In the Night Kitchen (1987) User Reviews

What a dream that was.

[emasterslake · 8/10 · 10 March 2011]

I remember seeing this in my second grade class about 16 years ago. Didn't re-watch it until recently. Here's what it's about without giving much away. It's a short story that involves a boy dreaming that he's become naked and lands inside a pan of cake batter where three chefs mistaken him for the milk. The boy then goes on an errand of finding milk for the chefs who want to finding baking the cake.

This was created by the same guy who did "Where the Wild Things are" so the art style is the same and has some of the author's trademarks in the story. Compare to Wild Things, I think this story is more bizarre and abstract in so many ways. Course if I had to choose between the two, I would choose Wild Things cause it had more characters than this one.

I don't remember if the video in our class was uncensored or not. Cause for a kids story it depicts full nudity on the young boy featured in the story both book and short alike. Which was one of the many controversial things about this book. I'm not sure if my school even allows this short film to be shown anymore due to that bit being there. It's not intended to be exotic as it's depicted, yet there are people who claim it's not appropriate for kids at all. To me those type of people are over exaggerating on books like this. If they dislike the nudity then adding underwear is the only way to make it G rated.

Anyways, I enjoyed this short as well as the book. I don't know if it could make a good movie, cause it would have to have a good extended story in order to make it a good 90 minutes long. I'd be surprised if it ever does get adapted into a movie considering the reputation it has. If you like Wild Things you might also like the short. To me the bakers are the ones who make it memorable.

Really good.

[invisibleunicornninja · 8/10 · 23 May 2018]

I remember watching this years ago when I was little. Its a really nice story and I'd recommend watching it.

Memorable

[ribbonpawz · 7/10 · 14 March 2024]

I watched this film at some point during my childhood and only recently was able to find the title of it, but this animation definetely stuck out in my mind for quite a bit. As a kid it genuinely scared me, the bakers creeped me out-- along with the beginning scene of Mickey falling through his bed, however it is a very unique/interesting clip. Personally not sure how appealing it is to kids, but I think it's definetely a one of a kind story. It's been years since I'd seen it and rewatching it was nostalgic. I've honestly never met anyone else who's heard of or seen it, so this kinda feels like a hidden gem haha. I think it's overshadowed by the artists other books (notably "Where The Wild Things Are") but it captures the same intriguing art style that can't be found in anywhere else. To this day I still find the overall vibe quite erie, however I think that's what's drawn me to it for sure!