Aug 16th 2011 By: Laura Hudson
Parting Shot: The Studio Ghibli 'Little Nemo in Slumberland' Anime That Could Have Been
The classic Winsor McCay newspaper strip Little Nemo in Slumberland was adapted into an animated film in 1989 after a lengthy period in development hell that included scripts from both Moebius and the director of Adventures in Babysitting. Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takehata of Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke) were also involved early on before parting over creative differences, leaving behind this gorgeous four-minute test pilot of Little Nemo as an anime. What could have been!
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"Alapajama Kazala Pajama?" Did I say it right?
August 17 2011 at 9:08 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
Karen Green
It's lovely, and fun, and I especially liked the melting buildings near the end--but I confess I prefer the LOOK of McCay's characters. The charm of Little Nemo, for me, is not the story along, but the aesthetic. And while I love Ghibli's aesthetic, too, the two are wildly different.
August 17 2011 at 11:13 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThis movie actually exists, I watched it just a couple of months ago. Frankly, it is absolutely beautiful and definitely worth watching.
August 16 2011 at 8:54 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI believe Hero is right. I had a copy of a Little Nemo movie on VHS when I was 7, and I believe it was this one. I regrettably never watched it all the way through, but now I am hankering to pick it up again.
I know about the in/validity of Wikipedia, but it mentions this movie coming to the U.S. in 1992.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Nemo#Films
There was a movie released in the 80's, but it wasn't done by Ghibli. Ghibli dropped the project pretty early on.
August 17 2011 at 9:57 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply*motion ...although it did get my blood pumping
August 16 2011 at 7:28 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyOHMAGA looks incredible. I only know about the old comic because of Art Spiegelman, but it's still cool to see that amazing imagery in emotion. Thanks for that
August 16 2011 at 7:27 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
David
Wasn't this released in 1989?
August 16 2011 at 6:52 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThe initial flying sequence of the movie actually owes quite a bit to that. Much of the imagery and animation is based on it, although it's different). And it's really one of the best parts of the movie. Actually, it's maybe the only good part (the "battle" at the end is kind of cool, though).
Miyazaki reportedly said that working on Little Nemo was the worst experience of his professional career (or something to that effect). It's truly a mess.
Bear
So beautiful. No one conveys the joy of flying like Miyazaki.
August 16 2011 at 6:08 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyFollow Us
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