Show #206: Space Jam

Before it's New Legacy dunked our collective brains 25 years later Space Jam was pioneering new and innovative ways to exploit our most merchandisable popular culture figures. With an existing working relationship Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan teamed up on the basketball court in a baffling display that somehow netted an adoring following, inspiring fashion designers, music mash-ups and salacious art for decades to come. Does the original squad still have the stuff to take it to the hoop though? Athletic actors and the genesis of the green-screen cinematic wasteland also get some play, with a Post-Podcast Repaste that's guaranteed to put you back in winning form.

COME ON AND SLAM!

Show #204: Osmosis Jones

Seasonal ailment Joseph Wade spreads the word about one Osmosis Jones, a Piet Kroon and Tom Sito cartoon film that got hit with a bad case of the Farrelly Brothers for the live-action segments of its cops & robbers caper inside Bill Murray's decaying body. It's gross, it's educational and for some it was the apex of their celebrity at the start of the millenium (with a soundtrack to match!). TV spin-offs and other animated fantastic voyages await our diagnosis, and if you can stomach it there's a Post-Podcast Repaste to help you get your strength back.

Listen up!

Show #164: The Iron Giant

A towering behemoth whose mighty powers can bring destruction or salvation! But enough about Brad Bird already, this one's about The Iron Giant!

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Having conquered the realm of prime time cartoon sitcoms the ambitions of Brad Bird turned to bigger things, and challenges don't get much greater than directing an animated feature during a period when such a thing was a hazardous undertaking if your name wasn't Disney. So how did they pull off this now well beloved tale of a boy and his bot? Failure is fomented, tears are shed and visitors from the stars are venerated. It's heavy stuff!

THE SHORT VERSION

Aspirational figures

Very special agents

Sad robots

Show #150: Justice League (2001)

Martin Schneider shares in the festivities of our 150th episode, and what better way to celebrate an assemblage of all that is great & glorious about cartoons than with a rousing retrospective of Justice League!

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We've come a long way from our humble origins and have hopefully become something bigger & brighter than what we started as. Such is the case with Justice League, which took the baton from its DCAU forerunners and gave us a shining example of comics adaptation and excellent television, animated or otherwise. Have these merits withstood the test of time? After we get done talking about dream casting choices, indecent supervillains and sneaking filth into family friendly shows you may just find out!

THE SHORT VERSION

 Serious storytelling

Hirsute heroes

Motivation

Show #88: It Sounds Like HR Giger Drew It

It's our first proper show of 2015, and Greg Driver is on hand to jumpstart the SOTSM-mobile with Batman: The Animated Series!

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A bit overdue but still not too late to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Batman, and we intend to mark the occasion with aplomb. But what more can possibly be said about this masterpiece of TV animation? Quite a bit, almost two hours worth! The shows impact on DCs successive output across a range of media, the tragic pathos of many of its villains, and just how does Greg always seem to show whenever AKOM is involved? It's all here in this giant-size issue of SOTSM!

THE SHORT VERSION

Stuper-villains

Life-changing trauma

Sad Batman

Show #5: Or Even Better, If He Was Filled With Gunge!

We're back and making up for lost time in a big way! In our longest show to date we broach the archive of Warner Brothers DC Comics animated works, starting with a trip to the far flung era of Batman Beyond, AKA Batman Of The Future!


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Conceived as merely a means to sell more toys Batman Of The Future is as competent and well made as it's highly regarded predecessor. Striking a fine balance between surprisingly dark techno-dystopia and more comedic "Batman As High School Student" shenanigans, it's a testament to the cartoon making supergroup of Bruce Timm, Paul Dini and Co. This podcast is pretty titanic so save it for a long journey, workout or your menial task of choice!

THE SHORT VERSION

                                            Terry McGinnis, Teenage Dark Knight

                                   Old Man Bruce Wayne, with faithful Ace the Bathound

                          Blight, aka Derek Powers, whose action figure I found in the end!