To start with the animation itself, it's actually pretty darn good for the late 1980s. It's smooth, colorful, with some neat characters (special mention to the absolutely terrifying Nightmare King). It resembles a Disney film in a lot of ways with a realistic Japanese art style. The story is nothing special. Kid goes on a magical journey through a fantasy world where he overcomes his fears to save the day and learns many valuable lessons. Blah, blah, blah...
I have only seen the English version of this whose cast features a few names you might recognize. Veteran child actor (kind of an oxymoron, I know) Gabriel Damon in the lead as Nemo, plus the legendary Mickey Rooney, and Rene Auberjonois of "Star Trek: DS9" fame. Decent job by everyone overall, but playing characters that are mediocre at best.
This is a kids movie, pure and simple. And from that genre and target audience the film does pretty well. But, when you read the backstory (and I encourage you to) and watch it you start to catch glimpses here and there of what could have been rather than what it is. What it is is a halfway decent kids movie. What could it have been...? Well, the answer to that question is something we can only dream about. Fitting I suppose for this movie. Cheers!
