DREAM PRODUCTIONS
Starring: Paula Pell, Richard Ayoade, Ally Maki, Kensington Tallman, and Maya Rudolph
Creator: Mike Jones
NICK
On the film side, Pixar has knocked it out of the park with its Inside Out efforts. So, it only makes sense to expand into the Disney+ series library. Dream Productions is the first foray into that realm and it’s… fine. At four half-hour episodes, it’s an easy watch, but the lead character Paula Persimmon (Paula Pell) really feels like a retread of Joy (Amy Poehler). She’s another arrogant character who is adverse to change, and stuck in her old ways. Even her journey of growth is the same thing we’ve seen in Inside Out. It all makes for a harmless, yet unnecessary watch.
AMARÚ
I was initially worried that Dream Productions was going to tread the same territory Joy (Amy Poehler) did in the first Inside Out; however, in four concise, tightly written, character-driven episodes, Pixar was able to take the established strengths of workplace mockumentaries and solidly combine them with the ever-expanding world of Riley’s (Kensington Tallman) imagination. Messy drama, stubborn characters, and great voicework, especially from Richard Ayoade and Paula Pell, set up invigorating surprises in a short and sweet package to prove Inside Out has a vast well of unique ideas to create from.
PRESTON
Borrowing from the successful, documentary style of The Office, Dream Productions continues to reveal the inner workings of Riley’s (Kensington Tallman) mind. The Inside Out mini-series doesn’t take on too much, focusing solely on dreams, as the title suggests, and is a cute and very digestible little series. The characters don’t elicit the same inherent connection that we feel when compared to the emotions, but the mystery of dreams in our own lives makes the overarching story quite compelling. The result is a breezy, smile-on-your-face watch that you can enjoy by yourself or with the whole family.
