| Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Masami Hata William Hurtz |
| Produced by | Yutaka Fujioka |
| Written by | Chris Columbus and Richard Outten (screenplay); Robert Towne (story consultant); Yutaka Fujioka and Jean Giraud (story); Ray Bradbury (concept for the screen); Winsor McCay (comic strip) |
| Starring | Gabriel Damon Mickey Rooney Bernard Erhard Laura Mooney |
| Music by | Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman; Tom Chase and Stephen Rucker; Melissa Manchester |
| Distributed by | Hemdale Film Corporation (original 1992 North American release) FUNimation Productions (2004 home video release) MAWA Film & Medien |
| Release date(s) |  July 15, 1989 August 21, 1992 |
| Running time | 85 minutes (edited) 100 minutes (Uncut version) |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $35,000,000 |
Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, known in Japan as simply Little Nemo, is an award-winning animated film directed by Masami Hata and William T. Hurtz. Loosely 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.
Contents |
Plot
The movie begins with Nemo flying in his bed and finding himself in a creepy, abandoned town. Soon, he finds himself running away from a rather frightening looking train. When the malevolent train pursues Nemo to his house, Nemo wakes up and the audience realizes it has all just been a vivid nightmare, to which Nemo is apparently prone. That following morning, a circus parade arrives in town. Nemo wakes up, calls for his best friend Icarus (a flying squirrel) and takes him to see the parade.
A cast of colorful characters leave little Nemo in awe: goofy clowns, a beautiful "Indian" princess who throws Nemo a flower, and the ringmaster himself. The ringmaster is so taken with Nemo's wide-eyed curiosity that he gives the little boy a ride on the back of one of the trained horses. When Nemo gets home, he tries to tell his "Papa" about his day, but Nemo's father is too busy to listen to him. When Nemo asks to go to the circus, his request is met with a hurried "Maybe tomorrow" from his parents. Nemo goes to bed that night feeling a little rejected. Fortunately, he pretends to sleepwalk, much to Icarus' dismay. As he protects his friend, Nemo successfully opens the icebox to take out a pie, but his mother catches him and he runs back to his room because he broke his promise not steal any pies.
That night, as Nemo is trying to get to sleep, he notices a queer light emanating from the window. A tall, lanky man with a top hat comes out and introduces himself as one Professor Genius. He is there with a clown named Bonbon to present Nemo with a royal invitation from King Morphius of Slumberland to come to his kingdom and be the official playmate of Princess Camille, the King's daughter. Nemo, reluctant at the thought of playing with a girl, quickly accepts when Bonbon presents him with an exquisite box of cookies, presents from the princess. Nemo climbs aboard the dirigible which is to carry the group off to Slumberland.
Upon arriving in Slumberland, having been welcomed warmly by the people and having met Flip, a "Frightful Fellow" according to the Professor, Nemo reports to the King's Palace, only to discover that he is not in. A mad search ensues, with Flip showing Nemo secret passages throughout the palace. A chance discovery lands Nemo and Icarus in a large playroom, where a scale model of a locomotive has been set up. The conductor, a formidable man with a white beard, enlists Nemo's help in repairing the engine and it is only when the two crash the train into the throne room that it is revealed that the conductor is none other than King Morpheus himself. Nemo is stunned, but the king, who tells Nemo to call him "Morphy", is elated. He reveals that Nemo has been called to Slumberland because he has been chosen to be King Morphius's sole heir. King Morphius then entrusts to Nemo the Golden Key, which is wrought into a sinister-looking dragon shape. King Morpheus tells Nemo that this key can open any door in Slumberland, but that Nemo is not to use the key to open the door with the "Dragon" symbol on it. Nemo promises not to and is led away to meet Princess Camille.
The Professor, Nemo, and Icarus come upon Camille playing her harp and singing in a lovely room decorated with roses. When the princess finishes her song, she dismisses the Professor and scrutinizes Nemo. After some initial snobbiness, the Princess comes to accept Nemo and he accepts her. The Princess then shows Nemo all around Slumberland with Bonbon the clown. When the trio and Icarus return to the palace, the Professor grabs Nemo and hurries him to his "schooling" in preparation for his duties as a Prince. Camille takes Icarus away and leaves Nemo to be pounced upon by a litany of teachers. When the teachers are finished, Flip returns to the palace to see Nemo and cause mischief. Reluctantly, Nemo agrees to follow Flip and the two ride off on Flip's giant crow.
After indeed causing some mischief, the two discover a large door, which bears the symbol of the Golden Key. Nemo initially refuses to, citing his promise to the King, but Flip somehow persuades him to do otherwise, saying that they would only take "one little peek." Unbeknownst to them, the door holds the portal to Nightmareland, a dark and horrible place, where the Nightmare King, King Morphius's enemy, is said to dwell. Suddenly, the Nightmare within rises up and hurls towards the door. Nemo and Flip manage to close the doors before the Nightmare was able to get out. They both runs away afterward.
Later that night, Nemo barely makes his coronation. The King crowns him and reveals to the crowd that he is entrusting Nemo with the powers of the Royal Sceptre. After a show of the Sceptre's power, the festivities commence with dancing, thus starting with the Proffessor dancing merrily, joined by the King. However, the fun is cut short when the Nightmare King succeeds into busting the doors open and escapes, kidnapping Morpheus in the process. Nemo and Flip is left blaming each other for the King's disappearance. Camille is devastated and falls to the floor crying as Nemo wakes up.
When Nemo looks around his room, all seems normal, but he discovers that the Sceptre is hidden within his bedsheets. Soon, a flood appears and carries him back to Slumberland where he is reunited with his friends. It is revealed then that the King is thought to have been carried off to Nightmareland and that Flip owns the only map of it (written in Flip's own secret code.)
After stopping Flip's banishment into space for allegedly causing the whole incident, Nemo, the Professor, Camille, Icarus, and Flip begin a journey to find the King. This results in them getting shipwrecked in Nightmareland according to the map, but upon reaching shore, Flip discovers that the map has become illegible due to all the time it has spent in water. Nonetheless, he leads the little troupe deeper and deeper into Nightmareland. Camille is grabbed suddenly by fierce water goblins who yield at the light of the Royal Sceptre, which Nemo still has.
As they trek on, Flip comes across four goblins, who all turn out to be friendly. Suddenly, the Professor, Flip, and Princess Camille are kidnapped by minions of the Nightmare King. Unable to fully use Royal Sceptre because he has forgotten the incantation used to summon its powers of protection, Nemo remains with the goblins, helpless and soon wakes up in his room again. This time, the goblins are right there with him and, with a newly found member of their clan, the goblins lead Nemo to the Nightmare King's castle, where Nemo tries to remember the Sceptre's incantation and finds it written down on a piece of paper. Soon, the goblins lead Nemo to the dungeon where he sees the Professor, Princess Camille, and Flip being held prisoner in giant reliquaries by the Nightmare King himself.
The Nightmare King, sensing Nemo's presence, begins to taunt the boy, and tops it off by imprisoning King Morphius in a reliquary of his own right before Nemo's eyes. Nemo screams for the Nightmare King to stop, but the Nightmare King only laughs. He asks Nemo to give him the sceptre because, after all, Nemo cannot even remember the words necessary to use it. Nemo refuses and valiantly uses the scepter to fight off the Nightmare King and his minions, freeing his friends in the process. Unfortunately, Nemo used all of his strength to activate the scepter and, when the battle is won, falls lifeless to the floor, sceptre disgarded.
Camille, seeing Nemo's body, runs toward him and cradles him in her arms. She sobs and mourns the apparent loss of her best friend. The Professor, Flip, and the goblins follow suit. King Morphius, the last to wake, picks up his sceptre and brings Nemo back to life. Nemo apologizes for having released the Nightmares into Slumberland with the key, but the King forgives him, stating that Nemo showed immense courage in all he has done. For that, he is truly worthy of being a prince.
The troupe boards a dirigible sometime later and escorts Nemo home. Before he gets off, however, Princess Camille thanks him for all he has done for her and offers him a loving kiss, which he slowly returns. The next morning, Nemo wakes up to the sound of his mother's voice telling him to get up. He apoligises to her for not keeping his promise. She and his dad are taking him to the circus and Nemo realizes that everything about the night that had passed had all been a dream. Although his cycle of constant nightmares appears to have been broken.
Characters
Nemo: The main character and protagonist of the story. He suffers from constant nightmares. Nemo is around the age of eight and is a generally sweet boy who loves the circus. However, he has been known to lose his head now and then, such as when the princess makes fun of his pajamas and refers to Icarus as a "little rat." He has been summoned to Slumberland by Professor to be the Princess's playmate and (as he finds out later) the future prince of Slumberland.
Icarus: Icarus is Nemo's pet flying squirrel who lives in the tree outside Nemo's bedroom window. He mostly communicates through a series of squeaky jitters, although some understandable English slips in between, and very rarely leaves Nemo's side (or in most cases his shoulder). He wears an old-fashioned aeronautical helmet and enjoys mostly anything provided his best buddy Nemo's with him. Like most of the characters, Icarus does get aggravated, usually when referred to as "a rat" by the Princess and then again (accidentally) by Nemo. However, he's usually quick to forgive.
Professor Genius: A professor and a genius, Professor Genius is something of a right-hand man to King Morpheus. He tries his best to help and watch over Nemo, particularly making sure he avoids Flip. He is extremely well mannered and though he tries to maintain a formal front wherever he goes, the Professor can't resist the urge to dance whenever the chance presents itself.
Flip: One of Slumberland's black sheep characters and an extraordinary troublemaker. He is the first person Nemo meets in Slumberland. Flip enjoys causing mischief and smoking cigars (much to the distress of the others), and travels around Slumberland on a giant crow named Flap. According to Flip, he is the only person in Slumberland wanted "for having fun" (he even has a wanted poster hidden under his coat which reads that he has a $1,000,000,000,000,000 reward for his capture). He is also the owner of the only known map of Nightmareland. Even though Nemo usually finds his antics funny, most of the others are angered by him, the Princess even hitting him on more than one occasion in the film. He's the one who convinces Nemo to open the door with The Nightmare King behind it (even though he meant no harm by it, not knowing what the door held), thus leading to the story's main events.
King "Morphy" Morpheus: The king of Slumberland and the Princess's father. He ordered the Professor to bring Nemo to Slumberland to be his daughter's playmate. He shares an interest of trains and machinery with Nemo, who grows very dear to him. The king, in spite of his expected responsibilities, has a habit of sneaking off to his playroom (where he accidentally runs into Nemo who, at the time, wasn't aware of who he was). Morpheus decrees that Nemo is to be trained to be Prince of Slumberland and gives him "The Golden Key" which can gain him access to anywhere in Slumberland (provided Nemo promises not to open the door with the same symbol as the key on it). He gets kidnapped by the Nightmare King at Nemo's coronation, prompting Nemo to set off after him, along with the Princess, Prof. Genius, Icarus, and Flip.
Princess Camille: Usually she is simply called the Princess. Camille is around the age of ten. She was lonely, being an only child and her father always gone on business, thus one of the main reasons Nemo is brought to Slumberland is to be a companion for her. After a few bumpy starts, Nemo and she become friends. She detests Flip and his constant cigar smoking (and decrees that he is never to smoke another in her presence). In spite of his frequent absence, she dearly loves her father and commissions Flip (at Nemo's advice) to take them to Nightmareland, after King Morpheus is kidnapped by the Nightmare King. Flip refuses at first until he discovers that his only alternative is to be shot out of a cannon into space. At the film's end the Princess shares a kiss with Nemo before he wakes up.
Bon Bon: The Princess's steward. She appears to be a jester or clown, and has a very sweet and positive demeanor. She mainly tries to look out for the princess (she even shows concern when Nemo shows reluctance to accept her invitation, even though he's eventually won over by a batch of cookies the princess sent Bon Bon with as a gift to him).
The Goblin Boomps: A group of goblin escapees from Nightmare Land, Nemo and the others encounter them on the journey to save King Morpheus. Flip was the first to meet them when he sneaked off to rewrite his map, which got watered out when their boat crashed into a bog. They reveal themselves to be friendly and funny goblins, in spite of what the others expected them to be (being goblins). They are capable of morphing their bodies together and assuming various forms. All of them, except for Oompo (the largest of the group who got caught as they escaped and meets up with them later on with a message from King Morpheus detailing how to destroy the Nightmare King) ran from the Nightmare King because they didn't enjoy the tormenting work he forced on them, preferring fun and jesting.
Flap: A giant crow, Flip's friend/transport around Slumberland. Flap is referred to as a girl by Flip saying things like, "C'mon, old girl!" She is often used as the getaway for Flip when trapped in tight situations and even by Nemo when he joins Flip in his antics.
The Nightmare King: The story's main antagonist. He was sealed behind a large door long ago, until Nemo, under Flip's misguided influence, accidentally releases him. He kidnaps King Morpheus in order to lure Nemo, and more importantly the Royal Scepter (which he and the other inhabitants of Nightmare Land fear), to his Nightmare Castle. Nemo barely manages to destroy the Nightmare King with the scepter and ends the evil king's reign along with Nemo's own nightmares. It is hinted that the Nightmare King is responsible for Nemo's nightmares.
U.S. cast
- Gabriel Damon - Nemo
- René Auberjonois - Professor Genius
- Mickey Rooney - Flip
- Danny Mann - Icarus
- Laura Mooney - Princess Camille
- Bernard Erhard - King Morpheus
- Bill Martin - Nightmare King
- Sherry Lynn - Bon Bon
- Alan Oppenheimer - Oomp
- John Stephenson - Oompo/Dirigible Captain
- Neil Ross - Oompa
- Sidney Miller - Oompe
- Michael Bell - Oompy
- Beau Weaver - 1st Teacher/Cop
- Bert Kramer - Goblin
- Bever-Leigh Banfield - Woman
- Ellen Gerstein - Page
- Greg Burson - Flap/Nemo's Father
- Gregg Berger - Equestrian Master
- Guy Christopher - Courtier/Cop
- Jennifer Darling - Nemo's Mother
- June Foray - Librarian
- Kathleen Freeman - Dance Teacher
- Michael Gough - 2nd Teacher
- Michael McConnohie - Etiquette Master
- Michael Sheehan - Fencing Master
- Nancy Cartwright - Page
- Tress MacNeille - Elevator Creature
Japanese cast
- Takuma Gōno - Nemo
- Kōichi Kitamura - Professor Genius
- Chikao Ōtsuka - Flip
- Hiroko Kasahara - Princess Camille
- Kenji Utsumi - King Morpheus
- Tarō Ishida - Nightmare King
Production
Fujioka Yutaka of TMS (Tokyo Movie Shinsha) originally approached George Lucas in 1978 to help produce the film in the US, but Lucasfilm found problems with the storyline. The project was offered to Chuck Jones and finally to Gary Kurtz who first hired Ray Bradbury and later Edward Summer to write screenplays.
In the early 1980s, both Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata were involved with the film, but they both left due to differing views on what the film should be and desire to work on other projects. The directors who succeeded Miyazaki were Andy Gaskill and Yoshifumi Kondo. When all of these people had left, Fujioka had drafts done by Chris Columbus, Moebius, John Canemaker and many others. He then re-hired Summer to do yet another screenplay. Subsequently, Richard Outten was hired to work from Chris 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. Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston (credited as Oliver Johnston), and Paul Julian consulted to the production
The world famous Sherman Brothers (Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman) wrote the songs for Little Nemo. This was their first Anime film, though not their first animated film; the pair had previously worked on The Jungle Book, Charlotte's Web, The Aristocats, and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
Even though it derived from an American comic strip, Little Nemo was animated by the Japanese company Tokyo Movie Shinsha and thus was considered anime. Because of this, it was also the first anime to receive a national release in the United States. The production of Little Nemo is legendary in Hollywood animation circles because of the vast number of independent animators and artists who worked on the film over more than a decade.
After the Japanese release of the film, Capcom developed a Nintendo game entitled Little Nemo: The Dream Master, released in late 1990.[1] The North American release of the NES game mystified mainstream players, since the film had yet to be released in North America until two years later. An arcade game, also by Capcom, was developed that same year under the title Nemo.[2]
Reception
The film was released in Japan on July 15, 1989. It was then released in the United States in 579 theaters on August 21, 1992.[3] It received positive reviews from notable publications including the Washington Post, Variety, the New York Post, the Boston Globe, and the New York Times[4] but failed to find an audience. Roger Ebert gave it 2 out of 4 stars, though on a positive note wrote, "Little Nemo is an interesting if not a great film, with some jolly characters, some cheerful songs, and some visual surprises." [5]
While it doesn't have enough critic reviews to stand a percentage on rottentomatoes.com, it does however have a 7.1/10 on imdb.com (with a bit over 1500 votes).[6] As for the RottenTomatoes users however, the rating is currently at 100% with 23 votes.[7]
In its opening weekend, Little Nemo made about $407,695 with a total US gross of approximately $1,368,000.[3] Considered a box-office flop, against a budget of 35 million,[8] it eventually became a cult classic and went to video where it recovered vigorously, topping the charts and selling over 2 million copies. 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 "much untalked about" limited re-release in Denver, Seattle, Atlanta, Austin, Houston, and other cities in the US. This was through Regal Cinemas, Edwards Theatres, and United Artists Theatres as part of a Kidtoon Films G-rated matinées promotion. It was only shown on weekends.[10]
Home video and DVD releases
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. Hemdale also produced a Collector's Set which includes a VHS movie, illustrated storybook, and cassette soundtrack. On October 5, 2004, Little Nemo was released on DVD through Our Time Home Entertainment (under license from TMS, who had regained North American rights to the film after Hemdale closed). All of the cuts made to the original 85 minute-long film were reedited into the DVD release, bringing the run time of the film to a full 100 minutes. However, this is not mentioned or addressed in the DVD materials.
After the title went out of print, Little Nemo could be seen selling anywhere from $80–$200 USD for a sealed copy (usually DVD) on Internet sites such as Amazon and eBay. However, Echo Bridge Home Entertainment reissued the disc as a budget title on January 27, 2009 with a suggested price of US$6.99. It is available at the usual stores such as Best Buy and Amazon.com, as well as via the distributor's website www.echobridgeentertainment.com.
References
External links
- Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland at the Internet Movie Database
- Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland at RottenTomatoes.com
- Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland at BoxOfficeMojo.com
|
|||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
