I want to start by saying something important: this article is by no means targeted toward anyone. This error is so commonplace that I felt a duty to write about it—as one of your Kirby Informants, I felt a need to see this piece through. I think it's important to clear up a misconception within the Kirby and Nintendo community that has spread too far into the public online.
Kirby fans and readers, please listen and click away with this critical piece of knowledge.
Dream Land is two words.
There is no such thing as "Dreamland," "Kirby's Dreamland," or a "Return to Dreamland." Dream Land has never been written as one word in the entire Kirby franchise's history. Since Kirby's first appearance in Kirby's Dream Land, the kingdom the pink puff and Castle Dedede reside in has been written as two words. There are several names in the Kirby series that have been stylized as one or multiple words before, such as Planet Popstar ("Pop Star," "PopStar," "Popstar," "Planet Popstar," and "Planet Pop Star") and Warp Star ("Warpstar"), but never has Dream Land ever been combined—not even in a game's title.
So where did the misconception of the elusive "Dreamland" word begin?
Well, our team at Kirby Informer did some digging to find an exact answer by digging through old forums, magazines, and archives. After some extensive research, we found out where this error came about.
"Dreamland" has always been a common error since Kirby's Dream Land was released on Game Boy (by the way, that is another name that is not one word).
Long before Kirby communities began popping up across the internet, several magazines, news outlets, and individuals across Nintendo forums in the 90s began commonly writing Dream Land as "Dreamland." Even as the turn of the century passed, Kirby fans became just as guilty of this error, such as popular sites like Kirby's Rainbow Resort which contains the mistake across multiple pages (if you are from Rainbow Resort and are reading this, don't worry, we forgive and love you guys still). Additionally, many notable retail stores have messed up the name in the past too. GameStop, in particular, has had the title of Kirby's Return to Dream Land for Wii misspelled since the store page went live over a decade ago.
Why did these people commit this insignificant crime that few care about? The simple answer is they probably (and understandably) were confused by Kirby's title screens and covers that oddly made Dream Land look like a single word. While the space is certainly there—at least for Kirby's Dream Land and its sequel—it's arguably miniscule and confusing to notice at first glance with all those capital letters. It's easy to understand why the majority of people would probably assume Dream Land is one word.
Of course, it also should be mentioned that "dreamland" is a common word that has existed for centuries before Kirby's creation. Dreamland, "an unreal delightful country existing only in imagination or in dreams," without a doubt served as the basis for the name of Kirby's home. Nintendo of America's localization team just divided the word in half.
So readers, Kirby fans, and everyone online, for my and the sanity of hundreds of people who notice this every day, please try to correct each other and say, "Dream Land is two words, not one." Thank you.