The surprise bonus episode of the runaway hit show The Sandman sent waves through the community if only because it was so unorthodox. Not only was it a surprise, but the episode broke from the regular ethos of the show, as it was divided into two parts and the first one, “A Dream of a Thousand Cats,” was animated.
The episode featured some big name actors in voice roles, and in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, creator Neil Gaiman said part of the deal he made with some of the actors was that doing the animated episode wouldn’t preclude them from coming back for the TV show later.
“I’d been working with David Tennant and Michael Sheen on Good Omens anyway, so that was a no-brainer. They’re both in The Sandman because they love The Sandman. The main thing was that we had to promise both of them that if they lent their voices to this, it didn’t mean that they couldn’t come back and actually be in the Sandman TV show later. This wasn’t their one chance. They both needed to be reassured of that.”
Tom Sturridge also reprises his role as Dream but as a cat in this version of himself. Other cast members include:
- Sandra Oh as The Prophet
- Rosie Day as The Tabby Kitten
- David Gyasi as The Grey Cat
- Joe Lycett as The Black Cat
- Neil Gaiman as Crow/Skull Bird
- James McAvoy as Golden-Haired Man
- David Tennant as Don and Georgia Tennant as Laura Lynn
- Michael Sheen as Paul and Anna Lundberg as Marion
- Nonso Anozie as Wyvern
- Diane Morgan as Gryphon
- Tom Wu as Hippogriff
Executive producer Allan Heinberg told Netflix that Gaiman also lends his voice talents to the episode, as a talking bird.
“He’s got one of the best voices. Once we got into the booth, there was nothing reticent about him. He really wanted to be more crowlike and would flap his arms and fearlessly work for it.”
As for the animation, Dutch animator Hisko Hulsing said the decision to make the episode look like it was a classical painting on canvas was intentional.
“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,” he said. “Untold Studio’s in London created the breathtaking 3D animation of the cats. The wonderful 2D animation, oil paintings and stylizing were all done at Submarine Studio’s in Amsterdam.”
The bonus episode is streaming now on Netflix.
