The School of Movies Archive

Zootopia

[School of Movies 2016]

We're back talking about Disney and we've jumped from their 21st animated classic all the way to the 55th.

Dan was not available this time round but when we reach this movie in our list of films we're going through naturally anyway we can get his take on it for an epilogue. 

 

This was a movie that kind of came out of nowhere and delighted pretty much everyone by having a lot more going on below the surface than your average animated animal adventure. At the very least it's a major new find for the furry community as our guests Lorin Grieve from A Year of Steam and Matt Wardle and Laureta Sela of New Century can attest. As well as this there is a multi-layered and infinitely applicable series of social commentaries on everyday prejudices. This downright demanded discussion so we pulled out all the stops to deliver you a packed two hour show. 

 

Folks on the patreon at the $5 per month support level can, this week, get their paws on an additional 90 minutes of rambling tangents which also took place during recording and while fascinating in places, strayed far from the movie itself. If you love these shows there are far worse things you could do with five bucks every thirty days which DON'T get you access to exclusive content. 

 

Guests: 

 

Doctor Lorin Grieve from Year of Steam

 

Laureta Sela of New Century

 

Matt Wardle of New Century

Mulan

[School of Movies 2018]

Dan Floyd joins us once again as the Disney Project continues.

The house of Mouse picked themselves up from the financial low for the 90s that was Hercules, and came back punching with this Chinese legend of a girl who steals her father's armour to take his place in the army.

Still to this day one of the most beautiful and moving of their animated classics, Mulan had its detractors, and all of them had solid reasons to admonish story decisions. However, it is also beloved and inspirational, and the kind of movie that could be made today (with a few tweaks). 

Jerry Goldsmith's soaring yet delicate score was fortunately in plentiful supply for this one.

Guests

Daniel Floyd of New Frame Plus 

Hercules

[School of Movies 2018]

Now we reach the point where Disney seemed off their game, at least in comparison with the lightning strikes of Mermaid, Beauty, Aladdin and Lion King. The fact that I really like Hercules is neither here nor their, this was a snarky yet earnest take on Greek mythology framed around an action sports movie for boys. 

It had one of the most real-feeling and grown up of Disney heroine's so far, James Woods before he revealed himself to be a complete dick, Danny DeVito on top form as a washed up boxing coach and a quick-witted, slightly-too-energetic pace which a lot of people might consider off-putting.

It was also an ideal, basic model for the superhero movies that were around the corner, and in fact it's a better Superman story than any of Kal-El's movies that have followed so far, though Thor and then Wonder Woman far exceed its reach. 

Since Alan Menken's lovely, lively score only spans a few minutes I have used other, tonally appropriate music for this one. Next week, Mulan. 

Guests

Daniel Floyd of Extra Frames

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

[School of Movies 2018]

The year was 1996, just a few months ago Pixar had changed the face of cinema by introducing a whole new medium of 3D animated film, with Toy Story.

Disney followed up their lukewarm reception of Pocahontas with another middling-in-appreciation Broadway musical. The art is beautiful, the scale epic, the songs memorable.

The subject matter is a serious social commentary written by a man who fiercely disapproved of injustice, framed as a tragic, gothic romance, but in the all-singing, all-dancing Disney style, the jokes are witty banter mixed with fart noises made by a pig-like gargoyle (who may not have even been real) played by Jason Alexander from Seinfeld. The main villain is a judge, because executives weren't happy with him being a Catholic Priest, yet rogue animators deliberately confounded their demands and depicted him upon his knees, praying for forgiveness from Mary for the darkness inside him which he knew would imminently lead to murder, in one of the most spectacular song sequences in ANY movie. In short, it had a tone problem. 

And with the help of Dan Floyd and Nama Chibitty, we dig into how this was pulled together and what the end result was. It's one hell of a ride.  

We have covered all the Disney animated classics canon so far from Snow White up to The Lion King and they can be found of the "School of Movies Archive" which is a separate feed on iTunes or wherever else you find podcasts. Here's all the Disney ones.

Guests

Daniel Floyd of Extra Histories 

Nama Chibitty

Pocahontas

[School of Movies 2018]

The Disney shows return, Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits joins us once again to continue our trek through the past of the animation giant.

And we are in the middle of the 90s renaissance, their third period of creatively blossoming (Pre-War/Post-War/90s) and the first after the box office high point of The Lion King presented a bar almost impossible to reach. Even if it hadn't been culturally troubling, deliberately historically naive and melodramatic when the audiences wanted fun, Pocahontas was going to stumble.

It became the benchmark of what happens when Disney decide they have a hit on their hands before release (everybody thought this was going to be their Cinderella and Lion King was just going to be a muck-about with animals). And yet for its faults, which we will go into, it remains a beautiful, sweeping, bittersweet Hollywood romance of the kind it's very tough to pull off successfully, even today, *especially* today. 

The music by Alan Menken is once again amazing, the voice acting is top notch, the animation might make you gasp, and it's probably the most Broadway musical-feeling of all the Disney canon, for better or worse. 

We have covered all the Disney animated classics canon so far from Snow White up to The Lion King and they can be found of the "School of Movies Archive" which is a separate feed on iTunes or wherever else you find podcasts. Here's all the Disney ones.

Guests

Daniel Floyd of Extra Histories 

Nama Chibitty

The Lion King

[School of Movies 2017]

This episode will be the deepest single Disney show we will ever do. It weighs in at just under four hours long, so I'd recommend absorbing it in two sessions, unless you have a long drive or a flight. But if you love the film you'll feel like you've died and gone to never-ending Lion Heaven!

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits joins us again to examine this magnificent beast of a film. Disney had taken a year off after Aladdin to develop their next two theatrical, animated projects, a sweeping Broadway musical melodrama, sure to go down in history as one of their greatest achievements (Pocahontas... it didn't) and a fun little movie about lions (which became known as one of their greatest achievements).

More than anything else, this movie made Bambi redundant for me. I never much gelled with the little dear, and while the death of his mother did have a shocking impact its repercussions were felt for all of 90 seconds. Lion King spends the rest of the movie either overtly avoiding confronting grief or stepping up to face it. The courageous subject matter, the beautiful animation, the majestic James Earl Jones, the amazing music and brilliant songs put this one at the highest peak for me.

This super special episode also includes the debut of the SteamHeart trailer.

Guests:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

 

Aladdin

[School of Movies 2017]

This one was recorded immediately after the Beauty and the Beast show, so we are absolutely exhausted by the end. What you can't hear because I trimmed it out is all the times we lose our thread and forget the point we were making. The magic of audio editing.

As it is, with musical breaks and comedy clips, this is another superbly detailed show where we praise the animation and efforts that went into making this a truly unique Disney experience.

It was recorded one month before Robin Williams died, and 23 years after master songwriter Howard Ashman died, and it is a celebration of their amazing work.

Extra Credits: https://www.youtube.com/user/ExtraCreditz

Cane and Rinse: http://caneandrinse.com/

Support our shows on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/alexandershaw

Come listen to my audio drama series, New Century:http://newcenturyshow.podbean.com/

Guests:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

Joshua Garrity of Cane and Rinse

Beauty and the Beast

[School of Movies 2017]

Get ready for a show of epic proportions, and a roller-coaster journey through the making of an absolute classic.

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits and Joshua Garrity of Cane and Rinse join us for a deep study into what made this work so well, and why it manages what so many of the previous films in the canon couldn't quite reach. Every aspect is discussed, from animation to music, to rejected ideas, to what makes Beast and Belle so endlessly appealing and what function the supporting cast serve.

This is either one to absorb in two sittings or a long evening spent watching the movie with the sound off at the same time... twice.

Support our shows on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/alexandershaw

Come listen to my audio drama series, New Century:http://newcenturyshow.podbean.com/

Guests:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

Joshua Garrity of Cane and Rinse

The Rescuers Down Under

[School of Movies 2017]

This will be the shortest of our Disney 90s Renaissance episodes, principally because there's so little information available on the making of this movie and also not too much actually happens.

It's more mice wearing shirts, but there are some wonderful elements in there that we will illuminate in between me being scathing about Disney underachieving and some amusing side roads into Australia.

Guests:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

The Little Mermaid

[School of Movies 2017]

We finally his the 90s third renaissance for Disney, and this kicks off a series of two hours plus shows of super detail and perspective on this era. Disney was under new management and after a string of mediocre successes and big failures now aimed to pull themselves out of the doldrums they had settled into following Walt's death. This entailed a storm of creativity with artists being ridden ruthlessly by cold-hearted businessmen. By all rights it shouldn't have produced such wonderful results... but it did. 

The Little Mermaid is a story of a human girl born as a mermaid, who just never feels right down under the sea, looking up longingly at our world. The emotional arc of the movie is the barely-seen King Triton getting over his overprotective desire to see his child stay down aith her family, culminating in him letting her go for her own happiness. 

Plus it has a Jamaican crab. 

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits and Extra Histories joins us again and you will hear the music of Alan Menken and the late, but indescribably great Howard Ashman. 

School of Movies is funded not by advertising, but by Patreon. It's you guys who keep this show going, help us pay our bills and buy more stuff to watch and talk about. So if you get a major kick out of these shows consider throwing a few dollars per month our way: https://www.patreon.com/alexandershaw

Guests:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

Peter Pan + Hook

[School of Movies 2015]

This is a look at three major cinematic outings for the boy who never grew up.

00.02.00: Peter Pan (1953)

00.39.00: Hook (1991)

01.08.00: Peter Pan (2003)

The first includes Mr Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits and focuses on the animated Disney movie. The second part we take a look at the Spielberg live action sequel and the third is the 2003 adaptation directed by P.J. Hogan.

Were’s honestly not all that keen on the first two, although both have their strengths (the Spielberg offering, more so; Hoffman, Smith, Hoskins, Basco, Williams, that poster), but we LOVE the third, so if you can stick around through what we find troubling you can come with us and get to the heart of Pan, interpreting all kinds of deeper elements in the telling of the story.

If you love these shows support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/alexandershaw 

Guest:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

The Great Mouse Detective + Oliver & Company

[School of Movies 2016]

We're back on the Disney shows with Daniel Floyd, this time on the cusp of the 90s renaissance. This episode delves lightly into two of the last examples of their Dog/Cat/Mouse fetishism that defined the post-Walt wilderness years.

The Great Mouse Detective, originally named Basil of Baker Street (from the novel) is Sherlock Holmes with rodents. Oliver is the Twisty Dickens tale with a cat and a bunch of dogs in a painfully late 80s New York, presided over by prostitute-hating mayor Rudy Giuliani. We never see him in the film, but he's there all the same, along with his derision for people of colour and the impoverished, which fits rather well into the Victorian principles of the source novel.

This show was actually recorded several years ago and I apologise for my frequent interruptions of Dan and Sharon. I knew better than that back then and I have no excuse. I'll simply try my level best to let them speak without butting in as we record the final Disney shows. This episode is well-timed in its release as Moana has just launched in theatres and it is absolutely wonderful! Go see.

Guests:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh + Rescuers + Fox and the Hound + Black Cauldron

[School of Movies 2016]

Continuing our Disney podcasts with Daniel Floyd of Extra Histories, this one covers the fifteen year period between 1970 and 1985. 

It was a dark and odd time for the once great animation studio. Their mentor and namesake had fallen and they were carrying on without him, or the acclaim that went with the bold and beautiful films of their golden years.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh theatrically released a package of three animated shorts. The Rescuers had a budget so low it barely had to sell any tickets to succeed commercially. The Fox and the Hound swung in the other direction, piling on the budget, only to receive middling critical and box-office response.

And as the company reformed in the early 1980s, having lost a dozen animators in a crippling walkout, the decision was made to throw untold amounts of money into a project that is now barely mentioned in the hallways of the House of Mouse, principally because the Black Cauldron only made half of that money back. 

Guest:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

Robin Hood

[School of Movies 2016]

Robin Hood (1973) is 83 minutes of amusing shenanigans. It's twee, minimally dramatic, fun and light with lovable simple characters. It did not restore Disney to the heights of Snow White and Cinderella popularity it had previously reached. 

Originally we recorded a paltry ten minute chat about Disney's Robin Hood during our sessions with Daniel Floyd, because there really wasn't much to talk about aside from it being a pleasant experience. We decided to add to this with an in-depth discussion about the impact of this movie on a community that's been going far longer than any of us have been alive; the furries.

Since Sharon and I are not experts in this matter we brought in Lorin Grieve of A Year of Steam to explain how these folks tick in different ways, what media they love and some of the history, whilst dispelling a few prejudices along the way. 

Guest:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

Doctor Lorin Grieve from Year of Steam

101 Dalmatians + Sword in the Stone + Jungle Book + Aristocats

[School of Movies 2016]

The Disney shows return. Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits is back to talk us through the difficult 1960s period for Walt Disney Studios.

101 Dalmatians
The Sword in the Stone
The Jungle Book
The Aristocats

Animation was changing, cinema was being influenced by television and for some reason people really liked British writers. In this show we'll talk about where Disney went after their expensive Sleeping Beauty project failed to hit Snow White status, and the aftermath of Walt's passing.

Guest:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

Lady and the Tramp + Sleeping Beauty

[School of Movies 2015]

The Disney shows continue with Lady and the Tramp and Sleeping Beauty, guest starring Daniel Floyd once again.

These were the last gasps for ink and paint animation. If you look at the lustrous colours and brush strokes you will see a distinct difference from the more penciled xerox process that ran from 101 Dalmatians all the way up to The Little Mermaid. 

So it's a charming little story about a dog that gets ignored over a new baby and falls in with a vagrant, and a beautiful girl who sings to owls, says 18 lines and then falls asleep causing the social and economic upheaval of an entire kingdom. 

But delve deeper and the America portrayed in Lady is a very personal idealized one to Walt himself, and Sleeping Beauty was an immense risk tied up in the making of the parks that was one of the most successful movies of the year, yet still failed to meet its expectations. 

If you love these shows support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/alexandershaw

Guest:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

Cinderella + Alice in Wonderland

[School of Movies 2015]

The Disney shows continue with parts 12 & 13. Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits joins us once again to discuss the much-needed success of Cinderella for cementing Disney as more than just a one-hit wonder. Following this we delve into the absurd ramblings of Lewis Carol to talk about Alice in Wonderland.

According to the Disney of the early 1950s royals will chase you down on black horses in the middle of the night, base the future of their family upon footwear, play croquet with live animals, hold complex legal disputes over jam tarts and cut your head off for the slightest offense. Either way don’t go anywhere near Buckingham palace.

If you love these shows support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/alexandershaw 

Guest:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

Disney’s Wartime Films

[School of Movies 2015]

The Disney specials continue with parts 6-11 covering the period between 1942 and 1949 when, due to World War II the studio held off on major animated features and instead focused on cheaply produced package films designed to foster relations with South America and keep their struggling animation house afloat. 

It’s an odd bunch, comprising Saludos Amigos, The Three Cabelleros, Make Mine Music, Fun and Fancy Free, Melody Time and The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr Toad. Virtually none of these are remembered or cherished and on listening to this episode you’ll understand why. Daniel Floyd shoulders the majority of the appraisal this time. 

Next episode, Disney goes all-in as they put all of their money and resources into seeing if the world wants another story of a fairy-tale princess. 

If you love these shows support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/alexandershaw 

Guest:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

Dumbo + Bambi

[School of Movies 2015]

The Disney specials continue with parts 4 & 5 in a double bill. Dumbo and Bambi were two differing attempts from the studio to gain a success after the disappointing receptions to Pinocchio and Fantasia. Dumbo cost a lot less to make and Bambi was all about the artistry and portrayal of real animals. Find out in this episode if the elephant picture flew and how well the realism of the animals sat with jugs of syrupy cuteness. 

Of course there’s also the matter of the mother’s of these two creatures. One gets locked up and deemed insane, the other gets shot dead by the most terrifying monster of all. Both of these moments have a profound effect on what we take away from the viewing experience.

If you love these shows support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/alexandershaw 

Guest:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

Fantasia

[School of Movies 2015]

The first show under the new name is the third of the Disney animated classics. Over the next year we’re going to cover every single one of these. Some in fairly short order, others in extensive detail, and Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits is with us every step of the way.

This one was a big risk for Disney. Snow White did insanely well, Pinocchio cost $2.2 million but only made one million back in 1940, their third had to cement the studio as more than just a flash in the pan success. Walt saw it as a transcending of the cinematic experience, and a project that could be added to and built upon for years. Instead it bored, bemused and bewildered audiences and took decades to become the revered classic it now stands at.

We pull no punches in delivering our personal takes on the many sections of this movie.

If you love these shows support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/alexandershaw 

Guest

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

Pinocchio

[Digital Drift 2015]

The Disney shows continue with Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits returning to talk about this little, wooden boy. 

If you love these shows support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/alexandershaw

Guest:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

[Digital Drift 2015]

Digital Drift Does Disney.

This is the first of a series of podcasts covering the full history of Disney’s animated classics. Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits is with us every step of the way.

It is without question that animated cinematic features throughout the 20th Century were defined by this company. Learn more about the studio, the animators and how the animation techniques changed with the time, as well as what the world was doing when each film was released. Also find out which films we love, which ones we don’t and more importantly, why.

This first one, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was their pilot of sorts. A proof of concept that also happens to be the perfect representation of a fairy-tale told absolutely straight with 1930s sensibilities and the tiniest, most naive children in mind. Alex isn’t a huge fan, but he does like one character rather a lot. Dan is filled with admiration for how they could achieve this excellence first time, simply as part of their learning process. 

Since this is an unabashed analysis that pulls no punches, bad language is used but it is bleeped for the benefit of children. 

Guest:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits