The Blob Show!

Charley and Tony creep up on the holiday season with versions of Hansel and Gretel by three different masters of stop-motion animation.  We compare and contrast Ray Harryhausen's THE STORY OF 'HANSEL AND GRETEL' from 1951, Lotte Reiniger's HÄNSEL AND GRETEL from 1954, and Tim Burton's Disney Channel Halloween special HANSEL AND GRETEL from 1983.  

Charley kicks off the Christmas season with a telling of the classic folktale The Gingerbread Man.  Consider this a teaser for an episode about the much-maligned Robert Altman legal thriller that we'll hopefully cover in 2030.  We also discuss L. Frank Baum's JOHN DOUGH AND THE CHERUB and the different--now lost-- film iterations of the tale.  John Dough may be cinema's first Gingerbread Man, tying it all back into our comprehensive Oz coverage here at The Blob Show.  What I wouldn't give to have seen FAIRYLOGUE AND RADIO-PLAYS (1908).

Charley and Tony enjoy Thanksgiving weekend with some anthropomorphic houses.  We compare Vladimir Popov's animated short from 1976, GNOME LEFT HOME (O tom, kak gnom pokinul dom, О том, как гном покинул дом) with Gil Kenan's 2006 animated feature MONSTER HOUSE.  We also introduce a few new games to the world including family favorites STEP ON and GET OFF MY LAWN.

Charley and Tony are visited by very special guest and musical connoisseur Auntie Kara to discuss Tom Hooper's Andrew Lloyd Webber's T.S. Eliot's CATS.  Apropos of the subject matter, we apologize for being plagued by dogs during the recording.

This movie stars Francesca Hayward, Judi Dench, Idris Elba, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, James Corden, Jennifer Hudson, Jason Derulo, Rebel Wilson and anyone else you want to hashtag here for potential search results.  They play Jellicle cats.

Charley wanted to mix it up with some special coverage of the watercolor paintings of John James Audubon.  In this episode we discuss the following birds within plates 271-277, primarily water fowl.

271. Frigate Pelican, or Man-of-War

272. Richardson's Jager, or Parasitic Jager

273. Cayenne Tern, or Royal Tern

274. Semipalmated Snipe, or Willet

275. Noddy Tern

276. King Duck, or King Eider

277. Hutchins's Barnacle Goose

A double-dose of dem bones!  This week Charley and Tony discuss shared community in the 2001 b-movie parody THE LOST SKELETON OF CADAVRA (d. Larry Blamire) and tip our hats to our Irish audience by covering the 2018 short film THE THING AT 2:37 (d. Ray Sullivan).

Welcome to MUMMY TALK.  It's Imhotep v. Harold as Charley and Tony compare and contrast the O.G. DCOM Under Wraps (d. Greg Beeman) with Stephen Sommers's adventure reboot, The Mummy.  While it's not explicitly stated, there is a strong, repeated suggestion that a refrigerator makes the best sarcophagus.  

Disney Channel Original Movie, Brandan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, Ghost, Mummy Dust, Universal Monsters

It's our most fast-and-loose episode yet: Irresponsible to our listeners because we had no gameplan, irresponsible to my family because my 4-year-old watched Stanley Kubrick's THE SHINING!  In my defense, it was a cable television edit.  Also in my defense it was 100% my wife's responsibility.  We also get closer than ever to having an actual episode about THE MUMMY (1999). 

Charley watches the 1922 silent F.W. Murnau vampire epic NOSFERATU and requests dad be silent as well.  That's right: Charley takes the reins for this unscripted/unrehearsed/mostly-unedited (sorry!) Halloween extra.  Silent German cinema not your thing?  Hopefully eating Fun Dip into the microphone is!  

We hope you enjoy this extended Addams Family episode where Charley and Tony discuss the 1991 Barry Sonnenfeld film (starring Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd and Christina Ricci) as well as the three Nintendo Entertainment System games that feature the family: FESTER'S QUEST (1989), THE ADDAMS FAMILY (1992), and THE ADDAMS FAMILY: PUGSLEY'S SCAVENGER HUNT (1993).  Say what you want to say and let us know who you think won the Addams Family Draft!