The Latecomers

Show Notes It’s our 400th episode!!! Thank you for listening, you’re the best! This week, three Pixar films in, we get to their first sequel with Toy Story 2. Woody and Buzz and the gang are back, but now we get backstory - Woody gets to find out his origin story and his own show, and Buzz meets his dad. Joan Cusack puts in a tour-de-force performance that leaves us genuinely upset and Kelsey Gram...

Show Notes This week we put Lemuel’s concerns to rest with Disney’s interpretation of Tarzan. How do you make a naked psychopath into a kid’s movie protagonist? Rosie O’Donnell and Phill Collins, of course.  Recommendations: One Battle After Another (HBO Max), Greystoke (Rentable) Next up: Toy Story 2 (1999) Email us at latecomers@gmail.com Our Facebook group is here for those who consent: https:/...

Show Notes We’re going back to Pixar this week with some four legged ants and their plight in A Bug’s Life. Sometimes you have to believe something for it to be true - whether it’s that circus bugs are warriors or that many little guys can rise up against a few big guys.  Recommendations: The Conjuring Last Rites Next up: Tarzan (1999) Email us at latecomers@gmail.com Our Facebook group is here fo...

Show Notes We’re going to Greece with Hercules, who is too strong for his own good. Trying to do good can get you in trouble with all sorts, especially Hades, who has no patience and flickers with rage much of his screen time. Gospel music and sexy damsels fill out this surprisingly funny romp with a man who can’t remember his own strength. Recommendations: A Christmas Carol (George C. Scott versi...

Show Notes This week, bafflement abounds as we discuss the 1996 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame. We watched it, I dare say we enjoyed it a lot, we still are not sure how or why this movie exists. Beautiful animation, fantastic music, great voice acting (mostly) and yet, why is this? Is it a kid’s movie? No. Does Disney think it is? Yes? But I don’t think there is another G rated movie with the an...

Show Notes It’s not Disney… YET. We watched Pixar’s maiden feature film Toy Story, the first full CGI animated film in history and boy does most of it hold up. We talk about the smart decisions made by the filmmakers to set them up for success, our favorite toys, and the difficulty of drawing the human face in any medium.  Recommendations: Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein on Netflix and its accom...

Show Notes What if Hamlet, but lions. We watched the 1994 classic The Lion King and enjoyed the emotions inherently available in animated faces that simply cannot be duplicated in “live action.” Elton John thought the movie was ruined because his beautiful song was sung by a meerkat, but joke’s on him, it was a genius move.  Sometimes you gotta have a creepy little guy sing to the main characters...

Show Notes The genuine power of Robin Williams ignites the joy in our trip to Agrabah this week as we watched Aladdin. The most fun we’ve had in a while, we talk magic powers, the utter lack of problem solving by male sovereigns and best animal friends. Recommendations: Great British Bake-Off (Netflix) Next up: The Lion King (1994)   Email us at latecomers@gmail.com Our Facebook group is here for...

Show Notes This week it’s a love story as old as time along with just a dash of Stockholm Syndrome as we watch Beauty and the Beast. Regarded by many (including one of us) as peak Disney, this film has it all - a girl who looks down on all her neighbors, a boy who looks down on all of his neighbors, and a beast who looks down on everyone - the perfect set-up for love. A lot of the discussion this...

Show Notes We’re heading south of the equator with Miss Bianca and the inimitable Bernard in the Rescuers Down Under. This movie deserves more than it got (thanks Katzenberg). The story of young Cody and his one child crusade against poachers needing the RAS to come help him is beautiful and well told. The big thing that could have made it better was an indigenous protagonist (again, thanks Katzen...

Show Notes We’re really cooking now - but not fricasse - with The Little Mermaid. Entering their renaissance, Disney brings us to the ocean and a sanitized version of Hans Christian Anderson, no walking on knives or turning into sea foam, but we do get a rocking soundtrack and a spectacular villain. And the another bland prince in true bland prince form.  Recommendations: Greyhound (Apple+) Next u...

Show Notes Wh at if Oliver Twist with dogs. And Billy Joel of course. This week, we’re talking about Olver and Company and spend most of our time discussing the art and reality of criticism, what makes a good movie and how you can hold subjective and objective views of something that are different and also both correct.  Recommendations: Bring Her Back (HBOMax) Next up: The Little Mermaid (1989)  ...

Show Notes**** Disney brings us Sherlock Holmes - but mice this week in The Great Mouse Detective. Basil doesn’t like people but he is a fan of focussing on the wrong thing. We are treated to an adorable child, an adorable dog, clockwork monarchs, peg-leg bats and an absolutely fabulous villain. And it’s a blast! Recommendations: Devil All the Time (Netflix); Peacemaker (HBOMax) Next up: Oliver &a...

Show Notes This week we liked the movie more than almost anyone else. Everything we wanted The Sword in the Stone to be, it’s The Black Cauldron. Yes, there are a lot of weird cuts and stuff that doesn’t make sense, but there’s also zombies and munchings and crunchings. The drama surrounding the making of this movie causes some head scratching moments, but the visuals and characters make up for it...

Show Notes Once upon a time, we thought we were going to watch a movie about the trials of friendship. Then we watched Disney’s The Fox and the Hound and found it was no such thing. In a film touted to be a paragon of empathy and friendship we find willful misunderstanding, profiling, hypocritical rage, violence, more parental loss, and so many characters who know this relationship is doomed again...

Show Notes We’re saving orphans from crazed thrift store owners this week along side the Rescue Aid Society’s very own Rescuers! As Miss Bianca seduces Bernard into heroism and Penny gets saved from Cruella 2.0, we have thoughts - on the Gabor sisters in all their marriage glory, how deeply messed up the adoption system used to be, and how brave one dragonfly can be.   Recommendations: Tom Hanks -...

Episode Notes We’re discussing the possible genesis of Pixar films Toy Story and Inside Out, the genteel and lovely Winnie the Pooh. The tales of the stuffed friends belonging to Christopher Robin, each epitomizing a different aspect of both the human condition and the features of childhood is firmly set in the world of books - literally. There’s definitely someone here you are going to relate to...

Show Notes Join us for our second Robin Hood foray and an excellent film overall. Foxy Robin and big bear Little John do their best to stand up to the greed of small men. There are chickens who can play the guitar and perform a perfect Shiho Nage and they don’t even have fingers! Running and shooting and singing and dancing, there’s never a dull moment in Nottingham, the geographic embodiment of c...

Show Notes What if Lady and the Tramp had 101 Dalmatians -- but cats, in France? Then we have the Aristocats, a fine feline family lead by the possibly perfect Duchess - cool under pressure and kind to all. All who meet her are smitten, and not even kids can keep them away. We talk the folly of a butler, the problem with Siamese cats, the wisdom of allowing a kitten to oil paint and what exactly i...

Show Notes This week we’re traveling to the Indian subcontinent and spending time with a 10 year old who has no business being in the places we find him. As everyone tries to either eat or save our little friend Mowgli, we spend a lot of time wondering over the straightforward and crystal clear question of “is this a musical.” We clearly forgot both the song list and the definition of musical but...

Show Notes Merlin is an incomprehensible madman this week in The Sword in the Stone. Have you seen the Incredible Mr. Limpet? Do you like watching people turn into animals for no discernable reason? Do you have a vendetta against squirrels and want to see them heartbroken? Do you like irascible owls? If any of these apply to you, you should definitely check this out.  Recommendations: The Incredib...

Episode Notes**** It’s 101 Dalmatians and 6000 spots this week. 1961 brings us our first contemporary film, we’re in 50s London that is populated largely but dogs from Connecticut. But at least the cameos show that dogs live forever and none of the ones we loved from Lady and the Tramp were killed in a shelter. Some might very well be in danger from a fur-obsessed lunatic with an excellent theme s...

Show Notes A ballet becomes a legitimately beautiful and fun cartoon this week. Briar Rose née Aurora and her crazy "aunts" make it almost all the way to safety before jumping the proverbial gun and simple pettiness cause her temporary downfall in 1959’s Sleeping Beauty. Walt is passing on the reins and it’s apparent here that there are new voices and artists in the mix. Beautiful prince...