Netflix dropped the teaser trailer for its animated Oscar-hopeful, “In Your Dreams” (streaming November 14), the original comedy-fantasy about siblings trying to save their parents’ marriage by enlisting the aid of the mythical Sandman. Former Pixar story artist Alex Woo (“WALL-E”) directs with Erik Benson, another ex-Pixar story artist (“Toy Story 4”). The film is produced by Netflix Animation and Woo’s Kuku Studios, with animation by Sony Pictures Imageworks. The voice cast is led by Cristin Milioti as the mom and Simu Liu as the dad.
“In Your Dreams” finds Stevie (voiced by Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) and her brother Elliot (voiced by Elias Janssen) discovering a magic book, which allows them to enter the wacky realm of their dreams, where the Sandman (Omid Djalili) can grant their wish for the perfect family. Along the way, they encounter Elliot’s long-lost sarcastic stuffed giraffe, Baloney Tony (Craig Robinson), zombie breakfast foods, and Nightmara (Gia Carides), the Sandman’s rival.
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The film is very personal for Woo, who took inspiration from his own parents’ breakup. He presented footage Thursday at the Annecy Animation Film Festival with production designer Steve Pilcher (“Soul”) and VFX supervisor Nicola Lavender (“The Mitchells vs. the Machines”).
Accompanying the sumptuous animation of the surreal landscapes are compelling themes of managing dual careers while being caring, nurturing parents, the importance of imagination and not giving up on your dream, and learning to cope with harsh realities as a part of growing up. And be careful what you wish for.
At Annecy, Netflex Animation (led by Hannah Minghella, head of Netflix Feature Animation and Family Film) touted sneak peeks of two upcoming animated series, “Stranger Things: Tales from ’85” (from showrunner Eric Robles), and “Long Story Short” (from “Bojack Horseman’s” Raphael Bob-Waksberg, streaming August 22), as well as the features “KPop Demon Hunters” (directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, streaming June 20), the Roald Dahl-adapted “The Twits” (directed by Phil Johnston, streaming in the fall), and “Pookoo” (from Skydance Animation and director Nathan Greno, streaming in 2026). In addition, Netflix premiered Genndy Tartakovsky’s adult 2D comedy feature, “Fixed” (streaming August 13).
Check out the first teaser for “In Your Dreams” below.
