Since the addition of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2001, it has long been assumed that the winner would come from one of the industry’s powerhouses: Disney, Pixar, or DreamWorks Animation. For much of the category’s history, that assumption held true. However, for the last three years, the Oscar has gone elsewhere. Netflix snagged the statue in 2022 for “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Studio Ghibli won the top prize in 2023 for “The Boy and the Heron,” and last year’s awards ceremony made animation history when the independently released “Flow” beat out the highest-grossing film of the year. These wins mark a quiet but meaningful shift in the Academy’s recognition of animation: Despite the inherent problems displayed by the Academy’s perspective on animated cinema, artistry, innovation, and emotional depth are no longer confined to the major studios.

Netflix, in particular, has emerged as a serious contender in this evolving landscape. To date, the streaming giant has earned seven nominations in the Best Animated Feature category, with one win (and arguably, an additional should-have-been victory for “The Mitchells vs. the Machines,” a film that the viral ubiquity of “Encanto” may have overshadowed). Now, all eyes are on their next animated feature, “In Your Dreams,” which already appears to be on a confident path toward nomination number eight.

The film follows Stevie (voiced by Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) and her younger brother Elliot (Elias Janssen) as they’re swept into their own dreamscape to track down the elusive Sandman, who promises to make their dreams come true — if they can find him. They must navigate surreal landscapes conjured from imagination and nightmares alike, with Elliot’s beloved, smart-mouthed stuffed giraffe, Baloney Tony (Craig Robinson), serving as an unlikely companion. The first teaser trailer premiered timed to this year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival, but I had the opportunity to preview extended scenes at a private Netflix event. Director Alex Woo, making his feature debut, spoke candidly about his jaw-dropping path from working at some of the biggest animation houses in the game to directing his first feature film under his Kuku Studios banner.

Before Alex Woo founded Kuku Studios, he earned a Student Academy Award (for the very awesome “Rex Steele: Nazi Smasher”), served as a Story Lead at Pixar Animation Studios, and worked as a director in development at LucasFilm Animation. During his time at Pixar, he worked on “Ratatouille,” “WALL-E,” “The Good Dinosaur,” and “Finding Dory,” with the former pair going back-to-back with wins for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. Since founding Kuku Studios, he’s created and executive produced the Netflix preschool series “Go! Go! Cory Carson,” but has been working on bringing “In Your Dreams” to the big screen for about a decade.

“At the time, we were a tiny team of three, imagining the kinds of stories we wished to see in the world,” Woo said. “One of our first ideas was a film about dreams […] the film takes us through surreal dreamscapes, filled with spectacular visuals and hilarious, out-of-this-world characters, but at its heart, it’s a grounded, emotional story about two siblings finding their way through a world that doesn’t always make sense.” The story is personal for Woo, who explained that the sibling dynamic between Stevie and Elliot is based on his own relationship with his brother, and an experience they had as children when their parents went through a rough patch. “When I was six years old, on a cold Minnesota morning, I woke up to find my mom at the front door with her bags packed,” he explained.

“She gently told me and my brother that she needed some time away to figure things out for our family. I didn’t fully understand what that meant — but I knew everything was about to change. The world didn’t feel quite as safe after that. The alarm of that morning woke me up to the reality that life is far from perfect.”

It’s so deeply entangled into his own life that Woo said a friend of his saw the film and his reaction was, “You know, this film is just a really circuitous way of you telling your brother that you love him,” and Woo replied, “Making movies is easier than dealing with your feelings.” By tackling an existential theme, “In Your Dreams” provides a space for young audiences to process more challenging topics, something that has become extremely hard to come by.

Like many of us, Woo grew up on films that told us that if we wish hard enough and if we want something badly enough, our dreams will come true. But then we grow up, and we realize that sometimes that’s accurate … but sometimes it’s not. With that harsh reality looming in the distance, it’s hard not to fall into nihilism. As Woo mused, “I really wanted to make a movie that explores the question of what do you do when your dreams actually don’t come true? How do you find hope? How do you keep moving forward in life? How do you find a way through?”

Woo explained that dream movies in the animated space have been every studio’s white whale, and save for something like the “Inside Out” spin-off “Dream Productions” (which operates like a workplace comedy that just happens to be in the film studio version of dreamland), no one has been able to find a way to make a dream movie have stakes. Once Woo and his team cracked the idea, they jumped on getting it made to make sure they’d be able to beat their competitors to the punch. But the true motivating factor was the story itself. “I made this movie with the belief that the best way through is with an open heart — that sometimes we need to let go of what we dream life should be and hold on to life as it actually is,” Woo said. “I hope it inspires you and your family not only to dream big, but to find joy in all of life’s moments, because even when it’s messy, it’s beautiful.”

The premise is charming, but the visual ambition and narrative heart elevate it beyond the familiar. The footage I saw and the teaser above revealed a film rich with layered world-building, emotionally grounded character dynamics, and a visual style that blends dreamlike abstraction with tangible warmth. If “In Your Dreams” delivers on the promise of its early footage, it could be more than just Netflix’s next awards contender — it might be a sign that the family film landscape is finally broadening once more, both in scope and in spirit.

“In Your Dreams” is due out on November 14, 2025, and features voice performances from Craig Robinson, Simu Liu, Cristin Milioti, Omid Djalili, Gia Carides, SungWon Cho, and Zachary Noah Piser.