How's It Hold Up?

(Spoiler Section Length: 6min 13sec)

When it comes to Disney animated sequels, there's an accepted canon when it comes to which ones are half-decent and which are the bottom of the barrel. In that canon, Return of Jafar is often considered the latter, but this podcast doesn't exactly agree with that opinion. What then of Hunchback II, which is also often considered among the worst? It's often derided for how different in tone it is from the original, for how boring the plot is and for how awful the animation is. Do we agree? Is it truly the worst of the worst? Let's find out!

We've checked in once before with Friz Freleng while he's away from Warner Bros, with a Captain and the Kids short. Today we watched another short in that series and also another solo short. Is his output getting any better than his early Warner Bros days? Let's find out!!

(Spoiler Section Length: 10min 18sec)

Of all the many Disney adaptations over the years, one of the most divisive is Hunchback of Notre Dame. Lauded by many for its darker tone compared to most Disney works but derided by others for Disney-ifying the source material with additions like the gargoyles or changes like the ending, it's a work whose reputation is hard to easily quantify. So what did we think? Let's find out!

Chuck Jones is given a lot of the blame for Daffy Duck's personality shifting over the years, and I don't think it's entirely fair to lay that all upon his shoulders. That said, he is PART of the equation, and we see some signs of what Daffy would become even in this very first cartoon directed by Jones that features him. So okay, sure, it's got historical value, but is it any good for a modern viewer? Let's find out!

(Spoiler Section Length 7min 20sec)

Well we've watched the first two Digimon movies, we've watched the English Digimon Movie, so it only makes sense that we finally wrap around to watching the third Digimon film—which is actually the 3rd and 4th films, technically—so we can finish this whole Digimon saga off cleanly. And admittedly, this is the part of the English Digimon Movie that I was always most curious about, since it was the part that made the least sense and therefore seemed the most damaged by the heavy editing of the English film. So now that we've finally seen it... does it make more sense? And more importantly, is it any good? Let's find out!

She's had a... well a sometimes-good run, but Betty Boop's time in the classic cartoon theatrical shorts era is coming to a close. In this episode we look at the final Boop cartoon that we'll be covering on the podcast, and talk a little about the remaining shorts in the series. And then we answer the question of if this is a decent way for Betty to go, and whether this or the shorts that come after are worth watching. Are they? Let's find out!

When one thinks back on the era of anime localization that existed in the 90s and eary 2000s, several things come to mind: a desire to remove all Japanese cultural references. A need to never let the soundtrack be silent. A desire for extra jokes. Any and all edges sanded down, no matter how much the script must be rewritten to make it happen. And all of those issues appear in this particular film! So... is it any good? Let's find out!

At this point in our viewing of Warner Bros shorts, two classic Looney Tunes stars have fully appeared (Porky & Daffy), one is nearly arrived (Elmer Fudd) and another inches ever forward, but still eludes us. That upcoming star is of course the biggest of them all: Bugs Bunny. In these two shorts we see bits and pieces of the rabbit who will one day charm the world, but the hare in these shorts is still a far cry from that beloved character. That said, are these shorts still enjoyable in their own right? Listen to find out!

When movies in one language are brought over to another, whether through subtitles or dubbing, something is always lost, to at least some extent, even when translated with the best of intentions. But sometimes things are translated with less than good intentions, with more of an eye toward making them palatable to another audience than faithfully representing the original work. This sort of translation was especially common before the mid-to-late 2000s, and thus it should be no surprise that the first Pokemon movie was affected. We watched the English version last year so now let's compare and see... how much was lost, and how do they hold up against one another?

Remakes are a tricky thing, especially nowadays. If the original was already good, what does remaking it offer? But when the original was already an adaptation of another work, there's always the possibility that a remake could be more faithful to that work, or even just interpret it differently. Such is the case with this final Silly Symphony, which adapts a classic fable that the series had already very loosely adapted earlier in the decade. This new adaptation not only hews closer to the source material, but boasts not only more detailed animation but also color, in comparison to the original's black and white. Does this automatically make it better? Not necessarily! Let's see how this thing holds up and determine which Ugly Duckling Silly Symphony reigns supreme!