all episodes — Fantasy/Animation

Episode 127 - They Shall Not Grow Old (Peter Jackson, 2018) (with Lawrence Napper)

For Episode 127 of the podcast, Chris and Alex travel through (film) history to examine the negotiation of the past through computer manipulation, focusing on Peter Jackson’s They Shall Not Grow Old (2018) and its use of digital techniques to re-articulate the sounds and images of the First World War. Joining them to discuss the technological mediation of national traumas and triumphs is Dr Lawrence Napper, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at King’s College London, who is an expert in early silent and British cinemas and author of the monographs British Cinema and Middlebrow Culture in the Interwar Years (2009), The Great War in Popular British Cinema of the 1920s: Before Journey’s End (2015) and Silent Cinema: Before the Pictures Got Small (2017).

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantNovember 6, 2023FILM HISTORY, FIRST WORLD WAR, MEMORY, TECHNOLOGY, NOSTALGIAComment

Episode 126 - ParaNorman (Sam Fell & Chris Butler, 2012) (with Stacey Abbott)

As Halloween rolls around once more, things take a positively spooky turn as Chris and Alex discuss the stop-motion animated horror film ParaNorman (Sam Fell & Chris Butler, 2012) with very special guest Professor Stacey Abbott, who is incoming Professor of Film at Northumbria University and an expert in histories of gothic and horror in film and television.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantOctober 23, 2023HALLOWEEN, STOP-MOTION, HORROR, CHILDREN, AESTHETICSComment

Episode 125 - Cats (Tom Hooper, 2019)

Chris and Alex return from their extended summer break with this discussion of the much-maligned musical Cats (Tom Hooper, 2019), a film whose reputation as a big-budget misjudgment has perhaps overwhelmed the intricacies of its uncanny constitution, and in particular how the narrative’s negotiation of its A-list performers speaks to the vexed question of actorly labour and agency in an age of heightened visual effects production.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantOctober 9, 2023MUSICAL, SPECIAL EFFECTS, HOLLYWOOD, ADAPTATION, STARDOMComment

Episode 124 - Free Guy (Shawn Levy, 2021) (with Mark Bould)

The Truman Show (Peter Weir, 1998) meets They Live (John Carpenter, 1988) in Shawn Levy’s science-fiction comedy Free Guy (2021), which marks the director’s first collaboration with charming Canadian Ryan Reynolds and is a film that confronts head-on contemporary anxieties around technology, choice, security, and artificial intelligence. Joining Chris and Alex to separate out their NPCs from their AI engines is Mark Bould, Professor of Film and Literature at the University of West England, and author of a number of books on the aesthetics, politics and philosophy of science-fiction storytelling.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantJuly 17, 2023HOLLYWOOD, DIGITAL, SPECIAL EFFECTS, VIDEOGAMES, LABOURComment

Episode 123 - Dumbo (Tim Burton, 2019) (with Chris McKenna)

The emergence of Disney’s so-called ‘live-action’ remakes provides the focus of Episode 123, with the recent adaptation of Dumbo (Tim Burton, 2019) offering Chris and Alex plenty to get their teeth into thanks to the film’s particular brand of digital realism as well as director Tim Burton’s reflections on the very nature of spectacle itself. Special guest for this discussion is Chris McKenna, current Head of Creative Operations at the VFX studio Moving Picture Company, and Lead Technical Animator on Dumbo who has also worked on a host of Hollywood blockbusters and franchise films, including Terminator: Genisys (Alan Taylor, 2015), Spectre (Sam Mendes, 2015), Transformers: The Last Knight (Michael Bay, 2017), Ad Astra (James Gray, 2019), Cats (Tom Hooper, 2019), and Disenchanted (Adam Shankman, 2022).

Episode 122 - Spider-Man: No Way Home (Jon Watts, 2021) (with Nick Jones)

The MCU comes calling once again for Episode 122 of the podcast, as Chris and Alex navigate the complex web of storylines and superheroes that build the world of Spider-Man: No Way Home (Jon Watts, 2021). Joining them to reflect on the genre’s enduring appeal alongside the contemporary pleasures of Hollywood’s increasing multiversal madness is Dr Nick Jones, who is Senior Lecturer in Film, Television and Digital Culture at the University of York.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantJune 19, 2023FRANCHISE, HOLLYWOOD, MULTIVERSE, ADAPTATION, COMICSComment

Episode 121 - Monster House (Gil Kenan, 2006) (with Jane Batkin)

Chris and Alex delve into motion-capture, murder mystery, and monster houses for this discussion of Gil Kenan’s 2006 computer-animated film Monster House, a digital feature produced by the ImageMovers company founded by renowned filmmaker Robert Zemeckis and a specialist in animation utilising mo-cap technologies. Joining them for Episode 121 of the podcast is Dr Jane Batkin, an animation film theorist and Associate Professor in the School of Film, Media and Journalism at the University of Lincoln.

Episode 120 - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Alfonso Cuarón, 2004) (with Rhianna Dhillon)

No sooner have Chris and Alex finished their examination of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Chris Columbus, 2002) than they make a swift return to Hogwarts for the third (and best?) in the franchise, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Alfonso Cuarón, 2004). Joining them in this instalment to separate their Leaky Cauldrons from their Time-Turners is very special guest Rhianna Dhillon, Film/TV critic and Presenter who has featured on BBC Radio One, Front Row, Sky News, and Channel 5, and is currently the film critic for BBC6Music and Radio 5 Live as well as regularly appearing on Kermode and Mayo's Take.

Episode 119 - Arab Animation (1937-2015) (with Omar Sayfo)

Special guest Dr Omar Sayfo joins Chris and Alex for Episode 119 of the podcast, which features a rundown of Arab Animation covering a range of cartoons from Egypt, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates, alongside a discussion of Omar’s recent book Arab Animation: Images of Identity (2021). Omar is an Affiliated Researcher in the Institute for Cultural Inquiry (ICON) at Utrecht University, and a researcher at the Avicenna Institute of Middle Eastern Studies, who has published articles in animation: an interdisciplinary journal, Media Industries Journal and The Journal of Popular Culture, as well as chapters in a number of edited collections.

Episode 118 - Everything Everywhere All At Once (Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, 2022) (with David Sorfa)

Prepare for more multiverse madness as Chris and Alex dive into the world of Everything Everywhere All At Once (Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, 2022), the Oscar-winning absurdist sci-fi action adventure that engages head-on with the question of what it means to be human set against the backdrop of forking path storylines, a sumptuous mise-en-scène of colliding visual styles, and a maelstrom of digital VFX. The special guest for Episode 118 is Dr David Sorfa, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Edinburgh and editor-in-chief of the journal Film-Philosophy, who specialises in philosophy’s relationship with cinema, Existentialism, phenomenology, the work of Jacques Derrida, and the presentation of thought and thinking in cinema.

Episode 117 - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Chris Columbus, 2002) (with Jyotsna Kapur)

Whomping willows, Ford Anglias, and so much more are covered in episode 117 of the podcast, which (better late than never!) returns to Hogwarts for the second instalment of the Harry Potter film franchise and an adaptation of the 1998 novel originally released back in November 2002. Joining Chris and Alex for a closer look at Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Chris Columbus, 2002) is Jyotsna Kapur, who is a Professor of Cinema and Media Studies at Southern Illinois University.

Episode 116 - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Peter Jackson, 2002) (with Daniel White)

Finally following up their podcast on The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001), Episode 116 has Chris and Alex picking up the story of Middle-earth with this instalment on the second film in the franchise, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Peter Jackson, 2002). Joining them is special guest Dr Daniel White, who is Senior Lecturer in Musicology in the Department of Music & Design Arts at the University of Huddersfield, and author of a number of publications looking at music in relation to worldbuilding and fantasy storytelling, including its role across the Lord of the Rings films.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantMarch 27, 2023SOUND, MUSIC, VOICE ACTING, VISUAL EFFECTS, HOLLYWOOD, FRANCHISEComment

Episode 115 - Peppa Pig Revisited (with Sarah Ann Kennedy)

Episode 115 celebrates Chris and Alex’s return to Peppa Pig (Neville Astley & Mark Baker, 2004-) for a part-interview, part-reflection on this staple of contemporary British animation and culture, which (unofficially at least!) follows on from the earlier podcast instalment discussing the style and tone of the series. The guest for this special ‘revisited’ episode is voice artist Sarah Ann Kennedy, who voices both Miss Rabbit and Mummy Rabbit in the show, alongside performing as Nanny Plum in Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom (Neville Astley & Mark Baker, 2009-) and Dolly Pond in the Channel 4 adult animation series Pond Life (Candy Guard, 1996-2000).

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantMarch 6, 2023TELEVISION, CHILDREN, STYLE, VOICE ACTING, BRITISHComment

Episode 114 - The Mitchells vs. the Machines (Mike Rianda, 2021)

The Netflix feature The Mitchells vs. the Machines (Mike Rianda, 2021) gets the Fantasy/Animation treatment, as Chris and Alex offer up a discussion in this episode of the film’s dysfunctional family dynamics, road movie structure, and its spectacular sentient robots techno-narrative.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantFebruary 20, 2023COMPUTER-ANIMATED FILMS, NETFLIX, FAMILY, CHILDREN, VIOLENCE, COMEDYComment

Episode 113 - Czech Animation (1946-2011) (with Adam Whybray)

For this brief survey of the politics and pleasures of Czech animation, Alex and Chris are joined by special guest Dr Adam Whybray, who lectures in Film Studies at the University of Suffolk and who is also the author of The Art of Czech Animation: A History of Political Dissent and Allegory (London: Bloomsbury, 2020).

Episode 112 - House of the Dragon (Ryan Condal & George R. R. Martin, 2021-) (with Kim Akass)

For Episode 112, Chris and Alex are joined for this discussion of HBO’s television series House of the Dragon (Ryan Condal & George R. R. Martin, 2021-) - the prequel to Game of Thrones (David Benioff & D. B. Weiss, 2011-2019) - by Professor Kim Akass, who is Professor of Radio, Television and Film at Rowan University, Glassboro.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantJanuary 23, 2023DRAGON, FANTASY, TELEVISION, FRANCHISE, WORLDSComment

Episode 111 - Atlantis: The Lost Empire (Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise, 2001) (with Gary Trousdale)

For the first episode of 2023, Chris and Alex are back into the world of Disney Feature Animation, following up earlier discussions of The Emperor’s New Groove (Mark Dindal, 2000) and Treasure Planet (Ron Clements & John Musker, 2002) with Episode 111, which looks at the studio’s 2001 feature film Atlantis the Lost Empire (Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise, 2001), a science-fiction adventure that draws inspiration from Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870).

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantJanuary 9, 2023WALT DISNEY, CEL-ANIMATION, HISTORY, HOLLYWOOD, MYTHOLOGY, TECHNOLOGYComment

Episode 110 - The Snowman (Dianne Jackson, 1982) (with James Walters)

The 2022 Fantasy/Animation Christmas special is here, with Chris and Alex well and truly ‘walking in the air’ (!) for Episode 110 of the podcast as they wonder at the delights of The Snowman (Dianne Jackson, 1982), the 26-minute television special released on Channel 4 in the early 1980s and based on Raymond Briggs’ picture book.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantDecember 12, 2022CHRISTMAS, DRAWING, REPRESENTATION, MOVEMENT, FANTASY, BRITISHComment

Episode 109 - Willow (Ron Howard, 1988)

Alex fulfils something of a lifelong dream in Episode 109 in that he finally gets a chance to talk about the mythology and magic of Willow (Ron Howard, 1988) for the Fantasy/Animation podcast, albeit with Chris alongside him as relative novice to its world of prophecies, sorcery, and high fantasy storytelling.

Episode 108 - Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001) (with Susan Napier)

Episode 108 returns Chris and Alex once more to the world of Japanese anime as they look at the images of displacement, gluttony, and labour in Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001), perhaps the flagship Studio Ghibli animated feature and a film that won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantNovember 14, 2022JAPAN, STUDIO GHIBLI, FANTASY, GENDERComment