Full Review
“A Dreamy Return to Riley’s Mind” – Dream Production offers a fresh and inventive look into the world of Inside Out, exploring the behind-the-scenes magic of dreams in a clever and heartwarming way. This four-episode animated mockumentary sits between the first Inside Out and the newly released Inside Out 2. While the emotions we’ve come to love aren’t the focus here, the show delivers plenty of laughs, charm and expands the world-building.
The series follows Paula Persimmon (voiced by Paula Pell), a dream producer who’s struggling to come up with fresh, original dreams now that Riley is 12 and outgrowing the whimsical dreams of her younger years. With Riley starting to forget her “critically acclaimed” childhood dreams, Paula’s boss, Jean Dewberry (Maya Rudolph, as delightfully commanding as ever), pressures her to create more mature and relatable content. What ensues is a hilarious yet touching exploration of creativity, memory and what it means to evolve with life’s changes.
One of the show’s biggest strengths is its expansion of the Inside Out universe. The series delves deeper into the mechanics of Riley’s mind, offering fun new details about how dreams are crafted, how memories fade and how they’re all tied to her emotions. The humor is a highlight, with sharp dialogue and visual gags that work for both kids and adults. Whether it’s subtle jokes in the background or witty one-liners, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
The animation, as expected from Pixar, is stunning. The dream world is vibrant and imaginative. The mockumentary style is a bold and refreshing choice for animation, and it works brilliantly here, adding layers of humor and authenticity to the storytelling, maybe some more animation projects could take a slice of that freshness.
While the four episodes are highly enjoyable, they feel a little too short – there’s so much potential in this concept that a longer season could have fleshed out the characters and their world even more. Still, Dream Production is a fantastic watch that not only entertains but also touches on themes of growth, nostalgia and creativity.
If you’re a fan of Inside Out, this series is a must-watch. It’s a delightful addition to Riley’s story that balances humor, heart, and imagination beautifully.
Stream Dream Productions now on Disney+
Synopsis
From the world of “Inside Out” comes “Dream Productions,” an all-new Disney+ series about the studio inside Riley’s mind where dreams really do come true—every night, on time and on budget, thanks to acclaimed director Paula Persimmon (voice of Paula Pell). Riley’s growing up and her core Emotions are on the job helping her navigate, but now Paula is facing a nightmare of her own: her signature combination of dreams featuring Rainbow Unicorn and copious amounts of glitter just isn’t working anymore. To try and save her career, Paula teams up with Xeni (voice of Richard Ayoade), an overly confident daydream director looking for his next big break. With differing visions on what makes Riley’s dreams successful, can the reluctant pair come together to create the next big tween-dream hit? Written and directed by Mike Jones and produced by Jaclyn Simon, Pixar Animation Studios’ hilarious, mockumentary-style series debuts on Disney+ 11 December 2024.
(Synopsis by Pixar/Disney)
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