User Reviews

Please let me tell you a little story about myself. When I was a child I once had a bedside lamp I just loved. The lampshade had all sorts of fantastical animals on it, fairies, dwarfs, goblins, it was fantastic. And it gave off the most wonderful warm light. I was scared of the dark at the time so I always slept with it on, and it gave me such pleasure to lie there in bed staring at that lighted shade. I often wished very hard that all those little figures would come to life for me and become my friends and play with me. I wanted them to take me back with them into their world, which I knew had to be the best, most magical place to live, but they never did. The point is that I have a deep fondness for fantasy creatures and the classic fairy tales and that's why this episode, wherein a girl who still loves all that kinda stuff even though everyone tells her that she's getting too old for it, does strike a bit of a chord with me. And then when her dream comes true it turns into a bad one... I did like Samantha Chemerika as "Jill", because she was a bit of a tough little cookie and it made me laugh how scary she was in the scene where her brother has pranked her for the second time in a night, and she's about to kick his ass as she chases him around her room yelling at him to get out! I thought it was cool just how much they actually did look like brother and sister. Lucky coincidence, I guess.. The ugly mean bitches who are meant to be her 'friends' had it all wrong when they were teasing Jill about her books. They're not babyish, in fact many of the original tales aren't child-friendly at all, they're full of violence and death and cruel ironic twists of fate! Something awfully notable that has probably made a few people begrudging fans of this episode despite themselves is that it features a wired Bobcat Goldthwait in a cheesetacular bit part that he just plays to the hilt! He's so bizarre as the Sandman, it makes one wonder if he was indulging in something or other between takes! It's probably one of the worst adult performances in the entire series, but it's awesome because it's him with his crazy fluctuating voice, and he's wearing a purple bathrobe, and he's got dreadlocks! What could ever be more horrifying, more vomit-inducing, than discovering a Bobcat hiding under the bed!!! The moral of it seems to be a bit of a bad, or at least a very poorly-realised one, I reckon, with Jill basically caving in to peer pressure and deciding that she doesn't like fairy tales anymore just so she can fit in with all the boring regular people. Thank goodness someone thought to put in what the mother says, which I really like. I think the story should have moved more towards that kind of message, that just because you grow up doesn't mean you have to let your precious spark of wonder and imagination disappear, and that you can always keep a little of the inner-child alive in your heart. Everything should be a fantasy, people have been trying to make a go of what they call "reality" for thousands of years now, and it hasn't ever really worked. It should be outlawed! Anyway it's fun but I'm kind of in the middle about this one, I'm not a huge fan but it's certainly nothing terrible. Have a good one, and keep those imaginations healthy!