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Fantasy Helmet Enforcement: Inverted. When Richard first sets off on his bike he has a ludicrous amount of safety gear, but loses it by the end of the film as another nod to his character development of growing past his neuroses. Public Domain Character: Tons of them. In fact, none of the worlds that Richard and the books travel through feature any literary characters that debuted in the last seventy-two years (at the time of the film's release date), which means you will definitely see Dr. Jekyll, Captain Ahab, and Long John Silver in this movie, but not Aslan, Bilbo Baggins, or James Bond. Eyepatch of Power: Adventure looks like a pirate, complete with eyepatch. There's nothing wrong with the eye under it - so when he needs to get a better look at something he just lifts it up.

Evil Laugh: Mr Hyde, the deranged psycho version of Dr. Jekyll. He laughs maniacally even when he falls to his doom. Also "Dream Away" by Babyface& Lisa Stansfield which plays over the end credits. Unlike Whatever You Imagine, it wasn't co-written by James Horner. Genre Blindness: As the characters approach a frightening mansion in the Horror section, Fantasy reads the names of the residents: "Dr. Jekyll...Mr. Hyde...( Beat)...Must be a duplex." Naturally Fantasy wouldn't know anything about the Horror genre. The animation in the film was produced by Turner Feature Animation, [2] headed by David Kirschner and supervising animator Bruce W. Smith and recently spun off from Hanna-Barbera. The crew included animators who were veterans of productions such as An American Tail (1986) (also produced by David Kirschner and composed by James Horner), The Land Before Time (1988). This was one of the first films to feature live-action, traditional animation, and CGI animation all together. One scene involving a computer-generated dragon made from paint was used, a challenge for the filmmakers. All of the fictional works featured in the film were created and first published before January 1, 1923, making them a part of the public domain in most countries. The theme songs in the film are " Dream Away", sung by Babyface and Lisa Stansfield, and "Whatever You Imagine", sung by Wendy Moten. Loony Librarian: Mr. Dewey, the "loony" part of his character provided by Large Ham Christopher Lloyd.Ed Begley Jr. and Mel Harris as Alan and Claire Tyler: Richard's supportive parents. Alan considers himself a bad father due to his continuous failed attempts to help Richard get over his fears. Whoopi Goldberg as Fantasy: A fairy-styled lavender fairy tale book. She can be opprobrious, aggressive, and hotheaded. A raven cawing "Nevermore!" while swooping down from a bust of Pallas above the archway in Dr. Jekyll's manor.

Zap! Here we are in the middle of the Pacific, with a fearsome white whale bearing down on us. Zap! Here's Dr. Jekyll drinking a beaker of vile liquid and transforming himself into the hideous Mr. Hyde. Zap! Here's Long John Silver, towering over his crew, including a little cabin boy played by Culkin. And the moral of all of these stories is that the timid little boy finds the gumption to stand up for himself - with help, of course, from his pals Fantasy, Adventure and Horror. Finally, the plot was very original. I think it's good that hollywood is getting kids too read. This is a very good introduction to some of literature's greatest classics. Bio: Todd was born in New York City. When he was young his parents moved to Roslyn Heights, New York (Long Island). Todd went to the I.U. Willets Elementary school and then attended the Wheatley School for junior high and high school. His best subjects were math and science. He also liked to read, but he had trouble with spelling and grammar, and didn't do well in English. His favorite sports were tennis, skiing and fishing. Todd went to college at New York University for a few years, and then dropped out. He lived on a commune, then lived in Europe where he was a street musician. Or Was It a Dream?: Richard wakes up from his adventure in Fictionland. However, at the end the shadows and voices of Adventure, Horror, and Fantasy can be seen and heard in the real world. Because it's summer, I had time, and I've always wanted to read all of the books referenced in this 1994 animation classic.Glamour Failure: The Anthropomorphic Personification of a Horror book is seen through a vial of mysterious liquid for a few frames of Beautiful All Along. Lyttelton, Oliver (2012-08-06). "5 Things You Might Not Know About Brad Bird's 'The Iron Giant' ". IndieWire . Retrieved 2019-10-05.

Reading Is Cool" Aesop: They certainly tried to do this, but as many people pointed out, it doesn't really encourage reading, instead name-dropping a few literary classics and using loose approximations of their plots and characters for action scenes. Artistic License – Statistics: Richard claims that because 8% of all household accidents involve ladders and 3% involve trees, interacting with ladders and trees together results in an 11% probability of an accident. Given that the film is about getting over his fears, this is probably an in-universe example.Whoopi Goldberg as Fantasy, a fairy-styled lavender fairy-tale book. She can be opprobrious, aggressive, and hotheaded. Popcultural Osmosis: The movie seems to run on this, and depends somewhat on a passing familiarity with famous literary characters like Dr. Jekyll or Captain Ahab, etc. Siskel & Ebert even felt this was a major flaw; that the film didn't convey to audiences why these characters were so great. Some stories have been retold so many times by different authors, or have such obscure origins, that attempting to pinpoint a specific author is a bit silly (e.g. Mother Goose, Aladdin, etc.). So forgive me if I don't happen to list the "difinitive" or "best" version. The exception are those Hans Christian Anderson or Brothers Grimm stories which are decidedly the reference point for most Westerners. I will not speak of Disney. I'm Not Afraid of You: Averted. Richard in the dragon's clutches, stares down his nemesis declaring he's not scared of it. The dragon doesn't care.

Cave Mouth: Our heroes find a cave, which is full of stalagmites and stalactites. When Adventure accidentally breaks one, it's revealed that the "cave" is actually the mouth of a dragon. False Crucible: Richard learns that everything he went through was a test to get him to face his fears. The animation, directed by Maurice Hunt, is dingy and dreary. Many of the scenes seem to be glimpsed through a yellowing, dusty pane, at twilight. There's not much color and sharpness. The artistic approach makes the drawings seem unfocused. And the content (one hair-raising close call after another) is more of a rollercoaster ride than a story. Just Eat Him: The "Alive and Whole" subtype is enacted by the dragon. It could easily incinerate Richard but prefers to do this instead. Macaulay Culkin as Richard Tyler: A young 10-year-old boy who seems to have a fear of everything and runs his life based on safety statistics. Culkin is the only actor in the film to portray his character in both live-action and animation.One of the books we see near the phone booth pile is The Snow Queen, later known for a more famous adaptation. B.J. Ward as the Queen of Hearts, the tyrannical ruler of Wonderland who appears in the Alice in Wonderland book in the dragon's stomach.