BEST. DREAM. EVER.

Dude, I need to consume obscene amounts of sugar before bed more often! (an ice cream bar and a lot of soda if you're wondering)

Basically, this dream started not so cool-I was with the Family Guy family, and the girl with the hat had gotten lipo-suction or something so she was all skinny (I don't really recall their names, it was a long dang time ago that I saw a few episodes) so they decided to go to the store to get her new clothes to show off with. Blargh. I don't know why I went with them, I guess I was another family member or something-anyway, I ended up wandering away from the clothes section into another aisle, and I saw those 'learn to draw' things, several of them being the specific styles of certain Disney animators or of different characters. I lost my head over one by Glen Keane. Then the dream changed, and someone (I think it was my boyfriend) was introducing me to THE ACTUAL GLEN KEANE. For those of you who don't know, Glen Keane is the animator who was the driving force behind the Disney Revolution. He and another animator are responsible for the princesses everyone knows and loves, him in particular for Ariel (he insisted on animating her, said there was something that just drove him to do so) and is one of the best things ever to happen to the Disney company, though sadly he recently left them as they really don't need hand-drawn animators anymore since they're going with computers. Anyway, Mr. Keane and I started discussing art and animation, and I timidly mentioned I had a movie idea, which he insisted on hearing. From there we were in his studio, and he was showing me how to do hand drawn animation, we were talking story ideas, hammering out details, storyboarding, animating together and eventually presenting the rough draft animations and storyboards to the Disney exects.

I can even remember some of the characters and music from the movie, which I'd never seen or heard before-basically the movie was about a dystopian future where war had broken out, which escalated into biological warfare and nukes being dropped. The combination of the biological elements and the radiation wiped out the majority of life on earth, those that were not wiped out (human and animal alike) mutated in some form or another, with very few escaping the mutations. The mutations in humans were usually fairly subtle or at least harmless-pointed ears, oddly colored eyes or skin or hair, an extra set of limbs, tail, or other unusual feature or any combination therof. The animals got some similar mutations-unusual colors and patterns in their fur or feathers, extra limbs, and such, but one of the most notable things that happened was that due to the biological components, animals that were previously genetically incompatible were suddenly able to be bred with one another. Taking advantage of this in order to ensure their survival, humans started creating new species that they could use for meat, transportation, and what have you-service animals. Gryphons being one of the primary species created (their looks and sizes vary a great deal by what species were used to make them). One thing the humans didn't count on, though, was the mutations eventually allowing the hybrids they created to gain sentience, and even learn to speak with intelligence comparable to or, in some cases, exceeding humanity's. Some consider this a blessing, as they can work better together with the friendly ones, some consider it a curse as the belligerent ones are more crafty and can sway others to their points of view.

As for the society, unmutated humans form the 'nobility' of the future, and consider themselves above everyone else due to their purity. They quickly seized political power, and have been struggling to rebuild since the collapse of society. For the most part everyone has been reduced to dark ages technology-relying heavily on the hybrids to help them with their everyday lives-and to possess any technology of 'the old world' is a great mark of status. This is primarily how the nobility keeps hold of it's power-having the largest stockpile of 'old world' weaponry and technology, they could easily wipe out anyone who opposed their rule. No one but the nobility, and those who directly serve them, have electricity-or running water usually. There were some 'grungepunk' or steampunk elements to the whole thing-like the slapped-together guns and other weapons made of junk some of the characters carried, the clothes and such, and there were some golems and such made of scrap metal that was lying around. This was another affect-there were some elements showing up in different places, pockets of energy that had been previously undiscovered (or previously didn't exist, no one's sure) that were released, and certain individuals (dubbed mages or witches or any other name associated with magic) can wield this energy, including hybrids. It's actually much more common for hybrids to be able to use it than for humans, which has lead to the belief that the more mutated you are (since hybrids are technically far more mutated than anything else, having been brought into existence BECAUSE of their mutations) the better able to wield the energies you are. The pockets of energy are all interconnected by underground lines referred to as Ley Lines, which allow even those who don't live near a large deposit of the energy to use small bits of it. Normally the power can only be used for small things, like helping to make tools or levitating light objects or to help heal small scratches or wounds, but some can safely wield larger amounts of it, creating golems (usually these don't last very long, and crumble within a few hours or even minutes, depending on the strength and skill of the maker-a truly gifted mage can create one that can last for years. To create one that can last indefinitely is unheard of. The intelligence of the golem also depends on the mage's skill, and most can only perform very simple commands somewhat clumsily. To create one with human intelligence or sentience is also unheard of) or using it to heal more serious injuries or lift heavier objects, whatever they choose to do with it.

The story we were doing was centering around a group of children and a young male gryphon named Rags or Ragamuffin or something like that-something that started with an R that basically brought to mind grunge or something dirty or whatnot. I don't remember the kid's names. I also remember writing notes on a storyboard where the kids and Rags were burying someone-the little girl's brother-and that the note I was writing down specifically said that their expressions were empty and listless, as if they'd done this many times before.

I can't remember what their goal was or what they were supposed to be doing, but I remember presenting the rough film (mostly pencil animations with the voices added) to the exects with Mr. Keane. I don't remember whether or not they decided to approve it. But it was SUCH A COOL DREAM. I may have to actually do something with that story idea though, I've never had such a thorough, detailed one from a dream before.