Slumberland | |
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Directed by | Francis Lawrence |
Screenplay by |
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Based on | Little Nemo by Winsor McCay |
Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography | Jo Willems |
Edited by | Mark Yoshikawa |
Music by | Pinar Toprak |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
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Running time | 117 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $150 million [1] |
Slumberland is a 2022 American fantasy adventure film directed by Francis Lawrence and written by David Guion and Michael Handelman. Based on the comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland by Winsor McCay, the film stars Jason Momoa, Chris O'Dowd, Kyle Chandler, Weruche Opia, and introducing Marlow Barkley in her film debut as Nemo. [2] It tells the story of a young girl who goes to live with her uncle after her father is lost at sea and enters Slumberland where she befriends a renegade character who is involved in a plot to get to the Sea of Nightmares and obtain a special pearl that may have the power to reunite her with her father.
Slumberland was released on November 18, 2022, by Netflix. It received generally mixed reviews from critics.
Nemo is a young girl who lives in a lighthouse with her widowed father Peter, a lighthouse keeper. Every night, Peter tells her wild bedtime stories about his adventures with Flip, his old partner.
One night during a storm, Peter heads out to help a distressed boat. Nemo is later visited by the family friend Carla who informs her that Peter was lost at sea. With Nemo devastated by the news, Carla persuades Nemo's estranged uncle Philip to take her in before she becomes a ward of the state. In contrast to his brother Peter, Philip is a doorknob salesman who leads a lonely, boring, and monotonous life. Nemo moves to the city with Philip and the two find it difficult to adjust to each other. When enrolled at a local school, she struggles to fit in as she meets school counselor Ms. Arya and a student named Jamal.
One night, she is awakened when her stuffed pig (Pig) comes to life. In reality, she is still asleep and in Slumberland, the world between dreams. Here, she meets Flip, learning that he is real and not simply a character her father made up. A stubborn and unscrupulous outlaw, Flip is looking for a map that will lead him to magical wish-granting pearls.
Nemo finds the map in the waking world and takes it back to Slumberland by sleeping through classes. Flip begrudgingly allows her to join him for the pearls so she can wish her father into her dreams. Nemo learns that Flip has refused to wake up for so long he no longer remembers who he is in the real world. He uses the map as a guide through various people's dreams to get to the Sea of Nightmares, where the pearls are. They are attacked by Nemo's nightmare, a cloud of smoke resembling a kraken. Flip is later imprisoned by Agent Green of the Bureau of Subconscious Activities (BoSA) for intruding on people's dreams.
In the real world, Philip shows Nemo an old videotape of him and Peter playing together as children. Nemo realizes that Flip is Philip's dream alter ego. As Flip has not woken up, Philip has lost that part of his personality and become Flip's opposite: docile and unadventurous. Nemo returns to Slumberland to rescue Flip. At the Sea of Nightmares, she reveals to him who he really is. The truth of his boring real life upsets him and Flip decides never to wake up. Nemo is awakened by Ms. Arya, who calls Philip to bring up her progress in school. This event leads to an argument between her and Philip.
Nemo runs away from home and sails through a storm back to the lighthouse. She hits her head and passes out in the boat, sending her back to Slumberland. In the Sea of Nightmares, she acquires a wishing pearl. Flip saves her from the kraken nightmare as in the real world, she falls into the water, unconscious. Philip arranges a rescue boat captained by Carla and heads toward the lighthouse, terrified by the storm. When the nightmare grabs Flip, Nemo uses her wish to force Flip to wake up. In the real world, Philip becomes emboldened and dives into the water to rescue Nemo.
In Slumberland, Green commends Nemo on using her wish to save Flip, saying Nemo has finally found something more important than what she has lost. Green reveals that Pig actually swallowed two pearls, allowing Nemo to wish to see her father again. Peter appears and the two spend time together before he tells her that life is waiting for her in the real world and she cannot stay. Nemo says goodbye to her father and wakes up, where Phillip embraces her, now embedded with the personality of Flip.
Nemo begins to improve her life in the waking world, making friends at school and repairing her relationship with her uncle as they make use of one of Peter's boats for sailing.
On March 3, 2020, it was announced that Jason Momoa would star in a live-action adaptation of the comic strip series Little Nemo in Slumberland by Winsor McCay from director Francis Lawrence, with Netflix distributing and production starting in the summer of that same year. [4] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, filming for the project was postponed. On October 12, 2020, Kyle Chandler joined the cast of the film, where Chris O'Dowd and Marlow Barkley had already been confirmed to star. [5] The following year, on February 18, Weruche Opia and India de Beaufort were cast. [2]
Filming began on February 18, 2021, in Toronto, and concluded on May 19, 2021. [6] [7] [8]
Pinar Toprak composed the musical score. [9] DNEG and Framestore provided the visual effects. Additional VFX was done by Scanline VFX, Ghost VFX, Important Looking Pirates, Outpost VFX, Rodeo FX, Incessant Rain Studios. and Pinscreen, which did AI VFX. The film's main and end titles were done by Imaginary Forces.
Slumberland was released on November 18, 2022, by Netflix. [10] In its first week of release Slumberland was the fifth most streamed program for the week of November 21–27 accruing over 1 billion minutes viewed across the platform. [11]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 40% of 42 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.3/10.The website's consensus reads: " Winsor McCay 's classic Nemo comics are fertile ground for the right filmmaker, but Slumberland forsakes the spirit of the strips in favor of senseless spectacle." [12] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 40 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [13]
The film was nominated for two awards (Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature & Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature) at the 21st Visual Effects Society Awards. [14]
Little Nemo is a fictional character created by American cartoonist Winsor McCay. He originated in an early comic strip by McCay, Dream of the Rarebit Fiend, before receiving his own spin-off series, Little Nemo in Slumberland. The full-page weekly strip depicted Nemo having fantastic dreams that were interrupted by his awakening in the final panel. The strip is considered McCay's masterpiece for its experiments with the form of the comics page, its use of color and perspective, its timing and pacing, the size and shape of its panels, and its architectural and other details.
Dream of the Rarebit Fiend is a newspaper comic strip by American cartoonist Winsor McCay, begun September 10, 1904. It was McCay's second successful strip, after Little Sammy Sneeze secured him a position on the cartoon staff of the New York Herald. Rarebit Fiend appeared in the Evening Telegram, a newspaper published by the Herald. For contractual reasons, McCay signed the strip with the pen name "Silas".
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Kyle Martin Chandler is an American actor. Chandler received widespread critical acclaim for his performance as Eric Taylor in the NBC series Friday Night Lights (2006–2011); he received numerous award nominations for his portrayal of the character and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2011 for his performance in the show's final season.
Joseph Jason Namakaeha Momoa is an American actor. He made his acting debut as Jason Ioane on the syndicated action drama series Baywatch: Hawaii (1999–2001), which was followed by portrayals of Ronon Dex on the Syfy science fiction series Stargate Atlantis (2005–2009), and Khal Drogo in the first two seasons of the HBO fantasy drama series Game of Thrones (2011–2012). He went on to play the lead roles in the Discovery Channel historical drama series Frontier (2016–2018) and the Apple TV+ science fiction series See (2019–2022).
Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland is a 1989 animated musical fantasy film directed by Masami Hata and William Hurtz. 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. The film features the English dub voices of Gabriel Damon, Mickey Rooney, René Auberjonois, Danny Mann, and Bernard Erhard.
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India de Beaufort is a British actress. She has acted in several films and television shows, including The Better Half (2015), Kimi (2022) and Night Court (2023−24).
Winsor McCay: The Famous Cartoonist of the N.Y. Herald and His Moving Comics, more commonly known as Little Nemo, is a 1911 silent animated short film by American cartoonist Winsor McCay. One of the earliest animated films, it was McCay's first, and featured characters from McCay's comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland. Its expressive character animation distinguished the film from the experiments of earlier animators.
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