Two weeks after The Sandman made its debut, Netflix has officially dropped a bonus episode that features two fan-favorite short stories including the animated adaptation of A Dream of a Thousand Cats and the live-action Calliope. The 64-minute episode is now available for streaming.
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A Dream of a Thousand Cats features a star-studded voice cast including Gaiman, Tom Sturridge, Sandra Oh, David Tennant, Michael Sheen, James McAvoy, and more. According to director Hisko Hulsing, he used real oil paintings to bring the animated short to life by combining them with 2D animation and 3D animation.
“We endeavored to make the animated version of A Dream of a Thousand Cats as mesmerizing and hypnotic as we could by utilizing the magic of real oil paintings on canvas,” Hisko Hulsingsaid in a statement (via Variety). “We combined the paintings with classically drawn 2D animation, based on realistic 3D animation of telepathic cats in order to create a trippy world that feels both grounded and dreamy at the same time. Untold Studios in London created the breathtaking 3D animation of the cats. The wonderful 2D animation, oil paintings and stylizing were all done at Submarine Studios in Amsterdam.”
Meanwhile, the second half of the bonus episode will be Calliope, a live-action story starring Sturridge, Melissanthi Mahut, Arthur Darvill, Nina Wadia, Souad Faress, Dinita Gohil, Kevin Harvey, Amita Suman, and Derek Jacobi as Erasmus Fry.
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The Sandman stars Tom Sturridge (Sweetbitter) as Dream, the Lord of the Dreaming, Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) as Lucifer, the ruler of Hell, Vivienne Acheampong (The Witches) as Lucienne, the chief librarian and trusted guardian of Dream’s realm, Boyd Holbrook (Logan) as The Corinthian, an escaped nightmare who wishes to taste all that the world has in store, Charles Dance (Game of Thrones) as Roderick Burgess, a charlatan, blackmailer, and magician, and Asim Chaudhry (Black Mirror: Bandersnatch) and Sanjeev Bhaskar (Yesterday) as Abel and Cain, the first victim and the first predator, who are residents and loyal subjects of the Dream Realm.
The live-action series is written by Gaiman (American Gods) and Allan Heinberg (Wonder Woman, Grey’s Anatomy), who is set as showrunner. David S. Goyer (Batman Begins, Foundation) is executive producing the drama from Warner Bros. Television.
