Disney Reel to Reel

*SPOILER WARNING* This film is only five years old and fairly obscure. We at DRTR encourage you to watch Belle before listening to this episode.With that out of the way, Wyatt and returning guest Frankie Sparks (@shoottheflick) hop on over to Japan to discuss this Studio Chizu anime, directed by Mamoru Hosoda.Opening Music: "Dreams from Yesteryear" by Ankari*Logo by @wayfinderart on Instagram*References:“Animation: Belle.” Issuu, Visual Effects Society, 18 Mar. 2022, https://issuu.com/visualeffectssociety/docs/vfxv_issue_21_spring_2022_complete/s/15156621.Belle. Directed by Mamoru Hosoda. Video commentary by Emi Tamaki and Mamoru Hosoda. GKIDS, 2021. Blu-Ray.JPVLIVEMUSIC. “BELLE - Lend Me Your Voice [LIVE English Version by Kylie McNeill] (The Bourbon Room 2023).” YouTube, YouTube, 10 Aug. 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuERIxrhkzQ."BELLE - A Million Miles Away [LIVE English version by Kylie McNiell] (The Bourbon Room 2023." YouTube, YouTube, 10 Aug. 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MjR2Eb-BPw.MrPloxX. “Belle Medley - Japanese & English Mix Version.” YouTube, 8 Mar. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NewGbRUW8yc.Tuttle, Brit. “Director Ron Clements Coming Out of Retirement, Returning to Disney Animation as a Mentor.” WDW News Today, WDW News Today, 13 June 2025, https://wdwnt.com/2025/06/director-ron-clements-coming-out-of-retirement-returning-to-disney-animation-as-a-mentor/.Send us Fan Mail

As we bid farewell to 2025, Wyatt and Frankie (@shoottheflick) calmly discuss the most chaotic hockey game in cartoon history.Opening Music: "Dreams from Yesteryear" by AnkariReferences:Baxter, Devon. “Disney’s ‘Hockey Homicide’ (1945).” Cartoon Research, 30 Dec. 2015, https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/disneys-hockey-homicide-1945/. Blog.Dobrovicz, Jim. “Doodles Weaver - Eleanor Rigby.” YouTube, YouTube, 10 Oct. 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eHFZ94shR0.Send us Fan Mail

Just a quick check-in on the state of the show going into 2026. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us to all of you!Opening Music: "Dreams from Yesteryear" by AnkariSend us Fan Mail

Frankie and Wyatt finish their oh-so-objective tier rankings with some pretty divisive assessments (The ones featured on the logo are Wyatt's).References:Hasan, Raina. “Disney’s ‘Aladdin’: Diving into a Tale of American Orientalism.” Brown Girl Magazine, 29 June 2019, https://browngirlmagazine.com/disney-aladdin-american-orientalism/.Kalgesch, Anne. “Reconsidering Disney Princesses, Part VII: Pocahontas.” YouTube, 26 Nov. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=539kyH2lloo.Mansky, Jackie. “The True Story of Pocahontas Is More Complicated than You Might Think.” Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Mar. 2017, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-pocahontas-more-complicated-than-you-might-think-180962649/.McClintock, Pamela. “‘Tiana’ Disney+ Series Shelved as Walt Disney Animation Abandons Longform Streaming Content (Exclusive).” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Mar. 2025, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/tiana-disney-series-shelved-1236153297/.Zhao, Xiran Jay. “Everything Culturally Right and Wrong with Mulan 1998.” YouTube, 24 Oct. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SHC7CnmErM.Send us Fan Mail

We take a quick break from the rankings, as historian J.B. Kaufman joins Wyatt to discuss the latest installment in his epic "Making of" books on classic Disney animation, this time devoted to 1940's Fantasia.Opening Music: "Dreams from Yesteryear" by AnkariLinks for Purchase: Mr. Kaufman's personal website: jbkaufman.com/worlds-conquer-art-and-making-walt-disney%E2%80%99s-fantasiaSimon and Schuster: simonandschuster.com/books/Worlds-to-Conquer/J-B-KaufmanAmazon (for both hardcover and Kindle): amazon.com/Worlds-Conquer-Making-Disneys-FantasiaThe 2024-2025 Hyperion Historical Alliance Annual (paperback): amazon.com/2024-2025-Hyperion-Historical-Alliance-AnnualSend us Fan Mail

To make up for last episode's depressing subject matter, Wyatt and Frankie return to rank our favorite Disney Princesses. The Renaissance girlies will be featured in Part 2.Opening Music: "Dreams from Yesteryear" by AnkariReferences:Brewmasters. “Exclusive: Brenda Chapman No Longer Directing Pixar’s ‘Brave.’” Cartoon Brew, 18 Oct. 2010, https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/exclusive-brenda-chapman-no-longer-directing-pixars-brave-29877.htmlEllis, Lindsay. “Reevaluating The Little Mermaid before Disney horks up another live action remake.” YouTube, 16 June 2021, https://youtu.be/NeuLEu9ZePc?si=PpHTk_cb6b9R4KZe.Kalgesch, Anne. “Disney Princess Tropes: Princes and Damsels.” YouTube, 3 Apr. 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoZ97uzz1uI&t=3s.Orenstein, Peggy, and Andy Mooney. “What’s Wrong with Cinderella?” Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture, Harper/Harper Collins, New York City, New York, 2011, pp. 13-18. Book.“Disney Princess Proves She’s Still The Fairest Of The Land; Girls’ Lifestyle Brand Set To Become World’s Largest In 2006.” The Walt Disney Company, 21 June 2005, https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/disney-princess-proves-shes-still-the-fairest-of-the-land-girls-lifestyle-brand-set-to-become-worlds-largest-in-2006/. Press Release.Send us Fan Mail

*Trigger Warning for discussions of addiction, alcohol and drug abuse, child exploitation, and language*Happy Halloween!!! Wyatt's back after a brief hiatus and joined by friend Frankie Sparks (@shoottheflick) to talk Dumbo. We try to bring some levity to an otherwise depressing, but insightful subject. "I'm afraid, need your aid, pink elephants on parade."Opening Music: "Dreams from Yesteryear" by AnkariReferences:Brogan, Scott. “The Pirate.” The Judy Room, www.thejudyroom.com/filmography/the-pirate/. Blog.Babbitt, Art. “Fantasia’s 80th Anniversary - and a 1975 Interview with Art Babbitt.” Edited by John Canemaker, John Canemaker’s Animated Eye, 13 Nov. 2020, animatedeye.johncanemaker.com/blog/fantasias-80th-anniversary-and-a-1975-interview-with-art-babbitt/. Blog.Colín, Mariana, and Schiff, Gus, hosts. "Once More With Big Ol' Ears - Dumbo (1941 & 2019)." Once More With Feeling, season 1, episode 3, Spotify, 24 Sep. 2025, https://rss.com/podcasts/once-more-with-feeling/2231785/. Podcast.Darrow, Lin, and G. Jeremy, hosts. “Ep. 4 - Dumbo (1941): Otherness, Prejudice, and Excessive Bullying of Literal Babies.” The Ink and Think Hour, season 1, episode 4, Spotify, 21 Apr. 2020, https://open.spotify.com/episode/2bOdVGwD3r0iq0Y3DE6h5g?si=12d8GmDQS6GWhni7dyxIOg. Podcast.“Dumbo.” Walt Disney Productions, RKO Radio Pictures, 1941. Film.Freedman, Robert L. Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows, Episode 1, ABC, 25 Feb. 2001. Television.ozzren. Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows - 2001 (Upscaled). YouTube, 24 Dec. 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo85Z6bA8Bc&t=4642s. Online Video.“Judy: Impressions of Garland.” Omnibus, performance by E. Y. Harburg, season 6, episode 11, BBC, 24 Dec. 1972. Television.Garland, Judy, et al. “Judy Garland: By Myself.” American Masters, performance by Isabel Keating, PBS, 25 Feb. 2004. Television.Kothenschulte, Daniel, et al. “When Ideas Grow Wings: Dumbo, the Unexpected Masterpiece.” The Walt Disney Film Archives: The Animated Movies 1921-1968, 2nd ed., TASCHEN, Cologne, Germany, 2023, p. 180. Book.Langer, Mark. “Regionalism in Disney Animation: Pink Elephants and Dumbo.” Film History, vol. 4, no. 4, 1990, pp. 305–21. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3815059. Journal.Schroeder, Russell, et al. “Pink Elephant Polka.” Disney’s Lost Chords, vol. 2, Voight Publications, Robbinsville, NC, 2008, pp. 346-347. Book.Send us Fan Mail

*Trigger Warning for discussions of sexual harassment*Happy Pride, everyone! Let's celebrate by discussing the antics of a pervy duck with Frankie Sparks (@shoottheflick)!Opening Music: "Dreams from Yesteryear" by AnkariReferences:Amidi, Amid. “‘Three Caballeros’ Review by Wolcott Gibbs.” Cartoon Brew, 15 Jan. 2012, www.cartoonbrew.com/disney/three-caballeros-review-by-wolcott-gibbs-55104.html.Castro, Amida. “Solamente Una Vez de Agustin Lara para José Mojica.” YouTube, YouTube, 3 Nov. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEPkF4Jb7v4. Geronimi, Clyde, director. Disney's Exclusive Archive Collection: The Three Caballeros. Disney Enterprises, 1995. Laserdisc.The Three Caballeros. Walt Disney Productions, 1944. Film.Kaufman, J. B. South of the Border with Disney: Walt Disney and the Good Neighbor Program, 1941-1948. Disney Editions, 2009. Book.La tertulia de Carlos Arboleda. “5 La Historia de Una Canción: Solamente Una Vez - Agustín Lara.” YouTube, YouTube, 4 Mar. 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBqtjPod4Eg. Mejia, Gabriel Hernando. “JUAN ARVIZU, LA ZANDUNGA 1937.” YouTube, YouTube, 5 May 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNNKDj4Bf_0.Thomas, Bob. Walt Disney: An American Original. Disney Editions, Glendale, CA, 1994. Book.Send us Fan Mail

Every now and then, we must remember when the Mouse had our best interests at heart. Case in point: 1991's Beauty and the Beast. Queen Woman Frankie Sparks (@shoottheflick) returns to celebrate this tale as old as time.Opening Music: "Dreams from Yesteryear" by Ankari*Art by esteesdave*References:Beauty and the Beast. Audio commentary by Kirk Wise, Gary Trousdale, and Don Hahn, directed by Wise and Trousdale, Walt Disney Animation Studios / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2002. DVD.“Beauty and the Beast.” Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc, 1991.Ellis, Lindsay. “Is Beauty and the Beast About Stockholm Syndrome?” YouTube, YouTube, 29 Mar. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=syYCO0QVkZo.Failes, Ian. “30 Years Ago: The CG Secrets of the Ballroom Sequence in ‘Beauty and the Beast.’” Cartoon Brew, 16 Nov. 2021, www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/30-years-ago-cg-secrets-ballroom-sequence-beauty-beast-145174.html.Fayerb. “Beauty and the Beast (1991) (The Signature Collection) - Page 60 - Blu-Ray Forum.” Blu-Ray Forum RSS, 8 Nov. 2021, forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=278982&page=60. Oscars. “‘Beauty And The Beast’ Wins Original Song: 1992 Oscars.” YouTube, YouTube, 24 Mar. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bntiz357OjM.Rannie, Alexander. “Ever a Surprise: The History and the Magic Behind the Ballroom in Beauty and the Beast.” D23, D23, 26 Mar. 2018, d23.com/ever-a-surprise-the-history-and-the-magic-behind-the-ballroom-in-beauty-and-the-beast/.Solomon, Charles, et al. “There Must Be More Than This Provincial Life.” Tale as Old as Time: The Art and Making of Beauty and the Beast, 1st ed., Disney Editions, New York, NY, 2010, pp. 135–137. Book.The Disney Archives. “Beauty and the Beast - Camera Move Test.” YouTube, YouTube, 19 Apr. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtXM5_THsBc&list=PLhOndNwQYfNBK9BYoZmsiAswEGpJSlYRn&index=14.Send us Fan Mail

Ah-hyuck! Not Just a Goof debuts on Disney Plus today, and Wyatt is joined by directors Kevin Lima and Eric Kimelton to briefly discuss the documentary and the impact of its subject, A Goofy Movie, on pop culture. "For the first time ever, we're seeing it I 2 I!"Opening Music: "Dreams from Yesteryear" by Ankari*Art by rain1940_art*Resources:Disney Plus. “Not Just A Goof | Official Trailer | Disney+.” YouTube, YouTube, 3 Apr. 2025, www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkBfSMLGSkU.Send us Fan Mail