Revisiting the Vault

Enjoy some audio from the back of the vault! About a year ago, we sat down to watch the first full trailer for the new movie Wish and recorded our impressions for Patreon. We made a few predictions, almost all of which have already been proven wrong. Mary spends entirely too much time trying to figure out where the film is set. But mostly we just talked about how much we enjoy the color palette an...

"Cats are just agents of chaos." Thanks for sticking with us through our unofficial hiatus! Fall is always a busy time for us, more than usual this year. But we're back! Finishing up our discussion on Lady and the Tramp from 1955, we're digging deep into the personalities of different dog breeds, #JusticeForTrusty, and the evolution of voice acting. Then, as promised, we get into...

"Uptown Girl With Dogs" We're traveling with the leash and collar set this time with 1955's Lady and the Tramp. We talk about the gorgeous Victorian style home that Lady lives in with its rugs on rugs, what this story has to do with James Dean, and remind you that no matter how cute that scene is you should not feed your dog spaghetti. Next time we talk even more about the differ...

"I want everybody to get eaten by the crocodile." We're still stuck in Neverland, and kind of wishing we could just grow up instead. We are talking about the depictions of the few women in the film, the thoughtless racism inherent in the story, and we give you a few films to consider watching instead of this one. If you're not a patron already, you should that out. We recently po...

"He has opinions on the Boer War for sure." Second star to the right and straight on to a real mess. Listen, if you love Peter Pan we aren't going to blame you if you skip this episode. Because we're going to talk about Edwardian sexism, blatant racism towards Native Americans, and how the crocodile is the real MVP of this movie. We did not have a good time in Neverland. We'r...

"A Series of Antagonistic Moments" Sorry about the delays, a Mad Hatter destroyed our watches. Or maybe we were just stuck in a never ending tea party. Either way, we're shifting our schedule a little bit going forward to try to get back on track. Look for new episodes on Fridays from now on! This time though, we're still stuck in Wonderland. We meet more characters who seem to r...

"Please Don't Lick Mushrooms" We're late, we're late...actually, we really are. Sorry about that, we were trapped in Wonderland for a bit. It's time to follow the White Rabbit and talk about Alice in Wonderland from 1951. Our conversation has about as much of a coherent structure as the film itself: we talk about voice actors, Victorian children's fashion, how to draw...

"Can we talk about pockets?" We’re still in love with Cinderella, and all of the great music and adorable mice that come with it. This time around, we discuss several favorite adaptations of the story, very large feet, baby crazy kings, and more about the history of women’s pockets than you can fit in a modern woman’s pocket. We finish up with some sound relationship advice for anybody w...

"She is everyone's favorite grandma and she makes the best cookies in town." Have you gotten your invitation to the ball? Because we are ready with some discussion about gowns, marriage, and the benefits of being kind to mice. It’s time to talk about the 1950 Disney classic Cinderella, and if you’ve been waiting for us to stop being so cynical and picky then you’re in for a treat bec...

“Like four trillion people go through that place every year" We're going to Disney World! Well, Gretchen is going back this summer so in honor of her trip we're bringing you a bonus episode where we talk about our memories of the Disney parks, our favorite rides, the food, and visiting with kids. You'll hear why Mary is haunted by the Haunted Mansion and we ask the now futile ques...

"This massive refrigerator of a man" We're tackling more package films today, covering why you should skip Bongo entirely, what a radio ventriloquist is about, Ichabod Crane's true character, and bustles bouncing women to the moon. Next time: We're going to Disney World! Well, sort of, we're going to be bringing you a bonus episode talking all about our memories of visiti...

“In Disney, squirrels do all the work.” During the 40's, Disney Studios was going through it. Between labor disputes and financial problems, they weren't able to put together another feature. So their solution was a series of "package films," short films with loose framing stories. So we're packaging all of these films together too. In this first episode, we start with a trip...

"Man Is In The Forest" We start out talking about spring and how exhausting some of these romantic tropes tend to be, but like the movie we quickly move into some of the really scary parts of the film - the hunters and the forest fire. Along the way we sidetrack about anime for a little bit, try not to spend to long on the mating habits of white tailed deer, and talk about how much we lo...

"There's not even a content warning!" Who's ready to spend some time in the woods? After many years of effort, Disney finally released Bambi in 1942. They took their time and we both thought it was worth the wait. We talk about Mary's new favorite artist, Tyrus Wong; the Bambi effect, and yes, we do talk about Bambi's mom. The next half of the discussion will be posted on...

"Put that GIF in there, that's racist." Okay fine, it's time to talk about the crows and it's just real complicated y'all. We also get distracted by cravats, we sit in on a therapy session about bullying, and we talk about letting historical figures be messy. We are finally taking a trip to the woods to visit Bambi in two weeks, tune in on April 5th! Hit subscribe so that...

"It doesn't matter if Elephants have feelings, they have bones." Maybe joining the circus isn't the dream we all thought it would be. Disney Studios was facing severe money problems after Pinocchio and Fantasia failed to make money, so they rushed to get Dumbo into theaters and it shows. It's a lean and fast story with a lot of weird choices. We cover catty elephants, why Mr....

"Don't be judgemental about these lizards." We're back from getting snacks during intermission and now it's time to talk dinosaurs, centaurs, and hippos, oh my. The second half of our talk on Fantasia covers the Rite of Spring, The Pastoral Symphony, Dance of the Hours, and Night on Bald Mountain. Gretchen explains why Rite of Spring is one of her favorite pieces of music while Mary revisits her d...

"The Racist Mushrooms Were a Surprise" It feels like we were just at the theater. Disney released two features in 1940, a big gamble that did not pay off for the company. Fantasia hit theaters in November. What was meant to be the first in a series, it was instead a massive commercial failure. But this bold experiment works more often than it doesn't, and we'll talk about it. This time we cover To...

"That's going to be an obstruction." We're still talking about Pinocchio (1940) and we're really wondering, do whales sneeze? Other topics include Jiminy Cricket's HR violations, how the dangers Pinocchio faces are still problems today, and if we think the scary parts go too far for kids. Next up: Fantasia! Part one will be posted on February 8th, 2023. Website: http://www.revisitingthevault.com T...

"An Overly Flirtatious Goldfish" What a difference three years can make. Pinocchio premiered in 1940, and despite the massive advancement in animation skill and technology, it was a commercial flop because of bad timing. This time around we talk about World War II, why Geppetto has a Germen accent, and why Stromboli is a problem. Part Two is coming on January 25th, 2023. Website: http://www.revisi...

"Women and Their Wiles" Welcome back to our discussion of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). This time we're talking about making pies, rotoscoping, and just how much the Evil Queen enjoys being a crone. Next up: Pinnochio (1940) in two weeks. Website: http://www.revisitingthevault.com Twitter: @RevisitTheVault Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ninehourfilms

"We've got to get these two kids in love." Walt Disney premiered his first feature length animated film on December 21st, 1937. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (that's dwarfs with an F) changed everything. In this first part of our discussion, we cover the enormous task of making the film during the Great Depression, the dubious fashion choices, and more. Part two will be released on December 28th...

Welcome to Revisiting the Vault! We are your hosts, Mary Ratliff and Gretchen Harwell and we're inviting you to join us as we go through the Disney Animated Canon in chronological order. We're launching on December 21st, 2022. We you then!