Behind The Bells Podcast

"St Nicholas is not coming this year. Instead, a much darker, ancient spirit. His name is Krampus" It turns out that Michael Dougherty had wanted to do a scary Christmas movie for a while. Let's see how his research in Halloween's Pagen origins lead him to learn more about Krampus Learn about how Krampus shot in the same studios as Lord of the Rings, how they pulled off ALL the scenes in studio an...

"I don't know why they are always trying to remake the classics. Never as good as the originals" Today we've got a special treat! Joining me are Anthony from Tis the Podcast, C.J. from Christmas Conversations and Manny from Feliz Christmas Merry Navidad as we talk about the recent sequel/reboot Home Sweet Home Alone. None of us had much nice to say, so we have some fun as we rant and even talk abo...

"This is supposed to be a happy time. This isn't happy" In our first editorial episode, rather then doing a deep dive, we'll be looking into my general thoughts and opinions on whatever I want. Today I'd thought we'd start with a nostalgic classic, Doug. Both the Nickelodeon and the Disney versions had their own Christmas specials, one better then the other. It's not what you'd think. One's a tota...

Merry Monday everyone! We've got something special for today! We have our first interview with Ed Daly, the author of the recently published ultimate guide on the season, "The Christmas Book". The first part has us talking about how he got the idea to write such a book, the research process and how he sold it. Ed is also the first to be subjected to the Behind the Bells Infamous Christmas Survey....

"It's Christmas. Nothing Bad is going to happen on Christmas!" Happy Halloween!! Before we go into the movie, learn of Krampus' origin in Alpine Pagan Winter Traditions, how Christmas Cards gave him expansion, how the Austrian political climate may have stoped any further attention and how the Internet may have brought him to the public eye.  Facebook Instagram Patreon  

"Rudolph, with your nose so bright, will you guide my sleigh tonight?" We get to the point where Arthur Rankin Jr. and songwriter Johnny Marks meet to discuss turning the classic song into an animated TV special. Time to learn how General Electric paid for the entire budget, which meant the elves were now selling electric blankets and can openers. Learn how the animating team in Japan took a lot o...

"Whats the matter with misfits, thats where we fit in!" Time to dive into the stop motion world of Rankin/Bass! Before we get into the special itself, it's important to go into the history of the story and song...which explains why we never see Rudolph in Santa's gang even though he's famous Learn how the story writer was a copywriter who came up with the idea just for a promotional giveaway, how...

"Hey! The only one who yells is me!" Film Producer Jerry Bruckheimer was about to come on because of...NASCAR. Denis Leary wanted to go from a risqué standup comic to actor and MTV commercial director Ted Demme was ready to break into movies Learn how all these people got together, how the film's ending would have dramatically changed the entire movie and why a crowded season of comedies may have...

"You know what this family needs? A mute" Writer Richard Lagravenense, who was raised in New York, wanted to be a playwright like Neil Simon or Eugune O' Neil. It just so happened that he also loved movies with sharp dialogue and great jokes. Learn how he scored his first hit with The Fisher King (which was also his first script ever written on his own), How his personal families Christmases gave...

"One hundred gold pieces, and not a penny more!" Burny not only gathered his best crew, he assigned people to whichever character they wanted. So why did Disney not want them to hire back the original voice of Donald Duck? Learn about how characters from Pinocchio and Sword in the Stone were replaced, how they almost made the short into feature length and how the short (and it's movie's it related...

"If I give money to the poor, then they won't be poor anymore" At a point when Disney was putting out fewer animated projects, a young animator Burny Mattinson pitched a retelling of a Christmas Carol with Mickey and the gang. It was the first new Mickey cartoon in over 30 years. Learn about why Disney's Animation output had declined. Learn how a young man started from the mail room all the way to...

"Open Holidays Only!" Irving Berlin was now ready to work with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire to bring his story of a hotel only open on holidays to life. But there was concern to see how well their personalities would work together. They still had to find their unknown to play Linda as well. Even with the production going well, Pearl Harbor would happen. Learn what they changed about one of their s...

"Don't Ask Why. Just go and God Bless America." Irving Berlin went from being the youngest of eight children to an immediate hit songwriter whose song "Blue Skies" would be one of the first pieces of music on film. But he would end up away from his family a lot and yearned to be back in New York celebrating any holiday. Learn how his consistent work would inspire him to write White Christmas. Also...

"This is it! Don't get scared now." At the start of production in Winnetka, Illinois, Home Alone seemed to have things ready to go with the entire production being done in a gym. But Daniel Stern would be fired early to be replaced by a Matlock actor. Also learn how Warners got mad that Home Alone would end up costing more then the live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.  Also hear about h...

"Peter! We slept in!" John Hughes was in a point in his career where he would exit directing to focus on writing and producing. Though Uncle Buck would provide some help, it was actually a vacation where John got the idea. Learn how he wrote his script...almost as close as the film would come out. Also learn how Chris Columbus would get the directing job even after a major flop. Oh, and how certai...

"Is she dead? No, she's just resting her eyes for a minute. Of course she's f**king dead, her neck's broken" Despite the casting of Robert Downey Jr. (the studio had hoped to cast Johnny Knoxville instead) and Val Kilmer, the movie would start off a good luck charm that would lead to an easy shoot, even if it was Shane Black's directorial debut. Time to see what kind of preparation the crew went o...

"Hey, hey, hey! It's Christmas, wheres my present, Slick?" Time to go into detail of one of my favorite cult Christmas movies, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. See how despite having a good track record, Shane Black's ego is lowered with the failure of The Long Kiss Goodnight and why he turned to his pulp detective stories. See how Kiss Kiss Bang Bang initially started as a romantic comedy...because James L....

"I am one with the Yuletide, knowwhatImean?" Ernest Goes to Camp would prove to be a larger hit then Disney anticipated. The sequel would get a larger budget and a new location. See how the first major production in Orlando went, how Ernest became close to becoming Santa, how reindeer forced a changed in filming, and how did became a bigger hit. Facebook Instagram Patreon

"Trust people. It pays off more then you think" In order to talk about Ernest Saves Christmas, I felt it was important to discuss Jim Varney's background, how he started to do commercials, how Ernest got his start, and why he got popular. Facebook Instagram Patreon  And believe it or not, Disney got on board after discovering Ernest was more popular then the governor of Indiana and even Mickey Mou...

"It's Christmas Eve. It's... it's the one night of the year when we all act a little nicer, we... we... we smile a little easier, we... we... we cheer a little more" Richard Donner is ready to go. Bill Murray is ready to go. The script is ready to go. What could go wrong?...Let's see, a lot of on set fighting, injuries, an ending a writer hated and critical reviews that might have not understood i...

"I get it. You're taking me back in time to show me my mother and father, and I'm supposed to get all goosey and blubbery. Well forget it, pal, you got the wrong guy!" Today we discover that Scrooged was the product of a script by an experimental comedian and a Playboy journalist. We also find out that Bill Murray was nervous to take on the role after a 4 year break and how Richard Donner decided...

"It is Santa! You killed him!" The shooting in Canada wasn't only warmer then expected, but Tim Allen discovers being in a fat suit in the middle of summer isn't  as pleasant as it sounds. Plus, what did Michael Eisner want cut out of the movie? How did it fare at a crowded box office...against 3 other family movies? Facebook Instagram Patreon 

Here's a sneak peak at what your in for. Join us each week as we explore the behind the scenes stories of your favorite Christmas movies and TV specials. 

"Seeing isn't believing, beliving is seeing" Come join our holiday movie expert Robert Nicholas as he dwells into the history of Tim Allen's original Disney Christmas movie, The Santa Clause. Learn about how two comics originally wanted Santa to be killed by a shotgun or how Tim Allen's connection to Jeffrey Katzenberg got the movie fast tracked at Disney. There's plenty to unravel. Facebook Insta...