The Disney Desk Podcast

Yeee-HAW! To celebrate the month of July - and the release of Pixar's latest - the Disney Desk is covering one of the Great American Franchises: Toy Story! To kick the month off, Carter and Sydney cover what might be the seminal film of their childhood: Toy Story 2. Tune in as they talk about production disasters, Romanticism, and the joys and horrors of being a toy.

Our Summer in Springfield finally comes to an end. As we end this breeze, yellow-tinted month, the Disney Desk finally dives into 2007's The Simpsons Movie. The long-awaited film stands as one of the most iconic moments of the show's run, a brief moment where fans from every generation of the show came together in appreciation of this cultural landmark. And it just so happened to be releas...

It would be impossible to celebrate a Simpsons Month without acknowledging one of the most iconic elements of Springfield: the yearly Halloween special. Treehouse of Horror has been a staple of the series since the second season, a cultural footnote even in this "bad" Simpsons era. This week, Carter and Sydney pick three episodes throughout the show's history to discuss what makes th...

Whenever a discussion of The Simpsons starts, the internet inevitably pivots to the 'why isn't it as good anymore' discussion. Like historians breaking down the collapse of an empire, they'll point to specific writers, episodes, and trends that pushed the show out of its Golden Age. This week, Carter and Sydney look at three specific episodes - Marge vs the Monorail , Homer Simpson...

Woo-Hoo! As Summer begins, the Disney Desk is heading to Springfield! The Simpsons is one of the handful of undeniable cultural institutions left in the Internet Age. Everyone has their 'Era,' their favorite episodes, their opinions on the state of the show. A single month almost certainly isn't enough to capture the enormity of the seminal Fox show, but Carter and Sydney are hoping to...

As we at the Disney Desk prepare to kick off our Summer Slate with a new themed month, we realized how many interesting things have occurred on the Disney and animation scene that we just haven't had time to cover. So once again, it is time for an episode-long Internet Minute! Today, we talk about the Glitch Production "Drama," Bluey coming to the Disney Parks, and the return of the...

Did you know Carter's phone took on too much water just before Memorial Day Weekend and fried the battery? He only did right after recording a two hour episode! So, in place of the final episode of Brad Bird Month, Carter and Sydney are presenting the first Patreon Exclusive in quiet some time! As Bird prepares to release his long awaited Ray Gun on Netflix, the Disney Desk takes time to cover...

Over a decade and a half, Brad Bird felt like he couldn't miss. The critical darling Iron Giant. The massive successes of The Incredibles and Ratatouille. Pivoting to live action and helping resurrect the Mission: Impossible franchise. It felt like Bird was set up to be one of 'The' directors. What couldn't he do? Well, 2015's Tomorrowland provides the answer. An odd film that serves as a confluen...

After the box office failure of The Iron Giant, Brad Bird once again found himself in the woods. His demanding, exacting style of animation was deemed not financially viable to put up with. But with an undeniable critical success on his hand, some old friends decided to roll the dice on his talent. John Lasseter and the founders of Pixar went to CalArts with Bird, and when it came to 'mix thin...

It's no secret that we here at the Disney Desk love our themed months. One idea that Sydney and Carter have been batting back and forth with each other is the idea of covering a single artist's work for an entire month. If we pride ourselves on being a modestly educational show, why not lean in and use an individual creative to demonstrate how their career and animation have evolved over t...

After seeing Porco Rosso for the first time, Sydney was inspired to suggest a long-form mini-series for the podcast. Going through the works of Hayo Miyazaki, the Disney Desk would create a curated collection of Ghibli films that would eventually lead to the director's alleged final work: 2023's The Boy and the Heron. This week, that promise is finally being fulfilled! The semi-autobiograp...

As we continue on through our themeless April, the Disney Desk decided it was time to go back to the always fun world of debates and games! A topic that has been on the docket for almost an entire year has been that of Mascots. What makes a good mascot? What separates 'The Face of a Franchise' from a true-blue Company Mascot? Can one set out to create a Mascot or does the audience need to...

As Bob Iger's reign as Disney CEO (probably) comes to an end, it's time to look back. 2007's Meet the Robinsons wasn't the first Disney Animation release under his administration, but it was the first to undoubtedly be impacted by it. With Pixar officially under the Disney banner, the two studios worked together to shape an aspirational tale of growth, learning through failure, and...

After a difficult period of transition and discourse, both Disney and Pixar's latest releases hit theaters in the last six months and found both enthusiastic critics and a rabid audience waiting to declare both studios 'Back.' After covering Pixar's Hoppers last week, Carter and Sydney decide to return to Zootopia with the sequel slithering onto streaming. While their feelings on t...

With Dr. Seuss Month in the books, the Disney Desk finds itself with one extra week in March. Fortunately for Carter and Sydney, Pixar decided to throw them a lifeline and release their latest original film in theaters! Yep, exclusively to help this show out! Crazy, right? Following in Elio's footsteps, Hoppers is another original film centered around a young person in transition encountering...

To wrap up Dr. Seuss Month, the Disney Desk is boldly going where they've never gone before: reading. That's right! Carter and Sydney took the week to read just a few works from the iconic children's author. As one final tribute to a pillar of children's literature, the two talk legacy, the use of the page, and why some children's media makes it while other media doesn't.

When people think 'Dr. Suess Adaptations,' their first memory probably wouldn't be Mike Myers or Danny Devito. It would be the vibrant animation of Chuck Jones and the narration of Boris Karloff. The many 'animated specials' of Giesel's work have been a childhood staple since the 1960s, and this week, the Disney Desk is talking about just a few of them! Listen in as we talk jazz, racism, and why y...

After the Cat in the Hat disaster, Audrey Geisel declared that she would no longer sign off on live action adaptations of her late husband's work. However, the realm of feature length animation was still on the table. Cut to 2008, when Bluesky studios releases Horton Hears a Who!, helping revitalize Suessian cinema and bringing one of the Dr's most recurring characters to life. Listen in as the Di...

With Winter now over, it's time for Spring clovers! A new theme month is here, to bring you literary cheer! Carter and Sydney are back to... hm. I'm not particularly good at rhyming... But as Read Across America begins, the Disney Desk has decided to dedicate the month of March to one of the towering icons of children's literature: Dr. Theodore Seuss! Of the many adaptations of his wor...

As the final Sunday of February finally arrives, your favorite host Sydney is officially 30! To celebrate, the Disney Desk is covering one of the Disney films of the 2000's. Enchanted is one of the first big films of the Second Disney Renaissance, but surprisingly, one both Sydney and Carter missed growing up. Tune in as they talk parody, the rom com, and send Sydney's Birthday Month off i...

Sydney's birthday month is tragically too short, so it is time to get serious. It's time to have a conversation about how we are feeling. Inside Out was considered Pixar's 'Return to Form' at the time, a massive hit that was equally popular with critics and ended a streak of mixed successes for the studio. But as another film that Sydney missed the first time around, it is time...

With Sydney celebrating her birthday around both Black History Month and the Super Bowl, she decided it was a chance to kill several birds with one stone. Remember the Titans was a staple of 2000's inspirational sports stories that Carter and Sydney have both seen but never watched . Looking to rectify that, the Disney Desk sits down to tackle a messy, earnest, campy film that creates a fascin...

Anyone who has listened in over the last few years knows that February is a special month for the Disney Desk. It's the time of year where we take time out of our usual scheduled programming to celebrate our fabulous and glamorous cohost, Sydney! During Sydney's Birthday Month, the brains of the Disney Desk picks out a collection of films for us to watch. And as she turns 30 this year, Syd...

Wt other film could possible end the Disney Desk's look back at the 1980's? After a decade of highs and lows, with the animation studio on the ropes, Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, John Musker and Ron Clements combined their talents to make a film that was not only a grand slam hit in its own right, but changed the course of Disney history overnight. Listen in as Carter and Sydney talk pastic...

One of the oddest and boldest films in the Disney Vault, Who Framed Roger Rabbit is arguably the film that best sums up the decade for the studio. Grungy and edgy in a way that feels very 'unDisney,' the film combines the highlights of Touchstone Pictures while showing that a new wave of talent is entering the animation world. Listen in as Carter and Sydney talk tone, Boomers and how Disne...