Wake up!
ON Animation Studios who produced the BAFTA award-winning Little Prince, will team-up with Moana’s Head of Animation, Hyrum Osmond to bring ‘Little Nemo in Slumberland’ to the big screen. The newspaper comic strip chronicled the adventures of a young boy in a fantastical and surreal dream world.
Previously ‘Little Nemo in Slumberland’ was adapted in 1989 as the animated feature Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland. The film was an American-Japanese co-production with a script by Chris Columbus and Richard Outten.
Osmond, who will direct the feature said: “Little Nemo in Slumberland is a masterpiece that has influenced generations all over the world, breaking new ground in visual storytelling,” and that he’s “honoured to have the opportunity to direct a film based upon the work of Winsor McCay.”
Aton Soumache, who’ll act as a producer on the new adaptation,compared the comic strip to Hook and Alice in Wonderland. Adding: “The strip is truly an unlimited source for astonishing adventures. McCay created a world made for CGI a century before the technology existed. It’s a passion project at the heart of ON Animation’s philosophy: a beloved property leading to a story of emotional truth, set against a never-before-seen world.”
Winsor McCay’s ‘Little Nemo in Slumberland’ debuted in 1905 and ran til 1926. The comic strip began with Morpheus the King of Slumberland commanding a minion to collect Nemo, as he was to be the Princess of Slumberland’s playmate. Predictably not all goes according to plan and it takes months for Nemo to actually arrive, due to the machinations of Flip (a green, cigar chomping clown) and Nemo himself waking up. Often detours prove to be the most exciting part of a journey, and along the way Nemo visits: Mars, the palace of Jack Frost, and Befuddle Hall (a place of bizarre architecture and funhouse mirror-like illusions).
Nemo’s dreams always pick-up from where they left off, making his quest essentially one never-ending recurring fantasy. Lucky. Most of us have repetitive nightmares about falling or being chased.
A release date is to be announced.
