Piccolo Nemo - Avventure nel mondo dei sogni

Ever rent a movie out of curiosity because, although you've never heard a good thing about it, you want to see it anyway because you thought it looked good? That happened to me with "Little Nemo"; I rented it one summer and felt as if I had struck gold.

The thing that got me with this movie was that the animators managed to imitate the original Windsor McCay illustrations so closely. Being an illustrator myself, that completely won me over and that alone would be cause to recommend it. But this is also one of the most visually inventive animated films I've ever seen. I will not spoil the surprise by describing anything, but the way this movie depicts Slumberland is surely the best thing about it. This is definately worth hunting down.

Nemo (Gabriel Damon) is a young boy who's prone to vivid dreaming and sneaking pies. After a circus comes to town he's told by his father that he might be too busy to go to the circus. When Nemo's next dream comes he's visited by Professor Genius (René Auberjonois) so he may be the playmate of the princess of Slumberland. Once there Nemo explores not only the wonders of Slumberland, but must also contend with the nightmares of Nightmareland after he breaks a promise not to open a forbidden door.

Produced over a period of roughly a decade and adapted from the comic strip by Winsor McCay, the movie became infamous for its revolving door of writers, directors, and producers that resulted in the creation of THREE different pilot films (One of which has never been released) before its final version was released. The movie was met with mixed reviews and lackluster box office, but did eventually manage to turn a profit thanks to healthy VHS sales. The movie is very beautiful to look at, but it's most likely far short of where the creative team wished to take it.

The movie's real star is the visuals and animation. The line work is very clean and the opening sequence where Nemo flies his bed is simply breath taking. But the movie runs into the problem of sticking too close to its source because the fact that everything happens in a dream makes much of the following film feel kind of hollow. There are some attempts to try and tie what happens in the dream to Nemo's real life with a forced parallel between his promise not to sneak pies and a promise not to open a forbidden door, but this connection is so tenuous that on its initial release it was edited out of the American version and no one really noticed. After the opening dream sequence the movie doesn't have much of a plot as Nemo basically stumbles around Slumberland playing around with the various sets and characters who are all patterned after the circus in one way or another, and because there's that theme around Slumberland it doesn't lend itself to much surprise so Slumberland feels much more mundane than it should.

In many ways an actual plot doesn't take place until about 40 minutes in where Nemo has to go to Nightmareland to rescue King Morpheus from a nightmare he accidentally released, but even this plot is rather lacking and disjointed because whenever Nemo is backed into a corner he'll "wake up" back in his bed but still be in the dream. This is done twice and further undermines the story of the movie because if it's a dream why should we care?

Despite the rather thin narrative the movie does have some merits. Even if there's a flabby mid section with not much substance, the opening and ending of the movie are really well done and filled with effectively built up atmosphere that is conveyed with striking animation and visuals. Even years after I'd seen this film the flying bed sequence and the desolation of Nightmareland with its deafening silence that served as the penultimate crescendo still play clearly in my mind. Little Nemo is a heavilly flawed movie, but it's also one that strives for greatness and has clear effort put in. It doesn't quite stack up to the sum of its parts, but it doesn't fall flat on its face either.

In reference to my review's my tag line, this is by no means a movie for "kids only". Looking back at Little Nemo as an adult, I'm surprised at how well it still holds up in my eyes. The writer's did a good job in making Little Nemo suitable for younger viewers, but without dumbing down the plot, dialogue, or artistic creativity of the film. There's no reason why a kids film can't be smart and original, and it really irks me when writers use a young target audience as an excuse to give us a second rate script.

Little Nemo is certainly unique if nothing else. The story follows a young, imaginative boy named Nemo as he travels through the mystical Slumberland. Nemo meets and befriends numerous people throughout Slumberland eventually earning the high esteem of the land's royal family. Unfortunately things go horribly wrong after Nemo's curiosity inadvertently leads him to unleash a virtual Pandora's Box, which threatens to destroy the kingdom. Can Nemo redeem himself and save his new friends?

The lead characters are very well developed, thanks in no small part to the great voice actors. They convey a genuine and convincing level of human emotion. Little Nemo has a very surreal atmosphere to it, which work perfectly at conveying the dreamy atmosphere of Slumberland. There are also some surprisingly dark and moody moments. Don't get me wrong, this isn't scary by any means, far from it, but the colors are very effective in conveying the tense emotion and gloomy atmosphere of these scenes. Likewise the more upbeat moments are also very well executed, with a bright vibrant array of reds, blues, yellows, etc. Really top-notch animation, that still holds up very well even by today's standards.

I would definitely recommend Little Nemo if you're looking for a quality children's film, that parents will likely enjoy as well.

"Little Nemo" is not easy to watch, but then again neither are the original comics by Winsor McKay easy to read. He had a wild and unconstrained (sometimes nightmarish) imagination, and the movie mirrors that general feeling. However, the imagery of this film is a striking tribute to a master of imagery. I wonder if Miyazaki of "Spirited Away" and "Castle in the Sky" was influenced by McKay. His flying machines, architecture, lighting and characters remind me of those seen in the "Little Nemo" comics and his casual cross-disolves from fantasy to reality and back are highly reminiscent of McKay's work. The film's major failing is its attempt to maintain a coherent, disney-like story arch in the midst of the rampant near-madness of MkKay's imagined world. Also, the squirrel was a mistake. Over all though, if you're familiar with McKay's work, I recommend you see this film to get a feel for what a McKay movie might have been like if he had persisted beyond his fledgeling attempts at animation. To see his actual attempts, I recommend the DVD "Animation Legend: Winsor McCay".

"Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland" (aka. Little Nemo: Dreamland no Daiboken) is quite a fun Euro-Anime film. It also spun off a video game based on the movie and it is a good film for those whom don't really remember or never heard of McKay's original comic series.

It is about a young boy named Nemo and his flying squirrel going on different dreamlike adventures, some of them having different results of their own. Sorry, I just don't feel like spoiling anyone today.

I swear, I cannot believe this film bombed outside of Europe and Asia, because it was "un-Disney like". Yeah, well, that is why Little Nemo is good. Alot of Disney's (recent) works are so sappy and sweetsy, like syrup on sugar on saccarine. Kind of like an unberable sweetness.

Anyways, check this movie out. You will be doing me and others whom remember this film a favor, and PLEASE put it on either DVD or VCD, with also the original Japanese and French tracks too!

PS. Did you know that Brian Froud, Moebius and Hayao Miyazaki all worked on Little Nemo? No wonder it is so great!