‘Spirited Away’, ‘Over The Moon’, and ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ make up an animated feast of fantastical proportions in this episode with Susie Youssef and Alexei Toliopoulos.
Ghibli classic ‘Spirited Away’, Netflix Premiere ‘Over The Moon’, and ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ make up an animated feast of fantastical proportions that’s fit for the whole family. Also, why does animated food always look so good?!
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Susie Youssef:
So there's a character and they start talking, and then it builds just from a spoken moment?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah. There could be two characters talking at a table, not unlike us. They're having a conversation and then one's just like: I guess I don't really know about that kind of stuff, maybe I don't really know about anything. Maybe I've never known anything at all in this world. I've traveled my whole life.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Greetings. My name is Alexei Toliopoulos.
Susie Youssef:
And my name is Susie Youssef.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
This is the Big Film Buffet.
Susie Youssef:
Where we serve up a three-course cinematic [DECA 00:00:37] station inspired by today's film: Over the Moon.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
The feast begins with a tantalizing starter of an iconic classic from film history.
Susie Youssef:
That flavour sensation continues to build into our main course, the Netflix movie of the week.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
We'll continue to gorge ourselves into piglets when we reach a dessert of further recommendations.
Susie Youssef:
I'm actually worried about that happening.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
You've seen how I look at those computer generated moon cakes haven't you?
Susie Youssef:
Yes I have. And I'm into it.
Susie Youssef:
Alexei, every time I watch an animated film, I can't stop thinking about the food.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
It is second to none. It's one of my favourite life experiences.
Susie Youssef:
It's better than real food.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
It is. I don't know how they do it. They can make the presentation perfect. They can make a chicken gleam with it's glistening dew as beautiful as it can possibly be.
Susie Youssef:
One of my favourites is obviously Ratatouille.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
The food looks sensational.
Susie Youssef:
Looks incredible.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
One of the best food movies of all time, one of the best movies about criticism of all time.
Susie Youssef:
Could not agree with you more. But I think the OG is Snow White, that apple. I'm not even a big apple fan.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I can't stand them, my least favourite fruit. And I remember watching that as a kid and just requesting, "Mother, bring me a red apple, please, I must much on it."
Susie Youssef:
But then there's all those other moments in cinema history, like Beauty And The Beast with the 'Be Our Guest' number.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yes, try the gray stuff. It's delicious.
Susie Youssef:
Don't believe me? Ask the dishes. We've lost it already. It's way too early to be this giggly. But I think there's just something about food in animated films with no budget restrictions, no waste at the end, it's guilt-free watching.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Mm (affirmative). And I think at least two of the movies we're going to be talking about today feature food in a very prominent and beautiful and delicious role.
Susie Youssef:
Totally. And before I start Googling how to ship moon cakes to my house, I really think that we should get rolling on this first trailer.
Fei Fei:
I love to hear about the Moon Goddess.
Ba Ba:
Again?
Fei Fei:
Tell me, Ma Ma.
Ma Ma:
A beautiful woman and a handsome man were in love. But, she accidentally took a magic potion and floated away, leaving her true love behind. Now she waits for him, on the moon.
Speaker 6:
Poor lady, that Goddess. So lonely up there, on the moon, dreaming of her one true love.
Chin:
Houyi, the archer! Cho!
Speaker 8:
Chin! It's just a silly myth.
Fei Fei:
It's not a silly myth. It's real. She's on the moon right now, waiting for her true love. Right, Ba Ba?
Ba Ba:
Uh...
Fei Fei:
He used to believe in her. If Ba Ba could only believe again. It's you and me, Bungee. We're the last true believers. We're going to prove she's real.
Chin:
I have a super power. No barrier!
Fei Fei:
Ba Ba, he ran into a wall (music).
Fei Fei:
Ugh (music)!
Fei Fei:
Ready (music).
Fei Fei:
Hey, Chang'e, I'm going to be there soon (singing)! In my rocket to the moon (singing)!
Susie Youssef:
We're both crying.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
We actually both have little tears in our eyes. I think there's something about that inspirational string swelling that happens in that.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah, it's unavoidable. It doesn't matter if you're in the best place in the world. As soon as those strings start, you're gone.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I think this is actually a really good trailer for this film because this is a fancy movie and I'd say 90% of it is grounded in the reality of this film. And you just get a little sneaky taste-
Susie Youssef:
A tiny taste, a tiny taste of where she goes on this journey and it definitely makes you want to watch the film.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah. And it makes you have that idea that you, yourself, are about to set off into a journey without spoiling any of the gorgeous look of what this fantasy world looks like.
Susie Youssef:
You also get a tiny nibble of the fact that it's going to be a musical. You just get that one little snippet of a song, but that is by no means the only song in the film.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
It is a musical. We are announcing it now. It is official. Over the Moon is officially a musical movie.
Susie Youssef:
This is the first animated film that was spoken about on the podcast, so congratulations.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Congratulations onto you as well.
Susie Youssef:
But it's not just animated films that we're talking about today. We're going to go a bit more specific and talk about animated fantasy films.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah. And fantasy is a really big and diverse genre. Over the Moon falls into one of the most cherished categories of fantasy storytelling: the portal fantasy.
Susie Youssef:
That's exactly what it is, a portal fantasy, which seems self-explanatory. But just in case someone doesn't fully understand the genre, can you just give me a rundown?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah. A portal fantasy is a fantasy with two worlds in it. One is our real, normal world that we would recognize. It feels like reality. And then, usually, a young person from that world walks or somehow magically transports through a portal into an imagined fantasy world of make-believe and imagination.
Susie Youssef:
Okay. So give me examples.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Well, for example, a portal could be a cyclone. You were just sitting in your house and a cyclone comes, sweeps you up, takes you to a far off land.
Susie Youssef:
Ah, yeah. And everything seemed so dull and boring, and now all of a sudden it's like it's in technicolour.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah. Something beautiful like that. Or you could just be an orphan who goes into a wardrobe and walks through it and, hang on a second, there's snow in this wardrobe and a whole new fantasy world.
Susie Youssef:
And then some hot guy with hooves. It's great.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah, the hot, hooved guy comes in and he's got no shirt on. Or it could be a rabbit hole, or it could be a looking glass, which I think is a mirror or something.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah, I get it. So it could be a board game. There's an ominous charm and then something... Bang, you're somewhere else.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Or it could be the second start of the ride, then you just go straight on till morning, you're in a whole new place. It can be a book with a medallion of two snakes hanging out on top of it. Or it could even be something as simple as a wall on a train platform that somehow you can walk through and get onto one of the most glorious trains that there could ever be.
Susie Youssef:
Or in the case of today's main course, it's a rocket that goes to the moon via some sort of asteroid belt assisted by some dragons.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yes. And takes us into a beautiful, more colourful and overexposed fantasy land.
Susie Youssef:
Totally. The thing that I love about these types of movies is that they really connect with kids. It allows them to bring a bit of their own imagination and magic to the reality of their world and to bring to life a secret world that they have within themselves as well.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah. A lot of these fantasy worlds is like building out of what this child fears, their fears of the subconscious, the things that they love, the things that they hope and wish for.
Susie Youssef:
And the great thing about it is the characters in these sorts of fantasy animation films, they all make mistakes. So sometimes they're huge mistakes and you're not sure if they'll come back from them, but it's never the end of the world. So they get to face their fears. They get to learn from them. They get to grow. And for kids, and adults with anxiety disorders, there is that sweet relief in this genre.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah. That's a big part of it. A lot of these worlds in these films can be read as imagined constructs for the minds of these characters based on their fears, their dreams, or whatever is floating up in their subconscious.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Like in wizard of Oz, when Dorothy comes back and realised that all the people that she knew in Kansas were actually underneath all of that toxic 1930s lead-based makeup in Oz.
Susie Youssef:
It's the sort of stuff of actual escapism. So if you're an adult, like myself and Alexei allegedly are, you can still totally enjoy animated fantasy because it gives you that kind of little trippy break from your adult brain in a chemical free, safe environment.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
So our starter this week is a true classic of the animated fantasy that I would say is one of the most deeply beloved films of all time and worthy of being in the same conversation as the Wizard of Oz.
Susie Youssef:
So let's cross the river into Hayao Miyazaki's magical film: Spirited Away.
Akio Ogino:
It's an abandoned theme park. See?
Chihiro Ogino/Sen:
Where are you going? You said just a quick look. Now let's go back! Hey!
Susie Youssef:
This is the story of ten-year-old Chihiro and her parents who stumble upon a seemingly abandoned amusement park. They don't realise that they've trespassed into a fantasy realm, and when her mother and father can't stop eating this incredible feast in front of them, they turn into giant pigs. Here, Chihiro meets the mysterious Haku who explains that the park is a resort for supernatural beings who need a break from their time spent in the earthly realm and she must work there to free herself and her parents. What a premise.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Oh, I love this movie so much. This is such a classic portal, fantasy film. This film carries so much meaning for me. I remember just falling in love with it when I was a young kid, seeing it for the first time, I must've been about 10 or 11 years old, and I was just entranced by how sublime it was. I think it was the first time I'd felt something outside of my comfort zone. Some of that felt divine and poetic.
Susie Youssef:
Did you feel scared?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I did feel scared. That idea of transgression is so apparent in this movie, as it is in a lot of these fantasy, portal films. The parents start gorging and they turn into those pigs. That idea, as it's presented in this film, really struck me as something deeply unsettling, that they are no longer in their human form. I think it has really captured that idea of doing something bad and here's the consequence.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah, exactly. And I wish I had the excuse of watching this as a child for how scared I got watching it. I watched it 17 years after it won the Oscar for best animated feature, which is to say that I watched it this year, and I absolutely loved it, but that's not to say I wasn't really scared in it. It's such a sophisticated film.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Mm (affirmative).
Susie Youssef:
For a kid who grew up pretty much on a street diet of Looney Tunes and Disney, at first I thought this is quite a bizarre story, and if you break it down, I think most animations are quite bizarre and borderline horror film working, the way that you can describe them. If it wasn't for a cute song or a comic relief character, they are really scary films.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Mm (affirmative).
Susie Youssef:
But I actually remember the moment when Miyazaki won the Oscar for this film because I adore Steve Martin, I think he was hosting the show that year, and he was introducing Cameron Diaz and he had a really great gag. It was the first Academy Award to be handed out that night. So the beautiful Cameron Diaz walks out on stage-
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Princess Fiona herself.
Susie Youssef:
Princess Fiona herself. And then she introduces the category by saying, "Once upon a time, parents took their children to see animated features, but today's animation has reached such a level of sophistication that children now take their parents." And I was like: that is so on point for Spirited Away.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah. I love these movies so much. I recently bought all of them on Blu-ray because I was like: I got to watch them all. And then literally a week later they announced that they're all coming to Netflix.
Susie Youssef:
I was just about to say: do you know that they are all on there?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And you know what? I love them that much I don't feel bad about that because now I get to have them all forever, but now everyone else gets to watch them as well.
Susie Youssef:
For those who are unaware, give me a bit of a Studio Ghibli 101.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Well, it's a creative Japanese animation studio, mainly the creative forces behind it are Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, who between them have made some of the most deeply moving and imaginative Japanese anime movies of all time. And this is a stew that's really informed by the storytelling of Walt Disney animated movies. They take those animated movies and then retranslate them and capture the magic that they felt when they saw those films as a young person and breathe a new life into them.
Susie Youssef:
Can you talk to me about the aesthetic? Because, it's quite different to what you would be used to as far as a Disney or a Pixar or Looney Tunes, or whatever. There's just something a little bit different about them.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I would say that what you're hitting on is there's a somberness to them that elevates both the magic and the reality of them that allows the emotions to sing really true and feel very evocative.
Susie Youssef:
I think the emotion is also aided by the fact that the animation itself is stunning. It was about a hundred times during this film that I wanted to just freeze frame and take that picture and hang it on my wall. It's so beautiful. It's so dreamlike. The music is mostly orchestral, I think, in Spirited Away and it elevates the whole thing.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
These very much are the definition of hand drawn animation.
Susie Youssef:
Yip.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
It's very handcrafted. You can see the lines, you can see that these images have been drawn by hand. A lot of modern animation here in the West does not follow that tradition anymore.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah. The other thing I noticed about Spirited Away and the level that it has rate, and why it absolutely deserved the Oscar that it received, is the crying. We have to talk about the crying. These aren't sideways tears. These aren't trickling zig-zagged [crosstalk 00:13:36].
Alexei Toliopoulos:
They aren't little droplets.
Susie Youssef:
It's not like that. These are big, fat, emotional tears that came out. Not just from the character, but also from us just watching the film.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
There's a gravity to them where you can just feel the heft of these tears. When you watch a Miyazaki movie, I think because they do speak so poetically that they just tap into your own emotions where you're just like, "Oh, I have those heavy tears too."
Alexei Toliopoulos:
When we talk about Japanese anime, we often have this discussion, this discourse around a debate whether you go subs or dubs. Subs versus dubs; subtitles versus dubbing.
Susie Youssef:
I'm definitely a subtitles person, but I watch subtitles with a lot of films. I'm just that person.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And in my great shame, I'm a dub.
Susie Youssef:
You're a dubber.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I'm a dub head, dude.
Susie Youssef:
Wow. I didn't think you would take those dub steps.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I'm going to get torn apart online for saying this, but I hate books and reading sometimes is like reading a book.
Susie Youssef:
But I love that moment when you're watching a subtitled film and you forget that you've been reading for two and a half hours, or whatever it is. I think it's really great.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Well, you've put me to shame, Susie. I think another thing that I would say is key to this movie, and probably key to the next one we're going to talk about as well, is that it has this idea of tradition and that tradition and superstition is really where reality meets the supernatural. I think that's key to this type of fantasy movie.
Susie Youssef:
Well, sumimasen, Alexei, and arigato gozaimashita to Spirited Away because it is now time to respectfully cross back over the river and sail passed the sunset to our premier flick this week: Over the Moon.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
A bright young girl, a dazzling adventure and a mythical Goddess whose story takes her to the moon and back.
Susie Youssef:
This film was written by the late Audrey Wells and at the helm is the director Glen Keane.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I think we need to start talking about this movie with its cast. Newcomer Cathy Ang plays Fei Fei and she's joined by an ensemble cast of Phillipa Soo, from Hamilton, Ken Jeong, great comedy hero, John Cho, Margaret Cho and Sandra Oh. The list literally goes on and on.
Susie Youssef:
I love Sandra Oh. She has this gravity to her voice that makes me feel so calm. So even though I wasn't really sure when we're introduced to her, if we're supposed to like her character or not, because I have learned from my animated history that if there is the potential stepmother in a story that I should possibly be scared, but I love that she brought a steadiness and a warmth to that character type in that character.
Mrs Zhong:
Hi Fei Fei, I didn't want you to miss dessert.
Fei Fei:
Oh.
Mrs Zhong:
I saved you a special moon cake from my hometown, without dates.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Every lead voice actor here in this film is an Asian-American film star, and so are much of the crew, which was a very conscious decision. And what I like about this is that it doesn't feel like a tokenistic gesture. It genuinely feels like some of the biggest actors in Hollywood today are able to shine in these roles. We've got Ken Jeong playing this magical sidekick who is this very luminescent green reptilian creature that I just found so funny. It just feels so in his voice and in his tone that even at times I thought this creature, while bizarre and imagined, felt and looked like Ken Jeong.
Susie Youssef:
I totally agree. And it wasn't distracting in any way. It just made me love him in the same way that I loved him in the Hangover or Crazy, Rich Asians. He was just this great comic relief character.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yes. I totally agree. In the first episode, Susie, we talked about how important was for us seeing, looking for other branding when we're young and feeling like we were represented in films.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah, exactly.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I think this film carries a lot of those same feelings, that feeling of otherness, of being othered and seeing your story or your family or even just the people that look like you in a big movie like this really makes you feel seen in a very empowered and resonating way.
Susie Youssef:
And I think for you and I to be watching the trailer and bawling our eyes out, I can't imagine what the Chinese community will be like sitting there watching such a beautiful animation.
Speaker 12:
Now she lives with a rabbit instead of a husband.
Speaker 13:
Good choice.
Fei Fei:
But it wasn't her choice. She didn't try to leave Houyi behind. She misses Houyi and cries for him every day.
Speaker 13:
And how do you know that?
Speaker 12:
They text.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
One thing I really love about this movie, Susie, is the design of these characters.
Susie Youssef:
So beautiful.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I love that they have these cartoonish, exaggerated features, but there's still a humanity to them that doesn't feel too cutesy. And when it's combined with the clothes, have this real fabric-like feel and feel very tangible, compared to the simple blobby, exaggerated characters that you see in this other world.
Fei Fei:
You think Chang'e is real?
Ba Ba:
If your mother says she's real, then she is absolutely real.
Ma Ma:
Thank you. Look up. Can you see Jade rabbit? He's making a potion.
Susie Youssef:
Well, I have to say that I did a little bit of a deep dive into this after watching the film and the designs of Chang'e, who's the beautiful moon Goddess, her costumes were designed by a Chinese couture designer called Guo Pei and her work is absolutely out of this world. I don't know if you remember but she did this yellow dress that Rihanna wore on the Met Gala Red Carpet a years ago.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
How could I ever forget?
Susie Youssef:
I know you won't forget, but if you haven't seen it, Google it because it's the one with a huge velvet-like train spreading up behind her. It made me want to sell my sister so I could just afford to wear anything that Guo Pei would make.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Oh yeah, it's gorgeous. I like a burnt gold colour. I love it.
Susie Youssef:
So beautiful.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Speaking of colour, this movie has such an interesting colour palette and I think that's a great way to distinguish these two worlds. The first world is very naturalistic, very blue and colder colours.
Susie Youssef:
A bit muted.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
A bit muted, subdued, if you will. Somber. And then we get taken to that other world past the moon.
Susie Youssef:
It's neon lights, baby. It's so alive and different and it feels futuristic, but it's also in keeping with some of the colours that we see back in the first world.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And it's very intense. It's very vibrant. It's successfully creates this whole feeling of a new world that is beyond our imagination, that feels like even your eyes has to adjust to the brightness and that intensity of that overexposed lighting. It impressed me so much and it really excited me. It's this brilliant, effective communication to a young audience to have these two things that feel almost like they are a different animation style.
Susie Youssef:
It's not just your eyes that have to adjust either, it's your ears too, because the music really shifts from one world to the next. We move from this traditional, maybe orchestral, maybe musical numbers that we hear down on earth and then when we head to the moon, it's all about DJ Jade Rabbit, if you know what I'm saying. It's really pop, it's so different. It's such a gear shift from what we're used to in animated films.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
It's a visual and an oral transformation. And this brings me to my favourite, favourite, most beloved film term that there is Susie.
Susie Youssef:
I don't know if I believe you; you've got a lot of favourites of everything.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Well, this one I love because it's so specific. This is a term called 'MERM.'
Susie Youssef:
Okay, you're definitely going to have to break this down for me.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
So MERM, which means musically enhanced reality mode, it's about performance. When a character begins in the reality of a film, we're in that naturalistic state, and then gradually builds and heightens their performance until eventually they're singing. And the film itself is elevated out of grounded reality and into cinematic fantasy.
Susie Youssef:
Okay. So there's a character and they start talking, and then it builds just from a spoken moment?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yeah. There could be two characters talking at a table, not unlike us. And they're having a conversation and one's just like: I guess I don't really know about that kind of stuff. Maybe I don't really know about anything. Maybe I've never known anything at all in this world. I've traveled my whole life thinking of things, trying to remember all of the things that I've learned, but here I am. And I don't know, maybe I've never known at all (singing).
Susie Youssef:
Oh my gosh.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
So it feels real when it's happening in a moment.
Susie Youssef:
Oh, it feels very real.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And I think it's this difficult bridge to cross in modern cinema because over the last 40 years, we've become trained out of accepting the musical as a type of realistic genre. It just doesn't agree with the realism that is the norm in modern movies, outside of Disney animated movies really. I think the way that they ease into it in the opening scene of this film is brilliant. By having our characters break into song while a water colour painting comes to life in another animation style, it's really elegant and a gentle way to introduce the audience to the magic of the musical in this film.
Susie Youssef:
And I think it's really appropriate to the themes of the film. There are some emotional issues that are dealt with in this movie, but what it does really well is it couples the main characters with friendships that have this comic relief kind of safety net that allow the main character to be brave and to grow and to go on these adventures. And the comic relief comes in different ways. It's sprinkled in with the grandpa character who talks about these hairy crabs. He's just mumbling in the background, which I absolutely loved.
Grandpa:
The hairy crab is burrowing crab known for its furry claws.
Susie Youssef:
And then it's also dolloped on by the other characters of Chin and Gobi, and we also see this in the other films. In Frozen, you've got Olaf. In inside out, you've got Bing Bong, these really light injections of humor throughout the film.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I think it hits on that idea that you were talking about of the safety net, having these cuddly and silly companions with them, helps them on this journey by making it feel sweeter for them.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah, totally. But the thing I really want to talk about is how kick-ass Fei Fei is as the protagonist. She is literally a rocket scientist in this film. She builds a rocket. So amongst all of the grief and sadness and parental issues that may have come up at the beginning, you then see this powerhouse woman building a rocket and actually going to the moon. It's not like, "Oh, we woke up and it was all a dream." It's not a dream. She's a rocket scientist and she's amazing.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
It's exciting stuff, same as Spirited Away, same as Wizard of Oz, same of Alice in Wonderland. A lot of these stories are about these young women finding their own empowerment.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah, and growing really quickly in a situation that is so terrifying, like at the beginning of Spirited Away, we had this really feeble, terrified child. But by the end of it, she's basically a superhero.
Chin:
By the way, I have a super power. Can you guess what it is?
Fei Fei:
Super annoying?
Chin:
I have two super powers.
Susie Youssef:
Someone else who has a super power in our eyes is Producer Michael and you love this film.
Michael:
I did indeed love this film. I thought it was such a sweet and wholesome movie. And as you were saying, Alexei, earlier about the representation in this movie, I found it quite astounding that it was a family movie that really approaches representation, not in terms of box office figures or tokenism, but it's genuinely every member of the cast and a majority of the crew are from a nonwhite background, and especially from an Asian background. It wasn't trying to dilute this culture into Western culture. It was very much: this movie that features Chinese actors is actually set in China and quite accurately tells the story of this mythology. And even those little details, like the bickering family dinner, all the gossiping aunties, I was like: this is literally my family dinner.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
That's what I really like about this movie, like you're saying Michael, these details that build up to create an authentic experience to immerse you into this world. And it's not just a fantasy world, it's the real world that this movie is set in as well.
Susie Youssef:
And like so many of these films, it's like the more specific this gets into Chinese culture, the more that everyone sees their own family in that story.
Michael:
Exactly. It's like you see yourself on screen because of the specificity, not because of general broad strokes being washed across.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Producer Michael, it's always so good having your thoughts on movies.
Susie Youssef:
Such a delight.
Susie Youssef:
If you like the flavours you have sampled today, then why not follow the Big Film Buffet on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts to make sure you get new episodes as soon as they drop every single Tuesday? Comment, rate, review, tell your friends, invite your friends. Maybe we'll have them over. What do they eat? Any intolerances? Let us know. Send us all the love that you can muster because we'd love to hear it from you.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Well, well, well, we have come to that time of our feast, where we play a little game to cleanse our palates. We are playing a game called film or movie and in this game, Producer Michael comes in prepared with a title of a motion picture where Susie and I must declare whether it belongs categorized as a movie or as a film.
Susie Youssef:
It's a battle of wits.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
It's a battle of wits; it's a battle of twits. Producer Michael, what is the title you've got for us today?
Michael:
The granita of animated musicals. It is: Frozen.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Michael, you say granita. I say Slurpee. This is a movie, and to call it film is heresy in my opinion. This is a movie because it is entirely a commercial endeavour, if you ask me. I go out to the supermarket. I go out there and I see a lemon and the lemon has got a packaging around it that's got fricking Elsa on there telling me recipes on how to use the lemon. I go to buy my cereal, I see Olaf's head popping around saying, "Enjoy this crushed up wheat stuff." It is everywhere. This is not even a movie. This is a commercial.
Susie Youssef:
Gosh, I just did not realise how jaded you were because this, to me, is a piece of cinematic film about two sisters who finally discover not only familial love, but self-love.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Wow. And that self-love is how I feel about those producers lining those pockets.
Susie Youssef:
Okay. Well, my second point would be the mastery of Idina Menzel.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Movie star.
Susie Youssef:
Film legend,
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Broadway idol. Let that be on the record. You're saying this is a film?
Susie Youssef:
That is my argument.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Okay, but this film costs $150 million.
Susie Youssef:
That's a lot of money.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yes, that's movie money we're talking here. And it raked in even more movie money.
Susie Youssef:
Okay, well how much are we talking?
Alexei Toliopoulos:
1.28 billion dollars. Okay?
Susie Youssef:
Wow.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
That's a lot of snowflakes.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah, that's a lot of snowflakes. But, it's not up to me, it's not up to you, it's up to Producer Michael.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yes!
Susie Youssef:
Film or movie?
Michael:
Guess what? I feel like I am actually incredibly won over by the argument that this movie stars, Idina Menzel of Uncut Gems fame.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Okay.
Michael:
It's a fair point.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I surrender to the gems. If you pull the Uncut Gems argument, then I'm always going to surrender to that.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Susie Youssef, we've come to that time in our meal, the third course, the final course known as the sweetest of them all: dessert.
Susie Youssef:
We have. So if you are still hungry for more of that animated fantasy film goodness then can I recommend to you a beautiful film called How to Train Your Dragon?
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III:
The only problems are the pests. You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes. We have dragons.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
How to Train Your Dragon is about the son of a Viking leader, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, who faces a rite of passage. He must kill a dragon to prove his warrior mettle.
Susie Youssef:
I saw this film for the very first time in a hotel room in London and my sister and I were staying there for the night and we bought the film to watch it before we went to bed.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
No piracy was involved.
Susie Youssef:
No piracy was involved. And then we woke up the next day, we set alarms to wake up early so we could watch it again before checkout.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Wow.
Susie Youssef:
That's how much we loved it.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Wow. I remember seeing this movie in the cinema for the first time, not how it was intended. The director actually said that you should watch this in a hotel in London, in pay-per-view twice within 24 hours. But I watched it against his wishes in a cinema and I remember this visceral feeling that I don't think I've ever felt before, and that was the feeling of: Holy smokes, I'm flying. I know the thing that I adore about this movie is that John Powell score, that orchestral score.
Susie Youssef:
Oh my gosh. I've downloaded the soundtrack. It's on my phone. I know what...
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Oh my gosh. You're just sitting there dreaming that you're flying, listening to John Powell's score let's just job bell score. The other thing that I love Susie, as well, I love the designs of the dragons. I think they're beautifully designed.
Susie Youssef:
They are absolutely beautiful. And I know it's not a competition between who loves his film more, but I do have a coffee table bought with the artwork of How to Train Your Dragon.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Oh, Susie's brought it with her.
Susie Youssef:
I brought it with me. This is an absolutely stunning film. I was really surprised by it. I think I was most impressed by the cast because there's so many great grounded, dramatic performances in it. Gerard Butler has this very stern but dramatic fatherly role that he plays. And then there's a little sweet comic relief with Kristen Wiig and Craig Ferguson in there as well. It's just gorgeous.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
It's a really tremendous picture. I highly recommend it to anyone. You can either watch it on Netflix or go to a hotel in London and chuck it on the TV there.
Susie Youssef:
Yeah, absolutely.
Susie Youssef:
We obviously love dragons because we've had dragons in every single film on the menu today.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Yes.
Susie Youssef:
We got dragons in Spirited Away, Haku plays a dragon at one point in that film. There are two dragons in Over the Moon. And historically, throughout cinema, dragons can be terrifying or they can be friendly. And the friendly dragon that comes to mind for me is Falkor.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I love Falkor.
Susie Youssef:
Falkor, from the Never Ending Story. I mean, my family loved that luck dragons so much that we used to have this big white Urvan, a nine seater Urvan that we'd drive around and we called it Falkor.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Whoa!
Susie Youssef:
We were completely in love with it.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
We've got a few extra recommendations for you on this podcast.
Susie Youssef:
Yip. If you want, you can go out and buy all of the Studio Ghibli films on Blue-ray or watch them all on Netflix.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
They're all there. They're all lovely. Another little thing that I wanted to give a shout out to is Cartoon Saloon. It's a new Irish animation studio that I believe is the future, the next Studio Ghibli.
Susie Youssef:
Oh, this is a big, Alexei.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
I love making these big calls. They make really emotionally resonant animated films. I love their films: The Secret Of The Kells and The Song Of The Sea, which are both inspired by Irish folklore and mythology. And there's another film, The Breadwinner, which is a little more heavy and not one that I'd recommend for little kids, but everyone of every age would fall in love with Song of the Sea.
Susie Youssef:
Okay, beautiful. So to recap today, the starter was the beautiful Spirited Away, followed by our film [foreign language 00:32:17]: Over the Moon. And we finished with a dessert of How to Train Your Dragon.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Susie, what is on the menu for next week?
Susie Youssef:
Next week is my favourite of all the genres, it is romantic comedies and the film we are watching is: Holidate.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
Starring Luke Bracey and...
Susie Youssef:
Emma Roberts. That is all from us for this week. Alexei Toliopoulos, goodbye from me.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
And Susie Youssef, goodbye from me. And Producer Michael, we'll see you next time.
Susie Youssef:
See you, Michael.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
If you want to hear more from me in the meantime, you can head over to Total Reboot, the movie podcast that I host with Cameron James where we talk about reboots, remakes and rip offs in cinema.
Alexei Toliopoulos:
This episode was written and hosted by me Alexei Toliopoulos and my dear friend Susie Youssef, produced by Michael Sun and Anu Hasbold, edited by Gefforey O'Connor and executive produced by Tony Broderick and Melanie Mahony.