Shorts! Silly Symphonies: The Old Mill (feat. Ryan)

Many decades after the original, Disney finally decided to make a sequel to the original Fantasia, and in so doing they found themselves repeating mistakes while also chasing new sensibilities, resulting in a film that is less lauded than its predecessor... but does that mean it's actually less good? Listen to find out!

When you see the title 'Porky in Egypt' and you hear it's a cartoon from the 1930s, your hopes for that short being good might immediately dwindle, as you imagine just how racist it probably is. And certainly this cartoon is not exempt from such issues, but they take up a surprisingly small portion of the runtime. So what is the rest of the cartoon about? Trust me when I say that it's better for you to find out yourself!

(Spoiler Section Length - 6min 4sec)Most animated musicals are original works, rather than adaptations of classic stage shows, but this one's an exception! Taking a classic Rogers and Hammerstein musical, this movie tries to bring it to an audience grown used to Disney Renaissance fare, and it makes a few changes in an attempt to appeal to that audience. Are these changes successful, and regardless, does the original work's quality shine through? Listen to find out!

Our time with Betty Boop is unfortunately coming to a close, as her theatrical shorts series would end in 1939. In her series later years, Boop's shorts have increasingly featured other characters as the focus instead of herself, and here we have two shorts that, frankly, aren't an exception in that regard. But they do both, at least, bring back some of that jazzy, swingy vibe that existed in older Boop shorts. Is it enough to make them worth watching? Listen to find out!

All of Disney's early film output was experimental, but besides perhaps Snow White itself, none were more so than Fantasia. Designed as an experience unto itself, with a road show and everything, Fantasia was a huge passion project for Walt, one he intended to last for years with new versions and all sorts of exciting things... but then, it bombed at the box office, not making an actual profit until decades later. Since then it's become much more revered, but even so, does this film with such a tumultuous history, one that some critics find condescending and pretentious, still hold up close to a century later? Listen to find out!

The late 1930s were the golden age of Mickey, Donald and Goofy cartoons, though 1938 was the last year we got several of them a year. Of them, these two have been picked for review, featuring the boys building what equates to an Ikea boat, and the boys living in a trailer, driven around by Goofy. How do these two hold up to the likes of Clock Cleaners and Lonesome Ghosts? Listen to find out!

There's a movie by Studio Ghibli that came out between the two icons that are Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, and it's a movie that few people seem to talk about. It's another Isao Takahata feature, and another one of his that's based on a Japanese comic strip. Featuring a watercolor aesthetic way before his eventual Princess Kaguya film, this movie looks like virtually nothing else in the Ghibli catalogue. Does this quirky little film deserve to be forgotten amid the titans released on either side of it, or is it just as worthy of esteem as they are? Listen to find out!

It's Porky's birthday, and who's showing up to celebrate? Is it his friends Gabby and Petunia, or perhaps rising co-star Daffy Duck? No! It's... it's a penguin and goose we've never seen before. Oh, okay, well, this is also one of the last Bob Clampett cartoons that Chuck Jones did animation for, so is it a good sendoff? Listen to find out!

To wrap up our Holliganza this year, we take a look at a non-Rankin/Bass Rudolph short film that does its best to harken back to that original special and the way it was animated. Intended to be experienced with 4D effects, we didn't get to experience quite everything this short was intended to offer, but even still, was this a pleasant way to end the year? Listen to find out!

(Spoiler Section Length - 2min 45sec)The last attempt at a non-Rankin/Bass Rudolph movie went over poorly, at least financially, so this time around the rights-holders are doing a direct sequel to Rankin/Bass' efforts. They're also not putting this thing in theatres, which was probably financially a smart move. With CGI animation and character designs harkening back to the original, does this movie prove even a little more worth watching than its direct predecessor? Listen to find out!