Episode 17 - THE BRAVE LITTLE TOASTER

Dragged through development, animated overseas on the cheap, and unceremoniously dumped onto home video without an American theatrical release, The Brave Little Toaster's production history practically mirrors the experience of its protagonists - a group of five outdated home appliances left behind at a vacation cottage to gather dust and contemplate their own obsolescence.

Those appliances, however, rage against the dying of the light - as so has the film, as repeated airings on cable revealed its influence on the most affecting films of animation's modern high-tech era.  Echoes of The Brave Little Toaster are present in later masterpieces like Toy Story and The Iron Giant, and its sturdy emotional blueprint is still admired by generations of fans and filmmakers.  Indeed, one person's trash is another's treasure - and this BLT is a gem.

The Brave Little Toaster (1987)
Directed by Jerry Rees
Produced by Donald Kushner and Thomas L. Wilhite
Written by Jerry Rees and Joe Ranft
Based on the novella The Brave Little Toaster by Thomas Disch
Starring Deanna Oliver, Timothy E. Day, Tim Stack, Jon Lovitz, and Thurl Ravenscroft

Episode 16 - HARRIET THE SPY

Step into the baggy work pants of Harriet M. Welsch circa 6th grade and you’ll notice that your cozy, familiar world is transforming.  Everything seems more complicated and more fraught with expectation.  You’re breaking taboos you didn’t know existed simply by inching over the amorphous, invisible line that separates childhood from adulthood.  (Hint: most people won't react well when they learn that you record all their dirt in your diary.)

Harriet the Spy’s charm comes from its liberal sprinkling of ‘90s ephemera across a sturdy coming-of-age narrative born in the ‘60s, though these days Harriet’s tech-free lifestyle feels just as quaint as its optimistically orderly urban setting.  But even if city kids grow up faster than others, the point remains that they eventually realize they're part of a bigger picture and have to cope with it somehow.  In this episode, we navigate the pitfalls of preadolescence along with special guest Blythe Wolber, and come to understand what it's like to walk a mile in someone else's Dickies.

Harriet the Spy (1996)
Directed by Bronwen Hughes
Produced by Marykay Powell
Written by Douglas Petrie and Theresa Rebeck
Based on the book Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
Starring Michelle Trachtenberg, Gregory Smith, Vanessa Lee Chester, J. Smith-Cameron, Robert Joy, and Rosie O'Donnell

Episode 15 - BATTLEFIELD EARTH

Filmmaking is all about making the right choices, and few recent movies illustrate the importance of this more than Battlefield Earth.  John Travolta's intergalactic passion project - based on L. Ron Hubbard's 1982 novel about Earthlings rebelling against their cruel alien conquerors - is a keen reminder that the slippage of time can ravage the best-laid plans of any creative project.

Yet, in a way, Battlefield Earth's reputation as a monumentally misguided flop gives it a notoriety that this tardy Spartacus-meets-Star Wars epic might not have achieved otherwise.  Like any pop culture punching bag, this one is more interesting than it looks...

Battlefield Earth (2000)
Directed by Roger Christian
Produced by Jonathan Krane, Elie Samaha, and John Travolta
Written by Corey Mandell and J.D. Shapiro
Based on Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 by L. Ron Hubbard
Starring John Travolta, Barry Pepper, Forest Whitaker, and Kim Coates

Episode 14 - JINGLE ALL THE WAY

Not your typical heartwarming holiday tale, Jingle All the Way is an alternative Christmas classic that pokes fun at that most sacred value of the season: materialism.  Surprisingly cynical for a family film, it’s a skewering of crass consumer culture (thanks to an uncredited rewrite by Home Alone director Chris Columbus) that includes bomb threats, brawling Santas, and a suburban lothario played by the late, great Phil Hartman.  The bug-eyed, grunt-y performance of Arnold Schwarzenegger as a harried dad who’ll do anything to nab the perfect gift for his son is simply icing on the cake.

Jingle All the Way (1996)

Directed by Brian Levant

Produced by Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan, and Mark Radcliffe

Written by Randy Kornfield

Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Rita Wilson, Jake Lloyd, Jim Belushi, and Phil Hartman 

Episode 13 - HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS and MICKEY’S CHRISTMAS CAROL

What’s Christmas without some stocking stuffers?

We’re so full of the holiday spirit that we created a bonus episode revisiting two our of favorite Yuletide perennials: the 1966 animated TV special Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas and the 1983 Disney short film Mickey’s Christmas Carol.

And as an extra-special Christmas treat, our good friend Daren Sprawls - the man behind our incredibly catchy podcast theme song - recorded his own acoustic cover of the holiday standard "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch."

Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Produced by Chuck Jones and Theodore Geisel
Starring Boris Karloff, June Foray, and Thurl Ravenscroft

Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983)
Directed and produced by Burny Mattinson
Starring Alan Young, Wayne Allwine, Hal Smith, Eddie Carroll, Patricia Parris, and Clarence Nash

Episode 12 - THE PRINCE OF EGYPT

DreamWorks Animation in the pre-Shrek era is a fascinating subject.  Before it became known as the home of the arched eyebrow, the studio aimed to provide a sleeker and slightly more mature alternative to Disney's family fare - think of the neurotic worker drones in Antz and the sly POW parody of Chicken Run.

Against that backdrop, DreamWorks' earnest Biblical epic The Prince of Egypt doesn't seem like the anomaly it appears to be.  It's a sweeping account of the prophet Moses - who, as the film's title cards helpfully point out, is a figure central to three major world religions - from his wicker basket ride down the Nile to his parting of the Red Sea.  And because this is an animated movie in the '90s, it's also a musical.  (Can't leave that soundtrack lucre on the table.)

In this episode, we investigate what The Prince of Egypt brings to the re-telling of this ancient story and how it's placed in a context with everything from The Ten Commandments to Exodus: Gods and Kings.

The Prince of Egypt (1998)
Directed by Simon Wells, Brenda Chapman, and Steve Hickner
Produced by Penney Finkleman Cox, Sandra Rabins, and Jeffrey Katzenberg
Written by Philip LaZebnik and Nicholas Meyer
Starring Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfieffer, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Patrick Stewart, Danny Glover, Steve Martin, and Martin Short

Episode 11 - BLANK CHECK and RICHIE RICH

Money can't buy you love, happiness, or class...but it can buy you a lot of Nerf guns and four-wheelers.  That's one thing we learned in our financial double feature of Blank Check and Richie Rich, two 1994 films designed to teach children that though materialism is an empty pursuit, it can sure fill your house with awesome stuff.  (Gotta start 'em early!)

In the spirit of this season of excess, enjoy a super-sized podcast covering everything from the surprising duality of Preston Waters and Richie Rich to the comfort of having a sidekick from a different English-speaking nation.  Also, having to choose favorites in this pair of financially-obsessed (though ultimately family-oriented) films finally puts us at odds...in a strictly collegial way.

Go ahead, help yourself to seconds - it's a special Thanksgiving episode of What Were We Watching!

Blank Check (1994)
Directed by Rupert Wainwright
Produced by Gary Adelson, Craig Baumgarten, and Tony Shimkin
Written by Blake Snyder and Colby Carr
Starring Brian Bonsall, Karen Duffy, Miguel Ferrer, James Rebhorn, Tone Lōc, and Michael Lerner

Richie Rich (1994)
Directed by Donald Petrie
Produced by Joel Silver and John Davis
Written by Neil Tolkin and Tom S. Parker
Starring Macaulay Culkin, John Larroquette, Edward Herrmann, Christine Ebersole, and Jonathan Hyde