Netflix Shares ‘Stranger Things: Tales From ’85,’ ‘In Your Dreams’ First Looks in Annecy
Netflix took center stage early evening at Annecy today with its Bonlieu-hosted presentation Next on Netflix Animation: From “Stranger Things” to “In Your Dreams.” The standing room only session featured showrunner Eric Robles introducing the animated spinoff “Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85,” a family spectacle blending nostalgia with supernatural intrigue.
Netflix’s official logline for the series reads: “Welcome back to Hawkins in the stark winter of 1985, where the original characters must fight new monsters and unravel a paranormal mystery terrorizing their town in Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, an epic new animated series.”
With animation headed by Australian outfit Flying Bark, the show is being executive produced by “Stranger Things” creators Matt and Ross Duffer via their Upside Down Pictures, along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen via 21 Laps, Eric Robles, – who is showrunning the series – via Flying Bark Productions and Hilary Leavitt from Upside Down Pictures.
“The team and I, we’ve been working really, really hard to make sure that we capture the very thing that makes ‘Stranger Things’ what it is,” Robles began.
Starting with the inspirations that he and his team pulled from, Robles cited ’80s animated shows like”The Real Ghostbusters,” “Beetlejuice” and “Transformers” as the initial foundations on which the show’s nostalgic feel can be built.
Robles shared a glut of lush concept art based on the characters from the show from numerous artists from around the world, but explained that the first time he was the “Stranger Things” fan art of Meybis Ruiz Cruz, he knew that he’d found the show’s look. In addition to the extensive array of character designs shared on the day, several monsters and highly detailed Hawkins Indiana sets pulled right from the show were also shared.
“The Duffer brothers sent us thousands of detailed photos from the live-action show to accurately design and model each location,” Robles explained, before sharing a quick example of the Byers’ snow-covered house rendered in CG animation.
Finally, Robles shared an animatic for one of the show’s high-tension action sequences, even sneaking in some animation by Kevin Molina-Ortiz. The Bonlieu crowd seemed impressed, giving the clip a raucous ovation.
After revealing a new logo for Netflix Animation Studios, which now includes locations in California, Vancouver and Australia (It seems Animal Logic has dropped that moniker and is now part of Netflix Animation Studios), the streamer hosted a sit-down conversation about its eagerly anticipated feature, “In Your Dreams.”
The film is directed by Woo, co-directed by Erik Benson, and produced by Kuku Studios. Featuring a star-studded cast that includes Craig Robinson, Simu Liu and Cristin Milioti, it is scheduled for release on November 11, 2025.
Former Pixar animator and now feature film director Woo, Annie-winning production designer Steve Pilcher (“Brave”), and VFX supervisor Nicola Lavender provided the sneak peek for their gorgeous-looking feature, set for release later this year.
But before getting into the deep end, Woo talked about co-founding KuKu Studios, which produces “In Your Dreams.”
“Anyone leaving Pixar to start their own studio is kind of crazy, but Crazy Studios didn’t have a very good ring to it,” he jokes about the studio’s entomology. He then offered the real reason, which is that in Chinese, Ku means cry. “We wanted to tell stories that would make you cry tears of laughter and cry tears of pathos,” he explained, drawing a parallel to the famed Greek masks of comedy and tragedy.
With that in mind, “In Your Dreams” is billed as a surreal comedy adventure that follows Stevie and her brother Elliot as they journey through the wacky landscapes of their dreams. If they can survive sarcastic giraffes and breakfast zombies, they may find the dream of a perfect family.
Woo shared a touching story from his own childhood that lies in the roots of “In Your Dreams.”
“When I was six years old on a cold Minnesota morning, I woke up to find my mom standing at the front door with her bags packed. She gently explained to my brother and me that she needed some time away to figure things out for our family, and I remember watching her pull out of the driveway and leaving. I remember not fully understanding what was going on, but knowing that everything was about to change,” he recalled. But worry not, he later clarified that his parents did figure things out and have now been married for more than 50 years.
However, that experience had a major impact on the story that Woo is telling with “In Your Dreams.” “My brother and I, we sort of hatched some hairbrained schemes to try and save our family, and that’s like the journey that Stevie and Elliot go on.”
Several clips were screened most notably one in which the siblings meet a now animated (as in containing life) version of Elliot’s long lost favorite stuffed animal Baloney Tony, a giraffe who farts lazers. Highly detailed sets, super-fun characters and some immediately recognizable music made the movie feel fresh and familiar at the same time.
As the conversation shifted from story to production design, Pilcher explained how he became involved with the film. “Alex and I knew each other from Pixar for many years… And I got really excited about [this project] because I love the chance to create a challenge.”
Pilcher showed off artwork from some of the dream worlds and went into great detail explaining the tremendous effort that went into creating them. Although several of the dream worlds visited by the film’s sibling protagonists were shown, the most popular by far was Breakfast Land, fashioned to look like a medieval French village, not unlike Annecy itself.
Lavendar talked through the challenges that her VFX team faced during production. The particle physics, in particular, was a challenge, and she and Pilcher said some shots took nearly three months to animate. Particularly impressive on the VFX side were scenes of transition. When the sibling shifted from their real world to the dream world, or when dreams would shift to nightmares.
“We needed to turn some of the dreams into nightmares, and we really needed to be very efficient in our pipeline and our asset build to make sure that we could bring all of these worlds to life,” she explained, before showing a shot of the aforementioned Breakfast Land now covered in shadows and mold, the most frightening thing that could happen in a world of edible treats.
As the presentation came to a close, the audience was treated to an early look at the film’s official trailer, which will be released to the public tomorrow.
Netflix’s official logline for the series reads: “Welcome back to Hawkins in the stark winter of 1985, where the original characters must fight new monsters and unravel a paranormal mystery terrorizing their town in Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, an epic new animated series.”
With animation headed by Australian outfit Flying Bark, the show is being executive produced by “Stranger Things” creators Matt and Ross Duffer via their Upside Down Pictures, along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen via 21 Laps, Eric Robles, – who is showrunning the series – via Flying Bark Productions and Hilary Leavitt from Upside Down Pictures.
“The team and I, we’ve been working really, really hard to make sure that we capture the very thing that makes ‘Stranger Things’ what it is,” Robles began.
Starting with the inspirations that he and his team pulled from, Robles cited ’80s animated shows like”The Real Ghostbusters,” “Beetlejuice” and “Transformers” as the initial foundations on which the show’s nostalgic feel can be built.
Robles shared a glut of lush concept art based on the characters from the show from numerous artists from around the world, but explained that the first time he was the “Stranger Things” fan art of Meybis Ruiz Cruz, he knew that he’d found the show’s look. In addition to the extensive array of character designs shared on the day, several monsters and highly detailed Hawkins Indiana sets pulled right from the show were also shared.
“The Duffer brothers sent us thousands of detailed photos from the live-action show to accurately design and model each location,” Robles explained, before sharing a quick example of the Byers’ snow-covered house rendered in CG animation.
Finally, Robles shared an animatic for one of the show’s high-tension action sequences, even sneaking in some animation by Kevin Molina-Ortiz. The Bonlieu crowd seemed impressed, giving the clip a raucous ovation.
After revealing a new logo for Netflix Animation Studios, which now includes locations in California, Vancouver and Australia (It seems Animal Logic has dropped that moniker and is now part of Netflix Animation Studios), the streamer hosted a sit-down conversation about its eagerly anticipated feature, “In Your Dreams.”
The film is directed by Woo, co-directed by Erik Benson, and produced by Kuku Studios. Featuring a star-studded cast that includes Craig Robinson, Simu Liu and Cristin Milioti, it is scheduled for release on November 11, 2025.
Former Pixar animator and now feature film director Woo, Annie-winning production designer Steve Pilcher (“Brave”), and VFX supervisor Nicola Lavender provided the sneak peek for their gorgeous-looking feature, set for release later this year.
But before getting into the deep end, Woo talked about co-founding KuKu Studios, which produces “In Your Dreams.”
“Anyone leaving Pixar to start their own studio is kind of crazy, but Crazy Studios didn’t have a very good ring to it,” he jokes about the studio’s entomology. He then offered the real reason, which is that in Chinese, Ku means cry. “We wanted to tell stories that would make you cry tears of laughter and cry tears of pathos,” he explained, drawing a parallel to the famed Greek masks of comedy and tragedy.
With that in mind, “In Your Dreams” is billed as a surreal comedy adventure that follows Stevie and her brother Elliot as they journey through the wacky landscapes of their dreams. If they can survive sarcastic giraffes and breakfast zombies, they may find the dream of a perfect family.
Woo shared a touching story from his own childhood that lies in the roots of “In Your Dreams.”
“When I was six years old on a cold Minnesota morning, I woke up to find my mom standing at the front door with her bags packed. She gently explained to my brother and me that she needed some time away to figure things out for our family, and I remember watching her pull out of the driveway and leaving. I remember not fully understanding what was going on, but knowing that everything was about to change,” he recalled. But worry not, he later clarified that his parents did figure things out and have now been married for more than 50 years.
However, that experience had a major impact on the story that Woo is telling with “In Your Dreams.” “My brother and I, we sort of hatched some hairbrained schemes to try and save our family, and that’s like the journey that Stevie and Elliot go on.”
Several clips were screened most notably one in which the siblings meet a now animated (as in containing life) version of Elliot’s long lost favorite stuffed animal Baloney Tony, a giraffe who farts lazers. Highly detailed sets, super-fun characters and some immediately recognizable music made the movie feel fresh and familiar at the same time.
As the conversation shifted from story to production design, Pilcher explained how he became involved with the film. “Alex and I knew each other from Pixar for many years… And I got really excited about [this project] because I love the chance to create a challenge.”
Pilcher showed off artwork from some of the dream worlds and went into great detail explaining the tremendous effort that went into creating them. Although several of the dream worlds visited by the film’s sibling protagonists were shown, the most popular by far was Breakfast Land, fashioned to look like a medieval French village, not unlike Annecy itself.
Lavendar talked through the challenges that her VFX team faced during production. The particle physics, in particular, was a challenge, and she and Pilcher said some shots took nearly three months to animate. Particularly impressive on the VFX side were scenes of transition. When the sibling shifted from their real world to the dream world, or when dreams would shift to nightmares.
“We needed to turn some of the dreams into nightmares, and we really needed to be very efficient in our pipeline and our asset build to make sure that we could bring all of these worlds to life,” she explained, before showing a shot of the aforementioned Breakfast Land now covered in shadows and mold, the most frightening thing that could happen in a world of edible treats.
As the presentation came to a close, the audience was treated to an early look at the film’s official trailer, which will be released to the public tomorrow.