A star-studded cast is lending their voices to “In Your Dreams,” a new animated film that balances comedy, adventure, and real-world family drama. The film features “The Office” alum Craig Robinson as a stuffed animal named Baloney Tony, who joins two children on a magical quest. The cast also includes Marvel’s Simu Liu and Emmy winner Cristin Milioti as the children’s parents.
This Netflix and theatrical release, opening Friday, is not a typical fairy tale. Directed by Pixar veteran Alex Woo, the film centers on siblings Stevie (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) and Elliot (Elias Janssen). When their parents’ marriage begins to fail, they journey to find The Sandman, hoping for a magical solution to the very real problem of separation.
The film’s honest approach to family conflict was a major selling point for its cast. Simu Liu, in particular, was “fascinated” by the idea of showing a “real family that argues.” He has been critical of the “always happy” family trope, calling it “not true” and stressing the importance of showing “imperfect” families to young audiences.
While Craig Robinson provides the comedy, Liu and Cristin Milioti provide the film’s core emotional conflict. Milioti, a Grammy winner, praised a duet she shares with Liu, which shows the strained couple in a rare moment of harmony. She called the song “really great” and a “beautiful moment” in the otherwise tense family dynamic.
The film, animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks, guides its young protagonist, Stevie, to a difficult realization. As Hoang-Rappaport explains, Stevie learns that “there is no magic solution” and that she cannot “fix” her family’s problems on her own. “In Your Dreams” uses its all-star cast to tell a funny, exciting, and refreshingly honest story about modern family life.