Netflix’s newest animated feature, In Your Dreams, follows a pair of young siblings as they journey through a fantastical dream world in search of the legendary Sandman in hopes of repairing their family. Director Alex Wu, who worked as a story artist on Pixar’s Cars 2 and Incredibles 2, makes his directorial debut with this deeply personal story.
“When I was six or seven years old, I woke up one morning and my mom was packing her things,” Wu told Variety about the film’s genesis. “She was on the doorstep and had no idea what was going on. She had to gently explain to me and my brother that she was leaving to take care of her family. She didn’t really know what that meant, but she knew things were about to change.”
When Wu left Pixar in 2016, “In Your Dreams” was one of his first ideas. Films about dream space have been successfully told (“Inception”), but it has not yet been realized in the world of animation. Wu was up for the challenge.
In the film (available on Netflix), Stevie (voiced by Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) and Elliot (voiced by Elias Janssen) discover a rift in their parents’ marriage. Her mother (Cristin Milioti) wants to move to Duluth to become an assistant professor, but her father (Simu Liu) wants to stay. Stevie takes it upon himself to keep his family together, and together with his brother, they use the dream world to find the Sandman and turn their dreams into reality.
Along with the creative team, Wu worked closely with production designer Steve Pilcher to bring the world of “In Your Dreams” to life. Flying beds, an animated breakfast, sand creatures, and a river with balls in the ball pit were all part of the visual storytelling. Although fantastical, everything is grounded in reality. Polly’s Pizzeria was inspired by Wu’s childhood visit to Chuck E. Cheese, and the river with the animated beaver was inspired by Disney’s “It’s a Small World” ride.
Below, Wu and Pilcher talk to Variety about their process and how they brought the animated feature to life.
Alex, where did “In Your Dreams” begin for you?
It coincided with the establishment of our company. I left Pixar in 2016 and spent the first year or two coming up with different ideas for movies and TV shows I wanted to see. I found it difficult to bet on my dream movie because anything could happen. That was a big challenge. I knew I wanted to do something in a dream world, but I needed an emotional core to the story. That’s when I told him this thing that happened when I was six or seven years old. When I woke up one morning, my mother was packing her things. She was on the doorstep and had no idea what was going on. She had to gently explain to me and my brother that she was leaving home to focus on her family. I didn’t really know what that meant, but I knew things were about to change. Much of this film is inspired by that experience.
Much of the betting takes place in the dream world. What conversations did you have about what it looked like visually?
Steve Pilcher: Of course, it was based in the real world and in the dream world. I told Alex about where he grew up and Googled Arden Hills, Minnesota and the street where Alex lived. We considered all the different parameters to establish this world. This is because when you go to a dream world, you associate it with that world and their lifestyle.
River in the ball pit.
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The River in the Ball Pit is very reminiscent of Disneyland’s “It’s a Small World” ride, but in your world it’s a nightmare. What’s the idea behind it?
Woo: That was very intentional. Everything in the dream world is based on something in the real world. In the movie, they go to Polly’s Pizzeria. I used to go to Chuck E. Cheese a lot when I was a kid and spent a lot of time there. I loved it. But in retrospect, it’s junky and comical. That river in the ball pit was inspired by my experience at Chuck E. Cheese. The first time I went to “It’s a Small World” as a child, I was very scared because I was inside a dark tunnel. It’s really amazing – seeing all these animatronics and all these set pieces – but as a kid it can be scary because you don’t know where it’s going. That’s why I decided to set a nightmare version of Polly’s Pizzeria in that environment.
Pilcher: Whenever they go to the dream world, they’re there with a purpose, and they’re trying to find Sandman. I thought the ride was perfect, but let’s use a ball pit ball. We used the exchange between Elliot and “killing a badger” as a motif. Because you can start there and turn it into a nightmare.
Breakfast Town is the opposite. It’s full of colorful, fun, and animated food. How did that idea come to fruition?
Woo: That was part of the original pitch. It all started when my mom used to make French toast on Sunday mornings. Stevie represented this perfect happy family time for her. We knew that if that was her happy place, then of course she would have this happy dream.
Pilcher: One of the things we noticed early on with the board was that the castle was made of waffles. The idea was to turn it into a craft-based world. As the kids play and build their own breakfast town with their own food, Stevie might use milk cartons for buildings. Since it was French toast, the idea was to create a breakfast town inspired by medieval France.
Wu: Our art director Rachel Daniels built a craft-based Breakfast Town using cardboard and milk cartons to get a sense of scale and the look of the materials. She was using her cell phone to take pictures. So we did a lot of research. Because that’s the only way to make it feel authentic.
Pilcher: We also noticed that certain elements took us away from the film. What will the child use? Cut out rough pieces of white glue, popsicle sticks, and construction paper and paste them onto the milk carton.
breakfast town
Netflix
When they meet Sandman, it’s an interesting visual. How difficult would it be to animate sand, especially in a world with sandcastles, sand creatures, and the Sandman himself?
Wu: That was a big challenge. It was, “How do we differentiate between Sandman, Sandling, and their environments so that they don’t feel like big brown mush?”
Pilcher: Characters like Sandman and Sandling are curve-based characters. To complement it, use straight. I decided to build this out of cubes. Cube-based everywhere. The sandcastle design was based on a sand bucket. Fill it with sand and turn it upside down to reveal a pyramid shape.
Woo: Sunning had an inner glow that helped distinguish it from the background. They are living characters, but the castle is a dead object, so there was no light inside the castle.
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It feels like there are a ton of easter eggs in this movie. Is there anything that left an impression on you?
Pilcher: The pizzeria has a “Go! Go! Cory Carson” ride for kids. Since it’s Netflix, I thought I’d include it.
Woo: Elliot has a “Go! Go! Cory Carson” sticker on his bed. The idea is that he watched the show when he was five years old and put stickers all over his bed. Also, when we are first introduced to Stevie and she is getting ready, she high-fives the beckoning cat. There is a sticky note that says “Find your vassal” written on it. She ended up finding it behind the refrigerator in Breakfasttown.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
