Director Alex Woo shared with CGMagazine how the inspiration behind Netflix’s In Your Dreams.
So many of us dream of a better life for ourselves, but what if the best version of our lives is the one with all the messiness? Director Alex Woo shared with CGMagazine the various inspirations behind Netflix’s In Your Dreams. The children’s film is set to drop on the streamer on November 14th, 2025. Along with the two leads of the amazing Jolie Hoang-Rappaport and Elias Janssen, the film stars familiar voices from Simu Liu, Cristin Milioti, and Craig Robinson.
In Your Dreams is a comedy adventure that follows Stevie and her brother Elliot as they journey into the absurd landscape of their own dreams. If the siblings can withstand a snarky stuffed giraffe, zombie breakfast foods, and the queen of nightmares, the Sandman will grant them their ultimate dream come true…the perfect family.
Woo shared that he pulled from numerous works for inspiration, even to the characters’ names. For example, he mentioned Elliot’s name was derived from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. He also mentioned a scene that resembled an iconic shot from the Steven Spielberg classic, while adding how the Sandman’s castle was based on the one in Jim Henson’s Labyrinth. One of the core references Woo talked about was the Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman-led film Rain Man.
“That sibling story is so powerful, and that bond that they have is so strong. I wanted to make a film that captured that same kind of intimacy, realness, and believability of a sibling relationship. The NeverEnding Story was a big source of inspiration. The book from The NeverEnding Story is sort of an inspiration for The Legend of the Sandman book. [Hayao] Miyazaki and Spirited Away, and those sprites from My Neighbor Totoro were a big source of inspiration.
The sandlings are very much inspired by those characters. There are just so many; all the movies that I loved as a kid, I tried to put them into this movie.” Woo explained, holding back a long list of references found throughout In Your Dreams.
One of the coolest parts of In Your Dreams was this comic called Dynamite Fist, a made-up comic that resembled something familiar. We had to know what inspired Woo to add this detail: “I was a big Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon fan as a kid. Obviously, we couldn’t get the rights to those shows and properties, so we made our own. The spirit of Dynamite Fists and that transformation that Stevie does when she turns into the anime version of herself were directly inspired by Sailor Moon.”
On the topic of what dream resonated with Woo the most and was brought into the film, he discussed a pivotal moment for one of the characters. I implore you to watch In Your Dreams first and continue reading on as a supplement to the movie.
“I think the most powerful moment in the film is when Stevie chooses to stay in the dream world. That’s a spoiler, but I’ve felt that at times. Sometimes, when life is hard and things are not going as you want them to, and you’re tired from life, you don’t want to wake up. You want to stay in the comfort of your cozy little bed. I felt that many times in life, and I’ve been tempted to go, ‘Yeah, I’m just not gonna wake up. I’m just gonna stay and stay in bed all day.'”
With all of life’s stresses, everyone can feel this way at times. That is what makes In Your Dreams a fascinating watch; it is realistic and hopeful. This is not a fairy tale with a happy ending, in a straightforward manner, because that is not how life works. Aside from the realism and references, there are a lot of fun set pieces throughout the movie, too. You can expect representation of all the classic dream tropes to make an appearance, from falling to flying.
In Your Dreams will be streaming on Netflix on Friday, November 14th, 2025. You can find our In Your Dreams review here.
