DipitySkillful an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Numerootno A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The_Film_Cricket It is ironic that I had such a difficult time staying awake during a movie that takes place in Slumberland. I realize that this is an animated flick for kids but geeeez if it can't keep me awake what hope do kids have? Most of the lethargy comes from the film's animation style, it's flat and uses basic pastel colors and the characters speak as if they are about to give us a warning about the dangers of cutting down trees. In the center is an annoying dimwit named Nemo a child who's bed flies out the window and into what looks like one of the neighboring suburbs from 'Yellow Submarine' and is badly in need of restoration.Along his journey through Slumberland and it's forbidding neighbor Nightmareland. Nemo encounters the usual gaggle of hokey-jokey supporting characters including a scientist, a pack of goblins and eventually runs across King Morpheus who provides one of those Don't Ever Open That Door warnings just before handing the kid the key.The problem is that the movie is at a loss to come up with anything new story-wise. A hero with no personality goes to a wonderland, meets the usual gaggle of quirky characters, is given a warning, disobeys that warning, meets the prime villain, all hell breaks loose and it's up to the brave little hero to fix it. I've seen this scenario over and over and over until I've grown . . . well . . . tired.

greg-glen "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

Shraylo Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989) ***** out of *****.Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland is about a little boy named Nemo who has nightmares. One night, he is awoken and brought to Slumberland where he is to become heir to the throne. He is given a key and is told to never open a certain door, and upon meeting a troublemaker named Flip, is convinced to open said door. Upon doing so, he unleashes the Nightmare King, who has been locked away for generations. The Nightmare King kidnaps the king of Slumberland, and now Nemo must venture to Nightmare Land in order to destroy the Nightmare King and bring peace back to Slumberland.This movie is very personal to me. I used to watch a lot of movies as a kid, and this was one of them. I can't count how many times I used to watch it. I was around 8 or 9 years old, and from what I can remember, this movie frightened me. I had dreams of my own that were similar to Nemo's, and maybe that is why it frightened me so much. But somewhere along the line, this film became another part of my collection, sitting in a cabinet for 11 years, collecting dust. That is until, at work, I started reminiscing about this film. I remembered how some scenes that I could recall scared me so much, and some of the songs, and the overall reality that the movie made me feel back then, and I dug the old tape up and popped it in my VCR.I couldn't believe it.Everything I remembered from my childhood flashed before my eyes. It was like going back to a time when things were much more simple. No worrying about money, work, girlfriends, or the overall necessities of everyday life. This kid, Nemo, kind of embodied me as a child. A little bit different, but he had that same childhood curiosity and energy that I remember myself having. For the hour and a half that this movie goes for it feels like being a kid again. It's a very rare nostalgia, one I have never felt before, and I don't think that feeling will ever go away. I am 19 years old now. If I move, this movie will travel with me, even if I bring no more of my old VHS movies. It will be given to my children, if I ever have any, so they can experience the same feelings that I used to feel.That's my little part of the story when it comes to this film.But don't think I'm bias, giving this movie a 5 out of 5 just because of the nostalgia factor.Little Nemo is a great family film. For the amount of animated movies I used to like as a child, I'll be the first to admit that some of them were pretty painful to watch as an adult. If only I knew what my parents felt towards some of those old movies. However, they said out of some of the movies I used to watch, they enjoyed this one. But who couldn't? It's cute AND action-packed! Some of the voice acting is just awesome. I'm actually referring more so to Mickey Rooney's performance as Flip. He really gives it his all when all the other voice actors might not be. Flip's full of personality and he really embodies that friend that peer pressured you a lot when you were a kid, which is what I think they were going for. Some people might disagree, but I enjoyed Gabriel Damon's performance as Nemo, even though most of his lines include "Shazama Pajama" or "Yippee!". I just can't stop thinking about the scene in the beginning where Nemo is running away from a train and is telling his mom that they need to get out of the house. Reminds me of a few dreams I used to have.The animation is very fluid. Whoever said that this movie wasn't very Disney-like at this movie's theatrical release is an idiot. I don't think it was meant to be. The whole movie looks and runs like a really good Anime. Considering it was animated in Japan, the whole Disney animation comparison really just doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense. But for a budget of $35 million, the animation better be good. It was, and still is. Just search the movie up on YouTube and you'll see what I mean.There is one thing I don't like in the film, although I'll tolerate them, and that is the Oomps. I probably just offended some fans of this movie. If so, sorry. Some may like them, but I don't. They were annoying as a kid, and are still pretty annoying now. Their song is dumb, some of their lines are stupid, and they are overall embarrassing to watch. Of course, in the end, they help Nemo out tremendously. But they still annoy me. Every time I watch the movie however, I like them a tiny bit more.I'm really happy this movie was made, and to find people on IMDb who share the same feelings about it as I do. I will treasure this movie forever, and I don't care who knows that my favorite movie of all time is a kid's movie. Out of all the movies I've watched in my life (I have watched so many), this movie stands out. It is one of my favorite possessions and will never be sold or given up to anyone. I love this movie! If you ever run across a copy, do yourself a favor and watch it, or do your child a favor, and let them watch it.Until next time, Shraylo

blacklaetherglove I wanted to see this movie very badly when I was a pre-teen, maybe 10 or 11. It looked so cute, like a lot of the movies at that time. I remember Christopher Lloyd & his various guises in the voice acting world, and imagined this to be of a similar calibur. How sadly I was mistaken. Unlike Disney, whose calculated quality assures something you will enjoy, whether you like it or not, this is an animated feature with liitle charm & little to keep my interest. The characters felt like something snatched from Don Bluth, but with none of the individuality or charm. The half-hearted, unpleasant musical number (I only remember one: when Nemo is being instructed in the proper way to conduct himself, reading books, standing up straight & such) is painful to watch, and I wished that Nemo had resisted the adult forces. He didn't. The plot in predictable & contrived. Think Pandora's box meets the standard "let's go on a journey to find ____, meet new friends, learn something important about ourselves..." type plot. As cool as the scene with the bed coming alive & leaping thru the rooftops looks, don't put yourself thru the torture that is this movie.