The School of Movies Archive

[School of Movies 2016]

The Disney shows return. Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits is back to talk us through the difficult 1960s period for Walt Disney Studios.

Guest:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

[School of Movies 2015]

The Disney shows continue with Lady and the Tramp and Sleeping Beauty, guest starring Daniel Floyd once again.

These were the last gasps for ink and paint animation. If you look at the lustrous colours and brush strokes you will see a distinct difference from the more penciled xerox process that ran from 101 Dalmatians all the way up to The Little Mermaid. 

So it's a charming little story about a dog that gets ignored over a new baby and falls in with a vagrant, and a beautiful girl who sings to owls, says 18 lines and then falls asleep causing the social and economic upheaval of an entire kingdom. 

But delve deeper and the America portrayed in Lady is a very personal idealized one to Walt himself, and Sleeping Beauty was an immense risk tied up in the making of the parks that was one of the most successful movies of the year, yet still failed to meet its expectations. 

If you love these shows support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/alexandershaw

Guest:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

[School of Movies 2015]

The Disney shows continue with parts 12 & 13. Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits joins us once again to discuss the much-needed success of Cinderella for cementing Disney as more than just a one-hit wonder. Following this we delve into the absurd ramblings of Lewis Carol to talk about Alice in Wonderland.

According to the Disney of the early 1950s royals will chase you down on black horses in the middle of the night, base the future of their family upon footwear, play croquet with live animals, hold complex legal disputes over jam tarts and cut your head off for the slightest offense. Either way don’t go anywhere near Buckingham palace.

If you love these shows support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/alexandershaw 

Guest:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

[School of Movies 2015]

Guest:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

The Disney specials continue with parts 4 & 5 in a double bill. Dumbo and Bambi were two differing attempts from the studio to gain a success after the disappointing receptions to Pinocchio and Fantasia. Dumbo cost a lot less to make and Bambi was all about the artistry and portrayal of real animals. Find out in this episode if the elephant picture flew and how well the realism of the animals sat with jugs of syrupy cuteness. 

Of course there’s also the matter of the mother’s of these two creatures. One gets locked up and deemed insane, the other gets shot dead by the most terrifying monster of all. Both of these moments have a profound effect on what we take away from the viewing experience.

Guest:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

[School of Movies 2015]

The first show under the new name is the third of the Disney animated classics. Over the next year we’re going to cover every single one of these. Some in fairly short order, others in extensive detail, and Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits is with us every step of the way.

This one was a big risk for Disney. Snow White did insanely well, Pinocchio cost $2.2 million but only made one million back in 1940, their third had to cement the studio as more than just a flash in the pan success. Walt saw it as a transcending of the cinematic experience, and a project that could be added to and built upon for years. Instead it bored, bemused and bewildered audiences and took decades to become the revered classic it now stands at.

We pull no punches in delivering our personal takes on the many sections of this movie.

Guest

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

[Digital Drift 2015]

The Disney shows continue with Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits returning to talk about this little, wooden boy. 

If you love these shows support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/alexandershaw

Guest:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

[Digital Drift 2015]

Digital Drift Does Disney.

This is the first of a series of podcasts covering the full history of Disney’s animated classics. Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits is with us every step of the way.

It is without question that animated cinematic features throughout the 20th Century were defined by this company. Learn more about the studio, the animators and how the animation techniques changed with the time, as well as what the world was doing when each film was released. Also find out which films we love, which ones we don’t and more importantly, why.

This first one, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was their pilot of sorts. A proof of concept that also happens to be the perfect representation of a fairy-tale told absolutely straight with 1930s sensibilities and the tiniest, most naive children in mind. Alex isn’t a huge fan, but he does like one character rather a lot. Dan is filled with admiration for how they could achieve this excellence first time, simply as part of their learning process. 

Since this is an unabashed analysis that pulls no punches, bad language is used but it is bleeped for the benefit of children. 

Guest:

Daniel Floyd of Extra Credits

[Digital Drift 2015]

With the new Fant4stic movie emerging onto the big screen we take a look back on the 2005 version and its 2007 sequel. Were they really all that bad? More to the point, taking the unreleased 1994 Roger Corman version into account, are ALL Fantastic Four movies simply an exercise in keeping the license going rather than in making a superhero family movie that people will love?

This was the last episode of Digital Drift. We rebranded with School of Movies to better explain what we do.

[Digital Drift 2015]

Our Marvel shows continue with this tiny treasure of a movie. For the best experience combine this with our School of Movies YouTube episode on Ant-Man and the virtue of the small. 

Guests:

James Carter of Cane and Rinse

Lorin Grieve of Year of Steam

Mike Hearn of Walter the Wicked