How's It Hold Up?

Sequels to animated films have a generally bad reputation, which is probably mostly due to the wealth of cheap sequels made in the 90s and early 2000s, both for Disney and non-Disney properties. And while it's true that few if any of these sequels ever manage to surpass the original, certainly some of them prove to be worthwhile in their own right. Is this movie, made a decade-and-a-half after the original, by a completely different team and with almost none of the original voice cast, one of those worthwhile sequels? Listen to find out!

The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

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Kool Kats Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

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Sometimes a simple story with a fun execution is really all it takes to make something fun. That is, at least, what this short seems to be going for, with a standard Romeo/Juliet story of warring kingdoms and star-crossed lovers, but with an execution involving anthropomorphic instruments and artillery that shoots music notes. Does this all come together admirably, or does it end up falling apart? Listen to find out!

The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

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Kool Kats Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

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(Spoiler Section Length - 6min 44sec)

We start our movies this year with one directed by Isao Takahata! This one's a comedic slice-of-life involving a young girl and her weird life of fighting cats, yakuza, and separated parents. It's a weird one to be sure, but in the end, is it any good?

The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

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Kool Kats Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

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We're back for 2024, starting off strong with a cartoon that a certain co-host watched SO MUCH as a child. It's a Mickey Mouse cartoon where he goes on a pesticide-fueled drug trip and gets terrorized (along with Pluto) by bugs. So many parts of it are stuck forever in Danika's head, but does that make it good? Does this cartoon from her youth hold up so many years later? Listen to find out!

The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

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Kool Kats Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

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We end our 2024 Holliganza with another nostalgic classic - a 1980's claymation christmas special starring talking dinosaurs and The California Raisins. Due to the latter, one could uncharitably call the special a glorified commercial, but given the relatively small amount of screentime they receive, we would hesitate to agree. Also their version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is one of the best, so who can complain. But that song aside, how are the others, and how is the animation, and how are our hosts between the anthology segments? Listen to find out!

The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

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Kool Kats Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

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Sometimes when you dive into your nostalgic past, you find horrors lying in the deep. Media that you know you enjoyed and watched repeatedly, yet looking at it now you wonder how. Sometimes those piece of media are so bad that youtubers who make a career out of reviewing bad pieces of media cover it. Today, we watch The Christmas Tree.

The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

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Kool Kats Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

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It's time for Holliganza 2023! We're starting off strong... in that this is a movie that one of our cohosts has very strong feelings toward. Are they good feelings? Is this Adam Sandler comedy combined with a Hannukah holiday tale enjoyable? Listen to find out!

The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

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Kool Kats Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

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Popeye is back and he's leading his own band now! Unfortunately for him, so is Bluto... right in the neighboring room. This is another music-focused Popeye short, though it's not a musical like last time. Does it hold its own among the shorts we've watched from 1935? Listen to find out!

The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

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Kool Kats Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

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(Spoiler Section Length - 16min 34sec)

Sometimes there's a movie from your childhood that you really loved, but you're worried about rewatching, because you know the general consensus on the film is that it's no good. And then you watch the film, and you find that the critics aren't exactly wrong, but you still like the messy movie anyway. And then you have to really examine that, figure out if it's just nostalgia talking, or if there truly are positives within the film, despite its flaws. Join us as we go on that journey and ultimately figure out: does Rock-A-Doodle hold up?

The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

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Kool Kats Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

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One thing that hasn't been brought up much when we discuss old cartoon shorts is the music, especially by way of theme songs. They've existed, but we have yet to truly hear some of the most iconic, such as the Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies themes. Well today marks the first time we get to hear one of them, though not serving as a theme song yet. Instead it's sung by characters in the short, and if you've ever watched classic Warner cartoons, hearing it will bring a smile to your face. But is the actual cartoon fun to watch, too? Listen to find out!

The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Kool Kats Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

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