Dream Defenders
By Natascha Crandall,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Heroic kids fight crime within dreams (it's no Inception).
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Dream Defenders
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What's the Story?
DREAM DEFENDERS Zane and Zoey, 14-year-old twins, can travel into the Dreamworlds -- the realm where humans dream, through a supercomputer. Evil characters in the Dreamworlds create nightmare monsters that turn people in the human world into Dreamwalkers, hypnotic versions of the humans who do bad stuff. Zane and Zoey work to defeat the monsters in the Dreamworld to keep their lives under control.
Is It Any Good?
This series is very scary as most of the episodes take place in one's nightmares. In one episode, the kids aren't only being chased by scary clowns, but the clowns are trying to bite them. They defeat the clown by kicking it in the face and then electrocuting it, which doesn't set the greatest example. In addition to this intense premise, characters often "prank" others, but it's more like bullying as the person being "pranked" is often left feeling very upset and never finds it funny. Zooey is often frustrated by her brother and exclaims "I'll kill him!" when she thinks about the times that he "pranked" her.
While Zane and Zooey are a team and do work together to defeat the evil characters, there are too many negative behaviors being modeled in Dream Defenders -- there are better choices for kids looking for adventure.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how they handle having bad dreams. How do you know dreams aren't real? Why do brains create dreams?
Kids: What could Zane and Zooey do differently to help one another in Dream Defenders? How do you think Zooey feels when Zane says something mean to her or plays a prank on her? What should Zooey say to Zane to get him to understand how he makes her feel?
TV Details
- Premiere date: September 11, 2011
- Network: Xfinity
- Genre: Kids' Animation
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy , Brothers and Sisters
- TV rating: TV-Y7
- Last updated: April 1, 2022
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