| 11-year-old Gus has a sweet tooth and detests vegetables. After diner one night, when he is left alone to finish the plateful of carrots, Gus falls asleep and into the magic realm of Nilus The Sandman. Together they journey to Gus' dream world - a gigantic kitchen ruled by luscious desserts. There they find that the vegetables have all been banished to a dungeon-like root cellar because Gus refuses to eat them. Nilus and Gus help the oppressed vegetables escape, with the aid of Carrotio, an opera-singing carrot, only to discover they have let loose a rag tag army, intent on waging battle against the sweets. A huge food fight ensues on the grand dining table as cobs of corn fight ice cream cones, and donuts capture celery stalks. Who will win the battle for Gus' taste buds? The answer opens Gus' eyes to the importance of a balanced diet. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| 12-year-old Todd Crayton is not feeling all warm and fuzzy about having a baby sister. As far as he's concerned, the new baby is just a lot of extra work. His parents spend all their time and energy on Kelly, and insist he be more understanding, even when she mangles his personal belongings. Wishing Kelly would just disappear, Todd dozes off and Nilus the Sandman appears. Before they can set off on their dream adventure, however, Kelly also wanders into the dream and promptly falls out of a window into danger on a huge construction site below. Nilus and Todd begin a frantic search for the newborn, only to fall into the hands of giant babies who treat Nilus and Todd like they were babies. This helps Todd come to understand what Kelly's life must be like; also as Kelly innocently wanders into more and more danger, he discovers the benefits that come with caring and being a responsible person. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| Math seems useless to a young poet like Rhonda. Despite the best efforts of her teacher, Albert Ross, she just doesn't see the point of learning about Pi and other "irrelevancies of life." Bored to tears she falls asleep in class and wakes up in Nilus the Sandman's dream world, awash on a sea of numbers. Plucked from their rowboat desk by Pirates, Nilus and Rhonda find themselves in danger, until they discover these ferocious cutthroats can't count. To save Nilus from walking the plank Rhonda agrees to navigate them to the island of Pi; however, after having paid so little attention in class, the question is, can she remember the formula and save both Nilus and herself from the clutches of the pirate captain "Cube," who looks remarkably like her math teacher? The answer convinces Rhonda of the importance of Math in everyday life. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| Kevin Taylor is a good student and loves science, but despite his brains he doesn't have the brawn to match Bull, the football-playing, academically challenged school bully who keeps picking on him. At night, fantasizing about being a comic book hero, he falls asleep. Nilus the Sandman joins Kevin and in his dream they track down Atlas, who now runs a school for superheroes on Titan. Despite the disused state of his school, Atlas still has some superpower tricks and Kevin is mesmerized. Without reading the small print he signs up to be the first superhero student Atlas has had in years, only to find out he has to battle the most powerful villain in the galaxy - Garganoid. With their superpowers evenly matched, and the destruction escalating, can Kevin find a non-violent way to disarm the supervillain before the galaxy is demolished? The answer gives Kevin a plan to face up to Bull in real life. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| Jack Nimble is at that stage of life, 12, where he wants to have his independence, he wants to do anything he wants, and he feels he doesn't need help from anybody, especially his older sister. Even though he is failing in school, he just wants everyone to leave him alone, and to play with his beloved dinosaurs. Jack falls asleep building his model T-Rex, and meets Nilus the Sandman. Using stolen dream dust the boy transports himself into a prehistoric world where dinosaurs rule. Despite dangers everywhere the boy stubbornly refuses all help from Nilus, who has followed him, and some friendly rodent inhabitants of the place. Events transform Jack into a T-Rex and he revels in being "King of the Universe," until a comet arrives, obscuring the sun and the pre-historic world starts to die. Trapped by his huge bulk in the path of an oncoming glacier, Jack is offered help by the tiny rodent-like creatures, the Multituberculata, but is he too proud and stubborn to accept it? The answer teaches him an important lesson about being too independent, and that getting a little help now and then isn't a bad thing. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| 11-year-old Kate Andrews isn't really ready to date, but an upcoming Valentine's dance may force her into it. When two boys invite her to the party, she is in a quandary. One of the boys is her friend, Joey, the other is Eric, the school hockey star. Caught off-guard, she says "yes" to both of them then realizes the mess she is in. That night, in her dreams, Nilus the Sandman whisks her off to "The Department of Love." This highly technical, highly rational place is ruled by Ms. Valentine, who believes love is just a simple matter of equations; it's all about personal appearance and computability. Joey is the obvious choice in this Department. Nilus and Kate escape from this sterile, joyless factory and make their way to see Cupid, who is highly romantic, but often totally off the mark. He urges Kate to choose Eric. The question is whether either boy is really right for her? The answer helps her make the right decision in her world. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| Spencer Gates is twelve and has big dreams - like making the winning hit in a World Series' baseball game or scoring the winning goal in a tie hockey game against Russia. What he doesn't dream about is chores, the bane of his life, which constantly interfere with what he wants to do. Nodding off one night Spencer dreams of a world with no more orders and no more rules, a place that Nilus the Sandman agrees to help him find. They make their way to the airborne island of Spontania, a ramshackle place, on the verge of capsizing. Here chaos rules and the island's inhabitants - garbage cans, garden hoses, and vacuum cleaners - play ludicrous versions of baseball and hockey that have no rules. Spencer comes to understand that rules are necessary, but can he persuade everyone else that the Island of Spontania is doomed unless they listen to him and do some work? 08DR PI 30 min. |
| Daredevil Danny Keegan is at it again. He's been challenged to risk his neck on another hair-raising bike stunt and he never refuses a dare. When he crashes his bike and is knocked out cold, Nilus the Sandman appears and offers the boy his ultimate dream of adventure. In search of danger Nilus and Danny arrive in The Land of Dare, which is filled with huge, menacing iron machines and inhabited by little fuzzy creatures called Darings. These creatures taunt Danny into increasingly dangerous exploits. Before long, Danny becomes faced with the Great Dare. While he is considering the suicidal jump, his new hero-worshipping friend, Meep, who looks very much like Danny's little brother, rushes in to try the jump himself to emulate Danny's "bravery." Danny suddenly realizes just how foolish it is to risk your life on things that have no point, but is it too late for Meep? 08DR PI 30 min. |
| Norman "Fingers" Callaghan is obsessed with a video game; trying to beat "Karn the Mindmaster" has become his whole world. Much to his friends' dismay, he's stopped coming out for soccer games, his band has had to replace him because he won't practice and his grades in school have plummeted. Sitting in the principal's office waiting to be reprimanded yet again, he falls asleep, only to be visited by Nilus the Sandman. In his dream Norman wants to triumph over the Mindmaster, but first he has to play his way through a series of increasingly difficult video games. He finally wins his way into Karn, only to find that he and Nilus, plus another champion player, have been imprisoned for life. Norman realizes how much he has missed by his obsession with the game - but can he find a way out of the game? In the end "Fingers" gets the point and Norman gets his life back. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| Amy Campbell, a tomboyish 11-year-old, loves baseball, but is increasingly fascinated by her 16-year-old sister, Sandra, and her friends, who seem to live for the latest fashions and makeup. Sent to the department store to get more supplies for them, she falls asleep, waiting as the intimidating saleswoman puts her order together. Nilus the Sandman emerges from behind the make-up bottles and Amy asks to learn all about beauty. They travel through a mirror to the land of Makeup, where the dictator, Queen Beautifica, rules and make-up has come to life. Amy strikes a deal; the Makeups will teach her about beauty and she will teach them baseball, which they mistakenly believe is a grand party. In the middle of a wild, fun game Queen Beautifica arrives and is horrified at the appearance of the dirty and disheveled Makeups and of Amy, who has cast off her new glamour look. When the Queen threatens to banish them the Makeups start a revolution. In the end Amy learns that real beauty isn't only about what you wear or how you make up your face; also that making choices for yourself never goes out of fashion. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| 11-year-old Cynthia Ayes is completely frustrated. She just cannot play the latest piece of cello music her teacher, Mr. Byrd, has given her, no matter how hard she practices. Hoping to never hear another note in her life, she falls asleep at the bus stop. Nilus the Sandman joins her and agrees to help Cynthia enjoy all the pleasures that cello practice interfered with, like going to see movies or playing in the amusement park. However, Beaumont and Standley, Cynthia's bow and music stand come to life, and refuse to be left behind. Determined to enjoy herself, Cynthia ignores them, but finds that movies and merry-go-rounds are boring without music. Even the birds have no song and every note has disappeared from the music sheets. Seriously worried, the group goes in search of Mr. Noteworthy, who has all the notes in his protective custody. Cynthia pleads for the return of all the music, but when Mr. Noteworthy insists she play a special piece on her cello to prove how much it matters in her life, things look hopeless - it's the same piece she could not master in class. What is she going to do? In the end, because in her heart she loves music, Cynthia's determination to practice returns and she understands the important lesson Mr. Bryd had taught her. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| Brian Cameron is eleven and he feels like his world is coming to an end - his family is moving to another city. As part of packing up, Brian's parents want him to sort through his old toys and give them to needy kids. Despite the fact he hasn't played with them for years, Brian can't bring himself to part with them, or the security of his childhood home. Wishing he could stay there forever, amongst his teddy bears and toy train set, Brian falls asleep and Nilus the Sandman appears. Together they drive the miniature train and meet all the toys that have come to life. The only problem is that Brian's old playmates are stuck in childhood and childish games while he has grown older. The future looks scary, but the past is stale. Can Brian find the courage to move forward? The answer helps Brian see the positives in facing the big move. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| 11-year-old Jenny Taylor is "not a happy camper"; she's stuck in the middle of nowhere, with girls she has never met before, and she isn't fitting in. When Jenny stubbornly refuses to join in any of the camp activities, the counselor finally agrees she may leave the following day. That night, still openly feuding with her tent-mates, Jenny falls asleep and into the kingdom of Nilus the Sandman. Jenny wants to enjoy all the pleasures of camping she missed, without the annoyance of other people around. With Blue as their transportation, Nilus takes her to the wilderness setting of her dreams; however, once they land, a fierce storm forces them to take refuge in some forbidding caves, where they meet a lone Grumble. They learn that the Grumbles were once a big community that dispersed far and wide when their petty complaints against each other escalated into open hostility. Despite his protests that he liked being alone, the Grumble is terribly unhappy and wants his former companions back. With the help of Blue, Pearl, the Boogie Man and Venus, Jenny and Nilus manage to bring all the Grumbles back to their home. When she wakes up, Jenny decides to give camp another try. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| 14-year-old Bonnie mistakenly thinks her best friend Dayna has betrayed her by asking a boy she likes, Norm, out on a date. Imagination takes her on a dream adventure with Nilus the Sandman through a jungle where crocodiles battle against monkeys. The wild creatures are at war as a result of a misinterpretation. The monkeys thought the crocs wanted them for dinner, but the crocs only wanted to invite them to their place for dinner. The key to everyone's happiness is realizing that the fight will end if they can come to terms with the misunderstanding. In the end when Norm asks Bonnie out on a date, she realizes she jumped to the wrong conclusion about Dayna. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| As far as 13-year-old Amy is concerned, 14-year-old Farah seems to have it all; she has all the money she needs and can dress to the nines and wear all the makeup she wants. Tired from shopping one day, Amy drifts off to sleep at her house. In her dream with Nilus the Sandman it appears that her dream has come true! Amy has won a five-hundred-million-dollar shopping spree at the mall. It's a massive Spend-a-Thon Shop-a-Mania! But after Amy has bought everything in the mall, she still has not achieved the happiness she sought; nothing seems to be enough. The question is, of course, can Amy buy her happiness? This is a story of greed and vanity versus inner beauty and friendship. Fortunately, for Amy, she discovers what's most important. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| 13-year-old David wants to impress his classmates; he wants them to be his friend. So when it's time to pass in a class project on Switzerland, he promises to do a lot more than he can deliver. Working that night at his computer, he drifts off to sleep and travels with Nilus the Sandman to the Gullibles' village, somewhere in the Swiss Alps, where nothing there is as it seems. It's a place in which a fragile, tuxedo-wearing weasel, The Bippin, turns out to be an eccentric, hideous monster and David turns out to be nothing more than a frightened little boy. The question there is, will David admit that he is not as great as he seems or will he become another frozen victim of the evil Bippin? While back in school, when he can't pass in his part of the project, David is given an extension by his teacher, Ms. Paul, after he tells her and his classmates the real reason he didn't get the work done. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| Jenny Bridge is a shy, soft-spoken teen-ager who cares about the environment; so much so, she even won the Inter-School Competition. This would be great news, except now Principal MacKenzie just announced she will make a speech about her winning the award in front of the entire school. Nilus the Sandman has to act fast and uses his magical dust to travel with Jenny into a Dr. Seuss nightmare world of crazy contraptions that are used to controlling the entire universe. There a powerful Mr. Clear controls the flow of the tides, rainfall, daylight and the intensity of the sun with his technology. Of course there are some odd glitches with his contraptions, the sun is brown and the air stinks, but that will be dealt with in due course. No need to rely on Mother Nature now that there's technology, right? Faced with such a situation, Jenny can't believe that no one is speaking up to stop such nonsense. After her dream, back on-stage, Jenny finds the courage to do her speech on something she believes strongly in, protecting the environment. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| 14-year-old Norm Ledger has a problem; he wants to do things with other teens, but in doing so is spending money he doesn't have. After cleaning up his uncle's pizza shop, Norm drifts off to sleep into the dream world of Nilus the Sandman, where they discover gangster coins are out on the loose. They've escaped from a wallet and are headed for the good times downtown. At first hanging out with money is a blast for Norm, as money can pretty much do anything and go anywhere (casinos, slot machines, and free rides), but soon it becomes apparent to the teen that money cares about money and that's it. Norm wakes up, figuratively and literally, understanding that friendship is on a whole different level. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| 13-year-old Willie likes being the school trickster, but often has trouble distinguishing between humorous and hurtful. Then one day at school his latest prank, this time with a bucket of water, backfires on his best friend, Jack, soaking him and the school newsletters he worked so hard on. Jack doesn't want to have anything more to do with Willie and his stupid tricks. That night Willie falls asleep into the dream world of Nilus the Sandman, where the young teen is banished into a dungeon filled with out-of-work comics and jesters enslaved by their inability to recognize when a joke is over. It's interesting to see that there is a room filled with comics, and yet there's nothing funny about it at all. And it doesn't take long for Willie to not like being on the receiving end of a bad "joke." Lesson learned, the next day Willie's at school replacing all the newsletters for Jack, who happily accepts them in a gesture of forgiveness. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| 14-year-old Dayna made a deal with her mom. Dayna agrees to work at her aunt Mary's farm and her mother will pay for a class trip to New York. But working on a farm is a lot more work than Dayna expected, and being a city girl she's not too fond of cleaning up after chickens and pigs. Why should she have to do such difficult and seemingly unimportant work? Falling asleep, she and Nilus the Sandman find themselves in a desert spy adventure in Weedworld, where conniving thirsty weeds are pitted against dehydrated flowers. In their crucial search for water, no one can be trusted. And if the flowers and weeds can't work together and find "The Great Hydron," the mighty source of water, it will soon become a deadly game. Awaking from this perilous adventure Dayna has a greater respect for the simple, basic things in life, and a greater admiration of her aunt. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| Bonnie is a young teenager with a nice personality, who gets along great with her friends, and can even play the saxophone. But competing in an upcoming musical contest has her all on edge. She falls asleep into the dream world of Nilus the Sandman, where she is flung out of a magical mystery bus and into the spotlight of a Greco-Roman arena; it's the match of the century! The greatest traits of Bonnie's personality have been animated into a team of characters. Her opponents? All of her worst fears. No matter what the challenge, there is nowhere to hide from her fears. Behind every door there is a ferocious lion waiting to devour her. Nilus has to brush up on his coaching skills to get this team past the terror behind the various dream doors. After she awakes, Bonnie understands that everyone has fears now and then and the best way to face this one is to get out there and give it her best shot. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| 14-year-old Danny loves soccer and the special soccer ball his grandfather gave him is his favorite. When he meets a new student, Andrea, who walks with an artificial leg, he unintentionally insults her by presuming she may not be able to do certain things for herself. Upset with himself, he kicks his soccer ball, which bounces off a wall and temporarily knocks Danny out of reality and into Nilus the Sandman's dream world of animated garbage. Here tin cans and paint cans live together with burnt-out Buicks and old stoves. It's a world where pieces of garbage vie for the opportunity to be selected by the Great Claw and go on to a better place. But when Danny sees the Great Claw, he is quick to judge it as detrimental to the garbage community. After he causes a total sense of pandemonium and chaos in the garbage world, he learns an important lesson about pre-judging the Claw; a lesson that carries over in the real word and when he comes to he makes a new start with Andrea. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| 12-year-old David would do almost anything to make friends with the new boys he's met. Understanding this, the boys make up a story about a missing boy and coax David to sneak into a museum to look for evidence to help find him. Once inside David has to hide under a cloth, which brings Nilus the Sandman in with his magic dream dust. In the dream David is locked in a haunted house with ghosts and ghouls. He is told that the only way out is to find a mysterious glove. But when he finds the glove, the chase continues. It starts to become hard for David to know just who exactly the real fiends are and what he actually is afraid of. Awakened from his dream, a whole lot wiser, David's learned to have more self-confidence and not to be so naïve. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| Farah loves being in a musical band. But instead of being a helpful member, she's thinking only of herself. At rehearsal, after one more interruption, the band members ask her to leave. Upset that night Farah falls asleep. In her dream there's a loud unruly guitar-playing virus running loose in her body that needs to be treated. Nilus the Sandman follows as a shrunken Farah enters her own body and tries to fix things herself. But Farah is hardly a doctor. As the virus multiplies and spreads, a viral rock concert builds in her body making Farah sicker and sicker. Will Nilus be able to help her before its too late? The answer helps Farah see how self-centered she's been and the next day, after she asks the members of the band for a second chance, they all get back to rehearsing. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| Norm's got a problem. His band finally has its first paying gig and they have to practice. But next weekend is a traditional weekend away for Norm and his dad to go fishing. Norm doesn't know what to say to his father and, frankly, he's almost sick about that. Exhausted from all the worry, he falls asleep into the dream world of Nilus the Sandman, where it's poison pincher crab country and if you're not a crab, you're not welcome. Here, when Norm commits to help both an ailing raptor as well as a group of cuddly aliens, he may have put all of them in even greater danger than before. With conflicting needs, time ticking away and thousands of crabs moving in, a horrible fate could be all but sealed. Awaking from all of this, Norm realizes he has to tell his dad about his conflict. In the end his father has a great solution: the whole band can go on the trip, and he and Norm can fish after they practice. 08DR PI 30 min. |
| Kevin, Amy, Farah and David are busy rehearsing for a play. When Ms. Paul opens a prop chest nearby a smoke bomb explodes, which gets her very upset. Who did this? She wants to know, but no one admits to the prank. Her best guess is it was Kevin. In the smoke Kevin goes into the dream world of Nilus the Sandman. His dream takes him into a George Orwell-style place where our hero finds that he is guilty for a crime he didn't commit. In a society that is too quick to judge on looks, Kevin is being taken advantage. If he doesn't vindicate himself he will be stuck in an eternal world of chaos and disarray. Coming out of the dream, Kevin realizes he knows he has to speak up for himself and that Farah needs to do what's right, to tell Ms. Paul she was responsible. 08DR PI 30 min. |