We Pod A Zoo

This week, in a very experimental We Pod A Zoo, comedian Maddy Gross joins the show without having seen the 2011 film We Bought A Zoo and attempts to guess its entire plot based solely on what they've gleaned from memes and tweets. What do they get shockingly right? What do they get embarrassingly wrong? What do they ultimately think of the film when it comes time to sit through it? And what the hell is a Zoo Ghost?

You can find Maddy on twitter and instagram.

The intro and outro music was written by R.T. Koeberl, and the intro vocals are by Sidney Gish.

You can find more info about the Dartmoor Zoo on their website.

Reid Pope joins the pod this week to dissect We Bought A Zoo (2011) from a queer perspective. Is anything about this film explicitly or implicitly gay? Are any of the cast and crew (besides, obviously, trans icon ScarJo)? Can this film enter the gay canon? Please excuse the 10-minute rabbit hole where we furiously e-stalk a background actor to see if her instagram hints at her sexuality.

You can find Reid on twitter and instagram.

You can find Sam Fox on instagram.

The intro and outro music was written by R.T. Koeberl, and the intro vocals are by Sidney Gish.

You can find more info about the Dartmoor Zoo on their website.

Actor and comedian Alex Dobrenko joins us today to talk about his relationship with We Bought A Zoo (2011), fatherhood, families, and life. In an episode that rapidly evolves into deeper conversations on what it means to learn from your parents without becoming them, and how to prepare for your first child, Alex maps the anxieties of Benjamin's parenthood onto his own experiences. What is selfish as a parent? What does “buying a zoo” mean in real life? What should Alex name his son? This is truly a We Pod A Zoo unlike any other.

You can find Alex on twitter.

The intro and outro music was written by R.T. Koeberl, and the intro vocals are by Sidney Gish.

You can find more info about the Dartmoor Zoo on their website.

This week, Ena Da joins the show to talk about all the ways We Bought A Zoo fails its female characters. Why are the male characters so much more developed? Why do so many women’s storylines revolve around men? Does the movie pass the Bechdel Test? How many of the animals are female??? We Bought A Zoo (2011) is decidedly not a feminist masterpiece.

You can find Ena on instagram.

The intro music was written by R.T. Koeberl, and the intro vocals are by Sidney Gish. Outro music for this episode is “Anemone Song” by Ena Da.

You can find more info about the Dartmoor Zoo on their website.

This week, in the first episode of 2021, we have at long last delivered on what the people have been demanding: a definitive ranking of every animal that appears in the 2011 film We Bought A Zoo. Who will come out on top? Who will sneak into the top 5? How will we rank Solomon, Buster, Spar, and the Box of Snakes? How exciting!

If you’d like to rank the animals yourself, you can copy the blank spreadsheet template from here!

You can find Sarah and Zach’s Definitive Ranking (ordered from worst animal to best) here, but we recommend you check it out after the episode if you want to avoid spoilers.

You can find Sarah on twitter.

The intro and outro music was written by R.T. Koeberl, and the intro vocals are by Sidney Gish.

You can find more info about the Dartmoor Zoo on their website.

This week, actor Jared Gilman gets cancelled for not caring enough about animals. Just kidding. But he's on thin ice. Listen for Jared's animal-specific insights into the filming of Moonrise Kingdom (2012), his thoughts on if the couples of We Bought A Zoo (2011) are drift-compatible, and how to cast the film if it had been directed by David Lynch. Also, like, seriously, he is on such thin ice.

You can find Jared on twitter.

The intro and outro music was written by R.T. Koeberl, and the intro vocals are by Sidney Gish.

You can find more info about the Dartmoor Zoo on their website.

This week, Dana Schwartz (with special guest Beetlejuice the cat) pods a zoo to talk about the symbolism of the 2011 film We Bought A Zoo. Can it be read as an allegory for Noah's Ark? What would have made the imagery of the Dead Wife™ land harder? And, most importantly, will a housecat respond to chuffing?

You can find Dana on twitter.

The intro and outro music was written by R.T. Koeberl, and the intro vocals are by Sidney Gish.

You can find more info about the Dartmoor Zoo on their website.

Join Zach and guest Anna Campion as they nitpick their way through the structure and pacing of We Bought A Zoo. Does this movie need to be 2 hours long? How is it so good at setting up and then immediately resolving tension? What fixes could have been made along the way? Did you know that despite literally being siblings, Rosie and Dylan barely speak to each other throughout the entire film? Weird! And no, the irony of the episode that's about the pacing issues of the movie being the longest single episode so far is not lost.

You can find Anna and her podcast Oh No! on twitter.

The intro and outro music was written by R.T. Koeberl, and the intro vocals are by Sidney Gish.

You can find more info about the Dartmoor Zoo on their website.

In the single most revelatory episode of the podcast so far, Zach and Amar dive deep into the artwork of We Bought A Zoo’s designated Moody Kid With A Bowl Cut: Dylan Mee. Along the way, we make some incredible discoveries about cephalopods, Bob Marley, Charles Manson, and perhaps the true meaning of the film itself. Make sure you’re sitting down for the last few minutes of this one.

You can follow along with Zach and Amar in this google doc as they deliver a guided analysis of Dylan’s art.

You can find Amar on twitter.

The intro and outro music was written by R.T. Koeberl, and the intro vocals are by Sidney Gish.

You can find more info about the Dartmoor Zoo on their website.

In the single most hostile episode of the show so far, animator Jonni Phillips reveals why she hates almost everything about We Bought A Zoo, and undertakes the brave adventure of how to make it better. Mostly she bullies me, and then we get angry at Charlie Kaufman and Zootopia.

You can find Jonni on twitter and patreon.

The intro and outro music was written by R.T. Koeberl, and the intro vocals are by Sidney Gish.

You can find more info about the Dartmoor Zoo on their website.