What the Plus

Have you ever been listening to Sebadoh and thought to yourself "wow, this song is great, I really want to know what the guy singing it thinks about the 1978 Disney live action movie The Cat from Outer Space"? Indie rock legend Lou Barlow, of Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh, the Folk Implosion, and more, joins Garrett Martin to talk about that movie and its similarities to E.T.,  as well as '70s Disney in general, the viewing habits of modern kids, and the two new records he released this spring: Dinosaur Jr.'s Sweep It Into Space, and his own solo album Reason to Live.

Avengers Campus, Disney's first American theme park land based on Marvel's superheroes, is now open at Disney California Adventure at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. Katherine Long, a writer and intern at Paste Magazine, attended the media event last week, and joins Garrett Martin to talk about her experiences there and what people can expect from the new land.

In 1992 the family sitcom Dinosaurs aired a "very special episode" that was a very thinly veiled allegory for marijuana. The show ultimately tries to play it off like a parody of "very special episodes," but before it gets to that point it repeats some of the same decades-old stereotypes that had long been used to stigmatize cannabis. Brian "Box" Brown, the Eisner Award-winning cartoonist who has documented the lives of Andre the Giant and Andy Kaufman, and who detailed the roots of the War on Drugs in Cannabis: The Illegalization of Weed in America, joins Garrett Martin to discuss "A New Leaf" and how it embraces the racist history of anti-cannabis propaganda.

This week host Garrett Martin talks about a recent trip to Disney World and how its pandemic precautions have changed since last fall. Did he feel safe? Did he have a good time? Did he hit up as many bars as he could during his four days there? You definitely already know the answer to that one. Check out his Disney World report from May, 2021.

By the mid '90s weekday afternoon cartoons had gotten serious. Case in point: Gargoyles, the cult favorite show that was unusually mature for the Disney Afternoon. Paste Magazine's TV critic Allison Keene joins Garrett Martin to talk about the series, which was a high fantasy adventure cartoon set in the modern day and with a fair amount of lore.

Sleeping Beauty wasn't a hit when it came out in 1959. It's not as popular or critically acclaimed as movies like Snow White or Cinderella. It's probably best remembered today for its villain more than anything else. That's a bit of a shame, as it's actually perhaps the most gorgeous animated feature from Disney's classic age. Writer and critic Dia Lacina joins Garrett Martin to talk about Sleeping Beauty, what it says about the era it was made, and the beauty of its art style. 

Disneyland reopens for the first time in over a year tomorrow, so Los Angeles Times writer and theme park expert Todd Martens joins Garrett Martin to discuss The Pre-Opening Report from Disneyland, a 1955 TV special that looked at the final preparations before Disneyland's grand opening. What has changed in the park since it first opened? How has the way Disney views theme parks changed in that time? Listen to find out.

What the Plus returns soon with episodes on Sleeping Beauty, Gargoyles, the Pre-opening Report of Disneyland, and more. Here's Garrett Martin on season two, which starts later this week.

Comedian, writer and actor Brett Davis (Our Cartoon President, The Special Without Brett Davis) joins Garrett Martin to talk about Dinosaurs, the early '90s Jim Henson Productions sitcom about a family of walking, talking dinosaurs. Does it forge its own identity outside of Flintstones references, or is it just a TGIF show in a latex suit? Listen to What the Plus to find out.

One Hundred and One Dalmations first came out 60 years ago this week, and in a complete coincidence it's also the movie Maddy Myers, the Senior Games Editor at Polygon.com, wanted to talk about on What the Plus. Join Garrett Martin and Maddy as they break down this Disney classic and what it says about yesterday and today.