Show #64: Why Couldn't You Jus' Mend Yo' Ways?

It's a cold Christmas night in the offices of SOTSM and Co. whereupon we are visited by the grim spectre of Christmas Carol: The Movie!

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Our first Christmas episode ever! And out of all the cartoons with a festive theme we could have chosen we begin with this one, a made-for-TV movie masquerading as a theatrical feature that feels flatter than the last dregs of Xmas party champagne. Visually average bar the odd artistic flourish with some pretty okay voice performances but commits the cardinal sin of wasting the tremendous power of Nicolas Cage, a fact we attempt to alleviate in our own special way.

If you're in need of more podcast shaped Christmas cheer we also made an appearance on the festive special of Dynamite In The Brain, jamming to a righteous party mix of twenty or so versions of Jingle Bells.

THE SHORT VERSION

 The Ghost Of Nicolas Cage

The Ghost Of A Better Movie

The Ghost Of Scrooge's Lovelife

Show #63: Turn On Their Smile Reflexes

We've got a seat in the public gallery waiting for you in this high profile case as SOTSM takes the stand in Science Court!

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Courtesy of Tom Snyder of Dr Katz fame and his remarkable Squigglevision animation technique comes Science Court, an educational cartoon that's actually fun to watch! It imparts important lessons to kids (and a few adults perhaps) on the scientific principles that make this crazy world go round but keeps the subject engaging with liberal doses of dry humour. Order it for your primary school today!

THE SHORT VERSION

Reputable juries

Ace attorneys

Child geniuses

Show #62: The Parfait After Tomorrow

Martin Schneider returns to deliver a forecast of film fun in Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs!

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Wringing an enormous amount of potential from an old children's picture book Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs spins a bright, humourous and touching story along with a loving homage to blockbuster disaster movies.That it does all this while subverting numerous cinematic tropes makes it stand out as a unique and wonderful feature and a refreshing alternative to other comparatively cynical animated movies.

Martin's Twitter

Current Releases Movie Reviews

THE SHORT VERSION

Mad scientists

(Un)seasonable weather

Positive representations

Show #61: Baywatch Orcs

Bound in the darkness no more it's time to shed a little light on Ralph Bakshi's Lord Of The Rings!

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We live in an era of privilege where JRR Tolkien's fantasy saga has received the blockbuster film treatment so it may be a tad unfair to compare it against this 1978 effort from Ralph Bakshi of Fritz The Cat and Fire & Ice fame. That aside numerous problems exist in the way it handles its narrative and that's before we get to the visuals which certainly don't hold up with age. An ambitious effort for its time but which ultimately leaves you wanting.

THE SHORT VERSION

Seamless visuals (and is that John Belushi on the left?)

MC Saru The Man exits the stage

GO BALROGS!

Show #60: Garguys and Gargirls

Jake Bourke has broken free of his prison of living stone just in time to join us for some Gargoyles!

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An experiment by Disney in the 90s to create an action show which turned out pretty well, Gargoyles is a dramatic and thematically complex cartoon. Alongside contemporaries such as Batman: The Animated Series and Swat Kats it brought some much needed substance to daytime animated fare as well as keeping a good portion of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast in business. We talk loss, betrayal, cool voices and Jake reveals his innermost desires.

Jake's Twitter

Jake's Site

THE SHORT VERSION

ANGEL OF THE NIIIIIGHT

Legitimate businessman

Pranks

Show #59: Tiger Doesn't Make Any Sense

There's big trouble in Little China and all over the world as well in the third season of Jackie Chan Adventures!

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It's Jackie Chan Adventures! So obviously we love it, although this season is littered with caveats. The writing feels a lot less sharp in places than previous episodes, with dialogue and storylines clearly targeting a younger audience than before. On the plus side we have the wonderful James Hong channeling Lo Pan to great effect and the better plots take enough crazy turns to justify viewing.

THE SHORT VERSION

Better call Jack Burton

A makeover

You guys suck!

Show #58: Powered By Puns

It's a spine tingly dingly Halloween edition of SOTSM with the cursed comedy and horrifying humour of Count Duckula!

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Springing from Cosgrove Hall's Danger Mouse into his own spin-off series is everybody's favourite vegetarian vampire duck and his gang of gruesome servants. The comedy routines are often a bit stale and the frequent use of cultural stereotypes for cheap laughs do the show no favours either but it's buoyed up by some great voice work, extending to the narrator who does an excellent job selling the supposedly sinister side of the cartoon. Your tolerance of David Jason's American accent as Duckula may make or break it for you so consider yourself forewarned! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

THE SHORT VERSION

Cultural insensitivity

Old jokes

True terror

Show #57: Wot A Noice Asgard You Got 'Ere

We journey into the mysterious realm of motion comics with the theatrical stylings of Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers!

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The 1966 Gantray-Lawrence Marvel Super-Heroes cartoons were a lesson in just how limited animation could get and still be able for worthwhile discussion here at SOTSM. Going off that we deemed motion comics as worthy topics for podcasting and thus we return to the Marvel universe and their Asgardian heroes.

Blood Brothers delivers Loki's perspective on the never-ending struggle against his sibling and adoptive parents, filled with pathos & tragedy and showing the complex motivations that led him down his villainous path. Esad Ribic's artwork is reverently handled with some subtle techniques employed to put it into motion while Robert Rodi's writing is brought to life by a talented cast of stage actors, David Blair as Loki being the standout performance. Warning: This podcast contains silly voices.

THE SHORT VERSION

Bullying

The ravages of villainy

THIS face

Show #56: Regular Old Brown Lions

After a few weeks of consternation where the tyrannical producers of SOTSM demanded rewrite after rewrite we finally bring you the strange story of Disney's The Emperor's New Groove.

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The Emperor's New Groove is a competent, fairly entertaining piece of animation bouyed up by a very strong cast and an unusual choice of protagonist. The real meat of this podcast however delves behind the scenes of the film's creation; a six year saga of heartache, corporate interference and general all round frustration, all preserved for posterity in Trudie Styler's illuminating documentary The Sweatbox.

Throw in some speculation about the production woes afflicting other areas of the media and this show is just about worth the wait. Hey, maybe they'll make a documentary about the troubled production of this episode in the future!

THE SHORT VERSION

Friendship

Moral Choices

The wonderful Eartha Kitt

Show #55: Romantagonist

Ninjas! Robots! Aliens! Abominations of nature! It's all kicking off in the latter half of the first season of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012!

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This new iteration of the popular Turtles franchise was off to a flying start when last we talked about it and it just about maintains that pace as it finishes it's debut season. A steady escalation of events build to a heady climax with space to develop in later seasons but not without a few missteps along the way. Turtles fans have got it pretty good at the moment, so enjoy it now before you undoubtedly get mad at Michael Bay's bizarre live-action feature arriving next year!

THE SHORT VERSION

Tim, Nice But Dim

DO NOT TRUST

High job turnover

Show #54: Anime Didn't Invent Character Development

Niall and Dwayne embrace their destiny to master all animation as they get stuck into the first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender!

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The Legend Of Korra returns for it's second season on September 13th with much expectation already heaped upon it. What better way to get into the mood and brush up on our Avatar lore than revisiting the series where it all started? Well regarded for it's vibrant art style, quality of writing which deftly balances humour, poignancy and drama and most certainly for super powered kung fu this first season does a great job escaping a formulaic opening and developing into a cartoon of substance and style.

Cautiously looking forward to Korra Season 2, and if you wanna know why we went over all that in our earlier podcast on Korra Season 1, which should bring you up to your recommended daily allowance of Avatar related media.

THE SHORT VERSION

Super Kung Fu

Positive Role Models

Anime?

Show #53: CHUNG IS KING! CHUNG IS KING!

Keep an eye on the shadows, because Niall and Dwayne are sneaking up to shank you with The Chronicles Of Riddick: Dark Fury!

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Riddick fever is back! Sort of! Vin Diesel returns to cinemas as your favourite gravelly voiced convict/ knife fancier / space emperor and let's not forget his animated appearance in this tie-in short for the 2004 film, directed by the equally appreciated and maligned Peter Chung. It actually works out to be fairly okay if straightforward with a little more variety in its art direction than usual from Mr Chung, but ultimately feels completely unnecessary unless you're really hankering for the continuing adventures of Richard B. Riddick.

THE SHORT VERSION

Peter Chung-iness

Techno Trousers

A completely different movie!

Show #52: A Man Can Get Lonely

Back to our regular schedule with a much re-scheduled show on Aardman Animation's The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists!

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As usual when we newly crack into the works of a particular animation studio we start with their most recent effort. The Pirates In An Adventure With Scientists (a much better name than the American "The Pirates: Band Of Misfits") is pretty straightforward as far as narrative goes but more than makes up for it on the strength of it's visuals, production design, rapid fire gags and great performances from an excellent cast. To contrast all this positivity we have a grand old rant on our bafflement at the box office success of some terrible animated movies.

THE SHORT VERSION

Pirates!

Scientists!

A chimpanzee butler!