Think KPop Demon Hunters is Netflix's only animated Oscar contender this year? In Your Dreams. The first trailer for Alex Woo's heartfelt journey through the nightmares and dreamscapes of two adventurous kids — tweenager Stevie (voiced by Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) and her younger brother Elliot (Elias Janssen) — debuted today, giving the streamer another title in the wide-open Best Animated Feature race.
A former Pixar animator, Woo left the company to found Kuku Studios in 2016 and he and his collaborators started work on what became In Your Dreams not long after. "One of the ideas we stumbled upon was a movie about the world of dreams," the filmmaker remarked at a recent press event that Gold Derby attended. "Dreams are a universal human experience that transcend cultures. Everyone dreams."
You'll have a chance to see what Woo has dreamed up in November. For now, here's everything you need to know about In Your Dreams.
What is In Your Dreams about?
Steven and Elliot's dreamy journey starts after they stumble upon a book that outlines the legend of that sleep-inducing sprite, the Sandman. When both siblings read the same incantation out loud, it triggers a spell that lets them experience the same mental journey through the dream world while their bodies sleep. And they've got a seemingly impossible mission to complete — finding the elusive Sandman so that he can help keep their increasingly estranged parents together just as they seem about to embark on separate lives.
In a Q&A following the screening, Woo said that particular plot point is based on his own childhood. "The problem with a movie about dreams is that anything can happen, but when anything can happen nothing really means anything," he explained. "We needed to pair the setting with a grounded story that had personal weight. When I was a kid, my mom decided to leave home of a little while, which was challenging and devastating for me. That was the genesis of the core story of this movie."
But don't worry — as evidenced by the rambunctious trailer, In Your Dreams is also a comedy, one that's filled with slapstick, silliness and a sidekick named Baloney Tony, Elliot's favorite baloney-carrying stuffie who literally talks back to the kid in his dreams.
Who else is in the movie?
So who provides the voice of Baloney Tony? The Office's Craig Robinson — who else? Stevie and Elliot's mom and dad, meanwhile, are voiced by recent Emmy winner Cristin Milioti and Marvel hero Simu Liu. Comedian Omid Djalili voices the Sandman and Gia Carides lends her vocal pipes to Nightmara, the first lady of nightmares.
When can I see it?
In Your Dreams drops on Netflix on Nov. 14 — just in time for Thanksgiving dinner-induced dreams. That's also two weeks before Zootopia 2 bows in theaters, representing the last (and best) hope for a legacy American animation studio to be nominated for and potentially win the Best Animated Feature statuette, where the current crop of contenders includes KPop Demon Hunters, Arco and Scarlet. We'll see if In Your Dreams can make its own Oscar dreams come true.
