ADAPTATION — all episodes — Fantasy/Animation

Episode 148 - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - Part 2 (with Nathalie Dupont)

Episode 148 concludes Fantasy/Animation’s two-part special focusing on C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia book series with this examination of the 2005 big-screen adaptation The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Andrew Adamson, 2005), with special guest Dr Nathalie Dupont. Nathalie is Associate Professor in American Studies at the Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale (ULCO) in France, and is the author of Between Hollywood and Godlywood:The Case of Walden Media (Peter Lang, 2015), which focuses on the history of Walden Media - a unique American company financed by a conservative Christian and a producer of The Chronicles of Narnia big screen franchise.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantDecember 16, 2024ADAPTATION, FRANCHISE, HOLLYWOOD, FANTASY, RELIGIONComment

Episode 147 - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - Part 1 (with Terry Lindvall)

Episode 147 of the podcast is the first in a two-part special focusing on C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia book series originally published between 1950 and 1956, where Chris and Alex look at a handful of screen adaptations that traverse the fantasy and animation intersection. For this first instalment, they compare the 1979 animated film The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe directed by Bill Melendez with the BBC serial of the same name from 1988, both of which adapted Lewis’ first and perhaps best known Narnia novel.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantDecember 2, 2024ADAPTATION, LITERATURE, TELEVISION, BRITISH, FANTASY, ANIMALS, MAGICComment

Episode 146 - The Batwoman (René Cardona, 1968) (with Iain Robert Smith)

The Fantasy/Animation podcast is back with a bang thanks to the Mexican superhero caper La mujer murcielago/The Batwoman (René Cardona, 1968), a transnational twist on the famed DC character. Joining Chris and Alex to discuss intellectual property, international adaptation, and the politics of the remake is Dr Iain Robert Smith, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at King’s College London.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantNovember 18, 2024CULT, ADAPTATION, SUPERHERO, NATIONALComment

Episode 145 - Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale, 1935) (with David Sandner)

This year’s Halloween special of the podcast goes back to 1930s Hollywood with this look at Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale, 1935), the follow-up to Universal Pictures’ 1931 feature Frankenstein also directed by James Whale. To discuss the horror and humour of this most monstrous and macabre sequel, Chris and Alex are joined by special guest David Sandner, author and editor of multiple works on fantasy literature and a Professor at California State University.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantNovember 4, 2024HORROR, SCIENCE FICTION, ADAPTATION, SEQUEL, GENDERComment

Archive Episode - Treasure Planet (Ron Clements & John Musker, 2002) (with Ron Clements and John Musker)

For the third archive episode, Chris and Alex revisit a real bucket list moment by journeying back to July 2021 and the episode on Treasure Planet (Ron Clements & John Musker, 2002), which featured as its very special guests the film’s directors Ron Clements and John Musker.

Archive Episode - Aladdin (Ron Clements & John Musker, 1992) (with Steve Henderson)

Chris and Alex continue their journey back through the Fantasy/Animation podcast with this reminder of an early episode looking at the Disney animated musical Aladdin (Ron Clements & John Musker, 1992), which featured as its special guest Steve Henderson - Editor of the Skwigly Online Animation Magazine and Director of the Manchester Animation Festival.

Episode 139 - Dungeons & Dragons - The Fantasy Adventure Board Game (with Cat Mahoney)

Episode 139 marks something of a first as Chris and Alex play ‘The Fantasy Adventure Board Game’ Dungeons & Dragons originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1974, taking on its array of characters, weapons, and quests live during the podcast with special guest (and Dungeon Master) Dr Cat Mahoney, Derby Fellow in Communication and Media at the University of Liverpool.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantMay 6, 2024TRANSMEDIA, ADAPTATION, CHARACTER, WORLDS, GAMINGComment

Episode 133 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Peter Jackson, 2003)

Chris and Alex conclude their journey through Middle-Earth with this episode on the third and final entry into Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy - The Return of the King (Peter Jackson, 2003) - where they reflect on the stylistic influence and cultural legacy of the franchise since its culmination over twenty years ago.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantFebruary 12, 2024HOLLYWOOD, FRANCHISE, ADAPTATION, JOURNEYComment

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 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 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 96 - The Secret of Moonacre (Gábor Csupó, 2008) (with Lucy Shuttleworth)

Based on Elizabeth Goudge’s 1992 children’s story Little White Horse, the 2008 fantasy The Secret of Moonacre (Gábor Csupó, 2008) is the subject of Episode 96 of the podcast, with Chris and Alex joined in their discussion of morality, class, and the power of the ego by the film’s screenwriter and Associate Producer Lucy Shuttleworth, who is also Senior Lecturer in the School of Film, Media and Communication at the University of Portsmouth.

Episode 89 - Mickey's Christmas Carol (Burny Mattinson, 1983) (with Amy M. Davis)

For the 2021 Christmas special episode of the podcast, Chris and Alex turn to the short Mickey’s Christmas Carol (Burny Mattinson, 1983), the Walt Disney Studio’s cel-animated retelling of the Charles Dickens masterpiece directed and produced by longtime Disney storyboard artist Burny Mattinson. Joining them to discuss Disney’s cultural relationship to Christmas and its longstanding history of festive-themed productions starring its most beloved characters is Dr Amy M. Davis, Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Hull.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantDecember 20, 2021CHRISTMAS, WALT DISNEY, MICKEY MOUSE, FESTIVE, ADAPTATIONComment

Episode 78 - Treasure Planet (Ron Clements & John Musker, 2002) (with Ron Clements and John Musker)

The 2002 Disney science-fiction epic Treasure Planet (Ron Clements & John Musker, 2002) is the focus of Episode 78 of the podcast, which looks at the melding together of the Disney formula with space fantasy in this swashbuckling adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1883 adventure novel Treasure Island. Joining Chris and Alex for this bumper episode are two very special guests: Ron Clements and John Musker, who aside from writing and directorial duties on Treasure Planet are known as a filmmaking duo absolutely central to the renaissance of Disney animation in the 1980s and 1990s.

Episode 68 - The Prince of Egypt (Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner & Simon Wells, 1998) (with Francesca Stavrakopoulou)

Episode 68 marks Chris and Alex’s first look at popular animation studio DreamWorks, turning to the California-based company’s early cycle of cel-animated cartoons to examine The Prince of Egypt (Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner & Simon Wells, 1998). Joining them to separate the historical realism from the packaged Westernised fantasy is biblical scholar and broadcaster Francesca Stavrakopoulou, Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Religion at the University of Exeter, whose research encompasses ancient Israelite and Judahite religions, and portrayals of the religious past in the Hebrew Bible.

Episode 60 - Christopher Robin (Marc Forster, 2018)

Heffalumps and Woozles take centre stage for Episode 60 of the podcast, as Chris and Alex take a trip deep into Hundred Acre Wood to confront Christopher Robin (Marc Forster, 2018) (not to be confused with the earlier A.A. Milne biography Goodbye Christopher Robin [Simon Curtis, 2017]…), and its pleasures of nostalgia.

Episode 54 - Watchmen (Zack Snyder, 2009) (with Drew Morton)

In an alternate 1985, Chris and Alex sit down to watch the recent comic book feature film Watchmen (Zach Snyder, 2009), a neo-noir/superhero blockbuster that adapts the popular DC Comics series for the big screen. They are joined in this Cold War-era tale of Soviet Union-United States relations by Dr Drew Morton, Associate Professor of Mass Communication at Texas A&M University, Texarkana, and author of Panel to the Screen: Style, American Film, and Comic Books During the Blockbuster Era (University Press of Mississippi, 2016), as well as a number of articles and chapters on motion comics, media convergence and comic book adaptation.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantAugust 17, 2020ADAPTATION, COMICS, DIGITAL, DYSTOPIA, IDENTITYComment

Episode 52 - Persepolis (Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi, 2007)

For the first in a special series of listener selections, Episode 52 has Chris and Alex get to grips with Persepolis (Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi, 2007), taking inspiration from social media suggestions that were submitted around the broader theme of diversity and inclusion. Adapted from Marjane Satrapi’s own autobiographical graphic novels Persepolis and Persepolis 2 (originally published in November 2000), Persepolis provides a stark - and often humorous - depiction of national trauma told through Marji’s own experience as she navigates the Iranian Revolution and overthrow of the Shah regime and Pahlavi dynasty; is exiled to Austria, before returning to Iran where she marries (and divorces); and climaxes with her arrival into France.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantJuly 20, 2020COMICS, ADAPTATION, ADULT, BIOGRAPHY, SUBJECTIVITYComment

Episode 46 - Aladdin (Guy Ritchie, 2019) (with Myles Robey)

For Episode 46, Chris and Alex take a magic carpet ride through the pleasures and problems of the recent musical fantasy Aladdin (Guy Ritchie, 2019). Joining them for a discussion of exactly how (and indeed if) it adapts Disney’s highly successful 1992 cel-animated musical is the film’s VFX Editor Myles Robey, whose work also includes the Harry Potter franchise and feature films Skyfall, Muppets Most Wanted, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and the recent 1917.

Episode 45 - Hercules (Ron Clements & John Musker, 1997) (with Edith Hall)

Bless my soul, we are definitely on a roll with Episode 45 of the Fantasy/Animation podcast, which continues the Disney Renaissance theme in its take on Hercules (Ron Clements & John Musker, 1997). To make sense of the visual culture of antiquity manifest in Disney’s cel-animated musical fantasy and its adaptation of Greek myth, Chris and Alex are joined by Edith Hall, Professor of Classics at King’s College London and a specialist in ancient Greek literature and cultural history.