Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989)

Directors:

Masami Hata
William T. Hurtz

Writers:

Winsor McCay (comic strip "Little Nemo in Slumberland")
Ray Bradbury (concept)

Release Date:

21 August 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Animation | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy

Tagline:

Take Off On A Wonderful Adventure With "Little Nemo"...

Plot:

A young boy whose dreams transcend reality is sucked into his his own fantasy, which is everything he...

Plot Keywords:

Dream | Pet | Cult Favorite | Troublemaker | Goblin

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Gabriel Damon	...	Nemo (voice)
Mickey Rooney	...	Flip (voice)
Rene Auberjonois	...	Professor Genius / The Nightmare King (voice)
Danny Mann	...	Icarus (voice)
Laura Mooney	...	Princess Camille (voice)
Bernard Erhard	...	King Morpheus (voice)
Bill Martin	...	Nightmare King (voice) (as William E. Martin)
Alan Oppenheimer	...	Oomp (voice)
Michael Bell	...	Oompy (voice)
Sidney Miller	...	Oompe (voice)
Neil Ross	...	Oompa (voice)
John Stephenson	...	Oompo / Dirigible Captain (voice)
Jennifer Darling	...	Nemo's Mother (voice)
Greg Burson	...	Nemo's Father / Flap (voice)
Sherry Lynn	...	Bon Bon (voice)

Also Known As:

Little Nemo (Japan: English title)

Runtime:

85 min | Japan:94 min (Japanese DVD box-set)

Country:

Japan | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:All | Germany:6 | USA:G

Company:

Tokyo Movie Shinsha (TMS)

Trivia:

This is the first anime film to receive a national (wide) U.S. theatrical release.

Quotes:

Nemo: What are you wanted for?
Flip: Having fun.
Nemo: Having fun?
Flip: Yeah, they don't like it when you have fun here. Heh.

Movie Connections:

References Gertie the Dinosaur (1914)

"Little Nemo" a joy true to the spirit of the original

"Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland" is a joy and a wonder, just like the original Winsor McCay cartoons. For those ignorant of the history of American cartoons, McCay's "Little Nemo" series was a classic of naive pop surrealism exploring the adventures of a boy in the dream-world. McCay was sometimes deficient in spelling, but he was never deficient in drawing or imagination. Of course, the movie has to elide or telescope things a bit. After all, the original cartoon was a serial running episodically in newspapers. I find no serious fault with this. I took particular delight in how some scenes here meticulously mirrored the original cartoon. The animation is at various points dreamy, beautiful, dark, menacing and, of course, surreal. I think it is a mistake to view this film purely as a product of the anime industry - the film is instead a meeting of the Japanese culture with American culture. The merger of sensibilities here is quite wonderful. I loved the squirrel's petulant irritation at being called a "rat." And I loved the nightmare monster-heel. And, of course,the trickster figure, Pip. The whole thing has the quality of a twisting dream, sometimes good, sometimes bad, just like real dreams. Don't hesitate to buy and watch this. Greg Cameron, Surrey, B.C., Canada