I saw Little Nemo: Adeventures in Slumberland on YouTube last night, having vague memories of seeing it once as a child. I just want to say I loved it; it is such a beautiful imaginative movie, that is a must-see for everyone. There is so much to recommend this wonderful movie, and the rest of this review will aim to explain why the film was so good.

The animation is stunning. Yes, I know some of the characters' faces were rather pale, but the backgrounds are colourful and lush, and the scenes in the sky were jaw-dropping. The songs by the Sherman Brothers, who brought us Mary Poppins, Jungle Book, Aristocats and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang are lovely and memorable. Some bring a subtle touch to scenes, while others are jolly and fun.

The characters are a delight. Nemo is still a likable character, if a rather unlikely hero. Icarus is hilarious, Camille has her good moments, King Morpheus reminds me of Santa, Captain Genius is great fun but my favourite has be Flip. As for the vocal talents they were exceptional, the standout easily being Mickey Rooney in a fitfully amusing turn as Flip. The story is highly imaginative and beautifully told, with some subtle moments and some dark ones. I will admit what I remembered most about this movie as a child was the Nightmare King. Young children may find him frightening, but he is such an effective villain. Who cares if he looks a little like Chernabog from Fantasia, he is still a scary and great villain in my eyes.

All in all, a beautiful, imaginative and underrated film. 10/10 of course! Bethany Cox

I first heard about this movie upon seeing it reviewed by the Nostalgia Critic and I was quite surprised to see him review something that had such a high rating here. I usually watch movies he's reviewed while watching his review or someone else on ChannelAwesome. I think he outright said he's biased against anime (at least most mainstream ones),so I wouldn't listen to him. I find this to be a great movie that adapts a great franchise. Okay, I haven't actually read the comic, but at least on Wikimedia Commons it's popular. What really makes this film stand out is how amazing the animation. It fits some descriptions I've heard. It combines western animation with anime style.

I have really never seen an anime film that looks this unique. I think I heard Miyazaki might have worked on this, but he stopped or something. I guess you could consider this to be his least movie, but that's still better than the best of most slasher movies. I remember thinking that the only thing left would be for Nemo and the princess to kiss at the very end...and they do! Yeah, I'm just that into romance. I don't really see it in anime films that much as say, most Disney films. I know it's not perfect. The villain is a bit cliché, but I still think it's a realistically done movie. Well, it's all a dream (probably) so anything can happen in a dream! What I mean is, Nemo in this film really does act a lot like a little kid.

It seems like all the characters play a pretty big part. Granted, there aren't that many to begin with, but you get the idea. I read about this in one Uncle John's Bathroom Reader book. They were talking about underrated movies with the word "Little" in the title (yeah, they're weird like that) and they mentioned this. Go with what they say and not the Nostalgia Critic. I'm not going to rewatch his review because I don't want to bring attention to something I personally don't agree with. The rest of us should just love this movie for how bright and colorful it is. ***1/2

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.