“Is this thing on?” Taking a brief pause in the Renaissance Era, film journalist Ben Travis and animation academic Sam Summers come to you LIVE from the London Podcast Festival 2022 to present a special live-action (in more ways than one) class on 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Not only did it give Ben an excuse to finally watch the film for the first time, but it brought us face-to-face with Disniversity students at last – talking through Robert Zemeckis’ mind-blowing, medium-blending favourite. Get ready for a deep-dive into all the Disney cameos, explorations of the film’s cartoonish reality, the adorable wounded hearts of Roger Rabbit and Eddie Valiant, the terror of Judge Doom, the politics of Jessica Rabbit, and the very, very different novel it was drawn from. Plus, Sam gives an epic recap of the entire Disney story so far, and the audience delivers some very helpful sing-alongs. Regular class resumes next time!

Huge thanks to everyone who attended the show, and to Kings Place for hosting.

Next up: Beauty & The Beast

Disniversity is brought to you by Ben Travis (@benstravis) and Sam Summers (@samsummers0), with art by Olly Gibbs and music by Nafets. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @disniversity. This podcast is not affiliated with Disney.

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Welcome to Disniversity, the podcast crash course through the history of Disney’s animated classics, with film journalist Ben Travis and animation academic Dr. Sam Summers. Each week, we’ll be moving forward in time through the legendary Walt Disney Animation Studios catalogue, watching every feature film in chronological order – from Snow White to Encanto. Watch along with us, and listen as we explore each film’s historical context, advances in animation and lasting legacy, and talk about how they stand up today.