Lived It

Main: Why were Furbies so scary?!

Episode Summary

The sprawling, animated nostalgia of this week’s Premiere Pick ‘The Mitchells vs. The Machines’. Plus bonkers animation, more celebrity pets, and family road trips in this episode with Alexei Toliopoulos and Gen Fricker.

Episode Notes

Tell us your creepiest toy at @netflixanz on Instagram and Twitter, or tag #thebigfilmbuffet.

Episode Transcription

Gen Fricker:

Tazos. Did you ever get into Tazos?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh, my gosh. I was big into Tazos.

Gen Fricker:

Yeah. And there was so small and annoying and easy to lose and they must be somewhere. You know what I mean?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

And you chucked them out. They're just sitting in a garage covered in China dust.

Gen Fricker:

100%. And I feel like someone will open their closet and a thousand million Tazos will fall out and crush them.

Gen Fricker:

Welcome. Diners to The Big Film Buffet. My name is Gen Fricker and I'm joined by the golden God, the golden tonsils of pod Alexei Toliopoulos.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

You're listening to me and Gen on the Big Film Buffet, baby.

Gen Fricker:

It's a podcast for pop culture fans and people who want to know what to watch. There's so much out there. We've got our main course for you today, where we recommend you one Netflix film for this weekend for you to settle into. And Alexei, what do we have?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I'm very excited to talk about this film. We're talking about The Mitchells vs The Machines, which is an animated movie that is out on Netflix this weekend. It is our big premiere, and dare I say it, Gen, this, for you and I, is a big one. We are extremely enthusiastic about this movie, and I cannot wait to talk about it.

Speaker 3:

Your digital assistant just got an upgrade. Meet Pal Max, the newest member Pal Lab family. We just gave her smartphone arms and legs. This is the next generation of Pal technology.

Speaker 4:

Oh-

Aaron Mitchel:

Wow.

Speaker 4:

Aaron, do you have a credit card?

Aaron Mitchel:

I'm a child.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Gen, I absolutely love this movie. I'm frothing at the bit. We're talking about The Mitchells vs The Machines. It's a new Sony animated movie that is premiering on Netflix this weekend. It's a fantastic animated film. It can't take shape as like this dysfunctional family road trip movie. We've got a young daughter, Katie Mitchell, who's played by-

Gen Fricker:

Abbi Jacobson from Broad City, an incredible talent.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

And a great vocal performance playing this young woman coming of age, who is about to go off on her biggest dream ever, which was my biggest dream ever as well, to go to film school and find herself. But she has this dysfunctional family, this conflict with her father, played by Dennis McBride, and it takes shape over a road trip of them going out to take her all the way to uni. But meanwhile, we have a robo apocalypse happening, an AI has gone rogue in a mega corporation that makes phones, smart phones, all that kind of tech stuff that truly is in our world as we live and breath today.

Gen Fricker:

Yeah, it's kind of spearheaded by a Siri like an entity called Pal played by BOGG winner, Olivia Coleman. And for anyone who doesn't know what BOGG is, because I just invented the term.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Wow, wow. Wow.

Gen Fricker:

It's a BAFTA, it's an Oscar, and it's a Golden globe. Yeah. There are two Gs in a BOGG.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

We got the Golden Globe.

Gen Fricker:

Yeah. So Olivia Coleman plays Pal, who basically leads a robot uprising. All the smart things you can think of vacuums, bloody fans, bloody phones, all turning against humankind, and the world just coming to a complete stop. In the middle of this, the Mitchell's are kind of trying to figure out who they are as a family, what their family is going to look like after Abbi Jacobson's character goes to college, and figuring out these kinds of weird, dysfunctional, dynamic relationships within a family, and how we are trying to communicate with our families in a way with love and with compassion. And then, also trying not to get murdered by robots. I saw this tweet the other day, which was like basically such a perfect summation of this genre of things turning against the people that made them. And it was this tweet that was like, "Love the horror genre that's what if a house was a bitch?"

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Absolutely. I think that you've nailed it here, because this movie is absolutely fantastic. Because it's like these really unique and interesting modern genre hybrid, where we've got something like National Lampoon's Vacation, that Chevy Chase movies, which is a road trip with a dysfunctional family at the heart of it. That is kind of silly, but it's also quite sweet, it finds those tender moments. Meets something like Dawn of the Dead or even the Terminator at points. It finds those two, and then finds this like amazing harmonious, funny, sweet tone throughout all of it, which is also completely exciting. The action in this movie is incredible.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

And I would say as well, I remember when Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse came out a couple of years ago, and I got to review that, and I said, and I still believe it to this day, and I will go on the record, my hand is on a Bible and my Bible is 1001 movies you must see before you die, and I'm putting this in there.

Gen Fricker:

Oh, shit.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I would say that, when I saw Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which is produced by much of the same team over at Sony Animation, I said that this was the biggest leap forward in American animation, since the original Toy Story came out. And watching this movie, it filled me with an immense amount of joy, because I was like, this is that leap. This is where we are now. Because I think this movie is just so superbly animated, and it just looks so beautiful. It comes so much to life. There's so much character in every moment of this movie and how it's designed. And I have to say that this is my favourite movie of the year thus far.

Gen Fricker:

Yeah. I am 100% with you, Alexei. This is one of my favourite movies of the year so far. I feel like as soon as I watched it, all I wanted to do was talk about it with people. There's such a joy to it, beyond everything you're saying about the animation, which we will go into. I feel like this is one of these episodes that you will need to strap in, because we have so much love for so many aspects of this film.

Gen Fricker:

For me, I think the central relationship between the father and daughter. I mean, it's everything we've talked about on the pod before. It's like coming of age. It's about stories with heart. It's about really well-drawn, not like literally, for lack of a better word, characters, but put in this insanely colourful and chaotic world. That always seems as cartoonish, literally and figuratively, as it is based in some sort of reality. Let's get into it.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Absolutely.

Gen Fricker:

Let's really dig in, because I feel like there's so much we need to get into here. Let's start with the animation. Like he was saying, it's from the same team who kind of gave us Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. So if you saw that film and you really loved all these combinations of different animation types coming together, I feel like you'll really resonate with this film. A lot of the film has elements of internet culture mashing with traditional animation, then it's also, something that filmmakers have talked about a lot, the characters themselves editing the film as they go.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

So that's a really interesting, sweet thing about this movie is that, because our lead, Katie Mitchell, is someone who is like an incredible film fan. She's a film buffet of her own damn self, that so much of her love of film is imbued into this movie. Kind of like something that reminded me a little bit of a movie from a couple of years ago, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, in the same way that uses and wields film references to resonate with an audience without being too self-congratulatory, while still being self-aware. And so much of this movie has like almost like Lizzie McGuire type 2D animation coming out over the actual film itself. So there'll be like little sparks coming off people to like imply emotions and stuff, or like little emojis popping up in places.

Gen Fricker:

Yeah. It kind of reminded me of Instagram stories, where you can chuck gifts on top of photos and things like that. It was really similar. It's self-aware without being self-congratulatory. So nowadays kids are terrifying, because of their knowledge of the internet and how versed they are in that visual language. So if you are watching it with kids, they're going to pick up things that maybe we're not going to get, but it doesn't feel like it's forced at all. It feels-

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Not at all.

Gen Fricker:

... very natural. It feels like it's a really fluid language that they're presenting this really great story.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

It captures so much of this character by having her visual language become a part of the film's visual language from the outset and it feels so cohesive. It's used in such a way that creates so much great comedy, and so much joy as well, but it just feels like such a unique vision. And I think that this film as well, it is the feature film directorial debut of Mike Rianda, who was a key creative on a fantastic animated TV show called Gravity Falls, which is so much of that same kind of humour of like genre hybridity as well. But instead of like technology was almost like a supernatural X Files-y type show.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

So it seems like this, like really well-rounded, developing voice in cinema and connecting now with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who were execs on the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse movie, and have done such amazing stuff like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. So bringing out what this is. I really am so happy and enthusiastic about this movie.

Gen Fricker:

Yes.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I'm so thrilled that we're talking about it. Can we talk about one of my favourite set pieces in this movie? Because I think it embodies the idea of what these references are. As the Mitchells, They enter this big American mall and it's very much evoking those feelings of Dawn of the Dead, where it's a zombie apocalypse, ambush coming around a mall.

Gen Fricker:

Spooky, empty malls. I love them. I follow an Instagram account, and it's just empty malls.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Whoa.

Gen Fricker:

And then sometimes you can find these YouTube videos and it's empty malls with just music playing in these echoey malls, and it's my favourite.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh, my Lord.

Gen Fricker:

Anyway-

Alexei Toliopoulos:

You're a freak, dude.

Gen Fricker:

Yeah.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Can I just say that?

Gen Fricker:

You'll find it in the show notes, I'm sure.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

But then we've got this mall that's uninhabited, but then the electronics in this mall start coming alive with this Hal power, and one of the things, or should I say, a few hundred of the things that come after them, hit me so hard in my reference point, which was a-

Gen Fricker:

Which sounds disgusting.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

A reference point is an internal point on me. I'm don't uniquely have them, everyone's got one, but they're hard to find. And I found mine-

Gen Fricker:

Oh, my gosh.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

... and this movie had it. These Furbies come alive. Did you ever have a Furby?

Gen Fricker:

No, I always wanted a Furby. Never got one, but now in hindsight, I think that was good for me as a person.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yeah. Probably, you would be a different person with a Furby. I had a Furby when I was a kid, and this reminded me of a time where I had forgotten about my Furby. I was a teenager loving my life, playing video games, and hanging out in detention, because all was cool.

Gen Fricker:

Whoa.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

No, I actually never had detention in my life. I'm trying to show off and impress you.

Gen Fricker:

Far out. Yeah.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I never did that.

Gen Fricker:

Hey man, you already told me he had a Furby, I'm very impressed.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

But I had a Furby, and this one day when I was in my room, found in my closet of where I just chucked it, it had been seen there for five years. It started talking. I was just started talking.

Gen Fricker:

What did it say?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I think it was just saying back the words that I taught it back in the day. So probably, souvlaki, baklava, stuff like that. It reminded me so much of that. And then just got me thinking like, if Mitchells vs The Machines was in Australia, what would those references be of like things [crosstalk 00:11:11]-

Gen Fricker:

Yes.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

... popular cultures coming to life.

Gen Fricker:

From the top of my dome, I would say like, Tazos. Did you ever get into Tazos?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh, my gosh. I was big into Tazos.

Gen Fricker:

Yeah. And there was so small and annoying and easy to lose and they must be somewhere. You know what I mean?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

And you chucked them out. They're just sitting in a garage covered in China dust.

Gen Fricker:

100%. And I feel like someone will open their closet and a thousand million Tazos will fall out and crush them.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Whoa.

Gen Fricker:

I was thinking like that would be like similar to the Furby thing. Or did you ever watch Lift Off? It was like an ABC kids show.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yeah.

Gen Fricker:

Because there was a character on it called EC, if you're listening, and you don't know what it is, Google Lift Off EC, because it has no face.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yes.

Gen Fricker:

It was meant to be, in a way quite, progressive, it was a genderless doll.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

And EC stood for Elizabeth Charlie.

Gen Fricker:

Yes.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Early 1990s.

Gen Fricker:

Yeah.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

And it was like the most bizarre show, backpacks would come alive. There would be a place called the Wakadoo Cafe that you could go to. The Lift was a human being with a sentient brain, much like Lifts would be in this world.

Gen Fricker:

It's so hard to describe as a show. I don't actually... can't pick a storyline.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

No.

Gen Fricker:

I can just images.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yeah. And it was extremely diverse.

Gen Fricker:

Yes.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

My God, maybe they saw this show, because there's lots of animation in that show as well, puppets and stuff. Okay. This is the new title for the episode, Mitchells vs The Machine is Lift Off for an entire new generation.

Gen Fricker:

Yes, I love it. I love it. I love it. I just always feel like there was always an EC doll in proximity, wherever I was in childhood. I don't think my parents ever bought me one. I just remember at school there was one, and it looked real ratty. I think friends had them, and they were always spooky.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yes.

Gen Fricker:

Because they don't have a face.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

They have no face. They have a head, you can see a little dimple for a nose, and it's got raggy clothes.

Gen Fricker:

It's light coloured as well, so they stain easily and there's nothing more spooky than a stained doll.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I had two EC dolls.

Gen Fricker:

Yes.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I had two.

Gen Fricker:

Why?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Because I had one, and then one day I drew a face on it. I just drew-

Gen Fricker:

You had it out for it. You're like, "I need this to have a face."

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I was like, I wanted to change my EC. I wanted a new one. And then I was like, you know what? This is a huge mistake to draw a face of it. My artistic level is not as high as I would hope it to be, as like a five-year-old. And I made my parents buy me another EC doll, because that was less scary than the one that had, I guess, my Salvador Dali style face on it.

Gen Fricker:

Oh, my gosh. I mean, I was like that with my Barbies. I'd be like, "I can give a Barbie a haircut," and then would just cut off all it's hair, and be like, "I don't want this."

Alexei Toliopoulos:

This is not a Barbie-

Gen Fricker:

Ew, this is yuck.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

... this is a Rugrats Cynthia doll.

Gen Fricker:

Exactly. They always looked like a Rugrats Cynthia doll. The way the Furbies were rendered felt so realistic. They looked realistic to me. And it really reminded me of the Pokemon movie, where-

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh, my gosh.

Gen Fricker:

... that was that blending of animation and real-life people.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yes, live action.

Gen Fricker:

Live action, that's what. And I was always blown away with the Pokemon movie, because it looked exactly how these animated characters would appear in real-life, but still were animated, I guess.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yes. It's all about bringing texture to things. I think is why Detective Pikachu does so well, it was bringing those textures. I think The Mitchells vs The Machines does it in a way that's similar. It brings the textures to life, but then chooses the moment to go weird with the details, and bring the world to reality in some points, and bring it to fantasy in other points.

Gen Fricker:

And it's really seamless. You go with it. You don't feel like this big obvious click of like, and now they're doing real things, and you have those moments where it seems like Katie Mitchell is editing the movie. There's these kind of freeze frame jokes, which the filmmakers have said are because they loved the freeze frame jokes from the Simpsons, where it seems like Katie Mitchell is making a joke about the movie as the movie is happening. There's so much depth to this movie. And I feel like I'm going to watch it a few more times, because I'm still getting my head around a lot of it.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I think that's the beauty of it coming to Netflix right away is that this is a movie, I'll be honest, I've watched three times already. And there are new jokes. There are new things. And also we've got those freeze frame jokes, what are we watching on? We can literally fricking freeze frame it and catch those jokes.

Gen Fricker:

Yeah. It's so true. When I watched, I felt just excited about movies again, and the idea of watching this with people and knowing that other people were watching it. I want to talk about it because it is so joyful. It is so exciting. It's very fresh. Yeah, just that visual language, but also the story at heart, that central relationship between the father and the daughter. And I've never seen a relationship like that told in a film like this-

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yes.

Gen Fricker:

... if that makes sense. That way that fathers and daughters are so close when you're little and then as you grow older and fears of what the world will do to your children, and women trying to figure out who they are in the midst of the world and stuff like that, can cause this kind of alienation and can cause this kind of conflict, and trying to reconcile that. For me, I just thought it was so beautiful, and I wasn't expecting it to resonate so much with me in a film that is so silly. It's such a silly film.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I think because we're used to those stories, either being intensely dramatic or being something like Bend it like Beckham, which is that kind of culture clash as well, but also more about a coming of age story. It reminds me of something like Inside Out, where we are communicating ideas of feelings and emotions. But this is done in such a unique way, because the conflict is, in this film, it's not just this global conflict, this macro conflict of people versus these machines. That is like the global kind of terror that's striking this world. But then the internal conflict of this film is between this father and a daughter. And what I think is so superb about it is that this conflict is not two forces going up against each other, fueled with like rage or hate. This is much more realistic and grounded in this family unit, where everybody really loves each other. Everybody really cares for each other. The main goal is everybody wants best for each other, but those ideas are just slightly in conflict.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

So this is a movie where the central conflict is just communication. And I think what's so cool about that is that this, like Inside Out, gives children and families this vocabulary to how to get around those issues that are so real in everyday life. That's something that you and I would have faced in our families all the time-

Gen Fricker:

For sure.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

... growing up. Where it's just a feeling of love that maybe is just like in conflict with logistics or reality-

Gen Fricker:

Communication styles.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Absolutely. And so there's scenes where the young brother is like holding up signs to go, this is how you should talk to dad. And then the mother, played by Mia Rudolph, is doing like, "This is how you should talk to our daughter." I was like, it's giving us that vocabulary to be able to communicate these complex ideas that maybe kids don't quite understand how to communicate quite yet.

Gen Fricker:

I mean, or adults, man. The comparison you made with them Inside Out, isn't it so lovely that we can give people this language so they can talk about their feelings in the way. And I remember walking out of that film and being like, "Oh gosh, I wish I had this film when I was younger. When I was a kid, when I could kind of put words to how I was feeling and feel like that was normalised." I had the same feeling walking out of this. So just on an emotional level, on a storytelling level, this movie has so much punch.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Thew road movie really is one of my favourite genres, because it's so much about going on an actual physical journey, and also that internal emotional journey. And it's also so relatable. Did you ever go on these big family road trips like this?

Gen Fricker:

We used to drive down to Canberra every Easter to go to-

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh, how political.

Gen Fricker:

We were simply fans democracy. No, we were fans of the National Folk Festival.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh, hell yes, dude.

Gen Fricker:

It was very cool.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

The Frickers definitely have that folk festival vibe.

Gen Fricker:

The Frickers fricking love folk. All right.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

The Frickers are a folky folk, okay, folks.

Gen Fricker:

Focus up. You know what I'm talking... So we would drive down every Easter long weekend, go to the folk music festival, and it was just-

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Wow.

Gen Fricker:

... an excuse for my parents to get lit for three days.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yes.

Gen Fricker:

And me and my teenage brother would be like, "Where are our parents? Oh, there they are drinking Scrumpy."

Alexei Toliopoulos:

What's Scrumpy?

Gen Fricker:

It's like fortified cider, I think.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

What?

Gen Fricker:

Kind of like how port is fortified wine.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh my gosh. My dad is a big port guy.

Gen Fricker:

Yeah. Right, right, right.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

This is a little detail about my dad, and probably will give you an insight into exactly why I am thy way I am. My dad's biggest pleasure in the world is he loves port over strawberries. And that's what he does. My dad doesn't drink beer. My dad barely drinks at all. He just has port poured over strawberries and eats them. My dad is also extremely allergic to strawberries.

Gen Fricker:

Oh, my gosh.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

And my dad was a big tickler. He used to tickle me all the time, but I couldn't ever tickle my dad, unless he had had those strawberries. That was when his allergic reaction would come around and he could be tickled. So whenever I see him popping those straws, I'm like, "Oh, buckers-

Gen Fricker:

It's tickle time.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

... it's tickle time daddy." And that was fairly recently.

Gen Fricker:

Oh, my gosh.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

That's a fairly recent realisation.

Gen Fricker:

That makes... You're so right, it makes so much sense, even though it's completely nonsensical.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yeah. You know, I'm a man-

Gen Fricker:

That's exactly who you are.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

... nearing my 30s, who's still cute. My dad's passed his 60s, same things, he's never-

Gen Fricker:

Still cute.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

... stopped being cute.

Gen Fricker:

Oh. Actually, it's funny, I went on a road trip with my parents recently, [crosstalk 00:20:32]-

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh, really?

Gen Fricker:

We drove just a couple of hours, and I was so teenaged about it. It was so funny, how you just instantly revert to who you are-

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yeah, big time.

Gen Fricker:

... when you were 16, when you're with your parents for longer than an hour. My parents were just playing like easy listening hits. You know what I mean?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

We're talking Steely Dan.

Gen Fricker:

Exactly.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

We're talking Tamam Shuds' surf music, stuff like that.

Gen Fricker:

Sure. Okay. I don't know what that is, but all right. My dad, he was like into a lot of like punk bands and stuff in the '80s, so he rejects a lot of that. He thinks it's old people, music and like-

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh, my word.

Gen Fricker:

... mainstream and stuff. So then when it comes on like a bit of Whitney Houston or whatever on the radio, he's like, "Oh man, why do you like this music?" And then I've got to be the adult to him. It's not like I'm a big fan of easy listening, of smooth tunes, but it's just fun. But then I ended up just putting my headphones in and ignoring him, and having a little sulk.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh, my gosh.

Gen Fricker:

And then we drove down back home the day after New Year's and I was catastrophically hung over. I just put my headphones in and ignored my parents for about two hours. And it really made me think of Katie Mitchell when I was watching this. I was like-

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Absolutely.

Gen Fricker:

... yeah, yeah, just, I want to be in my own world. I don't want to have to engage you. Where her world was film world, and my world was just trying not to vomit all over my parent's backseat.

Gen Fricker:

On a comedic level, because, of course, it's from Lord and Miller, it packs such a punch. The cast is incredible. Just like listing off some of the names on the IMDB page, like Olivia Coleman is Pal, the AI home assistant.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

That goes rogue and starts to take over the entire world. We've got a fricking BOGG winner in that role.

Gen Fricker:

A BOGG winner, we're making it happen.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Absolutely. But I think that's one of those things when you're watching these animated movies, where you're just like, who is that voice? Who is that person? And this movie, I had it all the way through. And then just slowly figuring out who they all are, because we've got Abbi Jacobson from Broad City-

Gen Fricker:

Broad City.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

... as the lead.

Gen Fricker:

Danny McBride, who is so, so funny. I've been loving Danny McBride in the Righteous Gemstones. And here he is playing Rick Mitchell, the father, absolutely baffled and bewildered by what's going on. It's such a perfect spot for him.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

You're right. He's so perfect in this, because Daniel McBride has this intense confidence when he's playing a character. And I think that he's able to translate that so well to a vocal performance, then having him completely undercut by not knowing things and not knowing how things work, but still managing to persevere through them. And he's been able to do that so much in this kind of like, in the past, a cocky way or pig-headed way. I think him being able to translate that into a new mode, in this vocal performance, of being like it's sweet and it's through kindness, not selfishness.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I've had such a huge love for Danny McBride ever since I first saw him in like The Foot Fist Way, when I was a teenager. And now just being able to see like how he's evolving his career, and evolving what he can do with his persona and channelling in a new way through voice. I was like, "Holy smoke, this guy is the real deal." People pay attention to Danny McBride because do you know what I'm sensing around here?

Gen Fricker:

New Sandman.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I'm sensing a new Sandman. I'm sensing a potential BOGG winner or at least-

Gen Fricker:

Oh, my God.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

... a BOGG nominee, baby. That's what-

Gen Fricker:

Oh, my God.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

... I'm talking.

Gen Fricker:

I also have, absolute [inaudible 00:23:53] I have such a soft spot for Danny McBride, because one of my exes looked exactly like him.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Whoa. Okay. Danny, if you're listening-

Gen Fricker:

Well, you know? So often there are animated movies where they have these big kind of stunt casts who are perhaps really great film actors, but cannot bring it for a voice performance. And I feel like oftentimes people go, "Well, that person's very funny," or, "That person's very great at characterization."

Gen Fricker:

But in a way, if you think about voice performance, you're working with less colours in the palette, so you have to kind of be really deft about vocal performance. And I feel like it's amazing that there are so many incredible names in this movie, but that all of these really, big comedic names and powers can bring a level of nuance. And like you were saying with Danny McBride, we know him as this kind of overly confident swaggering guy and playing this kind of more tender role and still bringing a lot of laughs and stuff is great. One of the best performances for me, and it was one of those ones where I was watching the movie, and I was like, "I know this voice. I'm going to Google it." It was Beck Bennett as one of the robots, playing Eric the robot.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I love Beck Bennett so much. I'm OG YouTube Beck Bennett fan.

Gen Fricker:

Yes. Me too.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Absolutely. I'm a good neighbour boy, dude.

Gen Fricker:

If you don't know Beck Bennett. He's a current member of Saturday Night Live cast, and he's just got this big American face. And he's so funny.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yes. He's like if Ryan Gosling was a comedian.

Gen Fricker:

Yes.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Born a comedian.

Gen Fricker:

Yes. He's so funny in this. His voice is so striking, in particular. Every single line I was like, "Bennett;s named it again."

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yes.

Gen Fricker:

"He's bloody nailed it again."

Alexei Toliopoulos:

While we're here and talking about the characters and cast, let's talk a little bit about the style of how they are designed. Because I think the characters in this film are so uniquely designed, and I think so much of like animated movies, they can find this way where the characters look the same or like blobby. It stops being fresh. I mean, this is a really fresh take on the actual designs of the characters, where they feel simultaneously 2D and 3D, in a way, that feels like cell shading, but also feels like caricatures come to life, and then are embodied with like really nuanced emotions. Where they do feel very cartoonish. They don't look like real people. They don't resemble like a photo realistic image whatsoever. They look closer to cartoons or characters, but then through that, they're still able to find this really nuanced emotions and bring them to life in a way that feels so warm and joyful, yet feels quite natural. It is fricking stunning. I'm stunned. I'm stunned, dude.

Gen Fricker:

I completely agree. I feel like it's the difference between watching a TV cartoon and watching cinematic animation. And this is absolutely like cinematic animation.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

.Yes.

Gen Fricker:

There's so much nuance to it. There's so much detail to the design, but it feels like a wholly original universe full of like very original characters. It's what makes something like this, which would be obviously unfilmable-

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Absolutely.

Gen Fricker:

... if it had real people. But makes you so invested in and it makes the stakes feel so real. It is such a [inaudible 00:27:16]. And you know what? After the God damn year we've all had, just to have a delightful movie that is so joyful without being saccharin, and so well made, it feels like such a treat to watch.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

We have a huge pets on sets moment in this movie.

Gen Fricker:

Let's talk about it, Doug, the pug, king of Hollywood.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Uh-huh (affirmative). Doug the pug, you know him as a famous Instagram pug, correct?

Gen Fricker:

Yes. He's got a huge following on Instagram, and was the model for the animation and voice of the character of Monchi, the pug that lives with the Mitchell's. Well, let's say, Monchi Mitchell.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Monchi Mitchell.

Gen Fricker:

Are dogs part of the family? Or do they just inherit a space with the family?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I think dogs are part of a family, but they're like a team, they've got their own life out there that you don't know about. They're not going to share every detail with you.

Gen Fricker:

Yes.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

And Doug the pug is no exception.

Gen Fricker:

Yes.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

He has a life of his own-

Gen Fricker:

And life.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

... and it is so beautifully translated to the screen and so animated. He's eyes are gorgeously partied in multiple ways.

Gen Fricker:

Googly.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

And his little potato body is just so funny.

Gen Fricker:

Yes. Yeah. They've taken the most comedic animal in real-life and they've translated it into the screen perfectly. He also did all the actual noises-

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh, God.

Gen Fricker:

... the barks, the woofs, the sniffs, the snots.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

And I do think that is a bit of stunt casting, because they could have given that role to your beloved voice actors, okay. A lot of voice actors are getting pushed out by this stunt casting. Doug the pug find your lane, dude, go into voice acting, if this is your thing.

Gen Fricker:

See, I'm the opposite. I feel like no stories without us. You know what I mean?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Wow. Okay.

Gen Fricker:

If you're representing a culture or a animal on screen, then they need to be part of the storytelling.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yeah. Absolutely. I agree with you. I've changed my mind, Doug the pug, it is an honour to have you welcomed into the world of film, not just Instagram.

Gen Fricker:

And I hope to see Doug the pug in more film roles. It is one of those perfect family movies where on one level you can sit your kids down and watch it.,And you'll all have a good time. On the next level, on the second watch, you'll be like, "Oh, there are heaps of jokes in it for everyone." On the third watch, you do start getting that level of craft. I feel like I go from the first watch and then I just start Googling things. And then I want to watch it again.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Well allow me to just say, because I think that this is something rather unique for a family movie where you usually go, "Oh, we're watching a family movie, but don't worry there's a few jokes in there for mom and dad as well." This movie does something unique, where it's like, there is literally jokes for everyone. There are going to be jokes that only the kids get. And then, they can have the joy of explained to their parents, go like, "Here's why that Numa Numa song is funny." Well, actually, that's from my generation, and probably, is closer to the parent's generation. But there'll be so many things where it's like, you take joy in explaining the jokes to each other. Because I'm so enthusiastic about this movie. I think this is like my biggest recommendation of the year so far.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Diners, let me tell you this. If you loved this movie as much as Gen and I, there's some more recommendations I'd love to give you guys out there on Netflix to keep on building this beautiful world of animated films. I'm talking about Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. This is a movie that I absolutely loved. There's so much shared DNA in these two films, that is our Lord and Miller joint as well, directed by them. And it's so overwhelmingly detailed in beautiful animation. I also love a movie called Missing Link, which is a Claymation film, starring Hugh Jackman, who is on a road trip with the fricking yeti.

Gen Fricker:

Oh.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Very fun, cool movie. And then one that I hadn't talked about in a long time, reminded me of quite a bit. Dan Harmon written Monster House, written by Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab, two great comedy writers. And it's like a cool haunted house. I mean, there were some deep emotions, but also super weird. And when I told Michael about it, he told me that was one of his most important movies of his life.

Gen Fricker:

Wow. Okay. I got to check that one out. I haven't seen it, but I love Dan Harmon, and he's always, obviously, with Rick and Morty, a king of animation.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Absolutely.

Gen Fricker:

You absolutely need to get around The Mitchells vs The Machines. It's out on Netflix this weekend. And yeah, if you've just listened to this episode and you'd been like, "Nah," then you don't have heart, frankly.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Frankly, you have no heart, my dear. This receives my highest recommendation of the year, thus far.

Gen Fricker:

Sames.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Sames, that's it.

Gen Fricker:

Samesies, babes.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

We're on the same page for this one, Gen and I, so it's your honour, your duty, your pride, your passion to watch this flick.

Gen Fricker:

Don't let us down by not watching this movie. Make sure you catch us on Tuesday for our Snack episode, because as you have heard, we love this movie so much, but I'm really interested in getting to the science of The Mitchells vs The Machines. How likely is it that robots could rise up against us? Is Instagram listening to us? Are our smartphones compiling intel on us to lay the use? Obviously, you and I are dummies-

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yep. It's true.

Gen Fricker:

... so we can't answer. I thought we'd get a good friend, a astrophysicist, Dr. Matt Agnew to come by and explain to us whether we have anything to be worried about.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh, my God, we're going to hear about the AI from the AI expert themself, and that's on Tuesday on the Snack. Subscribe to The Big Film Buffet on Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

Gen Fricker:

This episode was hosted by Alexei Toliopoulos and me, Gen Fricker.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Produced by Michael Sun and Anu Hasbold.

Gen Fricker:

Edited by Geoffrey O'Connor.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

And executive produced by Tony Broderick and Melanie Mahony.