In Your Dreams: How a Pixar Lesson Guided Netflix’s New Animated Movie | Interview

In Your Dreams takes audiences into a fantastical world where siblings Stevie and Elliot journey through the dreamscape to find the Sandman, hoping to save their parents’ marriage. Directed by Alex Woo and co-directed by Erik Benson, this animated adventure comedy movie features a star-studded cast including Craig Robinson, Simu Liu, Cristin Milioti, and newcomer Jolie Hoang-Rappaport. But at its heart, the film is also deeply personal for Woo, who has spent more than two decades honing his craft before stepping into the director’s chair for his first animated feature.

Woo traces the roots of his storytelling back to his time at NYU’s film program. “Prior to NYU, I really had no education in film at all,” Woo explained to ComingSoon. “It was really just me watching movies and loving them and watching them over and over, and drawing the characters that I love. But I knew nothing about the language of cinema. My entire foundation of filmmaking was established at NYU.” He credits legendary professors like John Canemaker and D.B. Weiss with shaping his early education.

Of course, it was the magic of animation that drew him in long before film school. Woo cites The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Toy Story among the films that made him fall in love with the medium. “I was madly in love with Ariel. I wanted to become a merman, go into the ocean, find her, and marry her,” Woo laughed. Later, films like The Iron Giant and Finding Nemo reinforced his desire to tell stories that resonate emotionally.

Dreams, both literal and metaphorical, lie at the center of In Your Dreams. Woo sees them as a creative engine. “Dreams are a way, at least for me, that I process a lot of things that happen to me in my daily life,” he said. “I wanted Stevie to use the dream world to help her process and solve the problems that she was dealing with in the real world.”

The film also draws inspiration from Woo’s own childhood. The character of Baloney Tony, Elliot’s beloved, slightly disgusting stuffed animal voiced by Craig Robinson, was inspired by his brother’s worn-out Santa Bear. “My brother ended up having a bloody nose one day, and he ended up bleeding near the tail of his Santa Bear. And it created this sort of really gross bloodstain. And so it looked kind of like the bear’s butthole. So we called him Butthole Bear,” Woo recalled with a laugh. “We all have that stuffed animal that is well past its expiration date, but we refuse to let it go. That’s what makes it comforting and familiar—it feels like home.”

Woo spent years at Pixar before founding his own studio, Kuku Studios, which produced In Your Dreams with Netflix Animation. At Pixar, he learned a core lesson that guided his debut: “The story is the most important thing. Every tool in your toolbox as a filmmaker—you use it in service of your story. If something isn’t serving the story, you have to let it go, no matter how much you love it.”

Running a smaller studio comes with creative freedom. “We’re incredibly nimble,” Woo said. “At bigger studios, sometimes you’re confined by the brand or the legacy. For us, nobody’s seen anything from our company except for Go! Go! Cory Carson. That’s freeing. We don’t have to greenlight anything until we feel like we’re ready.”

For Woo, patience has been essential. “It took me 22 years before I got my first movie out after graduating from film school,” he admitted. “Looking back, I’m actually really glad it didn’t happen earlier, because I wasn’t mature enough as an artist or a person. Patience is key.”

Now, with In Your Dreams, Woo is finally sharing the story he’s been waiting to tell—a heartfelt, funny, and visually dazzling adventure that blends childhood wonder with emotional depth. And he hopes the film will inspire a new generation of dreamers. “I want to tell great stories, and I want to move audiences. That’s what gives me drive and purpose as an artist and as a filmmaker.”

In Your Dreams releases in theaters on November 7 and on Netflix on November 14, 2025.

Source: Comingsoon.net