The Imaginaseum

The Imaginaseum

When The Imaginaseum opens in New Spring, 12-year-old Penn Williamson must decide between saving his family and letting them live their dreams. The Imaginaseum is the hottest new company in town, boasting the latest in R.E.M. virtual reality gaming technology. Dream stations allow players to invent their own video games and play inside their own dreams. When Penn discovers that his crush, Minnie Winn, dislikes the new company, he adopts her mission to bring it down. Eventually, Penn notices that people close to him (his grandpa, his parents, his sister) as well as his friends’ families, are becoming human shells, living only for their next visits to The Imaginaseum. The entire town enters a dementia-like trance. In order to help them, he realizes he must overcome the ‘evil’ genius, Frank Peddler, whom he refers to as The Peddler. The Peddler is the CEO of the Imaginaseum and has a magical charm that draws people into company’s seeming trap, in order to, as Penn perceives, harvest their dreams. Penn and Minnie team with sixth-grade genius DeMarco Shanks, hopeless romantic Callista Gallego, and a labradoodle puppy to plan the company’s collapse and restore sanity to the town. Among many thwarted plans, Penn sneaks into the Peddler’s office and delivers a heartfelt letter about The Imaginaseum’s negative impact on his life. Penn and Minnie eventually get sucked into The Imaginaseum’s game. After playing their own virtual games, they are ready to give up hope of accomplishing their mission. They are consumed by The Imaginaseum’s mental elixir. Then without notice, the Peddler changes his ways. He hints that Penn’s letter had changed his heart. The celebration is bittersweet for Penn as he discovers the dementia his grandfather had suffered was not a by-product of The Imaginaseum, but instead a serious health issue.