A Cartoonist’s Nightmare

At closing time, most staff leave while one animator stays to finish his work. An elderly custodian keeps watch over the quiet studio. The animator finishes a dungeon drawing where Beans the Cat encounters a goblin and draws a steel barricade to keep them apart.

While finishing the scene, the animator sketches the dungeon where Beans the Cat meets a goblin. He places a steel barricade between them to reinforce the separation in the drawing. The long hours begin to weigh on him as he continues working.

Weary from hours of work, the animator decides to take a brief nap at his desk. The barricade and the scene remain undisturbed as he rests. After about 30 minutes, the goblin in the drawing starts moving.

The goblin shatters the barrier and drags the animator from the desk into the dungeon world beyond the scene. He is immediately terrified as he is carried deeper into the drawing. The boundary between drawing and reality collapses in a rush of color and motion.

The animator is punched by the goblin and brought to a mystic chamber filled with painted portraits of various villains. The portraits appear to be creations of him and his colleagues, now stepping to life. The villains declare their revenge and demand he draw for their amusement.

The villains hand the animator a pencil and force him to draw a deep pit in the floor. He reluctantly complies as the scene tightens around him. When the pit sinks into the floor, he loses his footing and falls.

In the pit, the animator clings to a branch, trying to avoid a crocodile at the bottom. The danger escalates as he fights to stay above the hungry maw. The chamber's magic seems to feed on his fear.

Back in the physical studio scene, Beans waits by the barricade ready to be fed. Little Kitty offers a lunchbox, but Beans finds a saw hidden in the bread. He uses it to begin cutting his way toward the animator.

Beans hurls boots at the goblin to lure the villains away from the trapped animator. He works his way through the chamber to reach his friend and disrupt the villains' pursuit. The plan buys the animator a chance to escape.

The animator conjures a pencil to draw a ladder, providing a way out of the pit. Beans skimps grease from a gun to slick the room's entrance, causing the villains to slide away. The collaboration between Beans and the animator edges them toward freedom.

The villains slide into the pit on the slick grease and fall in, while the goblin is finally knocked back into the hole. The animator uses an eraser to remove the hole, ending the threat. Beans and the animator shake hands after their hard-won victory.

The dream ends as the custodian wakes the animator back in the studio. He finds the drawing on his desk unchanged, as if nothing happened. Wanting to forget the odd experience, he erases both the goblin and the barricade and sketches a gelatin platter for Beans, which delights his friend.