Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland
Encyclopedia
Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, known in Japan as simply Nemo, is a 1989 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
.
. Upon awakening the next day, he goes to see a parade
welcoming a traveling circus. However, Nemo is unable to see the circus because his father and his mother are too busy to act as his chaperones. Later that night, Nemo imitates the act of somnambulism in an attempt to sneak some pie away, which acts against a promise he had made earlier to his mother. Upon falling asleep that night, Nemo is approached by figures from the parade. The circus organist introduces himself as Professor Genius and claims that they had been sent on a mission by King Morpheus, the king of a realm named Slumberland. The mission involves Nemo becoming the playmate of the princess, Camille. Although Nemo initially has reservations about interacting with royalty of the opposite gender, he decides to set off to fulfill his mission.
Nemo is taken to Slumberland in a dirigible which he is allowed to drive, causing some chaos and is introduced to King Morpheus, who doubles as the circus ringmaster in Earth. Morpheus reveals that he summoned Nemo to become his heir to the throne. Morpheus gives Nemo a golden key and warns him of a door with a dragon insignia that must never be opened. Nemo is introduced to Princess Camille and the pair roam the entirety of Slumberland together. Afterward, Nemo meets the mischievous clown, Flip, who angers a group of cops and forces him and Nemo to hide out in an underground cave. There, Nemo discovers the door that Morpheus warned him not to open. Flip tempts Nemo into unlocking the door, which unleashes the dreaded Nightmare King. Nemo rushes back to Morpheus' castle in time for his coronation ceremony, where Nemo is handed the royal scepter, the only thing capable of defending Slumberland in the event of the Nightmare King's return. In the middle of a dance session between Morpheus and Genius, the Nightmare King reaches the castle and steals Morpheus away. As the partygoers search for a scapegoat, Flip reveals Nemo to be responsible for the Nightmare King's escape.
Nemo awakens in his home, which floods with seawater and ejects him into the ocean. Genius discovers Nemo and tells him not to blame himself for all that has happened. When the two return to Slumberland, Flip reveals that he has a map to Nightmare Land, where Morpheus is currently being held. Nemo, Camille and Flip set off in a tugboat in search of Morpheus. They are soon sucked into a whirlpool and find themselves in the monster-infested Nightmare Land. The trio comes across a group of shapeshifting goblins who wish to aid in the quest to find Morpheus. The Nightmare King sends a flock of giant bats to seize the rescue party. Nemo attempts to use the scepter, but awakens in his bed instead. The goblins appear in Nemo's room and the group travels to Nightmare Castle by flying through a hole in the sky. However, they are subsequently imprisoned in the castle, where the Nightmare King demands possession of the scepter. Nemo soon uses the scepter to finally eliminate the Nightmare King. Slumberland celebrates the fall of the Nightmare Kingdom, after which Nemo once more awakens in his room. Nemo's parents finally agree to chaperone Nemo during his visit to the circus.
, CA to convince McCay's descendents to allow him to obtain the film rights to the comic strip. He originally approached George Lucas
in a year later to help produce the film, but Lucas found problems with the storyline. Fujioka also approached Chuck Jones
but also declined. The film was officially announced as a project in 1982. In February of that year, the company TMS/Kinetographics was formed in America to produce Nemo, and the best staff from around the world were gathered together to begin production. Gary Kurtz
was appointed producer of the American production side and hired Ray Bradbury
and later Edward Summer
to write screenplays. Kurtz would eventually step down in the fall of 1984.
In the early 1980s, both Hayao Miyazaki
and Isao Takahata
were involved with the film, but they both left due to creative differences, essentially, Miyazaki was not keen on the thought of an animated film created by him where everything was a dream, and Takahata was more interested in creating a story depicting Nemo's growth as a boy. Miyazaki later described his involvement on the film as "the worst experience of his professional career." The directors who succeeded the duo were Andy Gaskill and Yoshifumi Kondo
whom both exited production in March 1985 after completing a 70mm pilot film. Osamu Dezaki
was also brought into direct at a brief point and too completed a pilot film, but left as well. A third pilot film was made by Sadao Tsukioka but has yet to become publicly available.
Brad Bird
and Jerry Rees
also worked on the film through the American department as animators for a month, while at the time were also working on an un-produced adaptation of Will Eisner
's The Spirit with Gary Kurtz. During production, the two would regularly ask animators what they were doing, the response they were commonly given was "we're just illustrating what Bradbury is writing," upon meeting Bradbury in person and asking him about the story he was writing for the film, he replied "I'm just putting in writing what these wonderful artists are drawing." After their meeting with Bradbury, Bird and Rees looked at each other and both said "uh-ohhh."
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, and John Canemaker, Corny Cole, and Brian Froud
provided visual development. Frank Thomas
, Oliver Johnston
, and Paul Julian
consulted to the production. The world famous Sherman Brothers
(Richard M. Sherman
and Robert B. Sherman
) were hired to write the songs for Nemo. This was their first anime
film, though not their first animated film; the pair had previously worked on several projects for Disney, including The Jungle Book
, and Hanna-Barbera's Charlotte's Web
.
Little production progress was made until January 1988, when the many ideas pasted on the walls of the Los Angeles studio were whittled down in order to create the storyboard from which the film would be made. It was at this point that Masami Hata (a former Sanrio
film director) was the appointed director at the TMS studio and Frank and Ollie recommended William T. Hurtz as the director of the American production side. Actual animation for the completed film was commenced in June 1988, as TMS was just completing another ambitious project: Akira
. 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.
's Kiki's Delivery Service
, it grossed ¥0.9 billion (US$10 million) in its release and was considered a box-office flop, against a budget of around ¥3 billion ($35 million.) Afterwards, Yutaka Fujioka decided to retire from the animation business, and TMS made the business decision to focus on locally based anime programs and animation for outsourced western-based productions, including Tiny Toon Adventures
. The studio still does features, but primarily films spinning off existing anime properties.
It was then released three years later in the United States in 579 theaters on August 21, 1992 through Hemdale Film Corporation
. 11 minutes were cut in order to secure a G rating. It received positive reviews from publications including the Washington Post
, Variety
, the New York Post
, the Boston Globe
, and the New York Times
. 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."
Although it had a fairly good critical reception, the film failed to find an audience. In its opening weekend in the United States, Nemo made about $407,695 with a total US gross of approximately $1,368,000. Its later release onto home video helped recover costs, topping the charts and selling over two 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.
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.
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 were restored in the DVD release, bringing the run time of the film to the full 95 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 US 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.
developed a Nintendo
game entitled Little Nemo: The Dream Master
, released in late 1990. 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.
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
Little Nemo in Slumberland by Winsor McCay
Winsor McCay
Winsor McCay was an American cartoonist and animator.A prolific artist, McCay's pioneering early animated films far outshone the work of his contemporaries, and set a standard followed by Walt Disney and others in later decades...
, the film went through a lengthy development process with a number of screenwriters. Ultimately, the screenplay was credited to Chris Columbus
Chris Columbus (filmmaker)
Christopher Joseph "Chris" Columbus is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Columbus had his largest success with the first two films in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, along with Home Alone, the last...
and Richard Outten
Richard Outten
Richard Outten is an American screenwriter who works in both motion pictures and television. After receiving his MFA from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, he co-authored , the screenplay to the award-winning animated film Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland. Other motion picture credits...
; the storyline and art style differed from the original version. The original soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
was penned by the Academy Award-winning Sherman Brothers
Sherman Brothers
The Sherman Brothers are an American songwriting duo that specialize in musical films, made up of Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman ....
.
Plot
The film opens with the young boy Nemo experiencing a nightmare in which he is pursued by a locomotiveLocomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
. Upon awakening the next day, he goes to see a parade
Parade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind...
welcoming a traveling circus. However, Nemo is unable to see the circus because his father and his mother are too busy to act as his chaperones. Later that night, Nemo imitates the act of somnambulism in an attempt to sneak some pie away, which acts against a promise he had made earlier to his mother. Upon falling asleep that night, Nemo is approached by figures from the parade. The circus organist introduces himself as Professor Genius and claims that they had been sent on a mission by King Morpheus, the king of a realm named Slumberland. The mission involves Nemo becoming the playmate of the princess, Camille. Although Nemo initially has reservations about interacting with royalty of the opposite gender, he decides to set off to fulfill his mission.
Nemo is taken to Slumberland in a dirigible which he is allowed to drive, causing some chaos and is introduced to King Morpheus, who doubles as the circus ringmaster in Earth. Morpheus reveals that he summoned Nemo to become his heir to the throne. Morpheus gives Nemo a golden key and warns him of a door with a dragon insignia that must never be opened. Nemo is introduced to Princess Camille and the pair roam the entirety of Slumberland together. Afterward, Nemo meets the mischievous clown, Flip, who angers a group of cops and forces him and Nemo to hide out in an underground cave. There, Nemo discovers the door that Morpheus warned him not to open. Flip tempts Nemo into unlocking the door, which unleashes the dreaded Nightmare King. Nemo rushes back to Morpheus' castle in time for his coronation ceremony, where Nemo is handed the royal scepter, the only thing capable of defending Slumberland in the event of the Nightmare King's return. In the middle of a dance session between Morpheus and Genius, the Nightmare King reaches the castle and steals Morpheus away. As the partygoers search for a scapegoat, Flip reveals Nemo to be responsible for the Nightmare King's escape.
Nemo awakens in his home, which floods with seawater and ejects him into the ocean. Genius discovers Nemo and tells him not to blame himself for all that has happened. When the two return to Slumberland, Flip reveals that he has a map to Nightmare Land, where Morpheus is currently being held. Nemo, Camille and Flip set off in a tugboat in search of Morpheus. They are soon sucked into a whirlpool and find themselves in the monster-infested Nightmare Land. The trio comes across a group of shapeshifting goblins who wish to aid in the quest to find Morpheus. The Nightmare King sends a flock of giant bats to seize the rescue party. Nemo attempts to use the scepter, but awakens in his bed instead. The goblins appear in Nemo's room and the group travels to Nightmare Castle by flying through a hole in the sky. However, they are subsequently imprisoned in the castle, where the Nightmare King demands possession of the scepter. Nemo soon uses the scepter to finally eliminate the Nightmare King. Slumberland celebrates the fall of the Nightmare Kingdom, after which Nemo once more awakens in his room. Nemo's parents finally agree to chaperone Nemo during his visit to the circus.
Cast
- Takuma Gōno (Gabriel DamonGabriel DamonGabriel Damon , is an American actor born in Reno, Nevada.-Biography:He was exposed to the performing arts as early as 3 years old, when his parents and family moved to Los Angeles, California. After doing more than 100 commercials, his first role was in the 1984 TV series Call to Glory...
in the English adaption) as Nemo: the protagonist of the movie. He is a human boy living in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
who is taken to Slumberland to be the official playmate of Princess Camille; in actuality, however, he is being summoned to be the heir to the elderly King Morpheus. He is given the key to Slumberland, but is warned by the king to leave a door with a coiled dragon emblazoned on it closed. Sadly, he opens the aforementioned door when he is tempted by Flip and goes on a quest to restore Slumberland to its rightful glory, save King Morpheus and defeat the Nightmare King.
- Chikao Ōtsuka (Mickey RooneyMickey RooneyMickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
in the English adaption) as Flip: a supporting protagonist of the movie. Described as a "frightful fellow" by Professor Genius, he is wanted throughout Slumberland for "having fun" (the bounty on his head is a sizeable one) and his only friend is his partner-in-crime: a bird named Flap. He tricks Nemo into accidentally releasing the Nightmare King and blames him for the ruin of Slumberland. He is in possession of a map of Nightmare Land (hand-drawn and written in his own special code) and serves as the guide to the Nightmare Castle until he is replaced by the Boomps. He has a serious smoking addiction. In the real world, he is a clown in a circus that stops in Nemo's town.
- Kōichi KitamuraKoichi Kitamura, real name was a Japanese voice actor born in Osaka, Japan. Kitamura was employed by the talent management agency Mausu Promotion. He died on October 2, 2007 of pneumonia.-TV:*April to Sandman *Dragon Ball GT *Esper Mami...
(René Auberjonois in the English adaption) as Professor Genius: King Morpheus' advisor and a supporting protagonist of the movie. He comes to the real world to bring Nemo to Slumberland. A sophisticated man, he is quite punctual and prefers order as opposed to madness. He is quite a dancer, as he dances quite a bit during Nemo's coronation ceremony. In the real world, he is an organ player in a circus that stops in Nemo's town.
- Danny MannDanny MannDaniel "Danny" Mann is an American voice actor, writer, singer, musician, and production manager. He is best known for his voice of Hector from Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats, Freeway, Cloudraker and Lightspeed in Transformers, Backwoods Beagle in DuckTales, Kaltag in Balto, Ferdinand from Babe,...
as Icarus: a flying squirrelFlying squirrelFlying squirrels, scientifically known as Pteromyini or Petauristini, are a tribe of 44 species of squirrels .- Description :...
, Nemo's best friend and a supporting protagonist of the movie. Icarus is Nemo's only friend from the real world. He shows great concern for Nemo's wellbeing in a sense similar to that of two siblings. He speaks a mix of both squirrel and some English. His screech is painful to the ears of the Boomps. He detests being called a "little rat" (which Princess Camille mistakes him for). Unlike other squirrels, Icarus eats human food, like cookies. His initial relationship with Princess Camille, though rough, eventually changes for the better.
- Kenji UtsumiKenji Utsumiis a Japanese voice actor and actor from Kitakyūshū, affiliated with the self-founded Ken Production. He is married to fellow voice actress Michiko Nomura....
(Bernard ErhardBernard ErhardBernard Erhard was an American voice actor.He worked primarily in children's cartoons. Among his roles were Cy-Kill in Challenge of the GoBots , King Morpheus in Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, and one of the wolves in Rover Dangerfield.-External links:...
in the English adaption) as King Morpheus: the elderly ruler of Slumberland and a supporting protagonist of the movie. He has protected Slumberland for years with the help of the royal scepter: an ancient weapon of great power. Though he is a child at heart, he knows when to be serious. He has Nemo brought to Slumberland so that he may become his heir to the throne. He gives Nemo the key to Slumberland, which can open any door; however, he warns Nemo of one door with a dragon symbol emblazoned on it that must never be opened. Like Professor Genius, he is quite a dancer, as he dances alongside the Professor during Nemo's coronation ceremony. When Nemo accidentally releases the Nightmare King, King Morpheus is captured and Nemo has to go and rescue him from Nightmare Land. In the real world, he is the ringmaster of a circus that stops in Nemo's town.
- Tarō IshidaTaro Ishida' is a Japanese actor and seiyū from the city of Kyoto.-Career:Ishida is a chief priest at a Buddhist temple in Kanazawa, Ishikawa.Ishida is affiliated with Granpapa Production and his former stage name is '....
(Bill Martinin the English adaption) as the Nightmare King: the main antagonist of the movie. He is a demonic creature who was locked behind a massive door until he was accidentally set free by Nemo, who was given the key to the door by King Morpheus. Once free, he captures King Morpheus as revenge for his imprisonment and then retreats to the Nightmare Castle. When Nemo goes to the castle to save King Morpheus, the Nightmare King has his minions capture Nemo's friends (Professor Genius, Flip and Princess Camille). He is shown to be quite temperamental, as he destroys several minions for the failure of just one of his underlings (the general of his army). The only thing that can defeat him is the legendary royal scepter.
- Hiroko KasaharaHiroko KasaharaHiroko Kasahara is a popular seiyū and J-pop singer.She sang the ending theme song of the PlayStation 2 RPG, Shadow Hearts, titled Ending Theme ~ Shadow Hearts, and the ending theme of the PC and Playstation 2 visual novel Ever17: the Out of Infinity, titled Aqua Stripe- Notable voice roles :*...
(Laura Mooney in the English adaption) as Princess Camille: the daughter of King Morpheus and a supporting protagonist of the movie. Though she initially acts somewhat spoiled, she eventually grows to like Nemo. She also grows fond of Icarus (and vice versa, despite a rough start). When her father is kidnapped by the Nightmare King, she takes over as ruler but decides to join Nemo in his quest to save King Morpheus. In the real world, she is the daughter of the ringmaster of a circus that stops in Nemo's town.
- Tesshō GendaTessho Gendais a Japanese voice actor. He is employed by the talent management firm 81 Produce. When he debuted, he used his real name, . as artist name. Because he had experience with ballet, he was known by the nickname "Pirouette Genda."...
(Greg BursonGreg Burson-Biography:Greg Burson was given the responsibility of voicing Bugs Bunny in the 1995 Carrotblanca, a well-received 8-minute Looney Tunes cartoon originally shown in cinemas alongside The Amazing Panda Adventure and The Pebble and the Penguin...
in the English adaption) as Nemo's father
- Mari Yokō (Jennifer DarlingJennifer DarlingJennifer Darling is an American actress and voice actress. While her body of work as a voiceover artist greatly eclipses that of her on-stage career, she is, perhaps, nevertheless known best to most people as Peggy Callahan, the secretary to Oscar Goldman in the television series The Six Million...
in the English adaption) as Nemo's mother
- Hiroshi Ōtake (Neil RossNeil RossTheodoric Neilson "Neil" Ross is an English voice actor and announcer, born in London, England and now resident and working in Los Angeles, in the United States. He has provided voices for in many American cartoons, particularly those based on Hasbro products and Marvel Comics, and numerous...
in the English adaption) as Oompa
- Keiichi NanbaKeiichi Nanbais a Japanese voice actor currently affiliated with Aoni Production. He is married to fellow voice actress Mayumi Shō.-Anime:* Sailor Moon series as Gurio Umino, Zoisite, Alan* Trigun as Hoppered the Gauntlet-Tokusatsu:...
(Alan OppenheimerAlan OppenheimerAlan Oppenheimer is an American character actor and voice actor. He has performed numerous roles on live-action television since the 1960s, and has had an active career doing voice work in cartoons since the 1970s.-Early life:...
in the English adaption) as Oomp
- Masaharu SatōMasaharu Satois a Japanese voice actor currently working for Aoni Production.Along with the late Kōji Totani, he is considered the No. 1 supporting actor of the Japanese voice acting world....
(John StephensonJohn StephensonJohn Stephenson may refer to:*John Stephenson , American voice actor*John Stephenson , American baseball catcher*John Stephenson , 19th century Irish-American coachbuilder who created the street railway...
in the English adaption) as Oompo
- Kōzō ShioyaKozo ShioyaKōzō Shioya is a veteran seiyū born in Kagoshima Prefecture. He is currently represented by Aoni Production...
(Sidney Miller in the English adaption) as Oompe
- Hiroko EmoriHiroko Emoriis a Japanese voice actress whose works for Aoni Production.-Notable voice roles:*Armitage III as Bronski*BS Tantei Club: Yuki ni Kieta Kako as both Toshie and Sachi Tachibana*Caroline the car in the Japanese version of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends...
(Michael Bell in the English adaption) as Oompy
- Kimie Nakajima (Kathleen FreemanKathleen FreemanKathleen Freeman was an American film, television, and stage actress. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, she portrayed tart maids, secretaries, teachers, busybodies, nurses, and battle-axe neighbors, almost invariably to comic effect.-Early life:Freeman was born in Chicago, Illinois...
in the English adaption) as the dance teacher
- Seiko Nakao (Bever-Leigh Banfield in the English adaption) as the woman
- Kazumi TanakaKazumi Tanakawas a male voice actor from Suginami, Tokyo, Japan. He was the younger brother of Ryouichi Tanaka and was affiliated with Aoni Production at the time of his death. He was best known for his roles in Dragon Ball Z , Galaxy Cyclone Braiger and Zawazawamori no Ganko-chan...
(John Stephenson in the English adaption) as the dirigible captain
- Yukimasa KishinoYukimasa Kishinois a Japanese voice actor affiliated with Aoni Production. He is also active in the theatrical entertainment field and is the chairman of his own theatrical group, Gekidan Kishino Gumi...
(Bert KramerBert KramerBert Kramer was an American actor, who was born in San Diego. He appeared in many different television shows including Kojak, The Bionic Woman, The Rockford Files, Dallas, Dynasty and Matlock. He is probably best known for playing Alex Wheeler on the soap opera Texas, a role he played from 1980 to...
in the English adaption) as a goblin: A hideous creature that serves as a member of the Nightmare King's army. They are sent by the Nightmare King to ensure that Nemo doesn't reach his castle and free King Morpheus. Though the goblins succeed in capturing most of Nemo's friends, they fail to capture Nemo himself and, when the Nightmare King finds out, he kills them all in a fit of rage. The only goblins to survive are the Boomps (who, in contrast to the other goblins, are not hideous and are actually friendly).
- Tarō Arakawa (Beau WeaverBeau WeaverBeau Weaver is an American voice actor and narrator in television and film, heard widely in trailers for feature films, network television promos, documentaries, national radio and television commercials and animated cartoons. He became a disc jockey at age 15 and is sometimes known as Beauregard...
in the English adaption) as a policeman
Production
Nemo was the brainchild of producer Yutaka Fujioka. His dream for years had been to make a full-animated film that would utilize the resources of his Tokyo Movie Shinsha studio. As the first step towards realizing this project, in 1977 he personally flew to MonterreyMonterrey
Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...
, CA to convince McCay's descendents to allow him to obtain the film rights to the comic strip. He originally approached George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
in a year later to help produce the film, but Lucas found problems with the storyline. Fujioka also approached Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
but also declined. The film was officially announced as a project in 1982. In February of that year, the company TMS/Kinetographics was formed in America to produce Nemo, and the best staff from around the world were gathered together to begin production. Gary Kurtz
Gary Kurtz
Gary Kurtz is an American film producer whose list of credits include American Graffiti, Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. He later produced The Dark Crystal and Return to Oz after departing from the Star Wars series...
was appointed producer of the American production side and hired Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
and later Edward Summer
Edward Summer
Edward Summer has been an award winning painter, motion picture director, screenwriter, internet publisher, magazine editor, journalist and science writer, comic book writer, novelist, book designer, actor, cinematographer, motion picture editor, documentary film maker, film festival founder, and...
to write screenplays. Kurtz would eventually step down in the fall of 1984.
In the early 1980s, both Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese manga artist and prominent film director and animator of many popular anime feature films. Through a career that has spanned nearly fifty years, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a maker of animated feature films and, along with Isao Takahata, co-founded Studio Ghibli,...
and Isao Takahata
Isao Takahata
is a Japanese anime filmmaker that have earned critical international acclaim for his work as a director. Takahata is co-founder of Studio Ghibli with long-time collaborative partner Hayao Miyazaki. He has directed films such as the war-themed Grave of the Fireflies, the romantic-drama Only...
were involved with the film, but they both left due to creative differences, essentially, Miyazaki was not keen on the thought of an animated film created by him where everything was a dream, and Takahata was more interested in creating a story depicting Nemo's growth as a boy. Miyazaki later described his involvement on the film as "the worst experience of his professional career." The directors who succeeded the duo were Andy Gaskill and Yoshifumi Kondo
Yoshifumi Kondo
was a Japanese animator who worked for Studio Ghibli in his last years. He was born in Gosen, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. He worked as an animation director on Anne of Green Gables, Sherlock Hound, Kiki's Delivery Service, Only Yesterday and Princess Mononoke...
whom both exited production in March 1985 after completing a 70mm pilot film. Osamu Dezaki
Osamu Dezaki
, also known as , , or , was a Japanese director of anime born on November 18, 1943, in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan. His older brother, Satoshi Dezaki, is also an anime director....
was also brought into direct at a brief point and too completed a pilot film, but left as well. A third pilot film was made by Sadao Tsukioka but has yet to become publicly available.
Brad Bird
Brad Bird
Phillip Bradley "Brad" Bird is an Academy Award-winning American director, voice actor, animator and screenwriter. He is best known for writing and directing Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles and Ratatouille . He also adapted and directed the critically acclaimed 2D animated 1999 Warner Brothers...
and Jerry Rees
Jerry Rees
Jerry W. Rees is an animator and director best known for the 1987 Emmy-nominated animated film The Brave Little Toaster. He supervised and helped create many of the visual effects for the cult classic Tron, and is also a sculptor and fine artist....
also worked on the film through the American department as animators for a month, while at the time were also working on an un-produced adaptation of Will Eisner
Will Eisner
William Erwin "Will" Eisner was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an...
's The Spirit with Gary Kurtz. During production, the two would regularly ask animators what they were doing, the response they were commonly given was "we're just illustrating what Bradbury is writing," upon meeting Bradbury in person and asking him about the story he was writing for the film, he replied "I'm just putting in writing what these wonderful artists are drawing." After their meeting with Bradbury, Bird and Rees looked at each other and both said "uh-ohhh."
When all of these people had left, Fujioka had drafts done by Chris Columbus, Moebius
Jean Giraud
Jean Henri Gaston Giraud is a French comics artist. Giraud has earned worldwide fame, not only under his own name but also under the pseudonym Moebius, and to a lesser extent Gir, the latter appearing mostly in the form of a boxed signature at the bottom of the artist's paintings, for instance the...
, John Canemaker
John Canemaker
John Cannizzaro Jr. , better known as John Canemaker, is an independent animator, animation historian, author, teacher and lecturer. In 1980, he began teaching and developing the animation program at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts', Kanbar Institute of Film and Television Department...
and many others. He then re-hired Summer to do yet another screenplay. Subsequently, Richard Outten
Richard Outten
Richard Outten is an American screenwriter who works in both motion pictures and television. After receiving his MFA from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, he co-authored , the screenplay to the award-winning animated film Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland. Other motion picture credits...
was hired to work from Chris Columbus' screenplay while Columbus was busy with his directorial debut, Adventures in Babysitting
Adventures in Babysitting
Adventures in Babysitting is a 1987 American comedy film written by David Simkins, directed by Chris Columbus, and starring Elisabeth Shue, Maia Brewton, Keith Coogan, Anthony Rapp, Penelope Ann Miller, Bradley Whitford, and a brief cameo by blues singer/guitarist Albert Collins...
. Many Disney Studio
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
animators including Ken Anderson
Ken Anderson (animator)
Ken "Kenneth B." Anderson was an art director, writer, and animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios for 44 years.Anderson studied architecture at the University of Washington, graduating with a B.Arch. in 1934...
and Leo Salkin worked on individual sequences, and John Canemaker, Corny Cole, and Brian Froud
Brian Froud
Brian Froud is an English fantasy illustrator. He lives and works in Devon with his wife, Wendy Froud, who is also a fantasy artist...
provided visual development. Frank Thomas
Frank Thomas (animator)
Franklin M. "Frank" Thomas was an American animator. He was one of Walt Disney's team of animators known as the Nine Old Men....
, Oliver Johnston
Ollie Johnston
Oliver Martin Johnston, Jr. was an American motion picture animator. He was one of Disney's Nine Old Men, and the last surviving at the time of his death. He was recognized by The Walt Disney Company with its Disney Legend Award in 1989...
, and Paul Julian
Paul Julian
Paul Julian was an American artist and designer most noted for his work as a background artist for Warner Brothers' Looney Tunes cartoon shorts. He worked primarily for director Friz Freleng's Sylvester and Tweety Bird shorts...
consulted to the production. The world famous Sherman Brothers
Sherman Brothers
The Sherman Brothers are an American songwriting duo that specialize in musical films, made up of Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman ....
(Richard M. Sherman
Richard M. Sherman
Richard Morton Sherman is an American songwriter who specializes in musical film with his brother Robert Bernard Sherman....
and Robert B. Sherman
Robert B. Sherman
Robert Bernard Sherman is an American songwriter who specializes in musical films with his brother Richard Morton Sherman...
) were hired to write the songs for Nemo. This was their first anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
film, though not their first animated film; the pair had previously worked on several projects for Disney, including The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book (1967 film)
The Jungle Book is a 1967 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Released on October 18, 1967, it is the 19th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It was inspired by the stories about the feral child Mowgli from the book of the same name by...
, and Hanna-Barbera's Charlotte's Web
Charlotte's Web (1973 film)
Charlotte's Web is a 1973 American animated musical film produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Sagittarius Productions and based upon the 1952 children's book of the same name by E. B. White...
.
Little production progress was made until January 1988, when the many ideas pasted on the walls of the Los Angeles studio were whittled down in order to create the storyboard from which the film would be made. It was at this point that Masami Hata (a former Sanrio
Sanrio
is a Japanese company that designs, licenses and produces products focusing on the kawaii segment of Japanese popular culture. Their products include stationery, school supplies, gifts and accessories that are sold worldwide and at specialty brand retail stores in Japan...
film director) was the appointed director at the TMS studio and Frank and Ollie recommended William T. Hurtz as the director of the American production side. Actual animation for the completed film was commenced in June 1988, as TMS was just completing another ambitious project: Akira
Akira (film)
is a 1988 Japanese animated cyberpunk science fiction film directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, written by Otomo and Izo Hashimoto, and starring the voices of Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama and Taro Ishida. The screenplay is based on Otomo's manga Akira....
. 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.
Release and reception
The film was released in Japan on July 15, 1989. Partially thanks to strong competition, including Studio GhibliStudio Ghibli
is a Japanese animation and film studio founded in June 1985. The company's logo features the character Totoro from Hayao Miyazaki's film My Neighbor Totoro...
's Kiki's Delivery Service
Kiki's Delivery Service
is a 1989 Japanese animated fantasy film produced, written, and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It was the fourth theatrically released Studio Ghibli film.The film won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1989...
, it grossed ¥0.9 billion (US$10 million) in its release and was considered a box-office flop, against a budget of around ¥3 billion ($35 million.) Afterwards, Yutaka Fujioka decided to retire from the animation business, and TMS made the business decision to focus on locally based anime programs and animation for outsourced western-based productions, including Tiny Toon Adventures
Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation
Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation, also referred to as Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation or How I Spent My Vacation, is a 1992 American direct-to-video animated film from Warner Bros. Animation and Amblin Entertainment. The film was produced in...
. The studio still does features, but primarily films spinning off existing anime properties.
It was then released three years later in the United States in 579 theaters on August 21, 1992 through Hemdale Film Corporation
Hemdale Film Corporation
Hemdale Film Corporation, known as Hemdale Communications after 1993, was an independent film production company and distributor founded in London in 1967 as the Hemdale Company by actor David Hemmings and his manager, John Daly. Hemdale was initially founded as a talent agency that helped launch...
. 11 minutes were cut in order to secure a G rating. It received positive reviews from publications including the Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, the Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
, and the New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
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."
Although it had a fairly good critical reception, the film failed to find an audience. In its opening weekend in the United States, Nemo made about $407,695 with a total US gross of approximately $1,368,000. Its later release onto home video helped recover costs, topping the charts and selling over two million copies. It won the "Audience Award" at Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
's 1992 Cinekid Festival and was nominated for "Best Animated Feature" at the 1993 Annie Awards.
In March 2005, Little Nemo was given a "much untalked about" limited re-release in Denver, Seattle, Atlanta, Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, Houston, and other cities in the US. This was through Regal Cinemas
Regal Cinemas
Regal Cinemas is a UK-based cinema chain since the early days of the cinema. In 1928, Regal Cinemas became part of Associated British Cinemas but has retained the name 'Regal Cinemas'....
, Edwards Theatres, and United Artists Theatres as part of a Kidtoon Films
Kidtoon Films
Kidtoon Films is a distributor of children's animated films in the United States. The company is a subsidiary of The Bigger Picture, a Cinedigm company. Formerly owned by SD Entertainment, which produces many of its releases...
G-rated matinées
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
promotion. It was only shown on weekends.
Home video and DVD releases
The film was released on VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
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
Picture book
A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. The images in picture books use a range of media such as oil paints, acrylics, watercolor and pencil.Two of the earliest books with something like the format picture books still retain now...
, and cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
. On October 5, 2004, Little Nemo was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
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 were restored in the DVD release, bringing the run time of the film to the full 95 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 US for a sealed copy (usually DVD) on Internet sites such as Amazon
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
and eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
. 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
Best Buy
Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American specialty retailer of consumer electronics in the United States, accounting for 19% of the market. It also operates in Mexico, Canada & China. The company's subsidiaries include Geek Squad, CinemaNow, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and, in Canada operates...
and Amazon.com, as well as via the distributor's website www.echobridgeentertainment.com.
Video games
After the Japanese release, CapcomCapcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
developed a Nintendo
Nes
-Localities:In Norway:* Nes, Akershus, a municipality in the county of Akershus in Norway* Nes, Buskerud, a municipality in the county of Buskerud in Norway* Nes, Hedmark, a former municipality in the county of Hedmark in Norway...
game entitled Little Nemo: The Dream Master
Little Nemo: The Dream Master
Little Nemo: The Dream Master is a platform game released on the NES in 1990 by Capcom. It is based on the Japanese animated film, Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland from Tokyo Movie Shinsha, which itself is based on the comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland by Winsor McCay...
, released in late 1990. 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
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
, also by Capcom, was developed that same year under the title Nemo.