Drawn Or Alive #4: A Chinese Ghost Story VS A Chinese Ghost Story - The Tsui Hark Animation

Tsui Hark, writer/producer/director plus visionary, seemed hardly content with his contribution in 1987 to the gnarly adaptation of Qing dynasty novel Strange Tales From A Chinese Studio. A decade later he saw fit to realise the true scope of the collection of fables within the supposedly boundless limits of animation. With the original already a groundbreaking hit in special effects that spurred on a nascent cult film appreciation scene in Hong Kong & China, what could its cartoon counterpart bring to the table beside being another outlet for Hark's incredible enthusiasm & self-belief? It is a strange tale indeed, filled with spirits, romance, musical numbers and explosive exorcisms, pitting two rough & ready productions against each other in an eerie encounter from which only one will emerge drawn or alive!

Listen up!

Show #197: Mr Magoo's Christmas Carol

The year wanes, one that we'll gladly let pass into history, but such as it is the festive season is here and that means another animated spin on A Christmas Carol is summoned to scare the share into us! Classic cartoon coot Mr Magoo gives it a go this time around, and with his patented brand of poorly sighted mayhem this version of Chuck D's famous fable oughta be a barrel of laughs, right? RIGHT? We'll get to that, right after we gush about our fine friends in internet recording, look ahead to next year's SOTSM slate and stuff ourselves on a final festive feast of a Post Podcast Repaste. Magoo, you've done it again! And all in one night! Merry Christmas and a serene seasonal sojourn to all ye good folk out there!

Listen up!

Show #185: Richard Williams' A Christmas Carol

The clarion call of Christmas rouses us from our long slumber to discuss some Dickens once again, this time with Richard Williams' take on A Christmas Carol!

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Some traditions are too special to let pass unmarked and thus we briefly surface to celebrate the legacy of the late Richard Williams, a giant of animation whose ouvre we touched upon earlier this year. Alongside the equally legendary Chuck Jones and Ken Harris they bring a more macabre adaptation of the classic festive fable in a fraction of the time and with twice the horror! Its message of goodwill even in the harshest of worlds rings all the truer for it, a sentiment we hope to carry forward upon the day of our dark renewal in the new year. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to one & all and you'll hear from us again in 2020!

Show #174: A Christmas Carol Cartoon Cavalcade

Having exhausted all the big obvious entries over the last few years, the SOTSM boys enjoy a  seasonal selection box of animated episodes adapting the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol!

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Even though our research for this topic unearthed a couple of candidates suitable for a show of their own we've elected to store those for next Winter and stuff ourselves with a feast of festive episodes from some classic and not so classic series that take inspiration from everybody's favourite holiday ghost story. Check 'em out! You've got your space Western flavour in Bravestarr, a less-than-cheerful outing in Adult Swim police procedural spoof Stroker & Hoop, selective implementation of time travel in Back To The Future and those ethereal exterminators do too good of a job in The Real Ghostbusters. Park yourself by the fireside with your nearest & dearest and regale them with our yuletide cheer. Merry Christmas folks!

Show #161: The Stingiest Man In Town

It's the most wonderful time of the year when we delve into yet another animated adaptation of A Christmas Carol, 2017's entry being The Stingiest Man In Town!

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We've had a lot of good memories around Christmas courtesy of Rankin Bass and Studio Topcraft, and this elusive number based on an even more obscure 1950 TV musical looks set to deliver as well. However will the gauntlet of jaunty seasonal songs detract from the atmosphere of Charles Dickens' spooky parable? Awkward Christian messages, revenge fantasies and cross-dimensional Scrooges are waiting under the tree! Merry Christmas to you & yours everybody!

THE SHORT VERSION

Shared universes

Festive flourishes

The first diminutive Tom Bosley

Show #159: The Book Of Life

Times are tough but our undying spirit persists onward, eager to get our nose into the first chapter of The Book Of Life!

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Now where have we seen this before? A certain recent Pixar film may be parading this same aesthetic around but Jorge Gutiérrez and company had already taken us to an astonishing afterlife inspired by Dia de los Muertos some years back. However is this spectacular vision in danger of being superseded by more worldly concerns? Unfortunate family film requirements, moustache analysis and Niall's inability to read credits properly are a page away!

THE SHORT VERSION

A lavish world

An overload of ideas

A better main character

Show #158: Extreme Ghostbusters

Greg Driver of Ace Comicals is the new kid on the block, making a frightful ruckus this Halloween about Extreme Ghostbusters!

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Eager to escape the trappings of their allegedly less cool forebears, the 90s were rife with retools and reboots of older properties hoping to capitalise on a new generation of impressionable kids. He-Man and GI Joe got theirs so it was only a matter of time before everybody's favourite tech start-up got the treatment. Does it keep the spirit of the original or is it yet another lost soul? Political poltergeists, comic counterparts and slime scarcity to come!

THE SHORT VERSION

Creepy ghosts

Positive representation

'Ey, woah, fuck yoo pal.

Show #151: Pilot Pot Luck - Second Helpings!

We're back and we've been toiling away in the kitchen all this time to bring you another three course meal of Pilot Pot Luck!

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Our continuing journey through the morass of cartoon pitches and pilots both old and new has turned up a few more disparate delicacies this time around. We start up with feisty spirited newcomer Obituary: A Grave Beginning before tackling the crowdfunded conundrum that is Urbance. Lastly we tuck into Plastic Man in Puddle Trouble, a rich and satisfying snack that is sure to repeat on us later!

THE SHORT VERSION

Gaggles of ghosts

Unsafe sex

Slapstick superheroes

SOTSM x DITB: Japan Animator Expo Part 2

The exploration of the weird and wonderful auteur anime showcase continues apace as Niall and the boys immerse themselves in the everyday lives of ghosts, robot girls and mascot characters, solve a murder, indulge in a vague yet also somehow heavy-handed political allegory and even throw in a bit of good ol' fashioned SEX and VIOLENCE with MACHSPEED. What does that even mean? You'll just have to listen up!

SOTSM x DITB: Mononoke

Niall jumps into the co-host hot seat to brave an eerie evening of restless spirits with Brian and Bradley Meek in 2007's Mononoke. Monsters, murder mysteries and more await, along with some messages from Anthony in the great beyond. Listen up!

Let’s Go! Episode 14 – Death of Subtlety

Crime! Betrayal! Novelty Flying Discs! All this along with some goons, ghosts and gut groping in such stellar titles as:

• Lupin the III Part 4 #7 & 8
• Ojisan & Marshmallow #5
• Sekko Boys #5
• Mr Osomatsu #17
• Lovely Muuuuuuuco! #7
• Erased #5

Listen up!

Show #112: A Christmas Carol (2009)

We ain't afraid of no ghost, and to prove it we're gonna forge on with our annual holiday tradition with Disney's A Christmas Carol!

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An admirable effort from seasoned director Robert Zemeckis this year, who for whatever reason persists in his odyssey to create the most terrifying human simulacrums committed to film, suitable in this instance however as the more ghastly elements of Charles Dickens' classic book are pushed to the fore. Bolstered even further by some entertaining voice performances, more's the pity when the film regularly skids off the tracks and mars the atmosphere for some not-as-exhilarating-as-they-think-they-are action set-pieces.

THE SHORT VERSION

Horrifying apparitions

Lack of restraint

Immersive 3D!

Show #107: The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo

That most blessed of holidays is upon us and we get into the Halloween spirit with a most horrifying chapter of a long running franchise, The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo!

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For our first foray into the venerable annals of Scooby Doo we picked a more obscure offering that sounds great on paper; beloved actor Vincent Price is a wizard helping the gang capture some runaway revenants. However the transition to actual ghostbusting does not fit so well for the mystery solving teens, already hamstrung by a roster of repulsive replacements dealing out gags that were stale a decade before the show came out and essentially doing away with most of what makes Scooby Doo work in the first place. Vincent Price deserved a better class of cartoon than this, a terrifying apparition that will curse one with nightmares on these late October evenings!

THE SHORT VERSION

Scooby skits

Too good for this show

Scrappy Doo ver. 2.0

Show #89: Korra is JACK BAUER

It's time to close the book on a defining series of this podcast as we finally arrive at the conclusion of The Legend of Korra!

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The sequel series to the much-lauded Avatar: The Last Airbender has at last gone quietly into that good night, but what impact if any has it left on us? Korra will be best remembered for putting its female characters front & centre and making them active participants in their story. The other element of its legacy unfortunately is the continuous squandering of rich story material; fascinating moral quandaries and character potential dropped every season to start anew. We must offer a certain level of admiration for their willingness to attempt something daring and being willing to engage with challenging subjects, but also temper it with frustration at what could have been under different circumstances.

Wanna know what we thought of the whole thing? Follow the links!

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

THE SHORT VERSION

Soul searching

The greatest villain

A goddamn giant robot

Show #84: He Can't Wear Shorts, He Hasn't Got Legs

There's something strange in our neighbourhood... It's Brian Smith and Greg Driver here to round up some revenants with The Real Ghostbusters!

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Returning from the great beyond of 80s cartoons comes a defining series of that era. The Real Ghostbusters does not have a gorilla in a hat. What it does have is the smartest and funniest writing of any show around from that tackiest of decades, both staying true to the comedy of its source material and expanding on the characters, their technology and the world they inhabit. We watch only the good parts mind, none of this business with Slimer getting top billing, and we are handsomely rewarded with an entertaining, good looking and sometimes even thought-provoking cartoon.

Don't forget to cast your vote; #TeamSlimer or #TeamSnarf !

THE SHORT VERSION

Spooky ghosts

Literary references

Deceased politicians

Show #79: A Hundred Lassies

In a sophisticated con to drive up page views we call upon the power of cute puppies and learn that All Dogs Go To Heaven!

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High time for another Don Bluth film as we haven't broached the subject, one very close to Niall's heart, since Titan A.E. All Dogs Go To Heaven for the most part looks and sounds like what you'd expect from a film made by ex-Disney staff but crucially takes the premise of its title in bold and often dark directions. The narrative is often disjointed, likely from too many writers all having a say in the finished product, but it winds up to a touching ending with the right amount of closure. And then they went and made a sequel anyways!

THE SHORT VERSION 

Dog Heaven

Dog Hell

Adorable orphans

Let's Go Jojo! Episode 15 - Justice Part 2

Previously on Jojo's Bizarre Adventure it looked like Hol Horse had bitten the bullet at the hands of Enya Geil. Now she's set her sights on Polnareff, the vanquisher of her equally villainous son, and with a repulsive revenge to wreak upon him. Featuring loathsome latrines, beastly babies and a credit to Columbo. Listen up!

Let's Go Jojo! Episode 14 - Justice Part 1

The Stardust Crusaders take a well needed pitstop in an eerie village where the pervasive stench of death seems to not bother its inhabitants in the slightest. And what do Anime's Granny Enya Geil and old fiend Hol Horse have in store for our heroes? Featuring super sleuthing, terrific tailoring and a few fond farewells. Listen up!

Show #65: He's A Class Act That Mako

Happy New Year! But before we can continue on our journey we must put to rest the frightful spirit of Avatar: The Legend Of Korra Season 2.

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If you missed out on the previous season then you needn't worry as Legend Of Korra reverts nearly every character back to square one, resulting in some pretty reprehensible behaviour on the part of our alleged heroes. Things pick up midway through and continue to a strong finish but in a frustrating season of pointless plotlines, risible romances and boring bad guys it may have come too late.

THE SHORT VERSION

Our hero!

Just desserts.

THE GUN SHOW

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