Shorts! Popeye: Let's Celebrake

(Spoiler Section Length - 7min 37sec)Though Rankin/Bass was well-known for their holiday specials featuring the likes of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman, the amount of specials that the company actually produced might be surprising to many casual viewers. But the fact of the matter is, they made enough holiday specials with enough of a shared universe that they were eventually able to make a feature-length film using characters from at least six other specials. But then, why have most people not actually heard of this film? Is it because it doesn't hold up? Listen to find out!

This holiday cartoon, released at the beginning of 1938, turns many Popeye conventions on their ear: Popeye and Bluto are pals and don't fight each other. Popeye is more focused on Olive Oyl's grandmother than Olive Oyl herself. And no real violence of any sort actually occurs! This might make it sound like a boring Popeye cartoon, but is that truly the case? Listen to find out!

(Spoiler Section Length - 10min 48sec)When you're passionate about animation, you end up knowing about a lot of movies by proxy, without having actually seen them. The French film with the giant blue people is one such film for Danika, and now it's finally time to watch the thing! It is significantly weirder than any of this podcast's cohosts could have imagined. But does it hold up? Listen to find out!

Though traditional, 2D animation was the norm for animated shorts in the 1930s, they weren't the ONLY things being made. George Pal was also out there, creating shorts using a fascinating form of stop-motion which involved a great many carved wooden figures. His 1930s work was primarily comprised of advertisments, but they're fascinating nonetheless. Do these old works still hold up, even if the things they advertise are no longer relevant? Listen to find out!

(Spoiler Section Length - 9min 3sec)Like Akira, Ghost in the Shell is one of those anime movies that is often brought up to represent the value and 'adult' appeal that anime has, as compared to western animated movies which are often following in Disney's footsteps. Like Akira, it's also very influential, both in its home country and overseas. But is it worthy of this reputation? Does a 1995 film focused on the idea of near-future technology still hold up so many decades later? Listen to find out!

Ending our look at 1937, we come to Lonesome Ghosts, a short where Mickey, Donald and Goofy are ghostbusters, decades before the 80s film. But the twist is that they ones asking for their help are... the ghosts themselves!! Since the ghosts are so lonesome they want to terrorize our main trio, and they do so in many weird and wacky ways. Is it a good cartoon? Listen to find out!

(Spoiler Section Length - 7min 16sec)The last time all three co-hosts watched an Adult animated film, Eight Crazy Nights, none of them enjoyed it. But does that mean no such films have merit? Releasing in the late 90's, the South Park film released during the series' early years when they were considered especially controversial. It's a musical, just like ECN, and it's certainly no slouch in the crassness department. But is it still worthwhile, over two decades later? Listen to find out!

With Ub Iwerks gone, Bob Clampett was left to take over the cartooning unit, and his own sensibilities started to quickly become apparent, even if they weren't allowed completely free reign with Chuck Jones still there. In this short, we see some Clampett start to stretch his wings with evil cute characters while Jones has fun giving detailed animation to an ancient dog. Is the cartoon any good? Listen to find out!

(Spoiler Section Length - 6min 39sec)This podcast has made no secret of the fact that it's not exactly on board with the Disney remake trend, and perhaps no remake has been more dreaded by at least one of these co-hosts than The Lion King. Though it's often referred to as live action, this movie is basically entirely animated just like the original, just in a hyper-realistic style whose purpose seems to be giving the story more gravitas. It doesn't. But just how bad (or maybe good?) is the remake? And more interestingly, how is the sequel, that evolves the art style and tells a brand-new story with new songs? Listen to find out!

Many Popeye cartoons return to the well of Popeye vs Bluto, and that well typically involves trying to best one another at something until it comes to fisticuffs. But what if the thing they were trying to best each other at was... getting injured??