The Sandman – a series decades in the making – officially debuted on Netflix just two weeks ago. But if you burned through the episodes quicker than a dream, you have a treat waiting for you today. The series just dropped a surprise two-part bonus episode!
The first season of The Sandman adapted the first two volumes of Neil Gaiman’s beloved dark fantasy comics. Episode 11 pulls from volume three, Dream Country, which contains four independent stories taking place within the Sandman universe. The two stories coming to life for this bonus episode on Netflix are “A Dream of A Thousand Cats” and “Calliope.”
A Dream of A Thousand Cats
Have you ever wondered if animals dream? In The Sandman, cats certainly do. (What do they dream about? World domination, naturally.)
“Dream of a Thousand Cats” takes the biggest departure from the existing Sandman series since this part of the bonus episode is animated. You can see the voice talent for the episode below.
- 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”
The “Dream of A Thousand Cats” part of the bonus episode comes from director and production designer Hisko Hulsing.
“We endeavored to make the animated version of ‘A Dream of a Thousand Cats’ as mesmerizing and hypnotic as we could by utilizing the magic of real oil paintings on canvas. 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,” said Hulsing. “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.”
Calliope
Calliope, the youngest of the nine Greek muses, finds herself captured and dreaming of escape. (Her story also involves an important link to the future of The Sandman.)
“Calliope” returns to live-action, with the following guest stars:
- Melissanthi Mahut as “Calliope”
- Arthur Darvill as “Richard Madoc”
- Nina Wadia as “Fate Mother”
- Souad Faress as “Fate Crone”
- Dinita Gohil as “Fate Maiden”
- Kevin Harvey as “Larry”
- Amita Suman as “Nora”
- Derek Jacobi as “Erasmus Fry”
The “Calliope” portion of the bonus episode comes from director Louise Hooper and production designer Gary Steele.
About The Sandman
There is another world that waits for all of us when we close our eyes and sleep — a place called the Dreaming, where The Sandman, Master of Dreams (Tom Sturridge), gives shape to all of our deepest fears and fantasies. But when Dream is unexpectedly captured and held prisoner for a century, his absence sets off a series of events that will change both the dreaming and waking worlds forever. To restore order, Dream must journey across different worlds and timelines to mend the mistakes he’s made during his vast existence, revisiting old friends and foes, and meeting new entities — both cosmic and human — along the way.
Based on the beloved award-winning DC comic series written by Neil Gaiman, The Sandman is a rich, character-driven blend of myth and dark fantasy. The series debuted in the #1 spot on Netflix and premiered on the Top 10 list in 93 countries. So far, Netflix subscribers have spent almost 200 million hours viewing the series.
You can stream season 1 of The Sandman, plus the newly dropped bonus episode, on Netflix now.
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