 McCay had become frustrated with the Herald , partly over money issues and partly because he perceived a lack of freedom . He accepted a higher @-@ paying offer in spring 1911 from Hearst at the New York American and took Little Nemo 's characters with him . The Herald held the strip 's copyright , but McCay won a lawsuit that allowed him to continue using the characters , which he did under the title In the Land of Wonderful Dreams . The Herald was unsuccessful in finding another cartoonist to continue the original strip . 
