HOLLYWOOD — 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 140 - Terminator 2: Judgment Day (James Cameron, 1991) (with Yvonne Tasker)

Professor Yvonne Tasker is the very special guest for Episode 140 of the podcast, joining Chris and Alex for this discussion of action spectacle and the gendered body in science-fiction sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day (James Cameron, 1991).

Episode 138 - Toy Story (John Lasseter, 1995) (with Lucy Fife Donaldson)

The Fantasy/Animation podcast finally tackles the seminal Toy Story (John Lasseter, 1995), with Episode 138 looking at Pixar’s computer-animated feature and the film that transformed animation in Hollywood - and beyond - into a digital medium. Joining Chris and Alex to examine Toy Story’s computerised production and the pleasures of its pristine visual illusionism is Dr Lucy Fife Donaldson, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of St Andrews, whose work focuses on film and television style, audiovisual design and 'below-the-line' labour, performance and the body, and videographic criticism.

Episode 137 - Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (James Mangold, 2023) (with Sarah Thomas)

Episode 137 appropriately begins at the end of the commercially and critically successful Indiana Jones franchise with this discussion of the fifth and final feature Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (James Mangold, 2023) featuring special guest Dr Sarah Thomas. Sarah is Senior Lecturer in Communication and Media in the School of Arts, whose research expertise centres on stardom/celebrity, media industries, and screen performance in Hollywood and transnational cinemas.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantApril 8, 2024HOLLYWOOD, SEQUEL, FRANCHISE, STARDOM, TECHNOLOGY, MASCULINITYComment

Episode 136 - Beauty and the Beast (Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise, 1991) (with Peter Kunze)

The author of Staging a Comeback: Broadway, Hollywood, and the Disney Renaissance (Rutgers University Press, 2023), Dr. Peter Kunze (Tulane University), is the special guest for Episode 136 of the podcast which looks at the impact of Walt Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise, 1991) and both the industrial and stylistic stakes of the film’s adoption of a Broadway style of musical arrangement.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantMarch 25, 2024WALT DISNEY, CEL-ANIMATION, DIGITAL, HOLLYWOOD, FILM HISTORYComment

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 132 - Life, Animated (Roger Ross Williams, 2016) (with Janet Harbord)

Special guest Janet Harbord, Professor of Film Studies at Queen Mary, joins Chris and Alex to discuss the intersections between fantasy, animation, and autism in this examination of documentary Life, Animated (Roger Ross Williams, 2016), a film that reflects on the value and fantasies of animated media at the same time as it navigates and represents autistic apprehensions of the world.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantJanuary 29, 2024HOLLYWOOD, HISTORY, WALT DISNEY, SUBJECTIVITY, MENTAL HEALTHComment

Episode 131 - The Dark Crystal (Jim Henson & Frank Oz, 1982) (with Tanya Kirk)

2024 kicks off with this episode on The Dark Crystal (Jim Henson & Frank Oz, 1982), recorded at the British Library with Tanya Kirk, Lead Curator of Printed Heritage Collections 1601–1900, and one of the organisers and curators of the Fantasy: Realms of Imagination exhibition that runs at the library until February of this year.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantJanuary 15, 2024PUPPETRY, FANTASY, HOLLYWOOD, LABOUR, CRAFT, HISTORYComment

Episode 129 - Disney: A Tale of Technology and Innovation (Live at the British Film Institute) (with Chris McKenna)

Episode 129 sees Chris flying solo as part of a conversation recorded live at the recent Once Upon A Time: A Disney Day held at the British Film Institute in London back in July, which was part of the Making Magic: 100 Years of Disney two-month season that ran throughout 2023. Discussing the Disney studio’s longstanding relationship to technological innovation is returning special guest Chris McKenna, current Head of Creative Operations at the VFX studio Moving Picture Company, who featured on the earlier Dumbo (Tim Burton, 2019) episode of the podcast.

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 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 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 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 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 105 - In Conversation with Nancy Beiman

Chris and Alex return after their belated summer hiatus with Episode 105 of the podcast, and a very special instalment that features them in conversation with renowned animation director, character designer, animator, and teacher Nancy Beiman, who has worked at a number of studios (from Steven Spielberg’s Amblin studio to the Walt Disney Company and Warner Brothers) as well as on feature films including A Goofy Movie (Kevin Lima, 1995), Hercules (Ron Clements & John Musker, 1997) and Treasure Planet (Ron Clements & John Musker, 2002).

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantOctober 3, 2022HOLLYWOOD, CREATIVITY, LABOUR, TECHNOLOGY, ANIMATIONComment

Episode 101 - Osmosis Jones (Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly, Piet Kroon & Tom Sito, 2001) (with Tom Sito)

Episode 101 confronts the animated representation of disease and illness via Warner Brothers’ 2001 cel-animated/live-action hybrid Osmosis Jones (Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly, Piet Kroon & Tom Sito, 2001), which tells the story of a white blood cell policeman who joins together with a cold pill to stop a deadly virus from destroying their human host.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantJuly 11, 2022HOLLYWOOD, HYBRIDITY, METAPHOR, VOICE ACTING, RACEComment