Dream Productions Limited Series Early Review

One of the most successful franchises to come out of Disney and Pixar as of late has easily been the Inside Out franchise. Following the release of the sequel to the original film just earlier this year, here comes a spinoff limited series geared for Disney+. As Inside Out 2 further explored the intricacies of Riley, one stop along the way was Dream Productions, a film studio responsible for producing her various dreams (and nightmares). Operating at a scale akin to a real world film studio, this new avenue presented an interesting opportunity for a spinoff and that is exactly how Dream Productions, a sitcom-type series set within the titular studio in Riley’s brain. Produced in conjunction with Inside Out 2, all the cast return along with new additions Paula Pell, Richard Ayoade, and Maya Rudolph just to name a few. But set between the two main films, over its short run of 4 episodes and 90+ minutes, it and the sequel share plenty of similar themes that are just as hitting while its premise allows for more imagination for which the writers and animators take full advantage of, leading to some great moments.

Dream Productions follows Paula Persimmon (Pell), a successful dream director responsible for hit after hit, pushing Riley but as she grew up, Paula would need to learn to evolve herself as her methods proved to be increasingly less effective. Consumed by her past success, she found herself stuck in her ways and if she didn’t change and evolve, she ran the risk of being left behind in favor of younger, up-and-coming directors. Along with her assistant director Janelle (Ally Maki), she and Paula were a formidable team but little did Paula know, Janelle had aspirations to one day direct dreams of her own and thus would come a time that they would no longer be working together. Continuing to lean on her past formula, now that Riley approached the prime of her teenage years, it proved to be less effective and that fact was not lost on studio head Jean (Rudolph). Housing a eclectic group of dream, daydream, and nightmare directors that all help to shape Riley, Janelle became the next director to join those ranks. Now on her own, it allowed Paula to opportunity to reflect about herself as a director and to figure out the kind of director she wanted to be. This journey was not without its struggles as she teetered on the brink of irrelevancy.

However, Paula’s future showed signs of hope as her latest string of failures lead to her being paired up with Xeni (Ayoade), a pretentious daydream director looking to move up to the big leagues which was night dreams. Full of wacky methods and ideas, their personalities unsurprisingly clashed more often than not and Xeni also being Jean’s nephew made their dynamic even more complicated than Xeni’s relationship with his aunt. While entertaining to watch, the initially contentious nature of Paula and Xeni’s relationship was exactly what she needed to open her eyes and reacquaint herself with reality. Beyond the generational and ideological divide, Paula needed to relearn how to see through Riley’s eyes today rather than be hung up on the past. Meanwhile, this also opened her up to the fact that the whole studio system was arguably broken in what may be foreshadowing to the real system. Emphasizing cranking out hit after hit, the spirit of what the studio first set out to do was being lost. In the end, they needed to go back to doing what was best for Riley instead of what was best for themselves, perhaps reimagining the meaning of dreams as a means to move forward. Under the watchful eyes of the emotions at headquarters, they made sure that their presence was felt.

In terms of animation, Dream Productions is essentially an extension of the two Inside Out films though is once again sensational, despite the added wrinkle of creating said dream sequences by replicating film productions. Giving each episode its own dream, building up to them while shot in a mockumentary style, it’s only normal to want more, however, the directions they do take are interesting as they connect to Riley maybe more than the films did. That being said, the focus is still a young highschool girl facing the same issues one faces. The writing is another highlight as it makes the most out of its mockumentary format and makes compelling characters out of Paula and Xeni. Their dynamic is easily the best part of the series, not only because of the laughs, but also the surprising emotion that came out of it. In a short time, the two characters are given strong character arcs thanks to the equally strong voice acting of Pell and Ayoade as Paula and Xeni. Ultimately, they are not alone in that regard. Maki, Rudolph, as well as Amy Poehler (Joy), Kensington Tallman (Riley), Liza Lapira (Disgust), Tony Hale (Fear), Lewis Black (Anger), Phyllis Smith (Sadness), Diane Lane (Mom), and Kyle MacLachlan (Dad), all deliver in limited roles.

At the end of the day, Dream Productions is an excellent series earning a place alongside the Inside Out films that delivers both strong writing and imaginative animation.

still courtesy of Disney/Pixar

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.