Once Upon A Nostalgia

WHAT?! Another episode!? Didn’t one just come out yesterday?? Yes, yes it did. In honor of this special holiday weekend we give you TWO episodes back to back!! So, for Dia de los Muertos and for our friend Jimmy, we discuss “Coco” from 2017. In the beginning of the episode we make a BIG announcement about the future of this podcast. It was a big decision, but we think the time has come. We both love this movie SO much and think it is truly one of its kind. It is the first Disney/Pixar movie to truly dive deep into another culture and is from the perspective of that culture. We love the animation, the colors, the story, the touching moments, and everything else! Joel tells us his personal experiences growing up in a Mexican household and making ofrendas or visiting people in the cemetery. He also researches some other traditions in Mexico to celebrate the dead…which are pretty macabre, but also fascinating. From hidden Easter eggs, to favorite characters, we cover all the fun facts! So listen to this ~very special~ episode and enjoy!

Happy Halloweeeeeen Disney friends! And welcome to our special ~bonus~ episode! We couldn’t go another Halloween without watching one of the most classic Disney Halloween movies, “Hocus Pocus” from 1993. This movie is an annual tradition for many, including our very own Joel. Avery isn’t into scary movies, which means this movie is perfect for her! It has all the witchey qualities without being too scary. Avery doesn’t remember it very well, so part 1 is quick, but we do include some hilarious and awful Halloween jokes. In part 2, we discuss the overuse of the word “virgin” in a Disney movie, how long it would take a cat to learn English, some of the adult humor throughout the film, and a TED talk about magic and its portrayal in pop culture. We include some fun behind the scenes facts and more! So listen to this week’s spooky episode! Mwahahah

Can you believe this movie is 20 years old?! Feel old yet?? This week we are joined by a ~special guest~a coworker of Avery and former coworker of Joel. It’s been a long time coming, but he finally worked up the nerve to join us, so listen to this episode to find out who it is! Our guest finally agreed to join us, partly, because this is one of his favorite movies! This week we discuss “The Princess Diaries” from 2001. This is the movie that launched Anne Hathway’s career and we will be forever grateful for it. In Part 1 we try to remember the movie, which comes easy to our guest since he watched the movie a month before. However, Joel and Avery hadn’t seen this movie in awhile. Avery definitely had watched this many, many times, but still has trouble remembering the ending. There is discussion of what a principality really is (which this movie gets wrong!) and the problems with monarchy and our lack of knowledge of how the English government works. Joel also tells us what the original story is and the books this is based on. So join us and listen to us discuss this silly, fun teenage fantasy movie from our childhoods!

Rooby Rooby Roooooo! Herro! This week Joel chooses one of his favorite movies from his childhood as our DisNOT choice for October, “Scooby-Doo: The Movie” from 2002. I guess this counts as a spooky October movie choice? Thankfully it’s not that scary or Avery would not watch it. We both had seen this movie growing up, but Joel watched it waaaay more(and way more recently too). We both agree this is the BEST cast for a Scooby Doo movie. We love the real life/on screen couple of Sarah Michellle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. NO ONE can play Shaggy like Matthew Lillard and one of Joel’s biggest crushes growing up was Linda Cardenllini who plays Velma. *Chef’s kiss* We also love the “hidden” weed jokes throughout the whole movie, basically calling out Shaggy for being a huge stoner. Originally, this movie was going to be geared more for adults so there was going to be WAY more stoner humor, but it ended up being cut. Avery has a few critiques with the plot and storyline, but overall, enjoyed it for what it is. Joel, of course, loved it as always. So join us and listen as we laugh, analyze, and summarize Scooooooby Doooooby Doo!

*Insert Beethoven’s 5th Symphony* We did it. We finally succumbed to the pressure and agreed to watch THE SADDEST Disney movie from our childhoods. Joel did not want to watch “The Fox and the Hound” from 1981, but Avery forced him. We knew we had to do this one day and that day has come. Why Disney chose to make this a children’s movie will always be a mystery, especially once you learn about the book this is based on. We were both dreading the sadness and feels this movie gave us as children, but after watching this again as adults, we still don’t like it. However, it was not AS bad as we thought. We both remembered the movie wrong and thought worse things happened, but apparently we remembered wrong. It still was just a melancholy film that had a weird plot, weird storytelling, bad characters, and sad music. We tell each other what happy movie we will watch after watching this, we share an even sadder movie we both watched together in the theater, and bond over our horror at the original book’s story and how anyone could possibly have thought it would make a great children’s film. Anyways, watch this movie or don’t, it’s up to you, but join us and listen to our podcast because we promise we’ll make you laugh!

Hello Disney friends! Happy Monday and Happy spooooooky season! This week Joel chose a movie from his childhood he remembered as being fun, light-hearted, and a little silly….well, A Lot silly, “Jungle 2 Jungle” from 1997. If you didn’t know, this is actually a remake from a French film called “Little Indian, Big City” from 1994. Listen to this episode to learn just how similar these two movies really are. Avery couldn’t remember if she had actually seen this film, or just the trailer, but she has very few memories of it. Joel remembered some scenes clearly, like Martin Short’s character screaming inside of a car, and enjoyed this as a kid, but he isn’t sure if it will hold up today. In Part 2, we both agree this movie should stay in the 90s. It was rated the worst movie of 1997 by a reviewer, and we might agree with him. Listen to this episode to hear our review and what parts worked and what parts really didn’t work. So pull up your hiking socks as we march through this jungle of a movie and listen to this week’s podcast episode on “Jungle 2 Jungle”!

Happy Monday everyone! We hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I guess it’s Fall already, which we’ve noticed in San Diego with rainstorms, lightning, and thunder this past week. Pretty crazy! This month’s DisNOT episode was chosen by Avery and is an ultimate 90s classic! “Hook” from 1991 with Robin Williams is our choice this month. This is definitely a favorite of ours and we have seen it many, many times. Avery admits to a childhood crush she hadn’t even realized, we talk about all the surprising cameos in this movie, Avery isn’t as impressed with the sets as most people were, Joel re-enacts the Lost Boys inspirational workout song(amazing!), and we crow and say “Rufio” about a dozen times. We love this movie and cannot understand why the critics do not. It might not have done the best at the box office, but this movie will go down in nostalgic fame for us 90s kids. We love it and so should you! So join us and listen to Joel and Avery as we discuss this marvelous, magical movie!

Yes, it took us 63 episodes to finally do Mary Poppins. Hey, there are just so many amazing Disney movies we forget about the classics sometimes. We are finally here at another Disney classic, “Mary Poppins” from 1964 with Dame Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. If you have nothing to do for two hours and 19 minutes, then watch this movie and join us after for our discussion. In Part 1 we talk about some of the memories we have of this movie. We remember some scenes pretty clearly, like the chalk cartoon world or the laughing/floating scene. Avery also tells a terrible joke about Dick van Dyke and how he got his name. We also mention how every kid practiced saying “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” If you can’t say that word then you don’t love Disney. Just kidding. It is pretty crazy how many people can say it though. That and antidisestablishmentarianism. Why? Who knows. LOL. After watching the movie again we realized how much of the movie we forgot and how it really feels like a bunch of short stories mashed together into a movie. Some scenes truly didn’t add anything to the plot, but were still funny or had good music, so why not? Avery loves the “Feed the Birds” song and apparently so did Disney! It was his favorite song and was played at his memorial. As we discuss the movie we sprinkle in some fun facts, the history of the book and how the author felt about the movie, and which characters we loved and why. So buckle up and get ready for a magical adventure while you listen to “Once Upon a Nostalgia” with Avery and Joel!

Hello Disney Friends! We hope you had a wonderful weekend! This movie is very special to both Avery and Joel...I mean, who doesn’t love “The Parent Trap” from 1998 with the adorable Lindsay Lohan?! Did you know this was her very first role? Amazing. Also, how long did it take you to realize she played both twins and was not actually a twin in real life? It took us an embarrassingly long time! Haha This movie also inspired the classic combination of oreos and peanut butter. We get into a long discussion about our experiences with oreos and peanut butter. If you don’t like it, you’re wrong. We also debate on whether Lindsay Lohan is pulling off the British accent (if you’re a British person can you please tell us what you think??). We have very strong feelings about our favorite characters and opposite feelings toward Meredith. We also segue the conversation from money and happiness to weird sibling rivalry to all the adaptations this story has. There’s A LOT of different versions all over the world of this story! This episode is full of random facts, funny stories, and why we love this movie SO much! So grab some oreos and peanut butter and listen to “Once Upon a Nostalgia” with Avery and Joel.

Good day to one and all! We hope you had a lovely weekend...and say Happy Birthday to our favorite podcaster, Avery! It was her Birthday on Saturday! This week Joel chose a movie NOT from the 90s! Whaaaat?? But as you’ll hear in the episode, it was released on VHS in the 90s, and only had a moment in theaters in the 80s...so it kind of is a 90s film. “Oliver and Company” came out in 1988 and on VHS in 1996. We both LOVE this movie, but Avery wasn’t able to watch it as much as Joel. They both owned the VHS, but sadly, Avery’s tape broke and so after that she had no way of watching this movie. We both love the amazing soundtrack, the goofy characters, the adorable story, and just everything about this film. Do you know who voiced the main character, Dodger, and who sang all his songs?? The one and only Bon Jovi! No wonder the music is so good! Joel does some live action googling and researches the similarities between this movie and the story it’s based off of, Oliver Twist. We’re not sure you could really call this a version of Oliver Twist, but there are a few similarities. There are definitely some moments of questionable reality as well, besides talking animals running amuck in New York...but in the end, we still love every part. So join us and listen to us discuss “Oliver and Company”!