Last night I was in that dream-like state where I was just starting to fall asleep. I’m not sure what the scientific term for it is, but some of the most vivid dreams can come during that time. Anyway, I dreamed that I was watching this cartoon about the Eighty Years’ War (the Dutch war of independence against Spain, from 1568 to 1648.) It was animated in a very old-fashioned style, nothing like the kind of cartoons that are made today. It had the same kind of aesthetic style as American Pop by Ralph Bakshi. Here is a still image that’s a really good example of the style I mean.
There was this voice-over narration similar to the narrator of David Lynch’s Dune, and there was a little introduction, like a first episode that establishes the plot of the show, talking about how William “The Silent” of Orange was assassinated and the conflict between the United Provinces and Spain erupted into full-scale war. Then there were some animated scenes of battles, really detailed and drawn in that painting-type style.
Of course because of the time period, everything had that distinctive 1600s-era Dutch look to it, like the little painting of the guys on the Dutch Masters cigar pack (do they still make those?) Like this painting and the engraving of this musketeer. It was so vivid, I can remember the way it looked really strongly, but I can’t remember anything really specific about it, just that it felt really real. I almost felt like it actually existed and that I had seen it in the past as a kid or something, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t.
Weird. All of my dreams are super-vivid. Some people I know say they never remember ANY of their dreams. Whereas I could probably list 20 or 30 of them right off the top of my head.