Director Alex Woo and stars Simu Liu, Cristin Milioti, and Craig Robinson go behind-the-scenes to share insights on production design, character design, and the vivid, colorful and ‘dreamy’ worlds of the hit feature, now streaming.
Join writer/director Alex Woo and stars Simu Liu, Cristin Milioti, and Craig Robinson as they take us on a behind-the-scenes tour of their new hit animated feature, In Your Dreams.
Netflix has shared with AWN an exclusive inside look featurette, “In Your Dreams: Behind the Animation,” along with never-before-seen concept art, that dive deep into the film’s character design, production design, and animation production.
Woo, who spent eight years developing and producing the film, notes that, “Everything we do on screen, whether it’s an animation performance, or it’s production design or set design, we try to root in character and story.” All the characters’ personalities are reflected in their design, from younger brother Elliot’s “disheveled hair” to Dad’s distinctive “dad bod.”
The film’s scope is big, with many elaborate new “dream worlds,” from Breakfast Town to the Sandman’s Castle, that each required an intricate new build. The “wide animation canvas” also included numerous nightmare sequences, each more ambitious than the next.
And of course, who could forget the “poorly designed, sort of janky stuffed giraffe” Baloney Tony, voiced by the hilarious, perfectly matched Robinson.
Woo, along with co-director Erik Benson, production designer Steve Pilcher, and VFX supervisor Nicola Lavender, led the passionate, expert animation production team at Sony Pictures Imageworks to deliver one of the funniest and most emotionally satisfying films of the year, which is nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Critics Choice Awards!
Enjoy the featurette and artwork below!
The 3DCG In Your Dreams tells the story of a young girl, Stevie, and her younger brother Elliot, who journey into the absurd landscape of their own dreams in search of the Sandman, who they believe can grant their wish to save their parents’ marriage. The siblings brave zombie breakfast foods and the queen of nightmares in an effort to see their ultimate dream come true... the perfect family. But the controlling Stevie will need to find common ground with her free-spirited brother in order to avoid getting swallowed up by nightmares.
Produced by Netflix Animation and Kuku Studios, the movie stars Craig Robinson (Baloney Tony), Simu Liu (Dad), Cristin Milioti (Mom), Jolie Hoang-Rappaport (Stevie), Elias Janssen (Elliot), Omid Djalili (Sandman), and Gia Carides (Nightmara), as well as SungWon Cho and Zachary Noah Piser. Woo directs, with Erik Benson serving as co-director. Gregg Taylor and Tim Hahn produce with the screenplay by Benson and Woo from a story by Woo and Stanley Moore.
Source: Netflix
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
