The “Fleischer style” is on full display in the 1936 short subject, Somewhere in Dreamland. Cartoons from the studio behind Betty Boop and Popeye most definitely had a distinctive look, unique tone, and technical ingenuity that can be seen throughout the short.
Released ninety years ago this month, on January 17, 1936, Somewhere in Dreamland is also significant as the first Fleischer cartoon in three-strip Technicolor.
The cartoon (A “Fleischer Color Classic,” presented by Adolph Zukor) opens with two small children, a brother and sister, in ragged clothes, walking through the streets of a small town, on a wintry day, collecting firewood.
They are spotted by three shopkeepers, a baker, a tailor, and a market owner, who feel sorry for the children. The two children stop at the bakery window to look at all the sweets. The baker goes into his shop and comes back with cupcakes for the children, but they have already moved on.
The three shopkeepers get together to discuss the poor children, who eventually arrive home at their dilapidated shanty, where their mother has made them dinner of water and bread (so hard it can’t be broken). After they’re finished, the children say they are still hungry, which makes their mother cry. The children then feel bad and try to console their mother.
The two then go to bed, under tattered blankets, and before they go to sleep, they sing the title song, “Somewhere in Dreamland,” with music by Murray Mencher and lyrics by Charles Newman.
As the children drift off to sleep, they dream of Dreamland, a place filled with every child’s wish. Floating above the clouds, they enter a world where trees grow new clothes for them to change into. From here, they skip through a forest of ice cream cones and then a wonderland of other desserts and candy, and go on to visit a popcorn field, where their popping corn rains from the sky. And then, an entire realm of rolling hills filled with toys.
Their mother then wakes them from their dream the next morning. When the children enter the next room, the three shopkeepers are there, the room is decorated, filled with toys and snacks, and a feast is on the table.
The happy children immediately run to the table and begin eating ice cream, with one of them stopping to poke themselves with a fork to make sure they’re not dreaming, as they laugh and the short ends.
Somewhere in Dreamland has all of the earmarks of Fleischer’s best cartoons, including their distinct design (the entrance sign to Dreamland is made up of pillows) and fluid animation, as well as clever sight gags (when the kids get into bed, their blanket is so worn, it looks like Swiss cheese).
While a comforting fantasy, the Fleischer Studio didn’t shy away from the emotion connected to the impoverished situation that the children and their mother live in, which must have connected with the realities that audiences in 1936 were experiencing during the Depression.
Additionally, the short has familiar Fleischer elements, such as the voice of Mae Questel (who provided the voices for Betty Boop and Olive Oyl), as the children and the mother, and the studio’s creative 3D backgrounds. The artists at Fleischer Studios had invented a way to combine live-action backgrounds with animation. Detailed background models were built on large turntables, and the cels were photographed in front of them to create a distinctive sense of depth.
The result in this short is some stunning scenes in Dreamland, where the kids pass by, and through the fantastical lands in the dream sequence, particularly, in one moment, where they ride a carousel, and the spinning movement of the background, coupled with the hand-drawn animation, adds an element of stunning dimensionality.
Somewhere in Dreamland eventually entered the public domain, unfortunately, and low-quality copies could be found for several years alongside fellow public domain cartoons on Christmas compilation VHS tapes and DVDs.
In 2021, the short was restored and aired on MeTV. Much like the children in the short, this has provided a happy ending for Somewhere in Dreamland, now celebrating its 90th anniversary, as a pristine print of this classic short can be enjoyed.
Michael Lyons is a freelance writer, specializing in film, television, and pop culture. He is the author of the book, Drawn to Greatness: Disney’s Animation Renaissance, which chronicles the amazing growth at the Disney animation studio in the 1990s. In addition to Animation Scoop and Cartoon Research, he has contributed to Remind Magazine, Cinefantastique, Animation World Network and Disney Magazine. He also writes a blog, Screen Saver: A Retro Review of TV Shows and Movies of Yesteryear and his interviews with a number of animation legends have been featured in several volumes of the books, Walt’s People. You can visit Michael’s web site Words From Lyons at: 
“Somewhere in Dreamland” never fails to bring the tears to my eyes. The gorgeous richness of the children’s dreams, and the contrastingly dire poverty of their waking lives, give it an emotional depth unapproached by any of the other Color Classics. The title song, too, is a real gem. By rights it should have been as great a success for Max Fleischer as “When You Wish Upon a Star” was for Walt Disney, an anthem to the transcendent power of the imagination.
As the hungry children are getting ready for bed, we hear a strain from Schubert’s famous Serenade, one of the last melodies he composed before he died in abject poverty at age 31 — a heartrending reminder that the poor family, too, is literally at death’s door.
I’ve seen this cartoon many times, but I’ve never seen it looking this good! Though not specifically a Christmas cartoon, it’s easy to see why it gets included in Christmas collections–even more so when shown in its full color. Those miniature sets built for the background are nothing short of amazing in their detail. The whole story has a Christmas feel to it, much like the story of The Little Princess. What really gets me are those tattered blankets.
My father, who lived through the era, informed me that the Great Depression did not begin with the 1929 stock market crash, but that it had already been going on for most Americans since the turn of the century. There were no rich. All Americans were dirt poor. So the audience would have empathized with the plight of these two down and out youngsters. It’s really touching how the merchants get together to improve the lives of the children. As in real life as it was back then, nobody has much, but they give generously out of what they have.
Seeing this cartoon in this restored print is a true revelation! And a great post-Christmas treat!
Most Silly Symphony competitors, even from the Fleischers, were marred by cheap and excessive sentimentality; “Somewhere in Dreamland” fortunately does a better job of earning its sentimentality, starting its runtime by grounding the story in a slightly exaggerated, and very relatable, depiction of living during the Great Depression. The scene where the children try to console their distraught mother is one of the most moving of ’30s cartoons. Add in the stunning visuals of the titular Dreamland, and you’ve got a cartoon that earns its reputation as one of the best of the Color Classics.
“Somewhere in Dreamland eventually entered the public domain, unfortunately, and low-quality copies could be found for several years”
I would argue that entering the public domain was more fortunate than unfortunate; being circulated, even in low-quality copies, helped keep its memory alive as many other worthwhile cartoons of the era became forgotten due to lack of exposure. And despite the poor quality of the public domain copies being circulated, the craftsmanship and artistry of the short is obvious, whetting one’s appetite for a better quality version.
The anti-public domain sentiment in this article is odd (Do you REALLY think that, if this short had stayed under copyright, it would be as loved as it is, or do you think it’d be forgotten like 90 percent of the paywalled Disney shorts? If you doubt this, ask yourself: Does the average cartoon fan know or even care about, for instance, the average Silly Symphony that isn’t “Three Little Pigs”? Does the average cartoon fan know or care about the average Mickey Mouse cartoon that isn’t one of the ones Disney intentionally tried to cover up, for instance, “Trader Mickey” or “Mickey’s Mellerdrammer”?), but not uncommon for industry suckups. Keep up the good work; You’re making the rich richer and the poor poorer every day (Guess which category YOU fall under)!
Geez, at least Disney got almost all the sound era cartoons released on the “Walt Disney Treasures” DVD sets (the couple others that weren’t included did get official releases on other titles usually as bonus shorts) which included the aforementioned banned shorts. Granted, not all of them were cleaned up (i.e. the mid-40’s Donald shorts), but at least they got proper treatment unlike the Paramount owned Fleischer shorts which the company didn’t bother restoring or releasing officially just because of their PD status.
They used to show this and other 30s Fleischer shorts on the Disney Channel as a “Fabulous Fleischer Folio” in the early 90s. It was in the same block that they showed Disney shorts from the 40s and 50s and it felt out of place. Still remember the cartoon like it was yesterday after all these years.
The public domain is what kept subsequent generations past the baby boomers exposed to these shorts. There’s nothing unfortunate about that.
There’s a point often missing from the discussion of these particular restorations, which is that they are so sharp and so crystal clear that they’re actually not totally historically accurate to what theater audiences were seeing. Release prints (what the theater showed) were inherently of a slightly lower quality than an original camera negative; being a couple or more generations away from the OCN. This is not to say that OCNs shouldn’t be preserved or restored; absolutely yes. In a more ideal world, those who are stunned by these results would understand that they’re not exactly looking at what the actual finished product originally was: a release print. Omitting this detail, and touting an absolutely perfect restoration using the OCN, almost results in a form of revisionist history for viewers who will sort of get the wrong idea about the original cinema experience. That could also inadvertently create an unfairly high expectation of what other new restorations should look like, when the truth is that we often no longer have an OCN to work from. We can’t make all old films sparkle like this.
Aside from that technical point, I only wish these particular restorations were being undertaken without relying on so many ethical and moral misadventures behind the scenes over the last 5 years (and counting).
I admit I wasn’t a fan when I first saw in one of the Disney shorts shown on the Disney Channel as a kid (it was in their home video series “Fleischer Follies” which featured the PD color Fleischers shorts and shorts from other studios that were mislabeled as being from Fleischer), partly due to its’ poor film quality and that I could tell it wasn’t from Disney. However, as time went on, I appreciated this cute cartoon more and now find it to be one of the Fleischers’ finest color shorts.
I think it’s because it says “entered the public domain, unfortunately, and low-quality copies could be found” that got everyone stirred up. If it said “entered the public domain and, unfortunately, only low-quality copies could be found” probably nobody would’ve had an issue. Personally, I didn’t mind the low quality on the discount dvds. For me, the quality of the original cartoon shone through anyway. But good to know there’s a better one out there now.