Not My Fantasy

Hercules (1997) (feat. Jon Reilly of Life’s But a Song)   We’re going from zero to hero to start off mythology month. That’s right, we’re talking about Disney’s dreamy demigod, Hercules! We won’t say we’re in love because we have mixed feelings about this movie that millennials really, REALLY love. Titan-sized thanks to our special guest, Jon, for teaming up for this legendary podcast crossover ev...

MINISODE: Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023)   PLOT TWIST! Benevolent sea creature season isn’t over just yet. Cullen and Hannah talk about Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, a movie they both thought would be very shallow and not good. Turns out, it’s got deep layers of pro-xenophia propaganda, complex multi-generational mother-daughter relationships, and enough surface-level anti-mermaid discourse a...

The Little Mermaid (2023) (feat. Debbie Danielpour)   It’s our final dive under the sea this year, and we watched the Little Mermaid 2023 live-action remake. We’re joined by one of our professors from grad school, screenwriter Debbie Danielpour, to dissect this adaptation and bemoan the Disney live-action remake as a genre. We’re light on lore but heavy on the hot takes, like loving the “Scuttlebu...

Luca (2021) (feat. Derek Shea)   Ciao! Piacere, amici! We’re spending part of our Mer-May/Mer-Summer in the beautiful Italian Riviera with the 2021 Pixar animated film, Luca! First, we get a brief tasting of multiple sea creature mythologies from all over the world. Then, we dive into the queer-coded plot and character dynamics, cringe at the bottom-feeder villain, and celebrate the powerful frien...

Episode 17: The Little Mermaid (1989) (feat. Fairy Tale Fix)   We’re under da sea with Abbie and Kelsey of the Fairy Tale Fix podcast, diving into the world of The Little Mermaid (1989). We talk about mythology and literary tales that inspired this Disney Renaissance classic, including the story of Undine and the Hans Christian Andersen tale “The Little Mermaid.” And we cover the metaphor of queer...

The Last Unicorn (1982) (feat. Allyssa Swearingen)   The third film in the Crag-verse is the 1982 animated cult classic, The Last Unicorn. We’re joined once again by our friend Allyssa because this fantasy movie is one of her absolute favorites — and Cullen’s too! But Hannah thought it was super boring. We chat about everything from the dynamic lore of unicorns and harpies, the movie’s ‘70s folk-r...

Sleeping Beauty (1959) (feat. Cassie Hock)   We talk about fairytale heavy-hitter, Walt Disney Animation’s Sleeping Beauty from 1959. Though it was considered a critical and financial flop back in the day, we all loved this film, even  Hannah who had never seen it. (Boy was Cullen nervous about that.) Listen to us explore Sleeping Beauty stories from all over Europe, sarcastically congratulate Cha...

Don’t shut the wardrobe door as you join us in exploring the magical first installment of the Chronicles of Narnia franchise! We’re talking about the 2005 film “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” And we’re in good hands with special guest Alina Phelan Ballou who was a major collaborator and stand-in for Mrs. Beaver! We discuss the smart adaptational choices made by t...

Episode 13: Pinocchio: A True Story (2021) (feat. Katie Weatherly and Aaron Buckley)   Happy April Fools!   No we didn’t talk about Guillermo or Walt’s Pinocchio, we talked about Pauly Shore’s! We take on fruity Pinocchio in a hot mess of an episode where we talk about unrealistic expectations of women, nonsense plots, daddy issues, and how little Cullen cares for the Pinocchio story. We also plug...

Episode 12: The Secret of Kells (2009) (feat. Maiko Greenleaf)   Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! Hannah converts to Christianity in this episode that takes us on a journey from Irish MythologyxBible crossover fics to a Golden Age of Saints and Scholars to Colonialism to a beautiful unique film about the blending of Irish religion and culture. We explore  a world of intricate art, faeries who deserve mo...

Episode 11: The Beauty and the Beast (2017) (feat. Allyssa Swearingen)   This episode, we talk about the 2017 live-action remake of “Beauty and the Beast,” which is exactly the same as the 1991 animation but worse. We cringe at the movie answering all the thought experiments no one really wanted answers to, rate how sexy the bad-CGI beast is, and scream about how this movie was marketed as “more f...

Episode 10: Beauty and the Beast (1991 (feat. T Zaccario of Obscure Obsessions)   We’re still talking about Beauty and the Beast but now the version everyone knows. We talk about a film as influential on Cullen as the Bible and one Hannah could take or leave. We talk Cupid and Psyche and Bluebeard and turning the pretty love interest into the protagonist. Is it true love (Yes)? Is it Stockholm Syn...

Episode 9: La Belle et La Bete (1946) (feat. The Fairy Tellers)   This week, we go back as far to the beginning of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale that we care to go. We’re joined by Katrina and Geoff from The Fairy Tellers podcast to talk about the 1946 French fantasy film, “La Belle et La Bete” and three early versions of the story by Villeneuve, Beaumont, and the Brothers Grimm. Hear our ta...

Episode 8: Return of the King (feat. Paul and Tori of the Sillymarillion )   We finished Lord of the Rings! Join us to see the epic climax of one of the Greatest Fantasy Trilogies of All time. We (allegedly) follow Frodo to Mount Doom while Aragorn unites the people of Middle-Earth against a Dark Lord with terrible dental coverage. Paul and Tori of the Sillymarillion join us to go over the history...

Episode 7: The Two Towers (feat. Elizabeth Achanta)   New year, new episode about The Lord of the Rings trilogy! Join us as we explore industrialism vs. nature with Merry, Pippin, and the Ents, fantasize about the Sir Ian McKellen-Cate Blanchett makeover montage that never was, try our best Gollum impressions, and swoon over Aragorn becoming the horse girl he was always meant to be.   Check out El...

Episode 6: Fellowship of the Ring (feat. Cait Callaghan) NEW INTRO MUSIC WHO DIS? It's time to talk about the Fantasy Film Franchise to rule them all! Join Pippin (Cullen) and Merry (Hannah) as they join Frodo (Cullen's Sibling Cait @artsywriter on IG and @stronggayarms on Twitter) on a quest to discuss what made the greatest epic of the modern age so strong. We talk elves, dwarves, orcs, Shrek, W...

Episode 5: Gods of Egypt (feat. Alexis Jacobson) TW: For brief reference of attempted Sexual Assault in an Egyptian Myth It's Morbin time to talk about a truly wild film with such deep lore. Our conversation has everything, baby gravy salad, the mistress of the west, Bible villains, robogods, a blond Aladdin, Chadwick Boseman love, a jilted goddess, men in skirts with no sexual or platonic chemist...

Episode 4: Frozen (feat. Mar de Melo )   Let's put our queer lenses on and check out 2013's Frozen: the first movie on this podcast with a female protagonist and writer. We delve into how this movie is truly a cultural reset and how it builds off of Hans Christian Anderson's unwieldy but epic Snow Queen fairy tale.  Shout out to Overly Sarcastic Productions for their amazing summary of the Snow Qu...

Episode 3: Book of Life (feat. Krizabeth Landaverde)   Cullen, Hannah, and special guest Krizabeth talk about The Book of Life (2014) starring latino actors Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, and Channing Tatum (JK he’s white). Cullen dives into the combination Catholic and folk traditions behind the history of Día de los Muertos. We explore the rich but complex lore of this original IP that pulls from many...

Episode 2 The Black Cauldron (1985) (feat. Taylor Zaccario of Obscure Obsessions)   Today we tackle one of Disney’s biggest flops, an epic Welsh Fantasy called The Black Cauldron (1985) based on the first two books of Lloyd Alexander’s the “Chronicles of Prydain” series. We discuss the charm and lack thereof of some of the characters in an adventure that pulls from several iconic mythological trop...

Episode 1: The Brothers Grimm (2005)   Our PREMIERE episode! Cullen and Hannah watch The Brothers Grimm (2005) starring Matt Damon and Heath Ledger as the namesake juggernauts of European fairy tales and folklore. Cullen walks us through the real brothers’ lives in Germany and their impact on literature, linguistics, and German culture. Then, we dissect the odd acting choices, puzzling plot struct...