Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989)

Masami Hata, William Hurtz – Director

Winsor McCay – Comic Strip (concept)

Gabriel Damon, Mickey Rooney, Rene Auberjonois

So the other day, I walk into my boyfriend’s apartment and he and his 26 year old roommate are engrossed in Fern Gully. I am thrilled because I too love delightfully animated movies chock full of positive messages about saving the rainforest, a bevy of musical numbers and a villainous Tim Curry. Quickly the discussion turns to our favorite animated movies growing up and the usuals are put on the table – Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, The Sword and the Stone, something about Pippy Longstocking being a childhood staple – and I offer out Little Nemo aka Adventures in Slumberland (to those in the know) and am met with blank stares. They ask, with some judgment that I would consider my youth apparently extending into the latter years of high school, “Do I mean Finding Nemo?” No, no I do not. I try to explain and am still met with utter disbelief as though, in my childhood of make believe friends and basements that inexplicably transformed into darkened lairs in which I would often lure and terrify my little sister, I concocted a full blown motion picture - complete with plot points and character backgrounds - in my head. I’m sorry but that is a tad too much skill even for a child of my imaginary prowess.

And thusly, here is a tribute to my own personal animated movie staple. While it is a fantastic film, Finding Nemo, it is not. It is dark and strange and features some of the trippiest characters knows to the drawing board outside of the Blue Meanies. It is basically about a young boy, Nemo, and his pet flying squirrel, Icarus, who get invited to Slumberland, a sort of never ending circus, where he befriends the King, his lovely daughter, Camille, and, unfortunately, a scamp of a clown named Flip. At Flip’s suggestion the two open the Forbidden “Dragon” Door and release the Nightmare King. Finally released, the Nightmare King, a terrifying black swirling cloud of red lightning, takes revenge, capturing the King. Vowing to save him, Nemo, Camille, and Flip take off to Nightmareland, on the way picking up 5 Oomps (goblins who can change form and assemble to create a tree like creature) and losing the rest of the his company to the dangerous guards that haunt Nightmareland. Eventually, Nemo comes face to face with the Nightmare King in a battle to save his friends and re-imprison his nemesis.

It is a doozy of a movie and frankly someone really ought to take my mother aside and have her head examined for letting me and my sister watch a truly terrifying movie about Nightmares and goblins and what not. However, it is great and I watched it again not too long ago and it is still awesome. It has pretty much zero aspects of Disney in it. I think there may be a song or two but even those parts are strange with the main characters flying around on giant birds and turning into lollipops – did I mention there is an entire montage of a bed sprouting legs, kidnapping Nemo, and running through the streets of what appears to be downtown Hartford, CT? The storyline is an adventure through and through and it is beautifully hand drawn with a variety of settings and characters. If you like your movies a little on the bizarre side, this is definitely not your Grandmother’s animated classic.