Apr 11 2008What 'Little Nemo' Could Have Been
In 1992, when other kids were fawning over Robin Williams' masterfully wacky impressions in Aladdin, I remember being pretty excited over Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland. It's not that I had any knowledge of Winsor McCay's brilliant source material, but I liked that it was bright and confusing, endorsed onesies, and reminded me to play the Little Nemo Nintendo game (notable for forcing you to feed animals candy until they let you wear their skin as a suit).
Anyway, back in 1984 some other studios were working on the project--including Studio Ghibli and director Yoshifumi Kondo. Only a short test sequence was ever finished, but it's worth watching. Think the Star Wars Death Star run with a bed, but with more unnecessary whimpering.
Little Nemo Test Film [Cartoon Brew]
Reader Comments
1. James - April 11, 2008 10:58 AM
So awesome. Damn them for not making the whole movie.
2. Mr.Anderson - April 11, 2008 11:03 AM
Man. I'd so totally watch this. I really miss all those cool cartoons they made back then. Heck if they still made it (even with this quality) I might actually PAY to go watch it in a theater. Instead of...well you know...not pay...and watch it.
3. Ray - April 11, 2008 12:21 PM
They really should have cast Porkins as Nemo.
4. Tom - April 11, 2008 12:59 PM
Awesome. Nemo the comic strip was so well done. Newspaper comics really were art back then. I've been considering buying the entire strip, as it was published a couple of years ago in book form. Maybe I should.
5. Rob - April 11, 2008 2:01 PM
Looks like they already did make a movie. That one you're talking about in '92 is the American release of the full-length one from '89. It's apparently on DVD. Though I do think the Ghibli test footage looks better than the final product....
6. ans - April 11, 2008 2:12 PM
I still enjoy feeding animals candy and wearing their skin
7. Skatelip - April 11, 2008 3:06 PM
This is a shock, nay, an outrage!
What sort of monster would advocate this kind of reckless bed-piloting for our youth?
8. LanCo - April 11, 2008 5:19 PM
HA, I actually made my little sister watch a few clips of the old version the other day on youtube, all the while telling her how brilliant it was (to me)!
9. julie - April 11, 2008 6:30 PM
haha i randomly saw this movie when i was little..and then the movie theater back home played it over summer a couple years ago as one of the kids movies!
10. Ritchie - April 11, 2008 6:36 PM
In my opinion one of the best stoner films of all time.
11. uni'tard - April 11, 2008 11:07 PM
i don't like this at all. why? because i didn't have any gut wrenching waves of fear and terror like the full length version always produced in me through ages 5-now.
12. Vinkorleone - April 12, 2008 12:40 PM
I wonder what it would be like having sex on it. (In my case, self pleasuring to an article from Reader's Digest until my jizz splatters on an unsuspecting bird's face.)
13. Tony - April 12, 2008 10:57 PM
What? An overly long scene in which nothing happens and a style that recalls all of Miyazaki's movies? There's so little here that I don't even know how it shows what might have been in any sense... This would be almost at the beginning the movie too.
The original film was quite good, although there are scenes some people don't care for. Nothing here makes me think that it would turn out to be terribly different, nor is the quality well beyond what we saw.
14. Crappola - April 28, 2008 2:43 PM
Shut the Hell Up!!! In 1992, the I Watch Stuff writer was just a kid? Jeez, don't be so god-damn young.