At a recent press event, Netflix unveiled footage from In Your Dreams, the upcoming animated feature from director Alex Woo and co-director Erik Benson. The film will be available to stream exclusively on Netflix starting November 14th, 2025.

Produced by Timothy Hahn and Gregg Taylor, In Your Dreams follows siblings Stevie and Elliot as they journey into the absurd and wonderful landscape of their own dreams. Accompanied (and sometimes impeded) by a snippy stuffed giraffe, the pair must survive surreal encounters with zombie breakfast foods and the queen of nightmares. If they succeed, the Sandman will grant them their ultimate wish: the perfect family.

The screening unveiled new footage, featuring a compelling and relatable story that will resonate with audiences of all ages. Intentional creative choices (such as vibrant visuals and comedic moments rooted in sibling dynamics) display the fantastic and outlandish logic of dreams, and how they can reveal what is in our hearts and minds. This early glimpse of the film captured a strong sense of nostalgia and was filled with imagination, but ultimately, the through line was the pull of family. Grounded in familiar themes, the team behind In Your Dreams somehow takes a fresh approach to a relatable story that we’re very excited about.

“When I was maybe six or seven years old, my mom sort of went away for a little bit. And, obviously, it was hard for my brother and me. So we sort of banded together and we tried all these sort of hare-brained schemes to try and get our parents to get back together. And my parents are still together — been married for 50 years now. But that was sort of the inspiration for the core story of Stevie and Elliot,” Woo said when reflecting on the inspiration behind the film.

The footage showcased both strange and familiar settings, as siblings Eliot and Stevie journey alongside Baloney Toney (voiced by Craig Robinson). Some of the rising action comes from dream scenarios many will recognize (like the classic fear of teeth falling out) as well as oddly specific dangers that appear playful on the surface, but actually expose the children’s deepest fears. The team’s personal connection to the material is evident, with much of the film’s fantastical imagery rooted in personal experience.

“Almost every single dream that they experience is set up somewhere in the real world, and that was really intentional. That’s my experience of dreams: stuff that happens to me during the day somehow weaves its way into my subconscious and ends up in my dreams at night. So we really wanted to reflect that in the film,” Woo added.

“We basically had a day or two where we just had everybody in the story team come up with all the dreams that they’ve had — the recurring dreams, the dreams that they remember, the scariest dreams, the best dreams. We just collected a whole list and then picked the ones that fit into the narrative. 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. It was just really drawing from our own personal experiences and then collecting those experiences from the whole crew, finding the ones that fit in the story, and putting them on screen,” Woo said.

Behind the scenes, building the film’s dream worlds came with logistical challenges. The Netflix team reflected on their approach to crafting a CG film that balanced top-tier quality with meticulous attention to detail to make the visuals feel both tangible and true to life. They also reflected on the process of building dream worlds and how the limitless possibilities can present their own difficulties.

“Anytime you’re doing a CG animated feature, everything’s really challenging, especially when you’re trying to operate at sort of the highest level. I think that the team at Sony just did an incredible job. I think the biggest challenge was probably the scope of the film, because it’s a dream world. Anytime you have scope, it becomes very expensive and you have a lot to do. You have to build like an entire new set every time you’re going to a new dream world,” Woo explained.

The film was also being developed during the events of 2020, which presented more challenges. “The other thing that comes to my mind is the COVID-19 pandemic. I spent 18 months there working on the film remotely. Those were just the circumstances that we were in. I think we turned it into an opportunity,” he added.

With an all-star voice cast including Craig Robinson, Simu Liu, Cristin Milioti, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport, Elias Janssen, Omid Djalili, Gia Carides, SungWon Cho, and Zachary Noah Piser, Animation Scoop also had the opportunity to learn about the film’s creative process from VFX Supervisor Nicola Lavender and Production Designer Steve Pilcher, as well as speak with the voices of Stevie and Elliot. Hearing about the years of collaboration behind the scenes offered a glimpse into what shaped the film into something special.

In Your Dreams makes a significant mark in the world of animated features this year, beautifully exploring universal subject matter that promises an entertaining watch and a timeless story. We look forward to experiencing the full movie, available exclusively on Netflix starting November 14th.