SOTSM x DITB: The Anime That Didn’t Make Us #16 – Pollyanna, Violinist of Hamelin & Moby Dick

Niall checked up on Brian and Antony over on Dynamite In The Brain to see how they're coping during all this, only to find them once again in a state of imagined reminiscence for cartoons they could have been enjoying in their youth were it not for those pesky geographic barriers. This edition is more highbrow than most with not one but two literary adaptations; a fairly straight World Masterpiece Theatre joint in 1986's The Story Of Pollyanna, Girl Of Love and Herman Melville making the logical progression to outer space in 1997's Hakugei: Legend Of The Moby Dick, while 1996's Violinist Of Hamelin provides a nice classical music accompaniment that sounds better than it looks. We got your tele-learning resources right here pal!

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Show #183: The Thief And The Cobbler

A podcast thirty one accumulated hours in the making, SOTSM broaches the subject of the animation albatross known as The Thief And The Cobbler!

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With the recent passing of the esteemed Richard Williams and the tributes that followed a pair of titles repeatedly stood out: his undeniably popular work Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and another convoluted and perhaps notorious production called The Thief And The Cobbler. Delayed, waylaid and recut into various releases in its unfinished state, many had given up Williams' grand artistic statement as folly. But is this being uncharitable to what he strove to achieve not just in the film itself but animation as a whole? Crime, corporate skullduggery and a years long quest for perfection almost distract us from savouring a cartoon spectacle the likes of which may never be seen again!

SOTSM x DITB: The Anime That Didn’t Make Us #2 – Ai Shite Knight, Yu Yu Hakusho, Detective Conan

Our own Dwayne has a life outside this podcast you know, and you'll get to hear about some of it on a whole other podcast as he joins the Dynamite In The Brain boys for a trip down the memory lane that could have been if certain anime titles were available to them in their youth. There's romantic misunderstandings in Ai Shite Knight, the main character's death in the first episode of Yu Yu Hakusho and Detective Conan kicking off a mystery that's lasted 22 years and counting. Everything old is new again, and you can hear these echoes from the past for yourself if you listen up!

SOTSM x DITB: The Anime That Didn’t Make Us #1 – Captain Tsubasa, Fushigi Yugi, Bonobono

Niall recently took a wander down a hypothetical memory lane with Brian and Anthony over on Dynamite In The Brain as they sampled some anime series that could have been formative experiences in their youth had they ever been released in their parts of the world. Captain Tsubasa cashed in on 80s World Cup fever, Fushigi Yugi whisked us to another world before it was cool and Bonobono innovated children's television with the addition of existential dread. Find out how this experiment in manufactured nostalgia unfolded when you listen up!

Show #163: Family Dog (1987/1993)

The Brad Bird bombardment continues as we check the pedigree of animated short and TV spinoff Family Dog!

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After a lot of hard graft in the 80s Brad Bird finally broke through and landed a life-changing job working on The Simpsons. Everybody wanted something from television's new golden boy, such that even his past projects were dusted off and ill-advisedly moulded into unwieldy forms with little to no input from their original creator! But does Family Dog the series deserve it's place in the boneyard of prime-time cartoon pretenders? Careers are catalogued, points are missed and yet more pondering is done on our podcast prospects!

THE SHORT VERSION

Good dog

Bad dog

That pencil test for The Spirit really is somethin'.

Show #162: Animalympics

It's the first proper show of the new year with a semi-different format that we're still working out! The obvious starting point for this approach? The TV movie Animalympics of course!

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We're always looking to do better here at SOTSM so 2018 seems as good a time as any after putting this out for so long to freshen up our methods a little bit. What we're hoping to try here is to divert our tendency to overthink & tangentialise to the purpose of highlighting those hidden links and pathways lying just under the surface of the animation world. To that end while we figure out where to begin with this we thought we'd look at a more auspicious start in the bright career of cartoon creative Brad Bird, with his first professional credit on this 1980 TV special from the director of Tron, and follow his route from there. What other surprising staff will we discover? Is this format really going to inspire any substantial change? Will Niall's voice hold out until the end of the recording? The answers to these questions may only be found on the almost new, almost improved Secret Of The Sailor Madness!

THE SHORT VERSION

Athletic animals

Spaced-out sports

Formative experiences

Show #155: Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos

Because we're about due for a bad idea we try and ascertain an explanation for the persistent notoriety of Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos.

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Our foray into Ruby Spears-fronted celebrity tie-in cartoons was surprisingly fruitful last time with Mr T and his gang of mystery solving teens. Can the formula work again for Karate Kommandos, a show more often experienced solely via out-of-context video clips? Colourful ninjas, high henchman turnover, moral codes and not-so-secret agents get in the mix!

THE SHORT VERSION

Para-gators

Super ninjas

Sweaty wisdom

Show #148: Gandahar

Far-out French sci-fi is back in vogue as we take a fantastic voyage to Gandahar!

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 A strange journey but down a path we're actually quite familiar with, director Rene Laloux delivers another travelogue to a bizarre world filled with amazing scenery and incredible possibilities. There are enough ideas in this feature alone to float a half dozen films, but are they given short shrift in service of the story? Contemporary cinema is compared, the secrets of its animation production are revealed and we get bamboozled by time travel for the second time in as many months!

THE SHORT VERSION

Merry mutants

Fantastic fauna

Innuendo island

SOTSM x DITB! Famous Anime Podcast – Shonen Jump: Kochikame Onwards

Niall joined those good old boys over at Dynamite In The Brain for rousing session of rating anime classics to be installed in their hall of fame. Series are covered adapted from manga that began between 1976 and 1984, such as Kochikame and Fist of the North Star, but what will make the final cut? To find out you'll just have to listen up!

Show #141: Rude Dog and The Dweebs

Brian Smith makes a stunning return to SOTSM with yet more ill-advised cartoon-as-promotion craziness courtesy of Rude Dog and The Dweebs!

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Hearkening back to a simpler time when rude meant bad, bad meant cool and an entire thirteen episode cartoon series could be made on the basis of the imagined virtues of a sportswear company mascot, Rude Dog and The Dweebs has a bafflingly persistent cultural cache despite the almost complete lack of merit in the show itself. So suitably enough we find more interest in topics surrounding it such as company spokes-animals, the etymology of rudeness and late 80s/early 90s animation in general. This podcast is many things to many people but above all it is RUDE.

THE SHORT VERSION

Dogs in cadillacs

The original

Spacecats IS a thing after all!

Show #137: Twilight Q

Tales of mystery and imagination await in the bizarre hinterland between dreams and reality that is Twilight Q!

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Originally conceived as an anthology showcase for young anime creatives, Twilight Q possesses all the experimental qualities of such a venture but also the hit-and-miss factor inherent to that style. The first section is a time travel mystery much in keeping with the OAVs namesakes that falls frustratingly short of clarity, while the second part delivers an otherworldly mood piece with depth, atmosphere and great philosophical weight. Does this mean we break even? Are we all just the fever dreams of some great fish in the sky? This podcast may have the answer!

THE SHORT VERSION

Time Knot - Reflection

Mystery Article File 538

"So I had this dream last night..."

Show #134: He-Man & She-Ra - A Christmas Special

Doing all the hard work for toy companies everywhere this season, we're joined by Joseph Wade to learn the true meaning of He-Man & She-Ra: A Christmas Special!

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Still baffling sarcastic blog writers to this day who can't seem to get their heads around what a cartoon is, He-Man and She-Ra unite to receive the teachings of a wonderful winter holiday that definitely has nothing to do with Christianity. Villains are vindicated, rival toy robots are ridiculed, kids get kidnapped and myths are dispelled about the fallacy of enjoying media "ironically".

Experience more holiday cheer with Joseph and company over on Christmas Creeps!

THE SHORT VERSION

New traditions

One Skeletor and his dog

Transforming robots, an awful and terrible idea right?

Show #133: Transformers - The Movie (1986)

Hitting the shops just in time for Christmas, Greg Driver and Paul Shipley show off their impressive collection of knowledge on Transformers: The Movie!

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Much has been writ of this fondly remembered cinematic outing on its 30th anniversary this year, so we'll do our utmost to add a personal touch to our remembrances of everyone's favourite 80s toybox slaughterfest, uneven as it may be but still one heck of a good time. Tales are spun of early lessons in the finality of death, myths are busted about the talent behind the scenes and inspiring anecdotes of the films marvellously upbeat soundtrack are shared.

THE SHORT VERSION

Robot Galactus

Robot upgrades

Robot-o-cide

Show #129: Rock and Rule

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An obscure B-side from the early days of Nelvana Animation, Rock and Rule lives up to about thirty percent of its title. Not rocking like one would expect from a post-apocalytic movie involving demon summoning, neither does it rule in the characterisation or plotting areas. The design, animation and atmosphere all make a good showing but feel like they would be better employed in service of a more consistent movie that had a firmer idea of the audience it wished to court.

THE SHORT VERSION

Super rockers

Super slackers

Super heroes

Show #127: M.A.S.K.

Working overtime to get this show out to you, Greg Driver of Ace Comicals stops by to take us for a spin into M.A.S.K, aka Mobile Armoured Strike Kommand!

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The lesser cousin to the 80s cartoon stalwarts it borrows from, MASK has some nifty ideas but finds itself lacking in the execution. All the usual suspects are here; relentless background music, inconsistent visual quality, an irritating child character taking up precious screen time. Pockets of quality exist in the mechanical design and the better directed episodes, but spread all too thin over a long series. We can all agree that the opening theme is still fantastic though!

THE SHORT VERSION

Sweet rides

Time to try and not get fired today

Scott Trakker: Robo Racist

Show #126: Urban Square

Those maverick renegades are at it again! Time for some good old fashioned 80s street justice in the middle of Urban Square!

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Another one-off OAV from that magical era when they'd animate anything, Urban Square is a loving homage to action movie conventions with a welcome pinch of self awareness, sporting an impressive pedigree featuring some of anime's best creative talent. Unlike many of its contemporaries which mindlessly rehashed the plots of bigger and better works here can be seen much more care and appreciation that wears its inspirations like a warming, familiar blanket.

THE SHORT VERSION

Hapless heroes

Stunt drivers

THAT FIREARM AIN'T REGULATION

Show #124: The BFG (1989)

Is this all just a dream? No! A delusional state brought on by this heat maybe but we can safely say that The BFG is definitely a real thing.

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The work of seminal children's author Roald Dahl has been adapted for the screen in live action form many a time but animated versions are few and far between. Surely the cartoon medium would be better suited for the fantastical imagery he conjured up and luckily such is the case here, a very humble production that captures all the goofy capering and macabre humour of his famous book. Boasting amazing design work and an immersion friendly pace it should stand as a good counterpoint to the handsomely made but frenetic big budget version courtesy of Steven Spielberg.

THE SHORT VERSION

Friendly giants

Not so friendly giants

Giant imagination