate being made the heir of Slumberland for my trouble.

Also, I would like some cookies.