History Honeys

It's part 3 of our Disney series. Disney-MGM Studios opened in 1989, dedicated to the art, craft, and magic of the movies. Today it has a new name and new focus. Alaina teaches us about how the park came to be and how it transitioned. How does creativity shine through a web of license agreements and legal challenges? If the working studios were so needed at the time, why weren't they sustainable? How important is a consistency of experience in planning a park?

Links!

• Opening map brochure

As we mentioned in the last episode, we spent the weekend at the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo! Here's an account of what we did, what we bought, and who we met during the show! Don't forget to look at the links below for a bunch of stuff we talk about:

• Album of pictures we took

The Space Race was contested by governments and scientists, but the first explorers were a cadre of stray dogs from the streets of Moscow. These dogs sit at the intersection of mid-century optimism, political posturing, and questionable ethics. 

Links!

• A Chapter on Laika's pop culture memory

In 1899 two newspaper giants were fighting for control of the New York readership, and tried to squeeze their distributors for an extra advantage. Those distributors were self-employed child laborers, who organized themselves and halted the entire distribution system until their demands were met. This drama, a nearly forgotten footnote in US labor history, was dramatized in a commercial flop of a film, and re-dramatized in a successful Broadway musical. Can a success set a precedent if it's forgotten? Does an adaptation have a duty to be accurate; and what if the facts are lost? How can an unpopular work become more sucessful after being changed for the worse?

Links!

• Newsies (1992)

Fine art has been carefully curated with standard and expectations passed down through the generations with change coming at a glacial pace. Then, in the 1860s, a set of conditions and a cadre of artists combined to make new art and more. How can a movement be defined without any set membership, ideology, or aesthetic? Is there a place for hierarchy in paining? What the heck is Degas' whole deal?

Links!

• Musée d'Orsay: The Impressionist Gallery

Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Send a link to someone you know and tell them what you enjoy about History Honeys. Rate and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever other platform you use to hear us. It helps so very much and we do appreciate it. You can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or by emailing us at historyhoneyspodcast at gmail. The episode 24 prompt is: favorite play (or musical) based on a historical event!

In his short life, Jim Henson re-invented an art form, taught millions to read, and entertained the world. His life, career, and philosophy were even broader than that. Why does a work's intended audience devalue its creativity? How do you escape your image to break new ground? How would you make a children's show to end war? Happy Birthday, Alaina!

Links!

• Pierre the Rat

Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Send a link to someone you know and tell them what you enjoy about History Honeys. Rate and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever other platform you use to hear us. It helps so very much and we do appreciate it. You can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or by emailing us at historyhoneyspodcast at gmail. The episode 23 prompt is: favorite painting!

On Christmas Eve, 1913, in the city of Calumet, 73 people died in a panicked stampede, crushed under each other's weight in a narrow staircase. It remains the largest mass murder in Michigan history. But, this is only one episode inside a greater story about the fight for collective action. How much money is it worth to maintain power? Are wins counted in the short term, or the long term? Will Alaina get a puppy for her birthday?

Links!

• General Abbey's telegram to Governor Ferris

Happy Valentine's Day! In this holiday special, Alaina talks about the most romantic thing she knows: gruesome murder. How are movie gangsters different from the real guys? Why can't rival operations just get along? Who actually did the dang thing, anyway?

Links:

• Historical image of the site

Happy Valentine's Day! In this holiday special, Alaina talks about the most romantic thing she knows: gruesome murder. How are movie gangsters different from the real guys? Why can't rival operations just get along? Who actually did the dang thing, anyway?

Links:

• Historical image of the site

Face front, True Believers! Grant takes us through the life and career of every nerd's grandpa, Stan Lee! From humble beginnings as a teenage office assistant, to luminary of the field, to midlife crisis, to global celebrity! His talent, bluster, and talent for bluster carried him through it all. Who deserves credit for a collaboration? Which characters were really being sold? What is the value of a figurehead that has no contact with the rest of the ship? Excelsior!

Links!

• Excelsior!: The Amazing Life of Stan Lee