Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland is an Animated Adaptation of the Comic Strip Little Nemo by Winsor McCay.

It was produced in the late Eighties in Japan, where it was released in 1989 with limited release in the US. In 1992 a re-cut edition was released in the US. This film also served as the basis for Nemo and Little Nemo the Dream Master, two Capcom-developed video games for the arcade and NES, respectively, in 1990. The latter ultimately became more well-known than the both the film and the comic itself.

Tropes used in Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland include:
  • Accidental Pervert: Flip
  • Adult Child: Nemo first meets King Morpheus when he's playing with a toy train in a playroom atmosphere.
  • Ambiguous Gender: In the original comics, Bon Bon (also known as The Candy Kid) was male [dead link]. In the movie... it's a little less clear. S/he's voiced by a female, but that's quite common for young male characters as well. The longer hair and pastel clothes mean nothing in this film. Fandom tends to be split on this as well.
  • Amplifier Artifact: The Royal Scepter.
  • Big Good: King Morpheus, who incidentally shares the name of another Big Good.
  • Big No: Many times, mostly by Nemo.
  • But You Were There and You and You: Nemo sees people very similar in appearance and mannerisms to the characters he meets in Slumberland at the beginning when he goes to watch a circus parade.
  • Canon Foreigner: Professor Genius, who seems partly based on Dr. Pill from the comics though his appearance is different. Also, Icarus, Nightmareland and the Nightmare King are unique to the film.
  • Catapult Nightmare: Coupled with a Big No. And it turns out to be a Dream Within a Dream.
  • Cigar Chomper: Flip
  • Compressed Adaptation: It took Nemo months to finally reach the Princess in the comics, and yet in the film Nemo dreams everything that happens to him in Slumberland in a single night. Of course, doing a plot like the movie has as a weekly comic would probably translate to about one or two years worth of storyline.
  • Cool and Unusual Punishment: Execution in Slumberland is carried out by firing the convicted into space from a giant cannon.
  • Cool Train: King Morpheus rides around in a toy one.
  • Cute Bruiser: Princess Camille, seen when she punches Flip straight in the jaw.
  • Defrosting Ice Queen: Princess Camille
  • Disney Death: Nemo at the end.
  • Dream Within a Dream: Happens to Nemo twice. Both times he realizes he's still dreaming when, after waking up from a Catapult Nightmare, he finds the Royal Scepter in his bed.
  • Et Tu, Brute?: Nemo breaks his promise not to open the Forbidden Door, releasing the Nightmare King and getting King Morpheus kidnapped.
  • Everythings Nuttier With Squirrels
  • Fantasy World Map: Flip is the only one who has a map of both Slumberland and Nightmareland. Not only that but he's also the only one who can understand it.
  • Flat Character: Nemo is pretty much the blandest character in the movie. He's really not all that different from how he was in the comics, though.
  • Fun Personified: Flip
  • Getting Crap Past the Radar
    • So, Princess Camille orders Nemo to her palace from his bed in order to become her "playmate"?
    • Princess Camille to Nemo: "Your underwear is rather cute."
    • The "sitting in a tree inside cloud/dandelion/cotton candy puffs with clothes strewn about" snippet is certainly worth mentioning, as Nemo and Camille would probably have had to have seen each other naked at some point for them to end up like that.
    • Flip accidentally grabbing Camille's chest. See Thanks for the Mammary.
  • Heroes Want Redheads
  • Heroism Incentive: Nemo initially refuses to go with the Professor to Slumberland because the Princess being a girl makes him uneasy. But when he gets the Princess' gift of cookies, he gladly accepts the invitation.
  • Insistent Terminology
    • Nemo is NOT in his underwear. He's in his pajamas.
    • And Icarus is not a rat.
  • Jerkass: Flip
  • Last-Minute Hookup: Nemo and the Princess finally kiss at the end... too bad Nemo wakes up from his dream immediately afterward.
  • Magical Incantation: "Jazama Pajama! Pajama Jazama!!"

The Nightmare King: Ooo, pajamas do scare me so! Mwahahaha!

  • Male Gaze: Flip eying and attempting to flirt with the obviously underage Princess Camille.
  • Marshmallow Hell: A dance teacher pushes Nemo into her buxom bosom, much to his dismay.
  • Mood Whiplash: Nemo's dream at the beginning of the movie quickly becomes a nightmare. Also, when the Nightmare king invades Nemo's coronation ceremony and kidnaps the King.
  • Mordor: Nightmare Castle
  • Must Have Nicotine: Flip continues to sneak cigars even after the princess banned him from smoking any.
  • My Species Doth Protest Too Much: The Boomps, who are "good goblins" and are just misunderstood by the other residents of Nightmareland.
  • Nice Hat: Both Flip and the Professor have nice top hats.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Nemo is the one who unleashes the Nightmare King, after Flip talks him into opening the forbidden door.
  • Nightmare Sequence: Pretty much the whole second half of the movie, plus the first dream he has.
  • Or Was It a Dream?: A couple times Nemo wakes up in his bed, thinking that the whole adventure was a dream; only to find the Royal Scepter under the covers of his bed.
  • Our Goblins Are Wickeder: The Boomps.
  • Pajama-Clad Hero
  • The Professor: Professor Genius
  • The Renaissance Age of Animation
  • Say My Name: By Nemo most of the time, although Princess Camille does her share of it too.
  • Scenery Porn: If you like Studio Ghibli's penchant for prettiness, you'll like this.
  • Scooby-Dooby Doors: Slight variation. Flip and Nemo run between two rows of large pillars while being chased by guards.
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: The Nightmare King was being imprisoned behind a giant door beneath Slumberland, and King Morpheus decides to entrust the only key that can open the door to Nemo.
  • Sealed with a Kiss
  • Small Annoying Creature: Icarus, the flying squirrel, in the film only.
  • Speech-Impaired Animal: Icarus
  • Stationary Wings: Icarus, the flying squirrel, who can hover and stay aloft while gesticulating wildly.
  • Technicolor Death: The Nightmare King's death is very colorful.
  • Thanks for the Mammary: Flip accidentally grabs Princess Camille's breasts shortly after they rescue her from water goblins in Nightmareland and gets elbowed for it. Then again, she wasn't old enough to really have much in the way of breasts.
  • Through His Stomach: Nemo initially doesn't care to meet Princess Camille... until Bon Bon presents the cookies she'd prepared as a gift for him, at which point he's all for it.
  • Vile Villain Saccharine Show: The movie seems pretty lighthearted and happy until the Nightmare King is unleashed.
  • Villain Protagonist: Flip, somewhat.
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