Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland

Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (released in Japan as simply Nemo (ニモ, Nimo) and credited in some territories as Little Nemo) is a 1989 Japanese-American animated musical-comedy adventure fantasy film directed by Masami Hata and William Hurtz.[1] Based on the comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland by Winsor McCay, the film went through a lengthy development process with a number of screenwriters. Ultimately, the screenplay was credited to Chris Columbus and Richard Outten; the storyline and art style differed from the original version. The original soundtrack was penned by the Academy Award-winning Sherman Brothers. The film features the English dub voices of Gabriel Damon, Mickey Rooney, René Auberjonois, Danny Mann, and Bernard Erhard.

Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland
Japanese theatrical release poster
Directed by
  • Masami Hata
  • William Hurtz
Produced byYutaka Fujioka
Screenplay by
Story by
Based onLittle Nemo in Slumberland
by Winsor McCay
Starring
Music by
CinematographyHajime Hasegawa
Edited byTakeshi Seyama
Production
company
Distributed by
Release date
  • July 15, 1989 (1989-07-15) (Japan)
  • August 21, 1992 (1992-08-21) (United States)
Running time
  • 95 minutes (Original cut)
  • 85 minutes (Edited cut)
Country
  • Japan
  • United States
Language
  • Japanese
  • English
Budget
  • ¥3 billion
  • (est. $35 million)
Box office$11.4 million

The movie was infamous for being in development hell with many people with some worked at Disney and others who worked on Star Wars, some of the people who worked on Looney Tunes, as well as some people who would later found Studio Ghibli, figures such as George Lucas, Chuck Jones, Ray Bradbury, Isao Takahata, Brad Bird, Jerry Rees, Chris Columbus, Ken Anderson, Frank Thomas, Oliver Johnston, Paul Julian, Osamu Dezaki, the Sherman Brothers (Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman), Hayao Miyazaki (who was working at TMS at the time), and Gary Kurtz being involved with the movie before all dropping out.

The film was first released in Japan on July 15, 1989 and in the United States on August 21, 1992 by the Hemdale Film Corporation. It received mixed to positive reviews from publications including the Washington Post, Variety, the New York Post, the Boston Globe, and The New York Times, earned $11.4 million on a $35 million budget and was a box office bomb, but sold well on home video and has since developed a cult following.

Plot

The film opens with the young boy Nemo experiencing a dream where he is taking his bed on a flight and finds a city in the clouds. It turns into a nightmare in which he and the bed are dropped at the turn of a clock tower and are pursued by a runaway locomotive and when he wakes up after his nightmare, he sees that it was all a bad dream. Upon awakening the next day, he goes with his pet flying squirrel Icarus to see a parade welcoming a traveling circus. However, Nemo is unable to see the circus because his parents are too busy to take him. Later that night, Nemo imitates sleepwalking in a failed attempt to sneak some pie, going against a promise he had earlier made to his mother. Upon falling asleep that night, Nemo is approached by figures from the parade. The circus organist introduces himself as Professor Genius and claims that they had been sent on a mission by King Morpheus, the king of a realm named Slumberland. The mission involves Nemo becoming the playmate of the princess, Camille. Although Nemo initially has reservations about interacting with royalty of the opposite gender, he and Icarus decide to set off to fulfill his mission after being persuaded with a gift box of cookies from the princess.

Nemo is taken to Slumberland in a dirigible which he is allowed to drive, before nearly running into a presence called "The Nightmare" and after arriving safely in Slumberland and gets the Attention of a mischievous clown named Flip who has ownership of a Map of both Slumberland and Nighmare Land. Later Nemo is introduced to King Morpheus, who doubles as the circus ringmaster on Earth. Morpheus reveals that he summoned Nemo to become his heir to the throne. Morpheus gives Nemo a golden key that opens every door in the kingdom, and warns him of a door with a dragon insignia that must never be opened. Nemo is introduced to Princess Camille and the pair and Icarus roam the entirety of Slumberland together. Afterward, Nemo is whisked away by Genius to prince lessons and after sneaking away from them gets involved with Flip, who angers a group of police and forces him and Nemo to hide out in a cave where, Nemo discovers the door that Morpheus warned him not to open. Flip tempts Nemo into unlocking the door, which unleashes "The Nightmare". Nemo rushes back to Morpheus' castle in time for his coronation ceremony. Morpheus demonstrates the power of the royal scepter, by saying a set of magic words. Nemo is handed the royal scepter, the only thing capable of defeating the Nightmare King should he ever return to Slumberland. In the middle of a dance session between Morpheus and Genius, "The Nightmare" reaches the castle and steals Morpheus away. As the partygoers search for a scapegoat, Flip and Nemo reveal each other responsible for opening the forbidden door, but the blame ultimately goes to Nemo since Morpheus gave him the key.

Nemo then awakens in his home hearing the distant voice of the Morphius before his home floods with seawater and ejects him and Icarus into the ocean. Genius reunites with them and tells Nemo not to blame himself and that Flip is to blame for all that has happened; Nemo refutes this, citing that he's the one who made and then broke his promise to Morpheus to never open the door, and resolves to find and rescue the king. When the three return to Slumberland and narrowly prevent Flip's banishment into outer space by cannon, Nemo forces Flip to reveal that he has a map to Nightmare Land, where Morpheus is currently being held. Nemo, Icarus, Camille, Flip, and Genius set off in a tugboat in search of Morpheus. They are soon sucked into a whirlpool and find themselves in the goblin-infested Nightmare Land. The five come across a group of shapeshifting goblins called Boomps who wish to aid in the quest to rescue Morpheus as one of their own troupe was left behind at Nightmare Castle.

The Nightmare King sends a flock of fearsome and gigantic goblin bats to seize the rescue party. Nemo attempts to use the scepter, but only remembers two words of the full incantation and awakens in his bed along with Icarus just after watching Flip, Genius, and Camille be captured by the Nightmare King's forces. The Boomps appear in Nemo's room and reunite with a lost member of theirs, who gives Nemo a letter from Morpheus containing the scepter's incantation to defeat the Nightmare King. The group returns to Nightmare Land by flying on Nemo's bed through a dimensional portal in the sky, and after another run in with "The Nightmare" soon reach and infiltrate Nightmare Castle. However, they are subsequently trapped in the castle, where the Nightmare King demands possession of the scepter and threatens Flip, Genius, Camille, and Morpheus, whom are all in suspended animated states, with harm if Nemo doesn't comply. After a fierce battle, Nemo uses the scepter to finally defeat and destroy the Nightmare King and purify his kingdom, though due to Nemo's young age, the use of the scepter's full power inadvertently kills him as well. As everyone awakens in the aftermath and discovers Nemo's lifeless body, they begin to mourn for Slumberland's fallen prince. Morpheus, however, uses the scepter to restore Nemo to life. Nemo apologizes for breaking his promise, opening the door, and causing everything to begin with. Morpheus forgives him, citing that his courage and strong will have allowed him to make up for his mistake, and become a true prince.

As Slumberland celebrates the fall of the Nightmare Kingdom, Camille escorts Nemo and Icarus home on the dirigible. The two then nearly share a kiss, after which Nemo awakens in his room, where he apologizes to his mother for breaking his promise and trying to take the pie. Nemo's parents also agree to take Nemo to the circus. Nemo stares out the window with Icarus excited about the day ahead of him.

Cast
  • Gabriel Damon (Takuma Gōno in the Japanese adaptation) as Nemo: He is a human boy living in New York City who is taken to Slumberland to be the official playmate of Princess Camille; in actuality, however, he is being summoned to be the heir to the elderly King Morpheus. He is given the key to Slumberland, but is warned by the king to leave a door with a coiled dragon emblazoned on it closed. Sadly, he opens the aforementioned door when he is tempted by Flip and goes on a quest to restore Slumberland to its rightful glory, save King Morpheus and defeat the Nightmare King.
  • Mickey Rooney (Chikao Ōtsuka in the Japanese adaptation) as Flip: He is described as a "frightful fellow" by Professor Genius, he is wanted throughout Slumberland for "having fun" (the bounty on his head is a sizeable one) and his only friend is his partner-in-crime: a bird named Flap. He tricks Nemo into accidentally releasing the Nightmare King and blames Nemo for the ruin of Slumberland. He is in possession of a map of Nightmare Land (hand-drawn and written in his own special code) and serves as the guide to the Nightmare Castle until he is replaced by the Boomps. He has a serious smoking addiction. In the real world, he is a clown in a circus that stops in Nemo's town.
  • René Auberjonois (Kōichi Kitamura in the Japanese adaptation) as Professor Genius: King Morpheus' advisor. He comes to the real world to bring Nemo to Slumberland. As a sophisticated man, he is quite punctual and prefers order as opposed to madness. He is quite a dancer, as he dances quite a bit during Nemo's coronation ceremony. In the real world, he is an organ player in a circus that stops in Nemo's town.
  • Danny Mann as Icarus: a flying squirrel, Nemo's best friend and a supporting protagonist. Icarus is Nemo's only friend from the real world. He shows great concern for Nemo's wellbeing in a sense similar to that of two siblings. He speaks a mix of both squirrel and some English. His screech is painful to the ears of the Boomps. He detests being called a "little rat" (which Princess Camille mistakes him for). Unlike other squirrels, Icarus eats human food, like cookies. His initial relationship with Princess Camille, though rough, eventually changes for the better.
  • Bernard Erhard (Kenji Utsumi in the Japanese adaptation) as King Morpheus: The sovereign of Slumberland. He has protected Slumberland for years with the help of the royal scepter: an ancient weapon of great power. Though he is a child at heart, he knows when to be serious. He has Nemo brought to Slumberland so that he may become his heir to the throne. He gives Nemo the key to Slumberland, which can open any door; however, he warns Nemo of one door with a dragon symbol emblazoned on it that must never be opened. Like Professor Genius, he is quite a dancer, as he dances alongside the Professor during Nemo's coronation ceremony. When Nemo accidentally releases the Nightmare King, King Morpheus is captured and Nemo has to go and rescue him from Nightmare Land. In the real world, he is the ringmaster of a circus that stops in Nemo's town.
  • Bill Martin (Tarō Ishida in the Japanese adaptation) as The Nightmare King: He is a demonic horned creature who rules over the realm of Nightmares or Bad Dreams. When Nemo goes to Nightmare Land to save King Morpheus, the Nightmare King has his minions capture Nemo's friends (Professor Genius, Flip and Princess Camille). He is shown to be a liar and quite temperamental as he destroys several minions for the failure of just one of his underlings (the general of his army). Among his forces are a gigantic flying stingray and a presence known as "The Nightmare". The only thing that can vanquish him is the royal scepter.
  • Laura Mooney (Hiroko Kasahara in the Japanese adaptation) as Princess Camille: the daughter of King Morpheus. Though she initially acts somewhat spoiled, she eventually grows to like Nemo. She also grows fond of Icarus (and vice versa, despite a rough start). When her father is kidnapped by the Nightmare King, she takes over as sovereign but decides to join Nemo in his quest to save King Morpheus. In the real world, she is the daughter of the ringmaster of a circus that stops in Nemo's town.
  • Greg Burson (Tesshō Genda in the Japanese adaptation) as Nemo's father
  • Greg Burson as Flap: Flip's bird companion.
  • Jennifer Darling (Mari Yokō in the Japanese adaptation) as Nemo's mother
  • Neil Ross (Hiroshi Ōtake in the Japanese adaptation) as Oompa: A member of the Boomps that befriend Nemo.
  • Alan Oppenheimer (Keiichi Nanba in the Japanese adaptation) as Oomp: A member of the Boomps that befriend Nemo.
  • John Stephenson (Masaharu Satō in the Japanese adaptation) as Oompo: A member of the Boomps that befriend Nemo.
  • Sidney Miller (Kōzō Shioya in the Japanese adaptation) as Oompe: A member of the Boomps that befriend Nemo.
  • Michael Bell (Hiroko Emori in the Japanese adaptation) as Oompy: A member of the Boomps that befriend Nemo.
  • Kathleen Freeman (Kimie Nakajima in the Japanese adaptation) as the dance teacher
  • Bever-Leigh Banfield (Seiko Nakao in the Japanese adaptation) as the woman
  • John Stephenson (Kazumi Tanaka in the Japanese adaptation) as the dirigible captain
  • Bert Kramer (Yukimasa Kishino in the Japanese adaptation) as a goblin: A hideous creature that serves as a member of the Nightmare King's army. They are sent by the Nightmare King to ensure that Nemo doesn't reach his castle and free King Morpheus. Though the goblins succeed in capturing most of Nemo's friends, they fail to capture Nemo himself and, when the Nightmare King finds out, he kills them all in a fit of rage. The only goblins to survive are the Boomps (who, in contrast to the other goblins, are not hideous and are actually good).
  • Beau Weaver (Tarō Arakawa in the Japanese adaptation) as a policeman
  • Sherry Lynn as Bon Bon
  • Guy Christopher as a Courtier and a Cop
  • Nancy Cartwright and Ellen Gerstell as pages
  • Tress MacNeille as an elevator creature
  • Michael McConnohie as an etiquette master
  • Michael Gough as a teacher
  • Michael Sheehan as a fencing master
  • June Foray as the librarian
  • Gregg Berger as the equestrian master
  • John Stepehnson as Dirigible Captain

Production

Nemo was the brainchild of producer Yutaka Fujioka. His dream for years had been to make a feature length, animated film version of Little Nemo in Slumberland which would utilize the resources of his Tokyo Movie Shinsha studio. As the first step towards realizing this project, in 1977 he personally flew to Monterey, California to convince McCay's descendants to allow him to obtain the film rights to the comic strip. He originally approached George Lucas a year later to help produce the film, but Lucas found problems with the storyline, feeling there was no character development for the titular character. Fujioka also approached Chuck Jones, but Jones also declined. The film was officially announced as a project in 1982. In February of that year, the company TMS/Kinetographics was formed in America to produce Nemo, and the best staff from around the world were gathered together to begin production. Gary Kurtz was appointed producer of the American production side and hired Ray Bradbury and later Edward Summer to write screenplays. Kurtz would eventually step down in the fall of 1984.[2]

In the early 1980s, both Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata (who both were working at TMS entertainment at the time) were involved with the film, but they both parted ways because of creative differences; essentially, Miyazaki did not seem to be keen on the concept of an animated feature created by him where everything was a dream, and Takahata agreed with Lucas and was more interested in creating a story depicting Nemo's growth as a boy.[2] Miyazaki later described his involvement on the film as "the worst experience he has ever been through".[3] The directors who succeeded the duo were Andy Gaskill and Yoshifumi Kondo, who both exited production in March 1985 after completing a 70mm pilot film.[4] Osamu Dezaki was also brought to direct for a brief while and completed another pilot film, but left as well. A third pilot film was made by Sadao Tsukioka but has yet to become publicly available.[2]

Brad Bird and Jerry Rees also worked on the film through the American department as animators for a month, while at the same time working on an unproduced adaptation of Will Eisner's The Spirit with Gary Kurtz. During production, the two would regularly ask animators what they were doing, and the response they were commonly given was "We're just illustrating what Bradbury is writing." Upon meeting Bradbury in person and asking him about the story he was writing for the film, he replied "I'm just putting in writing what these wonderful artists are drawing." Bird and Rees left the project soon after their meeting with Bradbury.[5]

When all of these people had left, Fujioka had drafts done by Chris Columbus, Mœbius, John Canemaker, Richard Martini and many others. He then re-hired Summer to do yet another screenplay. Subsequently, Richard Outten was hired to work from Columbus' screenplay while Columbus was busy with his directorial debut, Adventures in Babysitting. Many Disney Studio animators including Ken Anderson and Leo Salkin worked on individual sequences, and John Canemaker, Corny Cole, and Brian Froud provided visual development. Frank Thomas, Oliver Johnston and Paul Julian consulted to the production. The world-famous Sherman Brothers (Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman) were hired to write the songs for Nemo. This was their first anime film, though not their first animated film; the pair had previously worked on several projects for Disney, including The Jungle Book and Hanna-Barbera's Charlotte's Web.

Little production progress was made until January 1988, when the many ideas pasted on the walls of the Los Angeles studio were whittled down in order to create the storyboard from which the film would be made. It was at this point that Thomas and Johnston recommended William T. Hurtz as the director of the American production side, and TMS hired Masami Hata, a former Sanrio film director, as the appointed director at the TMS studio in Japan. Actual animation for the completed film was commenced in June 1988, as TMS was just completing Akira.[2] The success of that film in Japan further helped TMS finally start production on Little Nemo. Even though it derived from an American comic strip, Little Nemo was animated by the Japanese company Tokyo Movie Shinsha and thus is often considered an anime film, although it was a joint production of Japanese and American animators and production companies.

Release

The Japanese cut was released in Japan on July 15, 1989. In a Summer that included strong competition, including Studio Ghibli's Kiki's Delivery Service, which was ironically directed by one of the animators who left the production of this film, it grossed ¥0.9 billion (US$10 million) in its release and was considered a box-office flop, against a budget of around ¥3 billion (US$35 million).

The English dub was released three years later in the United States in 579 theaters on August 21, 1992 through Hemdale Film Corporation.[6] 11 minutes were cut in order to secure a family-friendly G rating by Motion Picture Association of America. This version's opening credits were shortened, as a result, the opening song plays during the opening scene.

Critical reception

It received mixed to positive reviews from publications including The Washington Post, Variety, the New York Post, the Boston Globe and The New York Times.[7] Roger Ebert gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, though on a positive note, he wrote: "Little Nemo is an interesting if not a great film, with some jolly characters, some cheerful songs, and some visual surprises."[8]

Box office

Despite having a positive reception, the film failed to find an audience. In its opening weekend in the United States, Nemo made about $407,695 with a total US gross of approximately $1,368,000.[6] It won the "Audience Award" at Amsterdam's 1992 Cinekid Festival and was nominated for "Best Animated Feature" at the 1993 Annie Awards.[9]

In March 2005, Little Nemo was given a very limited re-release in Denver, Seattle, Atlanta, Austin, Houston, and other cities in the US. This was through Regal Entertainment Group's Regal Cinemas, Edwards Theatres, and United Artists Theatres as part of a Kidtoon Films family matinées promotion. It was only shown on weekends.[10]

Aftermath

After the film's release, Fujioka decided to retire from the animation business. TMS, having to recoup Little Nemo's losses, increased production on locally based anime programs and became highly involved in animation for western-based productions, including Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, and Batman. Since the early 2000s, TMS has no longer supplied animation services to western studios due to increasingly demanding costs. The studio has never again attempted a project like Akira or Nemo. The studio still does features, but primarily films spinning off existing anime properties, which include the likes of Anpanman and Detective Conan.

Home media
US DVD cover

The film was released on VHS through Hemdale Home Video, Inc. on March 2, 1993. It features a mail-in coupon worth $5.00, with purchases of Tropicana Orange Juice, along with an advert before the film produced by Pixar. Hemdale also produced a Collector's Set which includes a VHS movie, illustrated storybook, and cassette soundtrack. Nemo became the #4 best-selling children's title of 1993, with 1.5 million copies sold.[11]

On October 5, 2004, Little Nemo was released on DVD through Funimation (under the Our Time Family Entertainment name, and under license from TMS, which had regained North American rights to the film after Hemdale closed). All of the cuts that were made in the 1992 release were restored in this DVD, bringing the run time of the film to the full 95 minutes, even though it would receive a PG rating. However, this is not mentioned or addressed in the DVD materials. Once again, it is dub-only.

After the title went out of print, Little Nemo could be seen selling anywhere from $80 to $200 US for a sealed copy (usually DVD) on Internet sites such as Amazon and eBay. Funimation's DVD was re-released as a budget title from Echo Bridge Home Entertainment on January 27, 2009, appearing commonly in department stores in low-price bargain bins. Then on September 20, 2011, after Echo Bridge's reissue went out of print, it was released again on DVD by Discotek Media, but that release is dub-only. On November 6, 2012, Discotek released a Blu-ray of the film containing the Japanese dub and original English audio tracks and included bonus features such as the pilot films from 1984 and 1987.[12]

Video games
Main article: Little Nemo: The Dream Master

After the Japanese release, but before the US release, Capcom developed an NES game titled Little Nemo: The Dream Master, which was released in late 1990. An arcade game, also by Capcom and titled Nemo, was developed that same year.

gollark: Not-invented-here syndrome?
gollark: So why dale?
gollark: it could be at least 2 elegant.
gollark: Personally, if I had to do this and it had to be in C for some stupid reason I would just bind Lua.
gollark: This is literally some of the best* code I've ever seen!

References
  1. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 189. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  2. "Masami Hata Filmography > 28". Pelleas.net. July 15, 1989. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
  3. Reviews Film Reviews Anime Reviews Book Reviews. "Anime Review: Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland | リトルニモ：冒険スランバーランドで | 1989 | Masami Hata | William T. Hurtz". iSugoi. Archived from the original on February 29, 2012. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
  4. "Little Nemo test film". YouTube. April 8, 2008. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
  5. "Little Nemo test film | Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation". Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on March 23, 2012. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
  6. "Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1992)". Box Office Mojo. September 4, 1992. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
  7. Holden, Stephen (August 21, 1992). "Review/Film; Young Hero in Pajamas Braves Nightmare Land - New York Times". Nytimes.com. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
  8. "Little Nemo: Adventures In Slumberland". Chicago Sun-Times.
  9. "The Annie Awards". The Annie Awards. Archived from the original on May 25, 2012. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
  10. "Little Nemo Theatrical Release - News". Anime News Network. March 5, 2005. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
  11. Miller Rosenblum, Trudi (June 25, 1994). Suppliers Aim Kids Vid at Parents. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 43.
  12. "Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Archived from the original on September 9, 2012. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
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