Dream Productions

Last updated

Dream Productions
Dream Productions series poster.jpg
Genre Comedy
Created by Mike Jones
Written byMike Jones
Voices of
Music by Nami Melumad
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes4
Production
Executive producers
Producers
  • Jaclyn Simon
  • Sabine Koch O'Sullivan
Cinematography
  • Arjun Rihan
  • Jesse Hollander
Editors
  • Katie Schaffer Bishop
  • Serena Warner
  • Tim Fox
Running time27–31 minutes
Production company Pixar Animation Studios
Original release
Network Disney+
ReleaseDecember 11, 2024 (2024-12-11)

Dream Productions is an American animated television miniseries produced by Pixar Animation Studios for the streaming service Disney+. Developed and created by Mike Jones, it serves as an interquel set between the events of Inside Out (2015) and Inside Out 2 (2024). Dream Productions follows Paula Persimmon (Paula Pell) who teams with Xeni (Richard Ayoade) to create the next big tween-dream. Jones was announced to be creating a series based on Inside Out at Pixar in June 2023. The series was being produced concurrently with the sequel film Inside Out 2. Its title was unveiled in May 2024. Nami Melumad provided the score for all four episodes. The four-episode series runs approximately 82 minutes long. [1] Dream Productions premiered on Disney+ on December 11, 2024. [2]

Contents

Voice cast

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date
1"Part 1: The Dream Team" Valerie LaPointe Mike Jones December 11, 2024 (2024-12-11)
Paula Persimmon is an acclaimed dream director from Dream Productions in Riley's mind. When her assistant director Janelle tries to tell her that she is planning on striking out on her own, Paula is too distracted on making a worthwhile dream for Riley. Paula decides to create a dream where Riley attends an upcoming school dance with Rainbow Unicorn making an appearance, despite Janelle feeling that Riley is too mature for that. The head of Dream Productions, Jean Dewberry, then promotes Janelle to be a new director, much to Paula's shock. Paula's dream at first goes well, but when Rainbow Unicorn comes out of a giant clam shell, it destroys the set.
2"Part 2: Out Of Body"Valerie LaPointeMike JonesDecember 11, 2024 (2024-12-11)
Paula is assigned a new assistant, Jean's pretentious daydream director nephew Xeni, who believes that Riley's dreams should be more mature. Paula insists on doing things her way though, which results in another bad dream starring Rainbow Unicorn. Xeni's mocking results in Paula discharging him. Meanwhile, Janelle creates a new hit dream and Jean subtly warns Paula that she might be fired if she can't create a new good dream.
3"Part 3: Romance!"Austin MadisonMike JonesDecember 11, 2024 (2024-12-11)
Paula rehires Xeni and thanks to his influence, the dreams they create involving Riley taking a Canadian-based boyfriend to the dance are doing well. Jean soon decides to give Paula the entire night to create a dream, which results in Paula once again taking over. Xeni, furious, soon creates another fake boyfriend to add in drama. This results in Paula and Xeni repeatedly sabotaging each other, overcrowding the set with fake boyfriends and disrupting Riley's mind to the point where she begins sleepwalking, resulting in the camera moving on its own. In this unconscious state, Riley nearly falls off the stairs while the camera almost falls off a set. Jean, furious over the debacle, demotes Xeni to work at the local cafe while Paula is put under pressure to create another good dream.
4"Part 4: A Night to Remember"Mike JonesMike JonesDecember 11, 2024 (2024-12-11)
Because of the sleepwalking incident, Jean begins taking over everyone's dreams by giving all of the directors locked scripts. Wanting to get back at Paula, Xeni creates a fake script for a bad dream and slips it into Paula's folder. Paula soon decides to quit, believing she doesn't know Riley at all. Conscience stricken, Xeni finds Paula and confesses his sabotage and that since Paula has resigned, his fake script has been reassigned to Janelle. When Paula tries to warn Janelle of this, Jean comes and actually approves of Xeni's script. When Paula, Xeni and Janelle become unwilling to direct, Jean fires them all. They manage to sneak back into Dream Productions where they soon remove the camera's reality distortion filter so that Riley can understand that it's all not real when the dream begins taking a toll on her. The dream is changed into a happy one and Riley soon decides to go to the dance with Bree and Grace. Because of Jean's behavior, she is demoted to working at the cafe, Xeni becomes the new director, and Paula becomes the new head of Dream Productions.

Production

Development

On June 16, 2023, it was reported that an Inside Out television series was being developed by Pixar for Disney+; the series was reportedly being developed as part of an effort by Disney to increase Pixar's output. Mike Jones, who previously wrote Soul (2020) and Luca (2021) for the studio, was set to develop the series. [5] The series was being developed simultaneously with a sequel to the original film, titled Inside Out 2 (2024). [6] By May 2024, the series had been titled Dream Productions. [7]

In August 2024, Jones revealed he would executive produce the series, as well as serve as director alongside Valerie LaPointe and Austin Madison, with Jaclyn Simon as producer. [8] [9] Paula Pell was also confirmed to reprise her role as Dream Director from the first film to star as the main protagonist in the series. [10] [11] The series was produced under a smaller budget than most Pixar productions, which Jones compared to making an independent film within Pixar. [1]

Writing

The series is set between the events of Inside Out and Inside Out 2. [12] Executive producer and Inside Out director Pete Docter said the series would explore "the power of dreams and how they affect us in our waking life". [13]

Music

On September 24, 2024, Nami Melumad was revealed to be composing for the series. [14]

Release

All four episodes of Dream Productions were released on Disney+ on December 11, 2024. [2] The series was originally scheduled to be released by the spring of 2025 but was moved forward, having swapped its release date with the Pixar television series Win or Lose . [7] [15]

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 75% approval rating with an average rating of 6.1/10, based on 8 critic reviews. [16] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 65 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [17]

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References

  1. 1 2 Richlin, Harrison; Welk, Brian (November 2, 2024). "Pixar's Mike Jones on Why His 'Inside Out' Spinoff Series Faced the Same Struggle as Some Low-Budget Indies". IndieWire . Archived from the original on November 20, 2024. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Milligan, Mercedes (September 24, 2024). "Disney+ Dates Debuts for 'Inside Out' Series 'Dream Productions' and 'Win or Lose'". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on September 25, 2024. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Inside+Out+Spinoff+Series+Dream+Productions+Cast+Revealed". Archived from the original on December 11, 2024.
  4. ↑ Schager, Nick (December 11, 2024). "Pixar Takes Us to the 'Inside Out' World of Dream Production". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on December 11, 2024. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  5. ↑ Belloni, Matthew (June 16, 2023). "The Troubling Pixar Paradox" . Puck News . Archived from the original on July 17, 2023. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
  6. ↑ Grobar, Matt (September 9, 2022). "Inside Out Sequel Plans Confirmed By Pixar at D23". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on September 13, 2022. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  7. 1 2 Buckley, Thomas (May 30, 2024). "Disney Is Banking On Sequels to Help Get Pixar Back on Track". Bloomberg . Archived from the original on May 30, 2024. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  8. ↑ @whereisjones (August 10, 2024). "My next Pixar thing. Written and exec produced by myself, produced by Jaclyn Simon, directed by Valerie LaPointe and Austin Madison and me. Coming Spring 2025. And yes, it's a show as weird as you think. But the good sort of weird" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. ↑ "Dream Productions | Production Brief". Getty Images. Archived from the original on December 11, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  10. ↑ "Pixar Animation Studios". Pixar Animation Studios. Archived from the original on August 10, 2024. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  11. ↑ "D23: Disney Reveals Inside Out Spinoff Dream Productions". TV Shows. Archived from the original on August 10, 2024. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  12. ↑ Campione, Katie (August 10, 2024). "'Inside Out' TV Series In The Works For Disney+". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 10, 2024. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  13. ↑ Romano, Nick (June 12, 2024). "Pete Docter previews Pixar's future: Inside Out series, more Monsters, Inc.". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on June 12, 2024. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
  14. ↑ "Nami Melumad Scoring Pixar's Disney+ Series Dream Productions". Film Music Reporter. Archived from the original on October 8, 2024. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  15. ↑ Animation Magazine (August 15, 2024). "Trailer: First Original Pixar Series 'Win or Lose' Hits Disney+ in December'". Animation Magazine . Archived from the original on August 17, 2024. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  16. ↑ "Dream Productions: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  17. ↑ "Dream Productions: Season 1". Metacritic . Retrieved December 11, 2024.
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