ThawedCast Pt. 3

Dawson and Philip discuss 'The Book of Boba Fett,' the seven-part live-action 'Star Wars' series on Disney+, released December 2021. The series picks up where season 2 of 'The Mandalorian' left off, this time following the adventures of former bounty hunter Boba Fett as he ascends within planet Tatooine's organized crime apparatus. The show takes plenty of detours in the form of flashbacks and sidestories spotlighting familiar characters within the 'Star Wars' universe, culminating in a showdown to establish a semblance of law and order on Tatooine. Follow The ThawedCast: Conversations About Animation: twitter.com/thawedcast and instagram.com/thawedcast.  instagram.com/hiddenfallsfilm, instagram.com/philipehlke.

ThawedCast Part 3

The Book of Boba Fett

Jodi, Alex and Philip discuss the new Pixar film, 'Turning Red,' available now on Disney+. The third major animated Pixar film to be released directly to  the streaming service with no premium surcharge, 'Turning Red' has been an object of praise and criticism for tackling themes of adolescence. Any risk of an awkward family viewing experience is greatly superseded, however, by 'Turning Red's' charming characters and signature heartfelt storytelling from Pixar.  Mei Lin is a 13-year old living in 2002 Toronto whose family carries an enchanted bloodline allowing the women to transform into a giant red panda upon reaching adulthood. This creates problems at home and at school, altering Mei Lin's promising future along with her most treasured relationships. Follow The ThawedCast: Conversations About Animation: twitter.com/thawedcast and instagram.com/thawedcast.  instagram.com/jodipolasky,  instagram.com/ayeedeezy, instagram.com/philipehlke. Visit thawedcast.com

ThawedCast pt. 3

Turning Red

Jodi and Philip review and discuss 'The Batman,' the new film starring Robert Pattinson from Warner Bros. and DC Comics. This all-new interpretation of Batman, his rogues gallery and the infamous setting of Gotham City finds wealthy heir Bruce Wayne at the start of his third year of masked vigilantism. His Bat-cave, suit, gadgets, and working relationship with James Gordon are fairly well established, but he still has a long way to go in perfecting his superhero craft. The mysterious "Riddler" is currently at large in connection to a string of high-profile murders, and Batman cleverly employs a newfound ally in the criminal underworld, Selina Kyle a.k.a. "Catwoman," along with his police contacts and come-solving wit in order to unravel the various clues left by the cryptic culprit. In doing so, however, will Batman only inflame the fury of a corrupt Gotham, promoting even greater sympathy for The Riddler's populist cause, before he can obtain the answers he needs? Follow The ThawedCast: Conversations About Animation: twitter.com/thawedcast and instagram.com/thawedcast.  instagram.com/jodipolasky, instagram.com/philipehlke. Visit thawedcast.com

ThawedCast, pt. 3

The Batman

The 60th feature from Walt Disney Animation, 'Encanto' takes place in mid-20th century Colombia in an enchanted village led by a family who has been blessed with a magical home and miraculous abilities. La Familia Madrigal's matriarch, Abuela Alma was gifted an enchanted candle after overcoming the hardship of fleeing her home and witnessing the death of her husband. Her children and grandchildren possess special abilities, with the exception of Mirabel, who wasn't granted a special gift by the Encanto. Mirabel's importance may be of even greater significance, however, once the family begins to show signs of strain as various factors conspire to sow conflict within the Madrigal household. Follow The ThawedCast: Conversations About Animation: twitter.com/thawedcast and instagram.com/thawedcast.  instagram.com/jodipolasky,  instagram.com/ayeedeezy, instagram.com/philipehlke. Visit thawedcast.com

Encanto

Brother-sister duo Philip and Samara review 'Moon Knight' from Marvel Studios on Disney Plus. The Oscar Isaac-led, six-part series follows Steven Grant, a museum employee and ancient-Egypt enthusiast living in London who suffers from dissociative spells, often finding himself in strange places and perilous situations with no memory of how he got there.  Left disturbed by these occurrences, Steven eventually finds himself encountering strange spectral creatures as he attempts to unravel the mystery behind his alter, a mercenary named Marc. Marc no mere mercenary, however. Having sworn allegiance to the Egyptian god Khonshu, Marc has the power to transform into the caped hero Moon Knight, Khonshu’s superpowered human avatar. Follow The ThawedCast: Conversations About Animation: twitter.com/thawedcast and instagram.com/thawedcast.  instagram.com/samara_mitchell9, instagram.com/philipehlke. Visit thawedcast.com

Moon Knight

Jodi and Philip discuss the series of nine short films from various Japanese animation studios who were tasked with telling a story set within the 'Star Wars' universe. Entrusted by Lucasfilm with broad creative freedom to explore some of the less-trodden territory of the Galaxy Far Far Away, these projects provide a diverse array of styles and scenarios, though they all deal in some way with the Force and conflicts involving Forceusers. These nine episodes provide a fascinating insight into the influence 'Star Wars' has had on Japanese artists and filmmakers 45 years after the release of the original 'Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'; a film which in-turn was highly influenced by Eastern mysticism, the samurai ethos, and the films of Akira Kurosawa. Follow The ThawedCast: Conversations About Animation: twitter.com/thawedcast and instagram.com/thawedcast.  instagram.com/jodipolasky, instagram.com/philipehlke. Visit thawedcast.com

Star Wars: Visions

Alex and Philip review ‘Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers,’ the 2022 live-action/animation hybrid film from Disney. Released straight to Disney+, ‘Rescue Rangers’ features a wide variety of animation styles, an abundance of madcap hijinks, and some brutally incisive commentary on the film industry. The film is the directorial follow-up to the satirical ‘Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping’ by Akiva Schaffer, who re-teams with longtime collaborator Andy Samberg. Samberg voices Dale, with John Mulaney filling the shoes of Chip. In a world where cartoons live alongside humans a la ‘Roger Rabbit,’ the chipmunk duo, as opposed to being voiced and drawn for the “Rescue Rangers” cartoon series on which this film is based, were in fact actors on the show. When a former co-star goes missing, the two of them try to recapture the glory days by heading off to the rescue. Follow The ThawedCast: Conversations About Animation: twitter.com/thawedcast and instagram.com/thawedcast.   instagram.com/ayeedeezy, instagram.com/philipehlke. Visit thawedcast.com

The ThawedCast pt. 3

Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022)

Jodi, Alex and Philip celebrate the 100th edition of the ThawedCast with a discussion of the musical 'Hamilton,' written, composed by and starring Lin-Manuel Miranda as seen on Disney Plus. This breakout musical and its dynamite cast made history with the show's popularity following its 2015 Broadway debut. The original cast was filmed in June 2016 with an eventual July 3, 2020 release date. This stage depiction of events surrounding the founding of the United States provided a significant surge in subscribers to Disney's new streaming service. Miranda's powerful songwriting and the resounding pathos of his characters create an experience audiences simply couldn't get enough of. Fortunately, this experience is now something viewers can easily enjoy in their own home--a rarity for Broadway musicals. Follow The ThawedCast: Conversations About Animation: twitter.com/thawedcast and instagram.com/thawedcast.  instagram.com/jodipolasky,  instagram.com/ayeedeezy, instagram.com/philipehlke. Visit thawedcast.com

Hamilton

Philip, Alex, and Bridget review the latest season of "Stranger Things," which saw its fourth season debut on Netflix on May 27, 2022. It's 1986, and Will, Eleven, Joyce and Jonathan have moved from Hawkins to California. Eleven has difficulty adapting to the new environment. A new threat has awakened in Hawkins, and the leader of the school Dungeons and Dragons club is implicated in an apparent murder. Dustin, Mike, and Lucas get caught up in the new terror infecting Hawkins and must call upon Eleven to assist. Meanwhile, Joyce discovers Hopper is still alive and travels to Alaska to pay a ransom. Follow The ThawedCast: Conversations About Animation: twitter.com/thawedcast and instagram.com/thawedcast.   instagram.com/ayeedeezy, instagram.com/elysiumskyy, instagram.com/philipehlke. Visit thawedcast.com ǝpᴉs ɹǝɥʇo ǝɥʇ uo noʎ ǝǝs

Stranger Things (Season 4)

Philip and Bridget review the latest theatrical film from Dreamworks Animation, 'The Bad Guys' featuring the directorial debut of Pierre Perifel. This comical caper is based on the graphic novel series by Andrew Blabey of the same name, which first saw publication in 2015 and is ongoing as of 2022. The film stars Sam Rockwell as Mr. Wolf or simply "Wolf," who leads a gang of anthropomorphic predators who stage various heists and robberies in a world populated mostly by humans who fear and despise--but are no match for--the Bad Guys. After a high-profile heist goes bust, the gang's ultimate adversary, Governor Diane Foxington, chooses to give them a chance to prove they can change, but are the Bad Guys capable of letting go of their villainous ways? Follow The ThawedCast: Conversations About Animation: twitter.com/thawedcast and instagram.com/thawedcast.   instagram.com/bridget5246, instagram.com/elysiumskyy, instagram.com/philipehlke. Visit thawedcast.com

The Bad Guys

Alex, Bridget and Philip discuss 2015's 'The Good Dinosaur' from Pixar Animation Studios. This film was the directorial debut of Peter Sohn, and the second Pixar film release of its year following 'Inside Out.' While it underperformed at the box office, it was a stunning technical achievement in combining Pixar stylization with hyper-realistic environments and physics simulations. The film is set in an alternate reality where humans and dinosaurs co-exist and possess similar intelligence. The dinosaur protagonist, Arlo, is the smallest member of his family and struggles to keep up with chores. He eventually gets separated from his father when the two of them attempt to track down a critter who has been stealing their food. Severely lost following a bad thunderstorm, Arlo finds the critter, a human boy, and the two attempt to make their way back to the dinosaurs' farm. Article via SlashFilm: https://www.slashfilm.com/540349/making-of-the-good-dinosaur/ 
Follow The ThawedCast: Conversations About Animation: twitter.com/thawedcast and instagram.com/thawedcast. instagram.com/ayeedeezy, instagram.com/elysiumskyy, instagram.com/bridget5246, instagram.com/philipehlke. Visit thawedcast.com

The Good Dinosaur

Philip and Bridget discuss 'Inside Out,' directed by Pete Docter and the first of two films released by Pixar Animation Studios in 2015. 'Inside Out' imagines a world inside the human mind. We spend the 95-minute runtime getting to know the world inside the 11-year-old Riley's head. After giving us a look inside the world of anthropomorphic toys, bugs, fish, cars, robots and rats, this film goes as abstract as you can get by identifying five core emotions--Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust, with each given distinct voices and personalities. Riley's family has just moved from Minnesota to San Francisco, and it's a huge adjustment for her. These five emotions must deal with the fallout of one of the most difficult hurdles a child can endure: entering a brand-new middle school. 
Some articles: https://www.ign.com/articles/2015/11/02/inside-out-director-reveals-emotions-that-almost-made-the-cut
https://www.slashfilm.com/537898/inside-out-director-interview/
https://www.mercurynews.com/2015/06/16/director-pete-docter-why-inside-out-almost-didnt-get-made/
Follow The ThawedCast: Conversations About Animation: twitter.com/thawedcast and instagram.com/thawedcast. instagram.com/bridget5246, instagram.com/philipehlke. Visit thawedcast.com

Inside Out

The ThawedCast takes a journey back to 1982 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of 'TRON' from Walt Disney Pictures. Jodi, Alex, and Philip share their thoughts and varying degrees of enthusiasm for the film, which delivers a truly unique visual experience whose lack of direct imitators perhaps illustrates its mixed reception amongst moviegoers upon its release. Despite a poor box office performance relative to a sizable budget, 'TRON' would spawn multiple successful arcade and home console video games--an appropriate consolation for this video game-themed film. Perhaps the main reason for 'TRON''s uniqueness is its pioneering use of computer graphics. Primarily set inside a 1980s computer system, the rogue Master Control Program is on a quest for world domination and must be stopped by genius programmer Kevin Flynn and his colleagues. First they must free the security program, TRON, who holds the key to ward off the cancerous proliferation of the evil MCP. Follow The ThawedCast: Conversations About Animation: twitter.com/thawedcast and instagram.com/thawedcast.  instagram.com/jodipolasky,  instagram.com/ayeedeezy, instagram.com/philipehlke. Visit thawedcast.com 
End of line.

TRON

Philip and Bridget discuss the long-awaited sequel to the 1993 Halloween classic 'Hocus Pocus'. 'Hocus Pocus 2' is now streaming on Disney+ and features the return of Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy to their iconic comedy trio of seventeenth-century witches from Salem. This time they are awoken by a pair of teenage girls who have unknowingly been supplied a notorious black-flame candle for use in their Halloween good luck ritual-gone-bad. Now the witches are once again on the loose and ready to wreak all kinds of musical havoc upon Salem.
Follow The ThawedCast: Conversations About Animation: twitter.com/thawedcast and instagram.com/thawedcast. instagram.com/bridget5246, instagram.com/philipehlke. Visit thawedcast.com

Hocus Pocus 2

Alex, Heather and Philip review the 2003 animated TV special, 'Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktakular' from Mainframe Entertainment. The Canadian studio behind classic kids' shows like 'ReBoot' and 'Beast Wars' obtained the TV rights to Jill Thompson's 'Scary Godmother' book series in the late nineties. They eventually produced two hour-long TV specials that aired in the United States on Cartoon Network. The first 'Scary Godmother' follows a group of five kids on Halloween; one of whom is the young cousin of the mischievous Jimmy. Jimmy concocts a plan to scare his cousin Hannah so that she'll agree to stay home while the older kids stay out. She is deathly scared of monsters, so they stage a monster encounter in an abandoned house. Hannah is rescued and brought to the "Fright Side" by Scary Godmother, a kindly witch who watches over children on Halloween. Hannah learns to overcome her fears and even has a chance to get back at her pranksters with some real spooky magic. Follow The ThawedCast: Conversations About Animation: twitter.com/thawedcast and instagram.com/thawedcast.  instagram.com/southernrosecosplay, instagram.com/ayeedeezy, instagram.com/philipehlke. Visit thawedcast.com

Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktakular

Alex, Philip and Bridget put out an APB on 'Monster House' from 2003, directed by Gil Kenan, about a villainous house that eats people (and dogs)! This edgy horror-comedy for kids is the perfect balance of kid-friendly intrigue and clever, tongue-in-cheek dialogue from the animation house behind 'The Polar Express.' Having made the tonal shift from Christmas to Halloween, Robert Zemeckis' ImageMovers adopted a more cartoonish style for their characters in a rare departure for the performance-capture specialists. This arguably gives 'Monster House' a more ageless quality a la classic Tim Burton or Henry Selick stop motion. Can DJ, Chowder, and Jenny defeat the ultimate haunted house before it devours more victims? They key (literally) lies in one of the best fake-out deaths (in a movie that also has one of the best anatomical jokes) ever put to film. Follow The ThawedCast: Conversations About Animation: twitter.com/thawedcast and instagram.com/thawedcast. instagram.com/ayeedeezy, instagram.com/elysiumskyy, instagram.com/bridget5246, instagram.com/philipehlke. Visit thawedcast.com

Thawedcast pt. 3

Monster House

Bridget, Alex and Philip have a general chat about animation, entertainment and pop culture news and topics. Come hang with the ThawedCast in this laid-back episode containing everything from the upcoming 'Super Mario Bros.' movie to celebrity encounters. Also each co-host has his or her own Mandela-effect moment, so there's also that. Follow The ThawedCast: Conversations About Animation: twitter.com/thawedcast and instagram.com/thawedcast. instagram.com/ayeedeezy, instagram.com/bridget5246, instagram.com/philipehlke. Visit thawedcast.com

ThawedChat: Off the Air and Off Our Meds

Philip, Bridget and Alex discuss 'Wendell & Wild' from 'Coraline' and 'Nightmare Before Christmas' director Henry Selick. Released October 2022 on Netflix, the film stars Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele respectively as the eponymous duo Wendell and Wild, two mischievous demons in the service of arch-demon Buffalo Belzer. The film was originally conceived by Henry Selick with additional writing contribution by Jordan Peele, who also produced the film. The film follows Kat, voiced by Lyric Ross, a troubled 13-year-old who is enrolled in a Catholic boarding school after spending time in juvenile detention. The school is one of the few remaining establishments in the cursed town of Rust Bank, which is now mostly uninhabited. The sinister family responsible for Rust Bank's woes has nearly achieved their goal of breaking ground on a new prison, but when Kat discovers her connection to the demons Wendell and Wild, the town's fate takes a surprising turn, and now the forces of the underworld have a major role to play. Can Wendell and Wild achieve their dream of escaping Belzer and building their Dream Faire? Can the tortured Kat ever truly find home? Follow The ThawedCast: Conversations About Animation: twitter.com/thawedcast and instagram.com/thawedcast. instagram.com/ayeedeezy, instagram.com/bridget5246, instagram.com/philipehlke. Visit thawedcast.com

Wendell & Wild

Philip and Bridget discuss ‘Zootopia+’ from Walt Disney Animation Studios, the six-part anthology set in the world of the film ‘Zootopia’ from 2016. Other topics in this this episode include ‘Grogu and the Dust Bunnies’ from Lucasfilm and Studio Ghibli, Taylor Swift’s ‘Midnights,’ and future ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ spin-offs. Follow The ThawedCast: Conversations About Animation: twitter.com/thawedcast and instagram.com/thawedcast. instagram.com/bridget5246, instagram.com/philipehlke. Visit thawedcast.com

Zootopia+

Jodi, Bridget, and Philip discuss the seminal 2007 Disney animated/live-action hybrid 'Enchanted,' from director Kevin Lima. This film would usher in the post-Rennaissance era of the Disney Princess which saw a soft revival with 'The Princess and the Frog' and truly exploded with CGI hits like 'Tangled' and 'Frozen.' Amy Adams portrays Giselle, a beautiful princess hidden away in the countryside of the kingdom of Andalasia. With a prologue lifted mostly from 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,' an evil queen desperate for power refuses to allow her stepson Prince Edward's marriage to Giselle to go through. Giselle is banished to another realm and finds herself in 2007 New York City, where she meets and befriends Patrick Dempsey's Robert and his daughter, Morgan. Entrenched in his own busy lifestyle, Robert has no time for Giselle and her fantasies but somehow can't help but be drawn to her. When Giselle is followed to New York by Edward and the Queen's henchman, a plot ensues that could spell a dire fate for Giselle and everyone around her. Follow The ThawedCast: Conversations About Animation: twitter.com/thawedcast and instagram.com/thawedcast.  instagram.com/jodipolasky,  instagram.com/bridget5246, instagram.com/philipehlke. Visit thawedcast.com