''Slumberland'' is a 2022 American fantasy adventure film directed by

Francis Lawrence Francis Lawrence (born March 26, 1971) is an Austrian-born American filmmaker and producer. After establishing himself as a director of music videos and commercials, Lawrence made his feature-length directorial debut with the superhero thrille ...

and written by David Guion and Michael Handelman. Based on the

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

Little Nemo in Slumberland Little Nemo is a fictional character created by American cartoonist Winsor McCay. He originated in an early comic strip by McCay, ''Dream of the Rarebit Fiend'', before receiving his own spin-off series, ''Little Nemo in Slumberland''. The f ...

'' by

Winsor McCay Zenas Winsor McCay ( – July 26, 1934) was an American cartoonist and animator. He is best known for the comic strip ''Little Nemo'' (1905–14; 1924–26) and the animated film ''Gertie the Dinosaur'' (1914). For contractual reasons, he worke ...

, the film stars

Jason Momoa Joseph Jason Namakaeha Momoa (; born August 1, 1979) is an American actor. He made his acting debut as Jason Ioane on the syndicated action drama series '' Baywatch: Hawaii'' (1999–2001), which was followed by portrayals of Ronon Dex on the ...

, Marlow Barkley,

Chris O'Dowd Christopher O'Dowd (born 9 October 1979) is an Irish actor and comedian. He received wide attention as Roy Trenneman, one of the lead characters in the Channel 4 comedy '' The IT Crowd'', which ran for four series between 2006 and 2010. He has ...

Kyle Chandler Kyle Martin Chandler (born September 17, 1965) is an American actor. Making his screen acting debut in a 1988 television film, '' Quiet Victory: The Charlie Wedemeyer Story'', Chandler's first regular television role was in the ABC drama '' Hom ...

, and

Weruche Opia Reanne Weruche Opia () (born 11 April 1987) is a British-Nigerian actress and entrepreneur. She is the founding CEO of the clothing line Jesus Junkie Clothing. She was nominated for a British Academy Television Award for her performance in the B ...

. It tells the story of a young girl who goes to live with her uncle after her father is lost at sea and enters Slumberland where she befriends a renegade character who is involved in a plot to get to the Sea of Nightmares and obtain a special pearl that may have the power to reunite her with her father. ''Slumberland'' was released on November 18, 2022, by

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

. It received generally mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

Nemo is a young girl who lives in a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

with her father Peter ever since her mom died when she was young. Peter teaches Nemo how to maintain the lighthouse and tells her wild bedtime stories about his adventures with a character named Flip and one of their adventures involve the searching for a cave of magical wish-granting pearls. One day, a storm occurs and Peter heads out to help a distressed boat. Nemo has a nightmare of her underwater as Peter is snatched by a squid-like shape. After Nemo wakes up from her nightmare, Carla informs Nemo that her father is now lost at sea. As a result, Carla contacts Nemo's doorknob salesman uncle Philip and persuades him to take Nemo in before she becomes a

ward of the state In law, a ward is a minor or incapacitated adult placed under the protection of a legal guardian or government entity, such as a court. Such a person may be referenced as a "ward of the court". Overview The wardship jurisdiction is an ancient j ...

. Philip is shown to lead a monotonous and unfulfilling life. Nemo is awakened one night when her stuffed pig (named Pig) comes to life, finding herself in Slumberland, the world between

dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...

s. She is carried back to the lighthouse by her animated bed, where she meets Flip, a stubborn and unscrupulous outlaw. Nemo recognizes Flip as the character from the stories her father told. He asks Nemo about a magical map, but she is unaware of it. With no use for Nemo, Flip pushes her off a cliff to wake her up. Awake, Nemo struggles to adjust to her new life and is an outcast at school as she meets school counselor Ms. Arya and a student named Jamal. Nemo then finds the map in the waking world and manages to take it back to Slumberland, where Flip begrudgingly agrees to take her with him to the pearls so she can wish her father into her dreams. Flip tells Nemo that he has refused to wake up for so long he no longer remembers who he was when awake. He uses the map as a guide through various dreams to get to the cave. They travel through multiple dreams of different people and are attacked by a cloud of smoke resembling a

kraken The kraken () is a legendary sea monster of enormous size said to appear off the coasts of Norway. Kraken, the subject of sailors' superstitions and mythos, was first described in the modern age at the turn of the 18th century, in a travelogu ...

, a personification of the

nightmare A nightmare, also known as a bad dream, Retrieved 11 July 2016. is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety or great sadness. The dream may contain situations of d ...

of Nemo's father being taken by the same creature. The duo also find themselves being chased down by Agent Green of the Bureau of Subconscious Activities (BoSA), who wants to imprison Flip for never waking up and intruding dreams. They use more dreams to flee Green, but are eventually caught. Green locks Flip up and warns Nemo that she cannot control her dreams before waking her up. In the waking world, Philip shows Nemo an old video tape of him and Peter as children playing together. Nemo realizes that Flip is Philip's dream alter-ego. As Flip has not woken up, Philip remains docile and unadventurous in the waking world. Nemo borrows Philip's lock-picking tools and goes to Slumberland to rescue Flip from the BoSA. The two use more dreams to flee Green, finding their way back to the lighthouse. Nemo tells Flip who he is, and he rebukes this, stating that he will never wake up. Before she can dive into the ocean to find the pearls, Nemo is awakened and torn out of Slumberland by Ms. Arya. When Philip is called in, Ms. Arya reports on Nemo's progress in school. This leads to an argument between Nemo and Philip. That night, Nemo sneaks out of Philip's apartment and sails through rough water back to the lighthouse in the waking world. She hits her head and passes out in the boat, sending her back into Slumberland. In the Sea of Nightmares, Nemo acquires a wishing pearl, but is chased by the nightmare. Flip arrives to save her in an airplane and they crash their way through the various dreams from earlier which also awakens their inhabitants. In the waking world, Nemo slips off the small sailboat and into the water. Philip arranges a rescue boat manned by Carla and two co-workers and heads towards the lighthouse, terrified by the storm. The nightmare grabs Flip and Nemo uses her wish to force Flip to wake up. In the waking world, Philip is emboldened and dives into the water to rescue Nemo, who is unconscious. In Slumberland, Green finds Nemo and commends her on using her wish to save Flip. Green gives Nemo another pearl which she uses to see her father again. Peter appears and the two spend some quality time together before he tells Nemo he is proud of her and that life is waiting for her in the waking world. Nemo says goodbye to her father and wakes up, where Phillip embraces her, now embedded with the personality of Flip. Nemo begins to improve her life in the waking world, making friends at school and repairing her relationship with her uncle as they make use of one of Peter's boats for sailing.

Cast

* Marlow Barkley as Nemo, a young girl who has dreams of Slumberland. The character is a boy in the 1900s comic strip. ** Abigail White works as Nemo's photo double. *

as Flip, a con artist with sharp teeth and the ears and horns of a goat who becomes Nemo's companion and was a former friend of Nemo's father Peter. The character is a clown in the 1900s comic strip. *

as Philip, Nemo's uncle who works as a doorknob salesman who is the waking world counterpart of Flip. ** Cameron Nicoll as young Phillip *

as Peter, Nemo's father and former lighthouse keeper who gets lost at sea. ** Antonio Rane Pastore as young Peter. *

as Agent Green, an operative of the Bureau of Subconscious Activities who Flip has been eluding. *

India de Beaufort India de Beaufort (born India Beaufort Lloyd; 27 June 1987) is a British actress and singer. Early life de Beaufort is of British and Indian background. Her maternal grandfather was born in Calcutta, where his family lived for around 350 years ...

as Ms. Arya, the school counselor at Nemo's school. * Ali Asghar Shah as Jamal, Nemo's school friend. * Yanna McIntosh as Carla, a friend of Peter and Nemo. * Izaak Smith as a Canadian guy who dreams about riding a giant

Canada goose The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), or Canadian goose, is a large wild goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North America, and it is o ...

* Michael Blake as an accountant whose dreams have him with more hair * Humberly González as Graciela, a

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

who dreams about being a salsa dancer. * Ava Cheung as Ho-Sook * Leslie Adlam as Agent Brown, an operative of the Bureau of Subconscious Activities. * Jamillah Ross as Agent Orange, an operative of the Bureau of Subconscious Activities. * Tonya Cornelisse as Agent Red, an operative of the Bureau of Subconscious Activities. * Katerina Taxia as Janice, a lunch lady.

Production

Development and casting

On March 3, 2020, it was announced that

would star in a live-action adaptation of the comic strip series ''

'' by

from director

, with

distributing and production starting in the summer of that same year. However, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, filming for the project was postponed. On October 12, 2020,

joined the cast of the film, where

and Marlow Barkley had already been confirmed to star. The following year, on February 18,

and

were cast.

Filming

Filming began on February 18, 2021, in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, and concluded on May 19, 2021.

Post-production

Pinar Toprak Pinar Toprak (born 18 October 1980) is a Turkish-American composer for film, television and video games. She is most well known for composing the score to the hit Marvel movie '' Captain Marvel'' (2019). She has won three International Film Mus ...

composed the musical score.

DNEG DNEG (formerly known as Double Negative) is a British visual effects, computer animation, and stereo conversion studio that was founded in 1998 in London, and rebranded as DNEG in 2014 after a merger with Indian VFX company Prime Focus. The c ...

and

Framestore Framestore is a British animation, visual effects company and creative studio based on Chancery Lane in London. Formed in 1986, it acquired (and subsequently merged with) the Computer Film Company in 1997. It works on feature films and tele ...

provided the visual effects. Additional VFX was done by

Scanline VFX Scanline VFX is a global visual effects and animation company founded 1989 in Munich. The studio is led by VFX Supervisor Stephan Trojansky. The company has 7 locations including Munich, Stuttgart, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Montreal, London, and Se ...

, Ghost VFX, Important Looking Pirates, Outpost VFX,

Rodeo FX Rodeo FX is a visual effects company involved in projects in the film, television and advertising industry. The company currently has studios in Montreal, Quebec City, Munich and Los Angeles. History Rodeo FX was founded in 2006 in Montreal, Ca ...

, Incessant Rain Studios. and Pinscreen, which did AI VFX. The film's main and end titles were done by Imaginary Forces.

Release

''Slumberland'' was released on November 18, 2022, by

. In its first week of release Slumberland was the fifth most streamed program for the week of November 21–27 accruing over 1 billion minutes viewed across the platform.

Reception

Accolades

The film was nominated for two awards ( Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature & Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature) at the 21st Visual Effects Society Awards.

References

External links

* * {{Francis Lawrence 2022 films 2022 adventure films 2022 fantasy films 2020s American films 2020s English-language films 2020s fantasy adventure films American fantasy adventure films Chernin Entertainment films English-language Netflix original films Film productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films about dreams Films based on comic strips Films based on works by Winsor McCay Films directed by Francis Lawrence Films produced by Peter Chernin Films scored by Pinar Toprak Films shot in Toronto Little Nemo Live-action films based on comics Magic realism films Films about grieving