The Sandman Season 1 Special Episode: Dream of a Thousand Cats/Calliope: What is the importance of an Idea?

The Sandman is interesting precisely because it is a story about the very idea of Story telling itself, it tells us what power the stories we tell hold over us, and how they are shaped by our dreams, and so in a way Dreams hold power over us and the world around us, as we shape our world based on the stories we tell each other.

The dream of a thousand cats then, is a very literal interpretation of the Dreams shaping our world, basically, it follows a purebred blue point Siamese mother, whose children were unfairly taken from her by her owners for not being "pure breed" as a cat she only ever wanted to find her lover and be with him.

But I guess owners that buy purebreeds don't really give a shit, disgruntled she goes in search of the King of Dreams, she can do that, because in the world of Sandman, cats have supernatural powers, after seeking an audience with Morpheus she learns of the time when Cats once ruled the world.

But then someone gathered together enough humans, a mere thousand and then they together dreamed a world where Cats were the pets, and the were the superior ones.

And yes, that is Morpheus as a cat.

The Siamese goes around preaching, so that one day a thousand cats may dream the same dream.

Cause you see the world wasn't once ruled by cats... the humans dreamed it, and so it was always so, from the beginning of time, till now.

If a thousand cats dream, it will once again be as it once was.

The animation in this is absolutely gorgeous and it ends with a Tinge of horror as we realize the cute playings of kitten turn out to be him dreaming about killing Humans as their ruler.

The second story is where Ideas really take front and center stage for the story, and I believe in a sense, this story is also a bit of a Self report by Neil Gaiman.

He writes this story about this author, called Richard Maddock, who once wrote a single successful book and is now running on fumes in a manner of speaking.

So he goes to his old mentor Mr. Fry from whom he makes a trade, in exchange for a Bezoar, he takes Calliope, a muse who Fry has kept captive, and whom he routinely abuses in order to gain ideas.

In the comics, Richard literally forces himself on her every time he needs Ideas, thankfully it is not as explicit in the show, but regardless, keeping a sentient creature anywhere against her will, is... you know, a bit wrong...

Richard keeps her because he needs Ideas, and coincidentally all his books are about Feminism and progressivism... I wonder if its Calliope's true will slipping through his ideas, a plea for help if you will, which Ironically only makes her captivity more set in stone, or perhaps Richard is just that delusional.

Neil Gaiman, is also an author who writes about Feminism and progressivism, and also has cases of sexual harassment and potential assault against him...

It is this story in particular that made it apparent, the true power of the Sandman, as in order to punish Richard/inspire him to let her go, all he does is overflow him with Ideas, causing a mental breakdown to the point of him writing his own ideas in his blood...

I swear to god, when I saw the blood scrawled all over the wall, I gasped audibly.

An Idea can change the world, it can keep someone captive, keep someone relevant, take away their relevance and then an Idea can drive you mad, I wonder, if there was some symbolism there, as a lot of creative people sometimes do report having mental breakdowns when they do not have a creative outlet for long, oh who knows.

All I know is, these were two very interesting short and sweet stories from the Sandman, that perfectly concluded season one, and also potentially set up the later chapters that would introduce us to the song of Orpheus, Orpheus, born of the muse Calliope and Oneiros, also known as Morpheus.