10/10
"Little Nemo" a joy true to the spirit of the original
5 March 2009
"Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland" is a joy and a wonder, just like the original Winsor McCay cartoons. For those ignorant of the history of American cartoons, McCay's "Little Nemo" series was a classic of naive pop surrealism exploring the adventures of a boy in the dream-world. McCay was sometimes deficient in spelling, but he was never deficient in drawing or imagination. Of course, the movie has to elide or telescope things a bit. After all, the original cartoon was a serial running episodically in newspapers. I find no serious fault with this. I took particular delight in how some scenes here meticulously mirrored the original cartoon. The animation is at various points dreamy, beautiful, dark, menacing and, of course, surreal. I think it is a mistake to view this film purely as a product of the anime industry - the film is instead a meeting of the Japanese culture with American culture. The merger of sensibilities here is quite wonderful. I loved the squirrel's petulant irritation at being called a "rat." And I loved the nightmare monster-heel. And, of course,the trickster figure, Pip. The whole thing has the quality of a twisting dream, sometimes good, sometimes bad, just like real dreams. Don't hesitate to buy and watch this. Greg Cameron, Surrey, B.C., Canada
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