Dreaming in Cartoon Art

 A Snowman coffee to bring you good cheer. Photo LB.

I dream of and in Studio Ghibli: There must be a school of thought about the importance of cartoons in dreams but if there is I’m not familiar with it. No need for any real life images here, let’s find another source, some Hanna and Barbera, Steve Ditko or Winsor McCay would be fine. Little Nemo in Slumberland etc. Anyway, how and why are some folks able to dream in cartoon form? I’ve no idea other than knowing that it happens to me sometimes but then do I suffer from poor dream “recall”. It’s all a quickly fading blur as I wake up. None of this is at all important or evidence based but for what it’s worth here’s some passing, vague cartoon thoughts ...

This sleep time cartoon themed thing could be in any kind of cartoon style; Tom & Jerry, Disney, Pixar, traditional comic strip, sci-fi, squiggly, abstract, arty and so on. Maybe not much happens. Maybe it's only for the illustration of a single point. You might not get it. Dreams of cartoon characters and scenes are not nonsense. They could be mirrors. It's a dream and anything is possible.

So you dream of Woody Woodpecker because you like trouble and rarely pay for it. You're an irritating person. You push limits. It’s fun for you but push too far and people leave. You dream of SpongeBob because like him you believe in everything. You move fast. You smile but miss the detail. Optimism is a strength until it blinds you. You don't understand how, but it appears that the entire show is based around the Seven Deadly Sins and that SpongeBob is the personification of Lust, of all things. Everybody now knows this, or so it seems. Not sure how that impacts on the subconscious mind.

Dreaming of Bugs Bunny action might mean you’d like to be street smart and clever 'cos you're not. You could survive by fast thinking but lack the quickness of mind. Beware of the moment you start believing you can’t be caught. That's a nightmare. There's also the spectre of Jessica Rabbit living it up in Toon Town, but let's not go there. 

Popeye without spinach shows us how strength fails. What you leaned on is gone. Learn something new or break. You might dream of Wile E. Coyote because you won’t give in. The goal keeps running from you. Persistence is noble. Obsession is not. You're pretty stupid really and you need a better job.

Comic strips that obviously aren't animations can be meaningful dreamscapes. Slowly unfolding. Pace might be more important than action. Rough drawings make untidy but tight points. References are not lost to pace and expression is clear. A form of good, linear storytelling you can study over, inside and outside your dreaming time. Time in dreams is a whole other tin can of carpet mites.

Old Eastern European or Russian cartoons are wild. If you dream in this style I don't know what to say. You're wired to a Mars Bar or you've suffered from some kind of self inflicted torture that you found to be quite gratifying. These dreams may entertain, but they also may warn. I think most European scientists moonlighted as cartoon artists in the 1960s. Makes sense when you think about it. They all had bleak tales of repression, lack of recognition and personal loss to tell. Stuck with stiff collars, white coats, ice on windows and vodka bottles in desk drawers. The trauma was real enough to spawn creation.

So cartoonish dreams, like any other, can show how you act, how you fight, and how you fail, where you are insecure and so on ... but mostly they're just putting your thoughts into some kind of order. It's only a cartoon library that's being ripped up - in your sleepy head. Pay attention, you might learn something. Cartoons can tell the truth in their own strange ways, like any pulp fiction or fantasy work. Sleep tight and whatever else you do, always avoid those strong, badass cheeses for any bed time snacking.

I have never had a dream about a Cullen Skink pie but if I did it would probably look a lot like this - but rendered in the Rhubarb and Custard cartoon style.