Episode 256 - LABYRINTH

Our hot Henson summer continues with Labyrinth, featuring more fantastical fabrications from Jim Henson's Creature Shop in an enchanting allegory filled with toe-tapping tunes by David Bowie.

Nate Tapp reminds us of the babe with the power as we navigate the paths and perils of this coming-of-age classic!

Labyrinth (1986)
Directed by Jim Henson
Written by Terry Jones
Starring David Bowie, Jennifer Connolly, and Toby Froud, with puppeteering by Brian Henson, Ron Mueck, Rob Mills, Dave Goelz, Frank Oz, Karen Prell, Kevin Clash, and others; along with the voices of David Shaughnessy, Timothy Bateson, Michael Horden, Denise Bryer, and more

Episode 246 - MR. BOOGEDY / BRIDE OF BOOGEDY

Wacky shenanigans coexist with childhood traumas in a deep-cut double feature of Mr. Boogedy and Bride of Boogedy. Alisha Carderella introduces us to a plethora of happy(ish) haunts, practical jokes, and Puritan horror – all this, plus an epic listener email on our spooky season spectacular!

Mr. Boogedy (aired April 20, 1986)
Directed by Oz Scott
Written by Michael Janover
Starring Richard Masur, Mimi Kennedy, Kristy Swanson, David Faustino, Benjamin Gregory, John Astin, and Howard Witt

Bride of Boogedy (aired April 12, 1987)

Directed by Oz Scott

Written by Michael Janover

Starring Richard Masur, Mimi Kennedy, Tammy Lauren, David Faustino, Joshua Rudoy, Leonard Frey, Howard Witt, Ray Girardin, and Eugene Levy

Episode 184 - THE TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE

Before Michael Bay, before Beast Wars, there was...The Transformers: The Movie. Dismissed in its time as a toyetic cog in a corporate moneymaking machine (which it is, to a certain extent), the film endures as a cult classic for many reasons: its anime-influenced visuals, an over-the-top rock soundtrack, and an emotional ruthlessness you don't expect from a cartoon about alien robots that fold into boomboxes.

That being said, The Transformers is still peak 1980s in all its loud, colorful excess. John Parton returns to discuss one of his prime cinematic passions, and transforms our perspective on this keystone of '80s nostalgia. Let's roll out!

The Transformers: The Movie (1986)
Directed by Nelson Shin
Written by Ron Friedman
Based on The Transformers TV series
Starring Peter Cullen, Judd Nelson, Robert Stack, Lionel Stander, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Idle, Frank Welker, and Orson Welles

Episode 94 - AN AMERICAN TAIL and FIEVEL GOES WEST

Scrappy cartoon mice are as American as baseball, apple pie, and an abiding sense of optimism that somehow endures constant alienation and glaring injustice. That combination of the wholesome and the serious defines An American Tail, a poignant re-imagining of the immigrant experience from legendary artist Don Bluth and wunderkind executive producer Steven Spielberg that dared to challenge Disney for animated musical supremacy.

Just because you find some success in America, however, doesn't mean you relinquish your underdog status. By the release of the sequel Fievel Goes West, Bluth was gone, Disney was ascendant once more, and the Mousekewitz family was still seeking a better lot in life. It was time to change the approach.

Brian Rudloff joins us for this special double feature episode, as we try to reconcile two very different films with the same core message: somewhere out there, dreams can still come true.

An American Tail (1986)
Directed by Don Bluth
Produced by Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, and John Pomeroy
Written by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss
Starring Phillip Glasser, Amy Green, Nehemiah Persoff, Erica Yohn, John P. Finnegan, Christopher Plummer, Madeline Kahn, and Dom DeLuise

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991)
Directed by Phil Nibbelink and Simon Wells
Produced by Steven Spielberg and Robert Watts
Written by Flint Dille
Starring Phillip Glasser, Cathy Cavadini, Nehemiah Persoff, Erica Yohn, Dom DeLuise, Amy Irving, John Cleese, and James Stewart