Netflix released its family-friendly animated comedy In Your Dreams on November 14, 2025, and it’s likely that viewers are falling in love with Baloney Tony. The film follows the adventures of siblings Stevie and Elliot, named after Stevie Nicks and Elliot from E.T., according to writer/director Alex Woo. But Baloney Tony—Elliot’s beloved, sort of gross, wisecracking stuffed giraffe—is the breakout character. Imagine Shrek’s Donkey, but with poor hygiene and thrown into a dream world.
Per Netflix: “In Your Dreams is a comedy adventure about Stevie and her brother Elliot, who journey into the absurd landscape of their own dreams. If the siblings can withstand a snarky stuffed giraffe, zombie breakfast foods, and the queen of nightmares, the Sandman will grant them their ultimate dream come true…the perfect family.”
Leading up to the film’s streaming premiere, Netflix hosted a press conference with the cast and filmmaker Alex Woo. Simu Liu and Cristin Milioti voice Elliot and Stevie’s parents, with Jolie Hoang-Rappaport voicing older sister Stevie and Elias Janssen as Elliot. Craig Robinson brings Baloney Tony to life, and Gia Carides is Nightmara.
The following are highlights from the lengthy press conference, including how the cast approached their characters and the freedom to improvise in the booth.
On the origins of In Your Dreams:
Alex Woo: “So, in 2016 I left Pixar, and I started this small little animation company called Kuku Studios. And we spent the first year sort of just dreaming up ideas for TV shows and movies that we wanted to make and that we wanted to see, that we felt like nobody else was making. And one of the ideas was a movie about the world of dreams. We got really excited about that. But the challenge with a movie about dreams is that anything can happen. And when anything can happen, nothing really means anything. So, we had to find a way to ground it with a real-world—sort of—human story.
That’s when I thought about this thing that happened to me when I was, I don’t know, maybe six or seven years old. I woke up one morning and I found my mom at the front door with her bags packed. She had to sort of gently explain to me and my brother that she was going away for a little while, and she had to figure things out for herself and her family.
It was really scary for us. This movie is very much about me sort of reconciling and dealing with the fact that life is not perfect. And that there’s a lot of messiness in life. But there’s also a beauty in that. So, yeah, it’s sort of a combination of this really intimate, personal story with this big, adventurous, fantastical, spectacular world of dreams.”
On finding the right approach to their characters:
Simu Liu: “In approaching this character of Dad, it’s funny because Dad, I think in this film, he is actually such a kid on the inside. So much so that I almost feel like he’s actively resisting this idea of growing up. Because, you know, he’s very much passionate about his music career. I think he’s at a place where he doesn’t want to let it go, and he’s kind of being faced with this pressure to kind of be realistic and face reality. And to kind of accept responsibility for the whole family.
I think for him, it’s like, ‘Well, if I give up on my dreams, what kind of example am I setting for the kids?’ You know? And so, I think that’s kind of where I approached from. Where Dad is actually not very dad-like at all. You know, I really wanted to bring out his kind of childlike quality.”
Jolie Hoang-Rappaport: “[Stevie] is like this self-described fixer. She always wants to fix everything. You know, she’s noticed a little tension between her parents and thinks that if she can find the Sandman and that he can grant them her one true wish, that she can fix her family. But as she goes on this journey, she starts to realize maybe not everything in life can go exactly the way we planned. Maybe that’s okay. Especially when, you know, she has family to support her. [Laughing] She also thinks Elliot is really, really annoying.”
Elias Janssen: “Elliot is just super high energy, crazy, funny. He loves magic, as you could tell from his magic pajamas. He’s like your typical younger brother. He really looks up to Stevie, and he just wants to spend time with her and hang out with her. And I can relate to him in that way, because I also have two older siblings, so I know what that’s like.”
Gia Carides: “Nightmara was amazing, actually, because we really created her in the studio. Alex had incredible ideas. And, in the beginning, they weren’t sure whether she was going to really be a character that we saw or was she going to be an energy. So, I came in a few times and worked with Alex and recorded various different scenes and ended up creating this really beautiful character. So, it was very exciting, her coming to life.
She is the voice of the nightmares and the fears and the anxieties, and she confronts the kids. […]I wove in some loving, earthy, grounded wisdom because I didn’t want her—and nobody wanted her—to be straight-out evil. But she had to be scary. She had to be abrupt. But there was kind of this history of a relationship, somewhat, that she had with the Sandman. And so that kind of energy was really interesting and fun to play with.
She was just a glorious character to bring to life. She’s not in the movie a lot, but when she shows up, it makes an impact. And it was really fun to voice her. Amazingly fun.”
Craig Robinson: “It was just we found a character in the room, you know? We were cracking jokes back and forth, and Alex let us improv. […] I’m excited for people to see it. It was fun being Elliot’s best friend—and the enemy of joy.”
On films that influenced In Your Dreams:
Alex Woo: “I grew up in the ’80s, so I’m a big ’80s movies fan. So, obviously, E.T. There’s a shot where they’re on the bed flying over that big moon, that’s taken straight from E.T. I was a big Labyrinth fan, so the sandcastle was really inspired by the Labyrinth. Goonies was a big movie for me and having the film be centered on these two kids and the adventure that they go on was very much inspired by Goonies.
Back to the Future is one of my all-time favorite movies. The song, “Mr. Sandman,” is from that film. I had to put it in this movie. Obviously, it made so much sense because it’s about the Sandman. So, yeah, tons of ’80s movies references.”
On being allowed freedom to improvise in the recording booth:
Craig Robinson: “It was so much fun being Baloney Tony because he’s so silly. I would say something and Alex would say, ‘Oh, okay,’ and then he would add something to it. So, it was like a back and forth. But he kind of lent himself to being silly. And then, you know, the dynamic with the kids was awesome, so you got the Laser Fart. It was all great.”
Simu Liu: “I would say, in the beginning, especially before there’s any sort of animatics developed, it feels really like a blank slate, kind of blue-sky situation. Alex was so great in kind of teasing that out of, I think, all of us. I really appreciated our sessions as well in trying to craft what this dad looked like, sounded like, how he treated his kids, how he spoke to his wife.
[…] In the beginning, I think, is the best time to kind of try something and anything. I kind of learned that anytime we were starting a new scene for the first time, I would always get really excited and just kind of throw whatever out there that I could and not necessarily be afraid to do something even if it doesn’t work or even if I know it might not work. Because it might be a little dash of inspiration that might lead to something that might be useful.
And so, yeah, I really appreciated that. Then it was really cool kind of over the months seeing the project develop. It’s like you’re seeing these 2D drawings that sort of move. And then a few months later, you’re seeing 3D renders that are kind of starting to feel a little bit more like the final product. So, as that happens and as your mannerisms get locked in, that’s when, I think, I would say, the choices become kind of more set in stone. You get to a point where you absolutely cannot improv because millions of dollars have gone into animating these characters.”
Jolie Hoang-Rappaport: “I want to give Alex kudos because not every animated process is as collaborative as this. You [Alex] were always so transparent about, like, ‘What do you think this should be?’ And that is not always the case, especially earlier on.
And then I know at points I would come back for another session, and you were like, ‘You guys gave us an idea, and then we went and wrote this off of your performance.’ And it just made me feel really valued. And it got me excited to come in.”
On handling the parents’ separation in an honest way:
Simu Liu: “I think in our early conversations, it was really important to show that no one is at fault. And, therefore, there’s no bad guy or good guy in whatever is happening between mom and dad. And as often happens, I think, in our lives … I don’t think any family is perfect. I think everyone grows up with their version of what that conflict is. I certainly know what that was for my parents.
I think I would’ve really appreciated watching something like this. I think there’s something amazing when you see your life reflected back at you on the screen in a way that’s nuanced and fair. And to say, ‘Oh yeah, no, that wasn’t actually my dad’s fault,’ because, you know, there was no good guy or bad guy in that situation. And I really wanted that. I think maybe we both wanted that to come through.”
