Dream Productions (Disney+)

Inside Out 2 has been the biggest hit of the year, unchallenged. The animated sequel about the transition from childhood to adolescence explained through a growing cast of emotions in the mind swept the board for weeks, and has now grossed more than $1.6 billion. Disney has a new golden goose to feed, and it looks like they've managed to square the perfect timing to launch a four-episode mini-series on their subscription service that further expands the world of ideas inside us: The Dream Productions.

In the first Inside Out film we got a brief glimpse of Dream Productions, a representation of how ideas are projected into the mind, combining with each other to form what we know as dreams. In Riley's mind, 'Dream Productions' is like a big Hollywood production company, full of film sets, where a bunch of colourful characters create memorable dreams. And here we get a little more of that "inner world", as we follow in mockumentary format the work of one of the most reputable dream directors of Riley's memories, Paula Persimmon. The problem is that Paula achieved her best dreams during Riley's early childhood, who is now in her first steps into adolescence (Dream Productions bridges the gap between Inside Out and Inside Out 2) and those glory days are long behind her. But Persimmon has no intention of giving up, and so he accepts one last chance to keep his job by combining his knowledge of night-time dreaming with that of a young daydream director (what we know as "daydreaming") called Xeni, who is eager to take on the world. The problem is that Paula and Xeni couldn't be more different, and that leads to all sorts of bizarre situations.

This is essentially the plot of Dream Productions, where we meet a lot of curious characters, such as the production assistant Janelle or the head of the studio, Jean Dewberry. Everything is told in mockumentary format, which lightens a plot that could be more confusing for young viewers with a succession of gags and scenes that break the fourth wall. Riley is 13 years old, so her emotional changes are the order of the day. Prom dance? That dream is sure to be a big hit. Taking your childhood toy to school? Maybe that one should go back to the writers' room. And so, we (the adults) remember or discover (the children) that strange and confusing period of life of being 12 years old and not fitting in, neither in the world of children nor in the world of adults. Paula goes through a similar conflict, almost like the transition from silent films to sound in The Artist. And to stay on top, she too must evolve and mature from her childhood dreams to teenage dreams.

Dream Productions is charming. It's not as radical as Inside Out 2 pretended to be, but it does touch on enough themes and wrap them in that film-studio frenzy that makes it work in each of its four episodes. It's a lighter, more digestible entertainment than the films, even if it doesn't have the same depth. Perhaps that's why the time it lingers on the retina I remember it more pleasantly. Even coming from the big hit of the year it's not at all overbearing. It's just a well animated mini-series that complements the plots of the two films very well and fills in the time gap between them.