Falling With Style: A Pixar Movie Marathon

“They’re doing a fifth one?!” Derek and Doug are joined by Tommy from Distant Echoes: A Star Wars Podcast and Lee Carvallo’s Podding Challenge to talk about yet another sequel no one was expecting: Toy Story 5 . This time it’s about Jessie, but does it do the rootin’ tootin’ cowgirl justice? Or is it too concerned with commenting on the role of technology in children’s lives? We talk about Bonnie’...

THIS EPISODE IS A FULL-SPOILERS DISCUSSION OF 'HOPPERS' Strap in, because Derek and Doug are talking about Pixar’s latest, a zany and unpredictable scifi comedy from We Bare Bears creator, Daniel Chong. We get into what makes Mabel Tanaka a unique protagonist for Pixar, the ways in which Hoppers subverts expectations we’ve built over decades of watching Pixar movies, whether it’s weird to...

Happy Birthday, Derek! As a special totally surprise gift, we've prepared a huge bowl full of bao and we're watching another DreamWorks Animation movie that Derek has never seen -- 2008's Kung Fu Panda ! We talk about rhino nipples, the extremely Jack Blackian panda protagonist Po, the criminally underutilized Furious Five, ways in which this movie could've included much more Tai L...

About a week after we dropped our episode on Pixar's latest, Elio , The Hollywood Reporter posted a piece shedding more light on Adrian Molina's original vision for the film. We were not surprised to learn that the extensive rework of Elio included explicit instructions to make the main character more masculine and less queer-coded. It didn't stop us from being angry about it. The Holl...

Refill your glorp and set your translator to podcast, because Derek and Doug are talking about Pixar’s brand new intergalactic adventure featuring a kid who dreams of being abducted by aliens (relatable). We talk all about yet another stunning Pixar world in the Communiverse, how we see ourselves reflected in Elio’s and Glordon’s respective queer journeys, and the best ways to name aliens in a sci...

“I think I always had a tendency to be a little different.” Hamish Steele brings us Flee , an animated documentary about the journey of Amin, a gay man and refugee to Denmark from Afghanistan. We talk about how animation can uniquely serve documentary films, how Amin’s identity as a gay man intertwines with his experience as a refugee, and how this movie repeatedly broke our hearts but also how qu...

“They want you to be like them. I tried to be, but…” Marquis The Honey Bear joins us for this stop-motion horror collab between Jordan Peele and Henry Selick, which features a diverse cast that includes Raul, a trans boy whose art saves the day. We get into the film’s complex anti-capitalist plot – from an underworld carnival to the prison industrial complex to hair cream that raises the dead – an...

“My girlfriend’s superhero team are Earth’s only hope. Pretty cool!” We’re morphing into the only live-action TV show on this miniseries to talk lesbian power couple Izzy and Fern from the final seasons of Power Rangers ! We chart their journey from rivals to girlfriends who defy gender norms and team up as Green and Orange Rangers, and explore the whole history of queerness in Power Rangers – inc...

“I know in my heart, I’m more woman than anyone!” Cass from Distant Echoes joins us for this joyful Christmas masterpiece, led by a heroic and unapologetic trans woman in a cast of complex unhoused characters. We explore filmmaker Satoshi Kon’s unparalleled filmography–including the deep empathy that led him to tell a magical story about the queer and homeless experience–along with the imaginative...

“Then I shape-shift, and I’m free.” We’re talking with Katie from Novel Gaming about Nimona , the fantastic queer movie from Annapurna Animation that almost wasn’t. We dig into the origins of Nimona ’s initial studio home, Blue Sky Studios, and how even when we’re not covering Pixar movies, we can’t escape Disney. Film Release: June 30, 2023 For the next couple months, we’re doing a biweekly Speci...

"So… is Falling With Style gonna cover Win Or Lose?" Nope! Instead, for the next couple months, Doug & Derek—and some guests!—will be doing a biweekly Special Presentation miniseries featuring a selection of non-Pixar movies & TV aimed at younger audiences and families featuring clear, unafraid, and unambiguous depictions of queerness. We talk more about it in this introduction....

We're answering your questions about Pixar and animation! First, we talk about the recent exposé from former Pixar employees about the state of the studio -- including corporate mandates, anti-queer sentiment, layoffs, and lots of other unpleasant news. Then, we discuss our favorite animated movies, the difference between 2D and 3D animation, Pixar characters on Survivor, and more! Check out a com...

We're recording an Ask Us Anything episode across all the podcasts Doug and Derek do together ( Falling With Style, Walloping Websnappers, and Skreeonk ) and we'd love to get your questions! Send them however you'd prefer -- email, discord, social media, etc. -- by the evening of Tuesday, September 17 (EST). Part of ⁠ The Glitterjaw Queer Podcast Collective ⁠ ⁠ Discord ⁠ ⁠ Patreon ⁠ E-...

It's been a year since we've talked about a Pixar movie, but Derek & Doug are back! And so are the emotions in the mind of Riley Andersen as she navigates being thirteen years old. With four new emotions to manage and the legacy of one of Pixar's best to live up to, how does this sequel nine years in the making stack up? Film Release: June 14, 2024 Bloomberg Businessweek – Disney I...

We’re doing something we’ve never done before—we’re recording an episode about a movie that’s still in theaters! Elemental is an immigrant story and romcom, and the odds seemed stacked against it long before it was released. But why? With just one viewing under our belts, we attempt to sort through all the criticism to find what feels fair and what doesn’t. Film Release: June 16, 2023 Discord Patr...

Well, we did it. Derek and Doug watched every movie currently in the Pixar Animation Studios canon and don’t have any other movies to talk about until Elemental comes out. So what better time to look back on the entirety of the canon, reflect on Pixar’s nearly-thirty years of feature films, and update our personal rankings. Film Release: n/a Discord Patreon E-mail us: pixarpodcast@gmail.com Doug o...

Grab a meat-bread-meat sandwich and strap in, because it’s a space epic, it’s a time-travel sci-fi flick, it’s a hero’s origin story, and… it’s a film within a film? That’s right, Derek and Doug are talking about Lightyear , the Pixar movie that tackles the question, “What inspired the Buzz Lightyear toy anyway?” It’ll probably never be able to escape its legacy and context, but we’re doing our be...

U Know What’s Up! Derek and Doug are joined by Theresa Berry to talk about what instantly became on of their favorite Pixar movies: Turning Red! It’s the movie that took us back to the early 00s when boy bands ruled the world and one that celebrates tween cringe instead of condemning it. An unabashed tale of puberty inspired by 90s anime, video games, and teen TV  movies. Enjoy! Film Release:...

Silenzio Bruno! It’s time for Derek and Doug to enjoy a perfect summer in the Italian Riviera. That’s right, we’re talking about Luca , a truly lovely film about three kids who find friendship in a small coastal village and one that resonated instantly and powerfully with the queer community. What makes this relatively quiet and straight-forward Pixar outing such a powerhouse? Dive in deep with us...

Get in the zone, because we’re about to get existential. Derek and Doug are joined by Melissa Mowry to discuss a movie about living, dying, inspiration, and disappointment. We’re talking about Soul, Pixar’s first film to feature a Black protagonist and Black co-director, Pixar's first and a very rare occurrence in American feature-length animation. How does Pixar tackle telling a universal story t...

We’ve made it to the year 2020, which means we’ve made it to a very unique era of Pixar movies for a number of reasons, some intentional and exciting, some certainly incidental and unfortunate. Derek and Doug are talking about Onward, the suburban fantasy about two brothers reconnecting through an adventure to… revive their dead dad for just one day? Yep! How does this fantasy world stack up to ot...

“They’re doing another one?!” Derek and Doug are joined again by Tommy from Distant Echoes: A Star Wars Podcast to talk about the sequel no one was expecting: Toy Story 4. Previously, Tommy hadn’t watched it and wasn’t sure he ever would. What’d he think? Where do we ultimately fall on whether a fourth Toy Story film was necessary after what many considered a perfect ending in Toy Story 3? How muc...

Fans waited fourteen years for this sequel! Derek and Doug are talking about Incredibles 2, Pixar's follow-up to the family-focused superhero smash hit from 2004. It picks up moments after the first one left off, but how are things different both on and behind the screen? Does this installment have a clearer takeaway than the first? Who are our favorite new superheroes and what are our favorite Ja...

On March 9, 2022, amidst national discussion over Florida's "Don't Say Gay" legislation, the LGBTQIA+ Employees of Pixar and their allies released a statement to Disney leadership challenging several claims that Disney is a company with a history of supporting LGBTQIA+ people. Among those claims was the massive assertion that "nearly every moment of overtly gay affection is cut [from Pixar' films]...

Derek and Doug are joined this month by Stephania to talk about Coco , Pixar’s critically-adored love letter to Mexico. Look, Coco ’s really good. Like really, really good. But what about Pixar’s not-quite-a-musical made it such a beloved story and massive success? How’d Lee Unkrich end up making a movie about Día de Muertos, and what's the story behind Adrian Molina becoming co-director? And what...