2025 has been a banner year for Netflix Animation. After years of building its brand as a home for ambitious original animation, the streamer finally found its defining breakout moment with KPop Demon Hunters. The action-fantasy hybrid, part K-drama spectacle and part anime-inspired musical, defied industry predictions to become the sleeper hit of the summer and a cultural touchstone. For weeks, social feeds buzzed with viral clips, fan art, and TikTok challenges based on its dance-fueled battle sequences.

But Netflix is not content to let lightning strike just once. With the fall season arriving, the streamer has set its sights on In Your Dreams, a fantasy-comedy family adventure that marks the next stage of its animated storytelling ambitions. The film’s first trailer, dropped earlier this month, suggests a modern-day fairy tale that blends contemporary concerns with the wonder of ‘80s children’s fantasy cinema. If KPop Demon Hunters energized global teen audiences, In Your Dreamslooks poised to capture the imagination of children and families in a big way.

The Story: A Quest Through the Dream World

Directed by Alex Woo—best known for his storyboarding work at Pixar—In Your Dreams introduces viewers to Stevie and Elliot, two siblings coping with the turbulence of their parents’ faltering marriage. Stevie, voiced by Jolie Hoang-Rappaport, is especially sensitive to the signs of tension between their mother (Cristin Milioti) and father (Simu Liu). Fearing that her family is about to fall apart, she clings to hope for a miracle.

That miracle arrives in the form of a mysterious book. Within its pages is the legend of the Sandman, a mythical figure who can grant any person’s deepest wish. When Stevie and Elliot discover that the book allows them to cross into the dream world itself, they embark on a journey to track down the Sandman and restore their family. Along the way, they encounter surreal dreamscapes, peculiar creatures, and the kind of perilous yet enchanting adventures that evoke childhood classics like Labyrinth, The Neverending Story, and even Coraline.

One of the film’s most charming additions is Baloney Tony, Elliot’s beloved toy giraffe who comes to life in the dream world. Voiced by Craig Robinson, Baloney Tony serves as both comic relief and emotional anchor, his bumbling humor contrasted by his unwavering loyalty to the children. The supporting cast further rounds out the dreamscape’s eccentric roster, with Omid Djalili, Gia Carides, SungWon Cho, and Zachary Noah Piser bringing distinctive voices to various characters they meet on their quest.

A Director’s Leap: Alex Woo’s Debut

In Your Dreams marks the feature directorial debut of Alex Woo, a filmmaker who spent years shaping the narrative rhythms of Pixar classics from the inside. His move to Netflix Animation is telling: it underscores Netflix’s strategy of recruiting top-tier creative talent seeking fresh opportunities outside of traditional studio pipelines.

Woo’s storytelling instincts lean toward character-driven journeys, and In Your Dreams appears to leverage his background in visual development and storyboarding. The trailer showcases fluid transitions between real-world domestic settings and wildly imaginative dream sequences—each bursting with color and visual metaphor. From a whimsical sky-bridge of floating books to a forest of giant stuffed animals, the dreamscapes appear carefully designed to reflect Stevie and Elliot’s anxieties, desires, and growth.

For Woo, the project also represents a chance to craft a narrative that resonates with universal themes while still speaking to modern family dynamics. Divorce, or the fear of it, is not often addressed in mainstream animated films with nuance, yet In Your Dreams aims to do just that. By framing the conflict through the lens of childhood fantasy, Woo bridges entertainment with emotional depth, a hallmark of the best animated storytelling.

Does Nostalgia Meets Modern Sensibility

The creative DNA of In Your Dreams clearly harks back to the legacy of 1980s fantasy films. Movies like The Neverending Story, Labyrinth, and Return to Oz balanced whimsy with darker undercurrents, acknowledging that children’s fears are as formative as their joys.

In the trailer, In Your Dreams wears this influence proudly. The use of practical-feeling textures within CGI, the slightly eerie tone of some dream creatures, and the emphasis on a child’s emotional quest all recall the magic and menace of that cinematic era. Yet, this is no mere nostalgia exercise. Netflix’s release seems engineered for today’s families, integrating fast-paced comedy, witty dialogue, and the kind of visual inventiveness that appeals to a generation raised on both streaming animation and interactive gaming.

The combination of those influences could be the key to In Your Dreams’ broad appeal: a film that reassures parents with its emotional authenticity while captivating children with spectacle and humor.

A Voice Cast Anchored in Talent

The casting choices behind In Your Dreams reflect Netflix’s increasing knack for blending established Hollywood talent with rising stars. Jolie Hoang-Rappaport and Elias Janssen, who play Stevie and Elliot, bring fresh and authentic performances to the sibling duo. Cristin Milioti and Simu Liu, meanwhile, lend emotional weight as the conflicted parents, grounding the film’s fantastical premise in real-world stakes.

Craig Robinson’s turn as Baloney Tony promises to be a scene-stealing highlight. Robinson’s comedic timing, honed across sitcoms and films, aligns perfectly with a stuffed giraffe sidekick that audiences will almost certainly embrace as a breakout character. Supporting players like Omid Djalili and SungWon Cho add further personality, ensuring the dream world feels richly inhabited.

The Stakes for Netflix Animation

Netflix has been steadily expanding its animated slate for years, but 2025 represents a turning point. With KPop Demon Hunters proving that a bold, unconventional project could dominate the cultural conversation, the pressure is on for the studio’s next release to sustain momentum.

In Your Dreams is positioned strategically: it’s family-friendly but adventurous, emotionally grounded yet fantastical, nostalgic in tone but contemporary in execution. If successful, it could cement Netflix Animation as not only a challenger to Disney and Pixar but as a studio with a unique creative identity of its own.

The film’s success would also bolster Netflix’s broader content strategy, demonstrating that animation can be a reliable tentpole in the same way live-action hits like Stranger Things or Wednesday have been. For a platform often scrutinized for its spending, delivering another animated hit is both a cultural and business necessity.

A Dream Worth Chasing

With In Your Dreams, Netflix Animation has crafted a project that feels both timely and timeless. It’s a film about fractured families, resilience, and the power of imagination, wrapped in a dazzling fantasy adventure. For director Alex Woo, it’s a career-defining debut. For Netflix, it’s a chance to show that the success of KPop Demon Hunters wasn’t a one-off but the beginning of a new era in original animation.

As the film prepares for release this fall, audiences—children and parents alike—are bracing for another journey into the extraordinary. If the trailer is any indication, In Your Dreams may prove that sometimes the stories we most need are the ones waiting for us in our dreams.

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