How's It Hold Up?

It's time to watch a film from Don Bluth's dark period - that series of movies stretching from post-All Dogs up until Anastasia, and encompassing four little-loved films. While our hosts do not remember the film particularly fondly, our guest has fond memories, so we've got a good range of opinions going into this one. What did we end up thinking of it, in the end? Listen to find out!...

Hello, Warner Bros, haven't checked in on you in a while. Bosko's gone now, so what have you been up to? Still mimicking Disney? Or have you figured out your own thing yet? 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/3.0/ Kool Kats Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Lic...

It's time for Disney's take on The Once and Future King, a classic movie that left an indelible mark on many generations... but was it for the right reasons? 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 At...

Betty is back, on this time she's on stage, with a moustache-twirling villain and a hunky boyfriend! The Betty cartoons are in general spoofs, but this one is even more on the nose about it than usual. Is that to its benefit? 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...

We finally reach the end of our long Pinocchio journey, with this, the final Pinocchio movie released in 2022. Directed by a man who personally adores the original Disney movie, and has been working on this film as a passion project for over a decade, Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio was the Pinocchio movie we most anticipated watching by a country mile. But was it worth the build-up? And how do...

Mickey is back, along with Minnie and their friends Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar! This short functions as a sort of swan song for the latter two, who shortly after this would be phased out into background characters, corresponding with the rise in prominence of Goofy and the creation of Donald. Is this a worthy send-off for the two characters, or does it leave something to be desired? Lis...

It's time for the Pinocchio we were all looking forward to the least. It's part of Disney's recent slew of remakes, and also one of at least three Pinocchio films to come out in the year 2022. Was our trepidation well-founded, or did this movie end up being a surprise gem? Listen to find out! The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribut...

And now for something completely different! Well... sort of. We've seen Ub Iwerks' work before, back when he helped Mickey Mouse get his start. But Ub parted ways with Disney a few years after that, and went off to do his own thing! The most famous thing he did with his solo work was his Flip the Frog series, but today we're watching a short from the follow-up series, which he made for...

We're back on track with direct adaptations of Carlo Collodi's work, though this version ends up sharing quite a few threads that we saw in the Russian film but not in Disney's. This film is bright and colorful and jam packed with events, but how does it compare to the other two, and how does it hold up on its own? The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creati...

Our third Betty Boop in a row! I may or may not have been struggling to  figure out what shorts to watch! Anyway, the interesting thing with this  one is the music style of the short, that's different from the  straight-up jazz of most Boops. How's it work out? Listen to find out! The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License...

Another week another Pinocchio! Except... is is, really? This Russian adaptation is actually an adaptation of an adaptation! What does that mean, and what does this movie hold in store? What does a frog in a speedo who's also an olympic gymnast wannabe have to do with the story of a little wooden puppet boy? Listen to find out! The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under C...

It's time for more Betty Boop, and importantly, more Cab Calloway! This is the final collaboration between the Fleischer Bros and Calloway, and unlike the first two, this one's got Calloway's music throughout its entire runtime. Is this last hurrah one for the ages, or does it pale in comparison to its predecessors? Listen to find out! The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)...

And now for a series of Pinocchio movies, starting with the 1940 Disney classic that influences how most Americans think of the story. Historically, this has not been a favorite film of any of this podcast's hosts, but we all did our best to watch it with open minds and hearts. Acknowledging that animation fans often consider this to be one of the greatest animated works of all time, what did...

It's time for another big cartoon star to enter the stage: Popeye the Sailor Man! But rather than debuting in his own series, ol' Popeye, Olive Oyl and Bluto first appear in a Betty Boop cartoon! Boop herself is indeed in the cartoon, though she's hardly the main character of it. How does this first outing of the iconic spinach-eating strongman hold up so many years later? And, perhaps...

We start the new year off with a Japanese film from Toei Animation! This one is about a boy named Susanoo and the quest he goes on to find his mother, which culminates in the titular battle against the Orochi! And to score the film, including that final battle, they employ Akira Ifukube, known for his work on the Godzilla franchise. Does all this add up to an engaging film, or a historical footnot...

We start off the new year with the most well-known Disney Silly Symphony! The song in this one was a smash hit back in the 30s and even in the 40s, and both the pigs and the Big Bad Wolf still cameo in Disney material to this day! It's a well-loved work, but is it good, and does it hold up? The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Li...

It's time for another Russian movie! This one proves to be our greatest challenge yet when it comes to understanding what's going on. Do we manage to make it through? Was our experience enjoyable? Or does our year end in disappointment? Listen to find out! The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.or...

We've seen Disney's take on Snow-White... but what about the Fleischer Brothers? Years before Disney's original animated feature, and also before the Fleischer's own unfortunate attempt to compete with Disney, we had this, a short rendition of the tale that features Betty Boop and her friends Bimbo and Koko. Also, Cab Calloway is back with music! How does this version fare? Listen...

We watched two Pooh movies for Halloween, now it's time to watch two more for the winter holidays! These movies are much closer the the Halloween Heffalump movie in construction, in that both films are comprised of one or more segments from other Winnie the Pooh media. How do the segments fare, but more importantly, how do the overall films? Listen to find out! The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod...

Another Mickey short so soon? Yes! This one features Pluto being kidnapped by the titular mad doctor, and Mickey traveling through a skeleton-ridden castle to save the poor pup. It's a spooky one, for sure, but is it a good one? Listen to find out! The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...

This time we watch the infamous British film about rabbits, a movie known for scarring the children who watched it. But is the film as scary as all that, and more importantly, is it any good? 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/3.0/ Kool Kats Kevin MacLeod (incompete...

We finally get to 1933 with our look at classic cartoon shorts, and what do we start with? A remake! That's right, this short is a remake of the 1928's "The Sky Scrapper", previously covered on this podcast! Was a remake warranted, and more than that, does it deliver? Listen to find out! The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribu...

In the wake of (another) Miyazaki retirement, some employees of Studio Ghibli decided to found their own studio, and this was their first film. Carrying some Ghibli hallmarks, like the luscious art style, chaotic magic and witches on brooms, Mary is surely evocative of Ghibli work, but can it compete? Listen to find out! The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Com...

Betty Boop's exploring culture this week! By which I mostly mean bones. Also, Bimbo is there, briefly! Perhaps more importantly, our old friend Koko the Clown has returned, with a significant scene at the beginning of the short! But does this short hold up to the weirdness and wackiness of past Boop shorts, or does it fall short? Listen to find out! The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech...

The 2022 Halloween Spookaboo has arrived, and with it a spooktacular Scooby-Doo film! This is one that a certain generation no doubt saw a lot as children, and it's also one of a series of Scooby-Doo films where the monsters are real, Scrappy is there, and the rest of the gang outside of Scooby and Shaggy are absent. It's not the most loved era of Scooby-Doo, to be sure, and yet many look...