How's It Hold Up?

The Digimon movie isn't just the beginning of the Digimon series, it's the directoral debut of Mamoru Hosoda, who would go on to direct several episodes of the series, a second Digimon movie, and, eventually, many classic movies of his own. How do these first two movie efforts of his hold up? And are they enjoyable even if you're not familiar with the series? Listen to find out! The Cu...

One movie, two VERY different versions of it. All three of us, including guest Valerie, watched the Miramax version of this movie many years ago. But since then, a version known as The Recobbled Cut has emerged, and become known as the only true way to watch the film for most people. How do they stand up against each other? And, perhaps more importantly, how does each movie stand up to the march o...

Dipping back into the Disney Renaissance, we rewatch Hercules, an old stand-by from Danika's youth. The soundtrack is definitely still a bop, but how's the rest of the movie hold up? And how embarrassed am I that we forgot who Rip Torn is, then proceeded to mention Men in Black later in the episode? The answer to the latter is 'very', but to the former? You'll have to listen to...

Finally we get to a foreign, non-Japanese animated film that Danika has been curious about for quite some time! After all this time, we now know what Kells is. What is it, you ask? And how well does this 10 year old movie hold up? Listen to find out! The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/...

Most people have heard of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. And a decent amount of anime nerds in the west have heard of people like Mamoru Hosoda or Satoshi Kon. But there are plenty of other brilliant people making animated films in Japan, and today we cover a movie by Hiroyuki Okiura - 2011's "A Letter to Momo". We already gave Ghibli masterpiece My Neighbor Totoro a full 5 star r...

Considered by some Bat-fans as the best of all Batman movies, including the live-action ones, this Batman: The Animated Series tie-in movie is nearing 30 years old! Has it aged well? Or is this version of The Bat just not up to snuff? The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Kool Kats K...

There are countless retellings of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", but only one of them has Muppets! When we go back and watch a movie that Jan considers her second favorite out of ALL movies, can we possibly be objective? No, but we try! The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licen...

An animated Russian film featuring the devil, a witch, and several men hiding themselves in bags. It's not the story that title might make you think it is, in other words. What did we think of this old film from a culture we're unfamiliar with? Listen to find out! The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativeco...

When covering 2D/traditionally animated movies, it's rare to see one that's from the U.S. and that bears a date later than 2011. And yet this very year a new movie of this sort came out! A Christmas movie, no less, with a director who worked on Disney Renaissance classics like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, and Tarzan! Is this the modern western traditionally animated movie we dese...

Aladdin not only had two sequels - Return of Jafar was the FIRST direct-to-video Disney sequel (though not the first actual sequel). It also was basically the pilot for the Aladdin tv series, while Aladdin and the King of Thieves served as the end to both the tv series and the Aladdin series as a whole. Danika watched both of these movies A LOT when she was young, but how do they hold up now, over...

We finally get to our second Disney remake! We actually enjoyed the 2015 Cinderella quite a bit... but will we feel similarly about 2019's Aladdin? Listen to find out, and to hear speeches about what makes certain characters great and why what DIsney has been doing the last few years is not-so-great. The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribut...

Revisiting a childhood favorite is always risky business. There's always the possibility that the thing just isn't as good as your nostalgia tells you. And then there's the worry that it will be full of gags that have aged poorly and taint an otherwise great film. So when Danika goes back and watches her absolute favorite Disney film that she watched over and over again as a child 20-s...

Time to make our first exploration into foreign animated films that AREN'T from Japan. Danika had heard a lot about this one, and was excited to see it for the first time. Does this Best Animated Feature nominee hold up? And more importantly: is it better than that year's winner, Frozen? The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 L...

This week we cover perhaps the most well-known Studio Ghibli film, besides maybe Spirited Away. The movie is over 30 years old now... has time treated it well? The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Kool Kats Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribut...

The second of our two spooooky episodes! Taking a little bit of detour from traditional animation, we visit Laika's early-2010's Coraline follow-up Paranorman! There was a lot of talk about a gay character in this movie back in when it came out... how does both that and the rest of the movie hold up over five years later? The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Cre...

On the first of our two Halloween spooktacular episodes, we also have our first guest - my wife, Valerie! This particular Scooby-Doo movie is much loved by fans, but over twenty years after it first released, how's it hold up? The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Kool Kats Kevin...

Did you know there are two sequels to All Dogs Go to Heaven? Also an animated series! We're not covering the latter here, but the former? Yes. Danika actually saw All Dogs 2 when she was a kid, but neither her nor Jan have seen the third one. How do they hold up? Listen to find out! The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License ht...

On this episode we watch the the first of many Disney remakes that we'll eventually be covering! Danika's seen almost none of those remakes, and this is the one she's most optimistic about. Is that optimism misplaced? Listen to find out! The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3...

This week Danika and Jan cover an old favorite, allowing Jan to embarrass Danika for loving Scratchy the dog so much as a kid. He's a good boy, Jan! Oh, also, does anyone remember that this movie's got some overt racism in it? The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Kool Kats K...

This week, on the very first episode of "How's It Hold Up?" we cover Disney's 1950 classic Cinderella. Both Danika and Jan saw this movie when they were young, but what's it like watching it for the first time in years in the year 2019? The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/lice...