Verbal Diorama

Here we are.... 50 episodes later! It's been a genuine delight to produce fifty episodes of this podcast and I wanted to do something special for #50. There's no animated movie so ingrained in modern culture, so beloved by everyone and such a pioneer in modern animation than Pixar's Toy Story. But I didn't just want to tell the story of Toy Story, because the story of Pixar is integral to the stor...

It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights, it’s time to meet The Muppets on Verbal Diorama tonight... today... In this special Patron-chosen episode, I go behind the curtain on 2011's The Muppets. The Muppets have been in everyone's lives, whether through The Muppet Show, the eight big screen offerings, or just through general media. Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Animal...

When it came to thinking of a horror movie I'd love to feature, The Thing (1982) was top of my list. It's not a movie most would associate with someone who admits to not liking horror, but the combination of science fiction and horror remains one of my favourite genre mixes (see also Alien!) It's also a movie that continues to delight and terrify me. The practical effects, created by Rob Bottin (o...

Princess Mononoke, or Mononoke Hime to give it its Japanese name, could have been covered in February for the anniversary along with Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbour Totoro or Spirited Away, but honestly I'm glad I can devote a whole regular-sized episode to it, because it's so jam-packed full of greatness. As much as I love all the aforementioned movies from the legendary writer/director Hayao...

Rogue One was the first anthology movie announced post the Disney takeover of Lucasfilm in 2012; the year after Star Wars Episode VII The Force Awakens had enticed and delighted audiences across the world. The rogue one, you might say... Rogue One, born of the simple question "how did the Death Star plans end up with Princess Leia?" is probably most famous for its CGI recreations of Grand Moff Tar...

Little Shop of Horrors, based on the off-Broadway musical, in turn based off the 1960 Roger Corman dark comedy The Little Shop of Horrors... is probably my favourite ever screen musical. It contains within several elements that never fail to delight me: -Rick Moranis - a true gem of a man, on-and-off screen, who was a regular for all us 80s and 90s kids growing up -It's a musical - with music and...

STOMP-STOMP-CLAP STOMP-STOMP-CLAP STOMP-STOMP-CLAP STOMP-STOMP-CLAP It's the unmistakable beat of Queen's 1977 anthem "We Will Rock You", filling an arena, as a massive crowd of people do a human wave. The competitors enter the stadium and the crowd goes wild at seeing their favourite sportsperson. The competitors are announced loudly, as a hush falls over the crowd, and the sport begins.... It co...

In 1943, Philip K. Wrigley (of chewing gum fame!) founded the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) in order to maintain sport and public morale during World War II, at a time when many eligible young men, including professional sportsmen, were drafted to fight overseas. Whilst A League of Their Own is a mostly fictional account of the players and founders behind the AAGPBL, it...

For clarification, this episode discusses and spoils: John Wick John Wick: Chapter 2 John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum The Boogeyman. Baba Yaga. Mr Wick. Jonathan. Jardani Jovonovich.... John Wick is known by many names, but everyone knows of him and everyone should fear him. Especially if you kill the one thing he loves most in the world, and the only link to his recently deceased wife; the one wom...

The perfect homage and satire of classic 50s monster B-movies, Tremors initially failed to set the box office alight. Like most cult classics it found a resurgence on VHS and ended up spawning multiple sequels, a prequel, a 2003 one-season TV show and a failed 2018 TV pilot starring Kevin Bacon, back as Val McKee. Praised for its special effects work, the chemistry between Kevin Bacon and Fred War...

I find Paul Feig's directorial career fascinating; Spy, The Heat, A Simple Favour and Ghostbusters, all female-fronted and each of them a lot of fun and very enjoyable in their own right. 2011's Bridesmaids really was the catalyst, not only for Paul Feig's career, but the Hollywood careers of Saturday Night Live alumna Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph, for Rose Byrne to prove her comedic timing and f...

Four years after Hellboy , Hellboy II: The Golden Army came out. Bigger, bolder and more del Toro than its predecessor, it concentrated on its existing characters and introduced a more complex and interesting antagonist in the dedicated, skilled warrior Prince Nuada - fighting for the survival of his dying race as humanity continues its greed and desire to consume everything around it. Influences...

Hellboy, as a concept, shouldn't work as well as it did in 2004. (Well, we saw what rebooting it in 2019 did....) Mike Mignola's comic blends folklore, mythology, the paranormal and Lovecraftian horror, and needed a director who could take all that and make it visually appealing, and coherent to the layman. It also needed a lead actor who could portray the strength, vulnerability and humour needed...

Verbal Diorama returns from partying with the Haitians..... I mean from the hiatus.... for one of the greatest comedies ever made - Clueless. On the surface, just like any of the umpteen other 90s teen movies, but dig a little deeper and Clueless is a sharp, satirical and heartfelt look at teenagers; the way they speak, dress and think, in a thinly veiled adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel...

Welcome to the first episode of year two and the final episode of my ten-episode animation season. Gosh, Treasure Planet is stunning. Every detail of its aesthetic is glorious to behold, and the fact that its directors Ron Clements and John Musker were so determined to get it made is truly an outstanding achievement. From its illustrious pedigree, to the 70/30 rule, to the use of Deep Canvas, this...

Verbal Diorama has been going for one year! To celebrate, I asked Twitter to choose between Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke or Laputa: Castle in the Sky. Twitter chose Spirited Away. Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi Thank you so much for listening and supporting the podcast for the past year - you rock! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This podcast uses the following third-...

Verbal Diorama has been going for one year! To celebrate, here's the first ever Studio Ghibli movie I saw as a child - My Neighbour Totoro. Tonari no Totoro Thank you so much for listening and supporting the podcast for the past year - you rock! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podscribe - https://podscrib...

Verbal Diorama has been going for one year! To celebrate, here's my favourite Studio Ghibli movie - Howl's Moving Castle Hauru no Ugoku Shiro Thank you so much for listening and supporting the podcast for the past year - you rock! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podscribe - https://podscribe.com/privacy O...

"Alright, let's do this one last time. My name is Peter Parker. I was bitten by a radioactive spider, and for 10 years, I've been the one and only– Spider-Man. I'm pretty sure you know the rest." "Alright, people, let’s do this one last time. My name is Peter  B.  Parker. I was bitten by a radioactive spider. And for the last 22 years– I thought I was the one and only Spider-Man. What a...

One day, a talented lass or fellow, a special one with face of yellow, will make the Piece of Resistance found from it's hiding refuge underground, and with a noble army at the helm, this Master Builder will thwart the Kragle and save the realm, and be the greatest, most interesting, most important person of all times. All this is true because it rhymes. Lego, the most popular toy in the entire wo...

Most parents think their kids are gifted. Most kids think their parents are heroes (whilst also being really embarrassing!). Most families are super, but only the Parr family is Incredible. Unlike the other movies featured in the animation season so far, The Incredibles was a massive critical and commercial success for Brad Bird, the first out-of-house film-maker Pixar brought into the fold. While...

If you saw Kubo and the Two Strings, you'd probably be in agreement with me when I say that's it's the most stunning achievement in stop motion filmmaking, and Laika deserve all the accolades. The problem is, not many people did see it. In fact although it's arguably Laika's best work, it's also one of their biggest financial failures, which is a travesty and we should all hang our heads in shame...

The animation season continues with Akira, pre-recorded in November 2019, live at SAMM's Peterborough, where I met up with my special guests Anita and Ciara from The Unexceptionals podcast, and quite frankly they couldn't have been nicer and more brilliant. Set in 2019, the legendary anime Akira is more relevant to our real 2019 than our 1988 could have possibly predicted. It's a story of isolatio...

Our animation season kicks off with a heartwarming family Christmas favourite, starring Dasher, Dancer, Prancer....erm, Bambi, John, the one with the white ear and Santa's youngest son Arthur, who'll do anything to get young Gwen Hines a present on Christmas morning after she's accidentally missed by Santa's high-tech delivery system. It's a movie that comments on inter-generational conflict,...

Keanu Reeves is often criticised for not "acting" enough in his movies. He may not be the John Constantine of comic book fans dreams, but with his literal devil-may-care attitude and cynical despondence on full display, I think he pretty much nails this John Constantine - a man at the end of his life, desperate to save enough souls from damnation so he can go to Heaven after a teenage suicide atte...