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Category Archives: Disney

450: Tron Legacy Roundtable Discussion

12 Saturday Dec 2020

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in animation, Disney, Episode, Film, Science Fiction

≈ 2 Comments

Episode 450 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on Apple podcasts, stitcher, spotify, or click here to stream (right click to download, if that’s your thing).

In this week’s episode, I talk with Julian Chambliss, Leslie Salas, Todd James Pierce, and Jeff Shuster about the legacy of Tron Legacy (2010) and Tron (1982) and Tron Uprising (2010) and many other things.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTESScribophile

  • TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go here while still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.
  • RIP, Zoe.

  • Register with Miami Book Fair Online in order to stream its free events, including a debut poet panel moderated by yours truly.

  • Check out my literary adventure novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.

Episode 450 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on Apple podcasts, stitcher, spotify, or click here to stream (right click to download, if that’s your thing).

The Curator of Schlock #332: The Black Cauldron

20 Friday Nov 2020

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in animation, Disney, Fantasy, Film, The Curator of Schlock

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Lloyd Alexander, Richard Rich., Ted Berman, The Black Cauldron, The Chronicles of Prydain, Walt Disney Studios

The Curator of Schlock #332 by Jeff Shuster

The Black Cauldron

I liked it!

Wally has kept me locked in my bedroom as I churn out pages for a spec script that reads like My Dinner With Andre, but with vampires.

schlock mansion

Wally figures once we pique the interest of Hollywood execs, he can pressure them to choose him as director. Of course, he’ll insist on directing the scenes at night. I keep trying to explain to him that nobody buys spec scripts anymore!

Tonight’s movie is 1985’s The Black Cauldron from directors Ted Berman and Richard Rich. This Walt Disney production with a sordid reputation is is based on The Chronicles of Prydain series of children’s fantasy novels written between 1964 and 1968 by Lloyd Alexander. The House of Mouse snatched up the film rights in 1971, but the film suffered a deeply troubled production.

I remember The Black Cauldron being hyped by Disney back in 1985 along with the movie Return to Oz (another problem release for the studio). That summer, my mother took me to see The Black Cauldron and I remember liking it at the time. I didn’t love it, but I liked it. The estimated budget was around 44 million, but the box office only took in 21.3 million.

This was my first introduction to a box office bomb. The news media tore into it, calling it one of the worst movies of the year. The Black Cauldron had a eputation of being too dark and scary for children (the same could be said for many children’s movies from the 80s). I also remember fans of Lloyd Alexander’s work dismissing the film as it deviated quite a bit from the source material.

The Black Cauldron faded from my mind. I never got the chance to re-watch it during my childhood. The movie became one of these forbidden Disney movies like The Song of the South. The Black Cauldron hadn’t gotten a VHS release nor was it aired on The Disney Channel.

Whenever someone tells you that you can’t watch a movie, you want to watch it all the more.

The Black Cauldron had received a European home video release and I managed to get my hands on a crummy bootleg while studying film at community college. Disney eventually relented and gave The Black Cauldron a home video release in the late 90s. I eagerly purchased a copy, but again the quality wasn’t ideal. Disney must have used the cheapest VHS tapes they could find and the movie was pan & scan which is a problem for movies shot for widescreen. Years later, Disney would begrudgingly release a decent print of it on DVD (a Blu-ray has yet to be released), and I believe you can catch it on Disney+.

Is The Black Cauldron worth your time? Shot on 70mm, it is one of the most gorgeous animated features I’ve ever seen. John Hurt voices The Horned King, a skeletal menace WHO has to be the scariest Disney villain I’ve ever laid eyes on. Elmer Bernstein provides a score that is both haunting and enchanting. Is the movie good? Yes, and good is good enough for your curator of schlock.


Photo by Leslie Salas

Jeff Shuster (episode 47, episode 102, episode 124, episode 131, episode 284, episode 441, episode 442, episode 443 and episode 444) is an MFA graduate from the University of Central Florida.

The Diaries of a Sozzled Scribbler #19

16 Friday Oct 2020

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Disney, Sozzled Scribbler

≈ Leave a comment

The Diaries of a Sozzled Scribbler #19

Transcribed by DMETRI KAKMI

16 October 2020

In the 199th year of this my mortal life, I find me in Altamonte Springs, Florida, waiting for Little Lord Pantsleroy—otherwise known as Mr John King—so that I may capture him and torment him to my heart’s content.

For he hath offended me most high when he interviewed my pasty faced amanuensis Deutoronomy Katalapsycon, or whatever its name is, for a modern convenience called the invasion of the podcast people, and banished me from the room.

‘That man is a menace,’ Little Lord Pantsleroy declared. ‘He is banished.’

Banished, moi! Banished!

And so here I sit in that valley that pierces my heart with dread, and I look aloft and see his shoulders broad approach, awaiting him that is mine enemy so that I may entrap him and inflict punishments upon his conceited corse that he will not forget.

So overcome with fury am I that I risk being seen by stepping forth upon the perilous wide waste, strike a Napoleonic pose, and quote my good friend, God.

‘For vengeance is mine and I will repay. His day of disaster is near and his doom rushes upon him.’

My prize is almost upon me, sauntering at the bottom of the prominence upon which I stand, whistling a happy tune, carefree as Mariella Frostrup sans brassier.

‘Fly high, mine silvered snare,’ quoth I, as I cast a net into the air, ‘and bring my quarry like a fish from fathomless depths unto me.’

‘What, ho?’ cries the Shakespearean dolt as the latticework settles around him.

I step forward so that his eyes can look upon my bedazzled form for the first time.

‘What are you?’ says he. ‘That looks not like the inhabitants of the earth and yet walks upon it. Speak if you can. What are you?’

For although he publishes my world-wide hit column, he has never seen me before.

‘Hail, Little Lord Pantsleroy.’

My prey freezes.

‘Hail to thee, Thane of the Drunken Odyssey,’ I wheedle.

He trembles. Fear is in his eyes.

‘Surely it can’t be you,’ he gasps.

‘Tis I,’ I say, advancing. ‘And none other.’

‘Say why upon this blasted heath you stop my way with such horrendous greetings.’

On and on he goes, like a cold bum, quoting Shakespeare as if he’s John Gielgud. A quick application of ether knocks him out. Now to my secret laboratory and to execute my dastardly plan. But boy is he heavy. And badly dressed. First, I strip him of the rags he wears and burn them. Then I hire a crane to lift him.

Hours later, the victim returns to consciousness, strapped to an operating table in my eyrie.

I gloat in my white laboratory coat, made exclusively pour moi by none other than Issey Miyake.

‘It’s alive,’ I scream maniacally, raising my arms to the heavens. ‘It’s alive.’

Little Lord Pantsleroy is so frightened he almost poops his pants.

‘Where am I?’ he says. ‘What do you want?

‘For there is nothing covered,’ I quote, ‘that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.’

Little Lord Pantsleroy struggles in his bonds, but it’s useless. He is in my power.

‘Why I am covered in bandages?’ he says, looking down the length of his body. ‘What have you done to me?’

‘Tell me, my little friend.’ I stand over to him. ‘What is your favorite place in the world?’

‘Disneyland.’

‘And who is your favourite Disney character?’

‘Donald Duck. But Joe Carioca from The Three Caballeros is a close tie.’

‘And how would you like to be these characters?’

I let my pronouncement sink in.

‘What do you mean?’ he squawks.

‘This!’

I rip the bandages from his body with a grand flourish, and move a suspended mirror above the operating table so that he can see his body.

At first there is stunned silence. Then the eyes grow wide with shock and disbelief. And then the mouth (or rather the beak) opens and a prolonged quack of dismay is emitted.

‘What have you done?’

‘I have turned you into a half-duck, half-parrot.’

‘Why?’

‘Oh,’ I say, pretending to be perplexed. ‘I thought you wanted to be Donald Duck and Joe Carioca.’

The dismal quack is followed by a cacophonous squawk.

‘No!’

‘Yes.’

‘Why?’

‘Because you did not to put me in your invasion of the podcast people thingy.’

And then the mad creature begins to laugh.

‘Why laughest thou, oh Caliban?’

‘Because,’ he says, half sitting up and staring at me with maddened eyes, ‘now I can work in my favourite place in the world, Disneyland.’

But I have one more nasty card up my sleeve.

‘That’s what you think, my little canard.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You are sold.’

‘To whom?’

‘To Fraulein Elsa Mars.’

‘Who is she?’

‘She, my beaky little perroquet, is the manager of the Cabinet of Curiosities, a freak show, in Jupiter, Florida. Why here she is now.’

A divine creation right out of the Weimer Republic saunters in, half Marlene Dietrich, half Consuela Cosmetic.

The half-duck, half-parrot parody gapes at the miraculous apparition.

‘What are you staring at?’ Elsa Mars snaps, with that fake German accent of hers. ‘Do you value your job around here?’

Le canard et perroquet anomalie nods, knowing he is her slave forever.

‘Then get out there and make people laugh. Schel!’

Elsa Mars cracks her whip and l’homme canard et perroquet is carried away by assorted aberrations never to be seen again.

And now, dear reader, I am in charge of the Drunken Odyssey.

À bientôt, mes amies.


The Sozzled Scribbler was born in the shadow of the Erechtheion in Athens, Greece, to an Egyptian street walker (his father) and a Greek bear wrestler (his mother). He has lived in Istanbul, Rome, London, New Orleans and is currently stateless. He partakes of four bottles of Bombay gin and nine packets of Gauloises cigarettes a day.

Dmetri Kakmi is a writer and editor. His first book, Mother Land, was shortlisted for the New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards in Australia, and his new book, The Door, will be released in September 2020.

Episode 425: Mixtape #13: Tender Ballads for Subhuman Lovers (2005)

20 Saturday Jun 2020

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Disney, Episode, Mixtape

≈ Leave a comment

Episode 425 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on Apple podcasts, stitcher, spotify, or click here to stream (right click to download, if that’s your thing).

Tender Ballads for Subhuman Lovers

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

Scribophile

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go here while still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

Check out my literary adventure novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.


Episode 425 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on Apple podcasts, stitcher, spotify, or click here to stream (right click to download, if that’s your thing).

Episode 421: Didier Ghez!

23 Saturday May 2020

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in animation, Art, Disney, Episode

≈ Leave a comment

Episode 421 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on Apple podcasts, stitcher, spotify, or click here to stream (right click to download, if that’s your thing).

Didier_Ghez

This week I talk with Disney historian Didier Ghez about the joys of research and forging one’s own path as a historian.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

TDADP5

TDATP5 page

Designs by Ken Anderson.

TDATP5 p194b Shaw

Design by Mel Shaw.

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

Scribophile

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go here while still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

If you want me to talk about creativity, check out my appearance on Jeff Wilfong’s podcast, Dub Ya Mind.

Consider donating to City Lights Books to sustain it and/or buying a book online from Powells.

Check out my literary adventure novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.

Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame Cover

Episode 421 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on Apple podcasts, stitcher, spotify, or click here to stream (right click to download, if that’s your thing).

Episode 414: Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway Review, with Todd James Pierce!

04 Saturday Apr 2020

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in animation, Disney, Episode

≈ Leave a comment

Episode 414 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on Apple podcasts, stitcher, spotify, or click here to stream (right click to download, if that’s your thing).

In this week’s episode, I talk with creative writer and Disney historian Todd James Pierce about the new Disney’s Hollywood Studios attraction that let’s guests cross into the screen of a cartoon experience.

Todd Pierce Studios CROPPED June 2018

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway Sign

Photo by Todd James Pierce.

Mickey Minney Railway Podcast Photo

Photo by Todd James Pierce.

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

Scribophile

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go here while still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

Check out Todd’s books:

Ward Kimball

Three Years in Wonderland

Check out Todd James Pierce’s site and podcast, Disney History Institute. His episode devoted to Kevin Rafferty and the Runaway Railway is here.

Check out my literary adventure novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.

Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame Cover


Episode 414 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on Apple podcasts, stitcher, spotify, or click here to stream (right click to download, if that’s your thing).

Episode 410: Ron Schneider!

14 Saturday Mar 2020

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Disney, Episode, Memoir, Theater

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bamboo Forest Press, Dreamfinder, EPCOT, From Dreamer to Dreamfinder, Golden Horseshoe Revue, Journey Into Imagination, Leonard Kinsey, Ron Schneider, Shakespeare, Theater, Theme Park Entertainment, Titanic The Exhibit, Universal Studios

Episode 410 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature, is available on Apple podcasts, stitcher, spotify, or click here to stream (right click to download, if that’s your thing).

This week, I speak to actor, show writer, and memoirist Ron Schneider about the show business life, theme park creativity, and learning to master new creative challenges.

Ron Schneider

TEXTS DISCUSSED

From Dreamer to Dreamfinder

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

Scribophile

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go here while still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.


Episode 410 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature, is available on Apple podcasts, stitcher, spotify, or click here to stream (right click to download, if that’s your thing).

Episode 384: Galaxy’s Edge Review, with Todd James Pierce!

14 Saturday Sep 2019

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Disney, Episode, Star Wars, Video Games

≈ Leave a comment

Episode 384 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on Apple podcasts, stitcher, spotify, or click here to stream (right click to download, if that’s your thing).

In this week’s episode, I talk with creative writer and Disney historian Todd James Pierce about the new developments in role-play storytelling that were and perhaps still are planned for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios park at Walt Disney World.

Episode 384 Art

IMG_0103

According to the end of the line cast member outside Oga’s Cantina, you can’t see all three of Batuu’s suns, but you could certainly feel them, on a day called Heatstroke-in-the-Shade.

Galaxy's Edge Gunner Score

My score as a gunner, on a later visit to Smuggler’s Run.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

Scribophile

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go here while still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

Check out Todd James Pierce’s site and podcast, Disney History Institute.

Check out my literary adventure novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.

Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame Cover


Episode 384 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on Apple podcasts, stitcher, spotify, or click here to stream (right click to download, if that’s your thing).

Episode 370: A Discussion of Cory Doctorow’s Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom

08 Saturday Jun 2019

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Craft of Fiction Writing, Disney, Episode, Fan Fiction, Science Fiction

≈ Leave a comment

Episode 370 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

This week, we go to Walt Disney World with Nathan Holic and David James Poissant in order to discuss Cory Doctorow’s science fiction novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom

Nathan John Jamie Cry Doctorow

Nathan Holic, John King, and David James Poissant. Photograph by Nathan Holic.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Down and Out in the Magic KingdomElkin The Magic Kingdom15 Views of Orlando

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by Scribophile.

Scribophile

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go here while still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

Check out Nathan Holic and I discussing Stanly Elkin’s The Magic Kingdom in episode 267.

Check out my interview with Cory Doctorow back on episode 184.

Check out these wonderful books by today’s guests.

The Heaven of Animals
Things I Dont See - Comic CoverAmerican Fraternity Man


Episode 370 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

Video Essay: Reasons to be Excited by the Walt Disney World Skyliner!

12 Sunday May 2019

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Disney, Journalism

≈ Leave a comment

Dear readers

Some of you know about my Disneyphilia. Here is a video essay I created about the skyline transportation system, which should change the way people get around two of the theme parks and four hotels.

Selah,
John King

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