The upcoming Netflix animated feature “In Your Dreams” will premiere on the streaming platform on November 14, 2025. The Movie Couple had the pleasure of screening the first 30 minutes of the film, along with other journalists, during a press day at Netflix Animation in Burbank, California. The day also includes a deep dive into the film with VFX Supervisor Nicola Lavender and Production Designer Steve Pilcher, a voice recording session with Tim Hahn to give our best Baloney Tony impression, and French toast decorating with voice actors Jolie Joang-Rappaport (voice of Stevie) and Elias Janssen (voice of Elliot).
The inspiration behind the story is a personal one for Woo, who began this project 10 years ago after leaving Pixar Animation. Starting his own animation company, Kuku Studios, with a small team, Woo wanted to tell a story exploring dreams through film. Where do they come from? What do they mean? “In Your Dreams” is as much about dreams as it is about family and relationships. Woo recalls a time in his life when he and his brother came up with schemes to get his parents back together, “When I was like maybe six or seven years old, my mom sort of went away for a little bit, and obviously it was, you know, it was hard for me and my brother. But yeah, we sort of banded together and we tried all these sort of harebrained schemes to try and get our parents to get back together. And that was sort of the big inspiration for this film.”
The official synopsis for “In Your Dreams”:
A perfect family? Siblings who get along? Yeah… in your dreams. This is a comedy adventure about
Stevie and her brother Elliot who magically travel into the world of dreams with the mission of finding
The Sandman who will grant them their ultimate wish. The kids are total opposites, making them an
unlikely duo to navigate the absurdity of their own subconscious. Along their journey, they discover that
as long as they have each other, they can face anything, even their worst nightmare.
Early Footage of “In Your Dreams”
Director Alex Woo and producer Tim Hahn present the first 30 minutes of the film. It opens with young Stevie learning how to make French toast with her dad. Stevie was trying to learn, but her baby brother Elliot kept taking the attention away from her. Suddenly, it was raining pacifiers, and Stevie needed to find the right pacifier for Elliot. That’s right, we’re in a dream sequence. The dream gets even more intense as a giant Baloney Tony drops in on the house, followed by a tsunami of plates.
Back in the real world, Stevie overhears her parents’ argument over their musical career and how Mom feels like she gave it up. It is revealed that her parents were a musical duo. In an attempt to mend her parents’ relationship, Stevie makes French toast for them under the guise that they made it for each other.
Later, Stevie and Elliot visit an antique shop to find a book for his school report. The siblings have completely opposite ideas on their book choices, and it becomes increasingly frustrating for Stevie. While searching in an antique store, she comes across a book titled “The Legend of the Sandman: The Giver of Dreams”. While Elliot was enamored by the book, Stevie said the Sandman isn’t real. In that moment, the lights in the shop flicker, making the moment chilling.
At home, Stevie delves into the book and reads that the Sandman can make your dreams come true. That evening, Elliot’s bed came to life and took the siblings soaring through the sky. As they ascend above the clouds, the stars gather to form the phrase “Come find me and your dreams will come true.”
In fear of the rising tension between her parents leading to something worse, Stevie calls upon the Sandman in desperation. We’re led to another dream sequence, where Stevie awakes in a bed of breakfast cereal and mini marshmallows. The strange village seems to be filled with living breakfast foods for all sorts. Elliot shows up in the same dream, and as the pair explores Breakfast Town, they come across a very dusty Baloney Tony – Elliot’s long-lost stuffed animal. The reunion between Baloney Tony and Elliot is nothing short of hilarious, coupled with the song “Hungry Eyes”.
In addition to the first 30 minutes of the film, the filmmakers also shared a new clip and the official trailer. The first clip features the film’s antagonist, Nightmara, who will stop at nothing to keep Stevie and Elliot from reaching the Sandman. Nightmara brings on a barrage of nightmares into Stevie and Elliot’s dreams to scare them away. These scenes include naked dreams, teeth falling out, a scary Grandma, and more. Luckily, Stevie and Elliot discover that they can counter Nightmara’s tricks by joining hands and syncing their thoughts, leading to an anime-styled fight sequence that is both hilarious and nostalgic for anyone who grew up watching anime.
The official trailer was released on September 25, which you can view below:
Reaction To The Early Footage
The film accomplishes a great deal within the first 30 minutes, laying the foundation for Stevie’s family dynamic – from her relationship with her brother Elliot to the strain that is forming between her parents. It’s great to see the film wasting no time dropping the audience right into a dream sequence (per its title) and the chaos of searching through a storm of pacifiers, plateware, and a giant Baloney Tony.
The dream and nightmare sequences are so relatable – who hasn’t had dreams of falling or having their teeth fall out? Each dream gets wilder and funnier, making you crave the next one. The real world scenes will tug at your heartstrings as well, where Stevie’s parents express their frustration at missed opportunities, regrets, and sacrifice. “In Your Dreams” does a great job of balancing those laugh-out-loud moments as well as the heartfelt ones
Watch out for Baloney Tony (voiced by Craig Robinson), as he will be the scene-stealer every time he’s on screen.
Q&A With the Filmmakers
Following the footage presentation, director Alex Woo and producer Tim Hahn held a press conference to answer questions from the journalists.
On the inspiration for Baloney Tony
Alex Woo: My brother used to have this stuffed animal that had this really gross stain on the
back. We called him butthole bear, ’cause you can imagine where the stain was placed. So, yeah, that was sort of a big inspiration fo Baloney Tony. I mean, I think we’ve all had that sort of stuffed animal that we’ve loved to death and yeah, we just thought, you know, we gotta put one in our movie. Baloney Tony is really supposed to be the sort of subconscious of Elliot, sort of his id. So yeah, that’s, yeah, that’s where the inspiration came from for Baloney Tony.
How much has the movie changed during its 9 years in the making?
Woo: So, we started the company in 2016. Kuku Studios, and yeah, we spent the first year just sort of brainstorming ideas for TV shows and movies that we wanted to make. And one of the ideas was “In Your Dreams.” And that was in November of 2016. So, we put a pitch together in like six months. We pitched it around town. Nobody bought it. Then we put it on the shelf, and then we made our first show, which is Go! Go! Cory Carson. And that took like two or three years. And then in about 2020, Netflix got into original features. And they liked what we had done on Go! Go! Cory Carson, so they said “Hey, what else, what other ideas do you have?” And we said, “Funny you should ask.” And so we pulled this idea off the shelf, pitched it to them, they liked it, and they greenlit it.
Production on “In Your Dreams” began in 2020.
Tim Hahn: So, when I think we say this kind of nine year journey adventure, it includes kind of that inception time and, you know, from the very kernel of the idea. Production was really from the spring of 2020 through the end of last year.
Different styles of animation within the film and its influences
Woo: I think it was just, it was so obvious to try and take advantage of the medium of animation and it’s about the world of dreams, and you have so many possibilities in a world of dreams. So, yeah, I was really heavily influenced by anime as a kid. And so, I always wanted to be an anime character. I feel like that’s what K-pop bands are. They’re just like human versions of anime characters. So, yeah, that was sort of a big inspiration. I wanted to find some way to put that sort of aesthetic into the film. And being in a world of dreams sort of gave us that license to do it. So, I’m glad you noticed it. I hope you liked it. It’s one of my favorite parts of the movie.
On picking which dreams to include in the film
Woo: We had basically a day or two where we just had everybody in the story team just come up with all of the dreams that they’ve had, recurring dreams that they’ve had throughout their life, the dreams that they remember, the scariest dreams, the best dreams that they’ve had. And so we just collected a whole list from the whole team, and then we just picked the ones that fit into the narrative. So, yeah, somebody had a hot dog dream. It was so random. But I was like, “That’s real.” I’ve had the naked dream way too many times. I’ve had the teeth falling out dream way too many times. So yeah, it was just really drawing from our, you know, own personal experiences and then, you know, collecting those experiences from the whole crew and then finding the ones that fit the best in the story and putting them on screen.
Hahn: And watching it again with you all today, it was fun to reflect on. I can’t wait for when it comes out and you can enjoy the whole thing and watch it over and over again, because we really seed stuff in the dreams in the real world, like our dreams actually work. They are generated from these ingredients that, you know, in our every day lives. So, we hope you’ll catch all of that and enjoy it.
About “In Your Dreams”
In Your Dreams is a comedy adventure about Stevie and her brother Elliot, who journey into the absurd landscape of their own dreams. If the siblings can withstand a snarky stuffed giraffe, zombie breakfast foods, and the queen of nightmares, the Sandman will grant them their ultimate dream come true…the perfect family.
The cast includes Jolie Hoang-Rappaport as Stevie, Elias Janssen as Elliot, Craig Robinson as Baloney Tony, Simu Liu as Dad, Cristin Milioti as Mom, Omid Djalili as The Sandman, Gia Carides as Nightmara, SungWon Cho as Chad, and Zachary Noah Piser as Joon Bae.
“In Your Dreams” premieres on Netflix on November 14, 2025.
