Somewhere in Dreamland

I grew up watching this cartoon every Christmas; it's a family tradition that I treasure. It's about two orphans who struggle to survive everyday with their single mom. They have barely enough food to eat and yet they are grateful for even the smallest gesture of kindness. This cartoon isn't like the simple shallow Christmas stories that we all see today on TV. It has a deep message and represents an unforgettable era in our history. Even though I did not live during the Great Depression, I totally get the message in the cartoon. It's a timeless classic that will stay with you always and I recommend it to anyone with a child. This touching film will help a child learn to appreciate their comfortable surroundings. Now that I'm a mom I am happy to have purchased this film so my daughter can watch it, just like my mother and grandmother did when they were young.

The story is of a poor woman with two hungry children who pass by a bakery one day to see all the sweets in the window. They drool over the wonderful food. The baker sees them and goes in to get the poor kids a treat but the children are gone when he comes back - luckily the two men know where the kids live. Meanwhile, the kids arrive home where all their mother has is stale, hard bread to feed them. They eat then off to bed where the two kids dream of a wonderland of baked goods, candy, ice cream, popcorn, a carousel and other sweet delights. The next day the children awake a bit depressed but enter into the kitchen where the baker and his friends have brought a feast for the entire poor family.

A colourful and beautiful little heartwarming tale of a better tomorrow.

9/10.

One of Fleischer Studios' best and most imaginative. The high point is the animation, which still looks amazing. The colours are vibrant and atmospheric and the backgrounds are smooth and fluid with great attention to detail whether in the dreamland or showing the children's poverty. What makes the animation so good though is the use of the rotograph technique used in the dreamland(never in animation has there been a more magical dreamland, one which any poor child would want to stay in forever) which is put to stunning use, it is in Somewhere in Dreamland with the merry-go-around cake that signals one of the studio's most remarkable animation moments. The music has the right amount of whimsy and energy as well as being orchestrated so beautifully, and the title song is one of the catchiest of any Fleisher Studios cartoon. The story is one of the most imaginative of their cartoons too, and is difficult to resist. Yes it's sentimental and it's cutesy but they don't mar the cartoon at all, rather it is a lot of fun as well as adorable and touching. The children are cute and engaging without being too sickly sweet, carrying the cartoon nicely, and the mother while with a small role is a good character as well. Mae Questel's voice acting is lovingly maternal and sympathetic in some of her more subtle voice work. In conclusion, a magical cartoon from Fleischer Studios and among their best. 10/10 Bethany Cox

. . . dream. The formula for success in the tooth business as outlined in SOMEWHERE IN DREAMLAND begins with a family of starving kids. Such a clan is more than likely to feature mouths full of cavities, as proper preventative oral hygiene is not cheap. Next, toss in all the sweets you can eat. Add buckets of popcorn and slippery butter to the mix, as kernels failing to pop are one of the surest ways to break off precarious cusps and previously filled teeth, if any. What you've achieved so far is a perfect recipe for total tooth disaster. This is how Real Life vacations in DREAMLAND get funded--for those who do the drilling, at least.

These are really poor children with a mother who is at her wit's end to feed them. They are out in the cold collecting wood for a fire in their little hovel. They live for their dreams which take them out of this for a few hours. But don't underestimate the love of strangers. This is depression era and many found themselves in this type of poverty. Nice color animation.