Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland - Release and Reception

Release and Reception

The film was released in Japan on July 15, 1989. Partially thanks to strong competition, including Studio Ghibli's Kiki's Delivery Service, it grossed ¥0.9 billion (US$10 million) in its release and was considered a box-office flop, against a budget of around ¥3 billion ($35 million.); Later on, Yutaka Fujioka decided to retire from the animation business selling TMS to Sega-Kyokuchi in 1992.

TMS made the business decision to focus on locally based anime programs and animation for western-based productions, including Tiny Toon Adventures which Yutaka Fujioka was involved with. The studio still does features, but primarily films spinning off existing anime properties.

It was then released three years later in the United States in 579 theaters on August 21, 1992 through Hemdale Film Corporation. 11 minutes were cut in order to secure a G rating. It received positive reviews from publications including the Washington Post, Variety, the New York Post, the Boston Globe, and the New York Times. Roger Ebert gave it 2 out of 4 stars, though on a positive note wrote, "Little Nemo is an interesting if not a great film, with some jolly characters, some cheerful songs, and some visual surprises."

Although it had a fairly good critical reception, the film failed to find an audience. In its opening weekend in the United States, Nemo made about $407,695 with a total US gross of approximately $1,368,000. Its later release onto home video helped recover costs, topping the charts and selling over two million copies. It won the "Audience Award" at Amsterdam's 1992 Cinekid Festival and was nominated for "Best Animated Feature" at the 1993 Annie Awards.

In March 2005, Little Nemo was given a "much untalked about" limited re-release in Denver, Seattle, Atlanta, Austin, Houston, and other cities in the US. This was through Regal Entertainment Group's Regal Cinemas, Edwards Theatres, and United Artists Theatres as part of a Kidtoon Films G-rated matinées promotion. It was only shown on weekends.