Box Office Performance and Legacy

uter to find podcasting. ast, a series of tangents involving two friends where bits and contacts match harmoniously with bullshit. What What's hum What's being replaced there? especially with bullshit? The actual line is a series of movements involving two partners where speed and rhythm match harmoniously with music. Right. dancing. Yes. And we are dancing. We are dancing A lot of creative libertyies takaking this. We're in an interernal dance. It's rare that you get quite so much room to free jazz in these intros. You didn't want to just do I thought about it. yeah U I mean, this series is called Poty. and I was like, can I just do the dialogue where they're trying to explain each other's names to each other? You were able to se him on Poty. I was. There's not a lot of Either in the Pod of a cast or where does Griffin suggested Becca Altter last week's episode did throw out, Would it be funny to just call it caster. John Carter. Yeah remove We can never blow that. We can never do this sort of like, you know what? that's it. But there's just called like podcast. There's the metajoke there of being like, how did this end up with the title that makes no sense and has zero jews? You do like a metajoke? Yes, but p. I'm fine with it If you perform it, it's going to look so good visual with the double D with those double Ds on that fucking artwork there Pod. Make sure Griff has a giant rack on our pod artwork, Pat Noope Ben Reold those double Ds on I want to be a stacked robot or a fucking budacious fish pet This is my new character. And what is it And what is this not even during the Becker talk wasas I quite as confused. We're gonna to find it by the end this episode.. We're gonna to locate this guy and we're going to figure out what makes him takeick. How's Becker're not going down the road. sorry. He's coming back, right? He's got toa be coming back L listen Malcolm in the Middless back is exactly in the world of Legacy sequels, they're gonna keep digging until the world collapses. Becker Coolin life is unfair. Any interest in Malcolm in the Middle wife is unfair. Anyone watching that? I've heard it's fun. Once you lose Eric Par Sullivan, I am out That is always my favorite thing in the world. He's just like, no, thank you. And they' like everyone's like, they offered him so much fucking money. They were like, this guy's playing such smart horrible. And he's like, I actually just have no interest.. They're offering him so much money to be to do nothing. It's like You know, you're just gonna be the seventh guy and you're just gonna go like It's just like, no animosity. I love all of you. I wish you all the best I have no desire to do this again. It's very impressive You someone who has no desire to watch that show. I feel like I understand where he's coming from. I love Malcolm in the middle, like when it was on. like I was a big fan It was a show that I tried to rewatch during COVID. I can't imagine. In my classic kind of, you know, in the COVID way of like, well, this could be something. And I watched the pilot and I was like There's nothing wrong with this. like this is well executed. I remember it fond so it its moment. It's yeah. I'm not feeling a desire to return here, Yes There's something telling to me in the fact that Malcolm in the Middle has not had any like gen Z reiscovery. R desespite Cranston's, you know that it feels like this show is purely nostalgia for those of us who grew up with it, which I mean, I' find I am nostalgic for Frankie Munes's tweets about death. Bankmunus seems like a very well adjusted gentlem. I was about to say. I don't know what you're talking about. Okay. Do you remember that period where he was like racing cars and he got in so many car crashes where he was like I have no memories of Malcolm in the middle. I do And now he's like out there promoting the Malcolm in the middle reboot and he was like it was so nice to get all together again. And I'm like, don't you not know who Brian Grantston is? It was just that great moment where he was like doing a back with Crston and he was like, by the way, your wife on'm brereaking bad. What a shitty character. She's always in his way and he was like, you realize I was playing like a sociopathic drug dealer. It was so funny to be like Crston, Anagon, fucking Vince Gilligan, I feel like have been so consistent in talking out against line of criticism Mia. he's always been very good and be like looking rifleing mirror And to have Kranson there with like his fake TV suun and be like glowing and be like it's so nice to be all together. And then watch the terror on his face where it's like, you have this fucking opinion too? H Not shocking again that essentially a brain damaged shell star would have that opinion. No offense someere it was not working during the exact years that Reddit began taking over everyone's might. Frankie Munz' like triple Crown of press was I think Skyler's the villain on Breaking Bad. Who was I made Chila Buff's career urning down holes. And three was, did I make out with Hillary Duff? I don't know. Well there was also the substory about how because Hillary Duff's mom insisted that she was gonna be an agent Cody Banks Yeah her from being in the film because he was like, you're stepping on my turf Yes. He was like twelve. She is in both of them, is she not? Certainly in the first. Whatever. There was some story recently, some actress's mom, I think it was Hillary Duff. Yeah, who was stage moming for her daughter, essentially, and saying like, oh, she'd be perfect for the lead in whatever your next movie is Uh and I will admit to not being totally book on my Frank Imuneas Well becauseuse we are doing Frank Imuneas next on Patreon. S sure sure. So it's two Cody Banks. Was he in the Barmitzva movie with Giati It's a movie with Gie Moto. my miding movies now that I want to see. it was piv in the Bar Mids of movie? That's keeping up the Steins. That should. That's Gry Marshall Nepple baby movie. Right That's sort of aspirational Jewish casting. It's like I wish Jam Madi were one of us. No, Munus, you got my dog Skip. you got two Cody banks. He got big fat liar And I feel like that's the canon Right is It's the American canate Do you know what else is really funny I'm sorry, I'm just remembering this And it sort of makes more sense now that Munes is like, well, they were begging me to do holes and I turned it down and like Shaya picked up my scrapie Cl movie holes will never not be funny to me. I'm sorry show holes. It was what kids were demanding to theater owners at the time. Don't like it in that The way you say it, don't like it show holes Uh act I think around the time that Wall Street Money Never Sleeps came out Sa did some interview where they were like, you've had five or six consecutive number one openings in a row Like, are you the guy now? and do you feel worried about maintaining that track record? And he was like, Yeahah, but like look at the things I was in. It was like Transformers and Indiana Jones and a Wall Street sequel with Michael Douglas. I'm not taking credit for that. Frankie Munes could have opened these movies number one And I remember that feeling like such a weird burn at the time. like who's got negative juice? Syla Buff, our finest comedian, very level headed movie star. Yes Anyway, go over to our Patreon if you want to hear the films of Munes U Moon ison From the Earth Moon is. Yes. Yes, that's what we're calling it U That's not what we're talking about here today And Today we're talking about one of our finest movie stars His name is Wallacey Is it? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. it seems wallacey. No, he's a waste allocation. load lifter earth correct Wte allocation load lifter Eth class. Yes Bea later re in the film, we see the Wall'. Yeah, and there's the Bernies and all that, right? There's all those all the guys. But the walls are bium class.es. they're big bo O same of the same deal. Yeah. And they still make cute They still make cube. They make Make cube. This movie about makeake Cbe. Hyperc movie is about makeake Cube. There should be a wallally that hypercbe Garbage cube, let's say.ure. It's an important distinction. Yeah. But do you know what's the robot Mo uny The best performance in the movie? Yeah. I mean, we'll talk about how my wife sexually identifies as Moe later We'll get there in due time. Okay Today podcast, which is called Blank Cck with Griff and David. I must fucked up the name of the podcast. It's called Blank Check withith Griffin and David Earth Class Im Griffin. I'm David podcast aboutph filmographies, directors who had massive success early on in their careers. such as making one of the ten highest grossing films of all time highest grossing animated film of all time to fish He said, What if fish were lost and people threw money in Oscars at Cem and are given a series of blank trs to make whatever crazy passashion projects they want that this certainly classifies. Sometimes those checks clear. this movie and sometimes they bounce next week Mabbe. This is also true. It's a mini series on the Films of Andnder Stan. It's called Poty. Let's see And today we're talking about Wally his tue blank check And also it feels like the culmination of like blank check moment for Pixar at large. I would say both correct on both for sure. Yeah. Oviously Garant John Carter is a huge bling check as well, but at least with that one, you can argue like It is a known property of sorts and blahahah, you know, whereas this is it's truly like him being like I think I want to push my capital on this and Pixar agreeing like I think we should. And we will get into this, but it's the thing I'm fascinated by endlessly, which is because of the nature of the deal that Pixar had with Disney a deal that everyone thought was going to end acrimoniously after cars, the final movie that picks our O Disney from a nineties deal Pixar just started with Steve Jobs as help self financing and self producing movies with no outside interference They're three movies they just make completely independently knowing that when the Disney deal is over Everyone is going to want to be in the Pixar business and they just go to the highest bidder Eiger takes over, Eisner leaves, Eiger immediately resets the table and figures out how to make good with Pixar and inherits Ratatoui, wally and off which are the last three movies they make and the only three movies they make with just like zero commercial consideration zero outside interference, zero studio pressure. And you could feel it even in how these three movies were marketed. Griffin, you sound like someone who has a vested interest and passion for Pixar, which feels far out of your wheelhouse. I'm not surprised to me. I'm introducing this thread my interests to our listeners today for the first time. People were like, why the fuck would blank check cover Andrew Stan. Is that a David push? What me? This is a joke. it's a bitit What were you going to say? I like Wally. Wally's a really good guy. He's Austy I going to like him more. Proucer Bran, had you seen this movie before? Yes. Okay. because this is the era we found out last week. a cartoon era that you hadn't seen finding Nemo and this is an era where you were opting out of a lot of the mainstream culture. That Kids movies I wasn't interested in. I feel like Trash Planet is up your alley. That's Trash Planet being the original title. But did you see that oners Yeah, you caught up late. When do you think you saw it for the first time Um, God, I could not tell you. I'm just curious if it was like shortly after or like if you saw it in the last decade for the first time in the last decade. Yeah. Yeah Movie has a lot of benshit in it I really relate to Wally He's a friendly cooker. I feel A you ever best friends with a cockroach No No, Gotta try it No, not yet. I really relate to Being a rusty garbage boy. Yeah, ye. ye. Yeah our guest today Is someone? Who's made a legitimate bid for most times watching Wally I think I was thinking about this. I think it's entirely possible, if not probable, that I have watched this movie more than any guest on this show or host on this show, for that matter, has ever watched any of the movies you've covered with a possible exception being Sims and Pono I think My son's wally fixation was so specific and unrelenting. that I I may have taken that particular ground, notot that I'm proud. When we finally committed to doing this series when Toy Story five got dated, we just typed you in right on the list. It took months before we even went like we should ask or like we should just like double check There was an extended period. where as you described it to me My son thinks Wally is movies. That's right. He does wrong. Understand that there's any other movie that's ever been made We were we were on plane and the only way to pacify him was to put something on was that I said Nirvana over here because they have a song called on a plane. Although of course, it's a different. They mean a plane like We were on Disne' planes. Disney's planes. were resc here. rescue the movie I am very glad he has yet to discover. And yeah, we needed to pass by him. Wally was on the seatback screen Ctesy of Delta and I think you watched it six or seven times, six seven, Jesus Christ before. We doingnces doing the hands. And that was it for the next calendar year. Wally once a day, twice on rainy day. It was It was one full year, basically, right of the whole year. Yes. Yes. You probably watched it five hundred times. O it was in your home five hundred times. It was You're not always watch. I think at a certain point, your eyes glaze over and you actually begin to retain less of the movie than you did originally. sort Blurs together is out of self preservation, but And you'll find that I think I have less of a handle on the details of this film than someone who's only seen it two or three times. This has been abstracted. It's like a magic eye. I had a little bit of that rewatching it last night. same realization. I did as well. I actually had to like make an active effort to kind of reengage with it. We talk about this sometimes on the podcast Can I try to watch this movie fresh again Can I try to like really engage with it rather than take it for granted when it's things I've seen so many times? And I this movie time was the most I had ever seen a film in a theater. It might still be. and I watched I'm scared. So what wascessibly for years It might have hit ten Like it might have It was su be higher. eightight or nine. All The only way to watch a movie like this freshot, in my experience anyway, is through the eyes of a child uh especially your child seeing it for the first time, which is what I did with my daughter Last night. Okay. This is what I was hoping. Ted to Wally Pillar. We can talk we can get into that. I don't know if now is the time. O guest today.ur guest today and this is unique. This is a kind of competitive advantage he has on this podcast Our guest today is a film critic named David who has children, who he watches movies with I'm a real poser in the David Academy. Although I did have children first, I will say. If someone's copying someone here, it Aimy. I will never forget David I'm sure I've brought this up before being the theater to watch Beautiful day in the neighborood.. Good movie. Like movie I always say I saw in forty X because I saw it at the Alamoat and I ordered a cup of tea and some cookies. That's good. I rew watchatched that movie recently areat movie. It's really It's a really good movie. Yeah. I've always been a fierce defender of that movie.. So that's Thanksgiving twenty nineteen Mhuh I had helped you bring a snoo up your stairs that day, that morning, I think. Yes was It was about seven minutes before we left for the hospitals. had text to me being like, hey, we really need to get this st up the stairs. It's a smart basassinetet. it's a You may you may find yourself with a snoo one day, Ben like who know? we can talk snoo whenever adver on the show. it's a great product. I did use snoos myself And hey can you bring up the stairs? And then you texted me while was in the movie, Oh Lord, he coming. Oh Lord he coming. And O Lord he came. littleittle baby Wally. You did name him Wally, which kind of maybe forced the issue on it being his favorite movie. O guess a little bit of nominative determinism anyyway. sayay my name. David Erlich, bitch. Finally, after this parade of no name hacks and losers that you guys have had for guests to start twenty twenty six, someone of real cultural importance Someone who had the the foresight, the goal to tell the world. Li Kron's the mumm N notot great That is what you're gonna be you hadn't seen it. I sure have. Oh, have and reviewed. And you liked Let me so not care for it Let me see what you said N not a fan. There's not Lee Krony enough for you. That's what' under delivers on Lee Krony that Lee Kron feeling. Anyone any identifiable C minus Yeah. Look, the obvious position they were in there was Universal kind of pushed Blumhouse off of the classic monsters, right? Clearly Blumhaouse was like domain canan we keep doing our like takes on them? So they set up a mummy movie at New Line They don't have the universal branding and then they find out that Universal is going to reboot The Brendan Fraser Mommy when there's already been Th different Universal movies just called The Mummy Their pivot is. Was Brandon Frasier in this one? I can't remember. No was to call it Lee Cronen's the Mumommy they just call it Mommy Yeah Mumyborn Mumy Rur. Yeah. If they called it Mummy reborn, I think it would have like, we have real mummy at home vibes. Yeah. I think also like if they because of the Brendon Friser convention of Why don't they call it? here this will distinguish it from Brendon Fraser The mummy, tomb of the Dragon Emperor. There's certainly never been a movie by that time. And put Brendon Frasier's face on the poster, but then be clear in small text. He's not in the philone. All I could think about was just admire his work Lee Cronen's the mummy is how hilarious it would be if Brendon Fraser Cinema's biggest goofall walked into this dire as hell story about child death and possession. It would be like Brendon Frasier walking into like aerbian filmer. Well, he's got the girl. He's hilarious. He's the gir. He's got the girl. of the all time quotes fromom whom? From Marty Scorczi. Do you never remember this? When people were asking him about the Fraser casting in Killer to the Fly moon. And he said he had the look, he had the energy he had into place Yeah. todayay we're talking about we Wowing? This is one of my favorite movies of all time. This is a movie and this was the other thing about watching it. So you think Nemo perfect you do prefer this, right? I was swinging back and forth while watching this. I mean, this movie is it's just very personal to me and in a way, Watching this, I was like, God, this thing was fucking laser targeted at twenty your old Griff It could not have been more of a like direct hit So it was interesting to rewatch it and feel Nostalgic for what it meant to that guy at that time that it feels this personal un personersonal now. Sure. Yeahah. Yeah. no, I totally understand. I mean, this was a movie that when it was announced I was so hyped by the premise that it did A the time under delivever from me. Oh see, it overdelivered from me. Right. I was my expectations for this were so high that I think I had experience that a lot of people had at the time that we will talk about of the second act. hitting a little less hard for me and me being like, right it's a Pixar movie. Like which I love Pixar movies but I was like, right front of man. And I grew to love it much more once my daughter got into it. I had a whole rel love affair with Wally and now I prefer the second half So the fur that's interesting And I just love it. You say half, but this isah, I know, it's like even third movie. Yeah,ah, third, third. Right. It's like the first third is Earth. But I prefer the, um U the exact same stuff. Yeah, but I love it all to be clear. Yeah, I love, I love it all too. We're going to get into it. But I mean both of you saw it at the time. I remember I saw it at the village East. I remember similarly I saw this almost every theater in New York City. but I I remember even before it was officially announced, there were swirling rumors of Andrew Stanton's next movie is a rom com about robots in the style of silent comedy And I was like, that feels fake There was a nervousness even at like the rumor of the vibe of the thing. That was so my Shit. Yes, rightight.. Is this movie Steve Jobs's greatest contribution to society? It's a great question. I was digging through all the criterion extras And the only Disney movie in the Criterion collollection, certainly the only proper Disney movie with a Disney Fucking logo at the top That's a great question. I have no idea. Yeahah. You might be. Yeah. I'm like maybe there's like another like touchstone. Mir Max is no longer owned by Disney, but you could say that Disney commissioned at the time. This was a a la carte, you know, one off choice that did not personal relationship. Exactly. of sort of a larger trade. Although who knows fucking Disney just laid off, shut down its entire home media department in order to replace it with wall' Um what was I saying here? Oh, there's a thing on the Criterion disk where he said When he was running things by Steve Jobs Steve Jobs biggest question slash note was What is the business model that makes sense for Axiom to be running the starliner M Oh, I mean, I've had this question Yes of like profiting. Right. Like how does this work seven hundred years in And I always just kind of like settle on like Well, they just want to be alive. so they're self perpetuating and they just kind of Yeah, but jobs who never designed anything that did not fail after five years by design would never develop a spaceship that lasted for seven centuries. Correct And it's obviously still a like highly consumerist culture.ight. You're not seeing transact. Cumerist how? And you're like, who's getting the money from? Where does the money go? Right That's what's fascinating about it. But I mean, I don't think there is money. No I agree. L look at the Axia as sort of the Apple store and all of the transactionality is happening sort of within And the Apple stores do tend to hold up against wear and tear, I suppose. I feel like It's more just like the Axiom built these ships for profit or long ago excuse me, B andL bought know sorry, BNL built the axiom ship before profit long ago. They made the money. The ship took off But then after that, right? of course, like human commerce just ceased to exist. Because they assume they would actually get back to Earth. And whatever transactions they made on the axiom would then translate back to a world with whatever fucking digital fiia currencies What do they eat though Well on the ship. Yeah, they have the food in a cup. They're not growing anything. They No it's all fucking Yeah, just like underop Yeah.. I don't know. Yeah, pizza in a cup, whatever. It does raise the question when you see in the movie the sort of like advertisements for the new products or like everyone's switching from red to blue or whatever. You're like, is that one loop that's been repeating two hundred years. Is the thing just fully stuck in like everyvery generation switches from red to blue Yeahomeone It happens like once a week or once a year. Someone did the math also that humans basically live like one hundred six thousand one hundred eighty years on the axiom because of the amount of captains there have been. Yeah. like you see the sort of list of them. Because is it seven hundred fifty years S seven hundred plus years. Yeah. Explained by microgravity You would have no stress on your muscles or your organs Your bones get little. Right I have so much stress on my bones. Yeah, I mean it does that Steve Jobs note and his involvement in this movie to begin with does sort of speak to the commerciality that was at the heart of the Pixar ethos in a way that I like all of their movies, particularly early on, you know, thinking about Toy Story, Monsterers Inc And now Wally, which is sort of sort of an auto commentary on all this, are rooted in precepts of capitalism in a way that I always found as sort of not a barrier to entry, but like a low ceiling on how much I could love them It was just they were so distinctly American in that way. Sure. And as opposed to something like the obbvious comparison of Studio Ghibli, which just were more of an invitation to wonder for me. And I think Wally, which is so rooted in wonder if anything is an act of trying to reclaim that and merge it with the capitalistic impulse. Well, you're also forgetting that fucking a Bug's life is about communism and collective action. I mean, Bug's life, you know, a remake of seeven Samurai, but even you know, even that is U maybe further afield from No, but you're right. It was a lot of the Pixar thing was putting adult structures onto fantastical characters in children's films Like I went on our friends Emily St. James and Philip Eisco's podcast podcast likeike Its and did a Monster Inc episode with them, I think came out earlier this year I was like this movie is a kind of like groundzero for a thing that becomes a cancer in children's films, which is if magical Th was a business. Monster syync still is the one that's done at the back. But also Toy Story says, what if business was a magical thing? And so it is sort of and alsoed like Pixar. Right. What if the dynamics of your toys talked like bored sort of like office workers and yeah, yeah. And then this movie is the one that's sort of I mean, I remember the amount of reviews at the time that were like, this message is nice, but also every store is littered with wally merch This movie is being released by Disney. This is true. You know, it has a happy meal like the O of course, Yes. But if you wantan to make a one hundred eighty billion dollars movie, right, you're probably gonna to have to sell some toys. But the call is coming from inside the house, Twas ever thus with capitalism. As booots Riley. Yes. But you're right that the framework is different in that this is a movie of like someone trying to break down that system and that structure. Yeah, or at least look for the cracks in it to, know have opportunities for wonder to sort of bridge. I mean, this movie is in many ways, which talk about sort of bridging two worlds. And I think in this particular regard, it's bridging the world of art and commerce in that sense, which is obviously implicit to everything that Pixar does, but this is doing it a little bit more literally Yeah, they u you gotta eat, you know, these movies are made for profit You gotta eat Wally? unless're wally? you could just drink up those I'm opening the doot. Theyow they fly too close to the sun, which famously Not not something you should do. Yeah But but it helps them recharge really quickly some It starts, of course with lunch. Wow, JJ's getting like kind of narrative with his. research docs these days Lunch at the Hidden City caafe in Port Richmond. Points, Richmond near the headquarters. Pixar famously the teaser trailer for this movie. I remember this teaser trailer and I was excited for this movie. I was like jerking a big dick watch. I was just like, get the fuck out of. Do you know about this, Ben Speaking of Disney like making the deal, inheriting these three pixar movies that they had no say in, and it's like Good luck. Your next three movies to market are movie about a French rat who believes in higha cuisine, right? At a time where like Americans did not fucking care about food. a silent robot comedy and an old grumpy old man whose wife died in a flying house. And they were like, the fuck are we gonna do with these? And the ratitoui Taser trailer famously has the thing where it spells out the title phonetically And it's all like a made up scene of the character direct addressing the camera explaining to with the premis is because they were like Fuck are we gonna do with this? And then the Wally teaser trailer is Andrew Stanton talking about ience at the Hidden City Cfe the trailer only has like twentywenty seconds of animation footage in it Basically all trying to explain to you, trust us where Pick. the trailer where they have the Brazil music U I think so. Yeah. Anyway, it talks about it was Lasser, Doctor, Joe Ramf, him. and they hammer out Bugs, L Msters Inc, finding Nemo. And then the last one they talked about was Wally. Yes. So basically they're in production on Toy Story They're like, shouldould we be coming up with other ideas in case this thing's a hit and they ask us what our next movie is. We shouldn't be unprepared So they sit this one lunch in all of those movies come out of that one lunch. Obviously not fully formed, but that's what they're fucking framing in In fact, let me tell you right Stanton's actual report on that slightly massageed kind of advertisement. Theage of the teaser is, this is the most magical lunch of all time. I'll have what she's having them right. What do they eat? Every movie that came out of this has been beloved. Tust us, this is the final movie from that. They drink story juice Oh sure sure. And they ate movie sandwiches. So Stanton has said, look, we had ideas that inspired those movies. Obviously we did not like come up with a bunch of finished things It was like it'd be fun to have bugs. What if you make a movie about like monsters in children's bedrooms? Yeah. He said the bulk of the lunch was a bug's life. We truly came up with a large chunk of the movie in that lunch And then probably the second most concrete idea, even though it was half baked was the last robot on Earth, a machine left running, not sure what to do with itsself idea. There was no name, no storyline. It was really just a character, but we liked the character. Like we liked that idea. We're in the middle of toy story and we have been really struggling to make Woody appealing So I think they were really into this kind of like Robinson Crusso robot because they're like that's appealing. That's like a good guy. You're already rooting for that. Exactly. Although also s so sad Kind of a sad because I remember saying to a friend of mine when I was like really hyped for this movie before where I was like, it's about like a garbage robot that Earth is just a pile of garbage and everyone's gone and he just keeps. And he was like That sounds so depressing. And I was like, right, but like that's crazy, right? Isn't that cool? Like So the film was initially called Trash plan trash plane it been I mean, I like Wallally's a good title, but trash Planet really draws you in The pitch was Pete Doctorss. Andrew inherits it. There was basically a Yang like the very, very basic pitch. For a period of time, Stanton was trying to crack monsters ink And Doctor was trying to do Wally. And then they end up swapping and Stan ends up also coming up with finding Nemo, which then supers. they switched. If Doctor had done it would have been like a droid named Loneliness and he would have been like You know, there would yeah But that's why Doctor gets the co story credit because he basically was the one who incubated a very different version of this first. So Stan iss working on Nemo. He starts dreaming of trash planet again. It basically becomes his like Barton Fink to his Miller's cross. And while he's working on Nemo where when he's hit a wall, he's like, let me noodle on this and type some shit out. He said basically that the first act his quote fell from the sky He was like that felt like so complete but me Right What do I do? And then I never knew what to do once he leaves the. Then he's like, Well, the opposite of loneliness is love, so it should be a love story. He was seduced by this idea of like he falls in love with another machine. okay So where did the machine come from, right? What does that machine have interest in Now this is As you've noted, the man is religious The greatest commandment Christ gives us is to love But That's not always our priority. is doing a lot of heavy lifting. So I came up with this premise that could demonstrate what I was talking about that ir rrational love could defeat programming, right You got these two robots with the base directive, but then the love kind of overrides it Yeah. this is what he's saying, not me. No, I Yeah, ye, yeah. I'm going to sit on my my read on this movie for a moment.. So, you know, obviously this is a risky thing. They are a little worried they do have the blank check status of Pixar's huge success and especially Nemo's huge success that like I think Stanton can sort of ask essentially what he did, which is like, can you leave me alone? Can I try to write it? Like let's not do this sort of big edit room like together or whatever And, you know like Can I write like an original sci fi movie? He loves sci fi movies? Alien? Star Wars? Yes, theseese are big two thousand one I've seen them. Eventually Jim Rearden, who's a Simpsons guy. He directed many to co write The best Simpsons episodes of all time. Such as what Uh, he directed King. The one with Ken Rck Ky Homer. You know what Kings'syes Homer is Vs funny. I'm gonna give you list in a second, ' it's actually astonis. No it's often just amazing when you see those Simpsons betts for you're like Oh my God, everything you did is amazing. And you're like, O of course. Yes. Everything the Simpsons did was amazing He eight years Had a reputation for a while. He was a cals guy as well. being best animation comedy writer of his generation. He became more of a writer guy but then he directs many Simpsons, he worked on the Mighty Mouse cartoon under Ralph Baxhey with Stanton, which is where they became friends breakout was his student film was called Bring Me The Head of Charlie Brown That was a Peinpa version of peanuts. That was semi viral in a tape trade kind ofber. Right Yeah Episodes he directed. if I can just fucking like. giveive me a couple. Yes. Itchy and S scratchy in Marge, Bart's dog gets an F, brushed with greatness when Flanders failed, tririo rep to Homer at the Bat, Dog of Dath Bart's friend falls in love, Homer the Htic, Mrter Plough Duffless Margin chains, H goes to college. God. L insane not the bad is huge for me. Bart of darkness. Bart of darkness is Lemon Troy. Lemon of Troy is so good. He directed like a lot of the best ones from the best a. The Spsons It was a good show. It was Yeahes, it was people liked it. It's a show. What did they? It ended I guess in ninety ninety nine, yeah. Yeah Uh so Yeah, they have the idea of Eiva Eve something he brings Rir in. Yeah like she's like got this idea of this sort of sleek futuristic techno robot. U this sort of that opp But if you fall in love with an iPod first version wasn't set on Ear Oh, interesting. It was just a trash planet. Like, we don't know what. Deve Jobs is the one like, I think you should set it on Earth. L I think you should have a little bit more of a commentary here. I saw there was a thing he said in the Kritn Disk where he was like, when I made this movie, I did not want to comment on or engage with humanity at all. when I was like relatable Developing it. I was like the whole appeal to me is like isolated robot, outer space, remove ourselves, distance ourselves from this. And people kept kind of noting it in a way that brought it back to needing some human connection to make sense of the movie Now, is he identifiably in New York City or has Wally just been inspired by the architecture of New York somewhere deep in his coodating to build a New York City out of cube trash? I think it's the latter. Okay U So it takes him a long time to get the second half, right? Bah, blah, blah. The iPhone comes out in two thousand six. He was one of the first people to get one Because he hadn't jobs gave him one And through playing around with the iPhone, the sort of addictive quality of like a smartphone He comes up with the kind of like humans addicted to screens living in the axiom, like thing. He said also, like when I first got one and started playing around with it, I was like, I have not felt this inince cigarettes It's crazy because I feel like so much of it was pelling about the iPhone back in two thousand seven was like the social cache because there was very little to do There was less to do, but we made do with whatever later was I mean far. I didn't get iPhone until twenty twelve I had a backck therear You were a blackberry guy. I was a blackberry guy, for sure. Yeah. I mean, it was a work thing. like yeah. It was a work thing, What do you mean? Yeah Well, like my job gave me one. I was dr Oh, oh, okay. a little blackbererryase. L ke Stanton says, I'm not making a comment on obesity. I'm trying to just make everyone a big baby. Like the idea of the of the humans on the axiom is not that they ate too much. It's that they have turn two babies. Well, okay, so let me get into another thing here because there's the thing we sort of skipped over Originally, he doesn't want it to be Eth And then there was an extended error. They only make this change like I think about two years before the movie comes out. It was supposed to be a ship of like green gelatinous blobs who didn't speak English twow different versions of it. I don't know which one came first, but at one point it was truly like, They are aliens. They have sent They were gel people who spoke a language like that was like Monty Python sort of IKA speak or whatever. whichich was ding up a planet of the Apes And the turns out near the end of the film, it would reveal that they were once humans. Right. Yeah. So like a planlet of the Apes style. He talksed about like there was a version where it was like they were tr truly impartial aliens. The implication is that humans died off And now these aliens have abducted these robots and trying to study you know, extinct cultures, right and that they have a bunch of robots and the movie was like a robot Spartacus, as they put it whereere the robots are second class citizens under the aliens, and Wally becomes like a figure of the uprising. But would it be that they're evolved? Well, well, so then there was a different version. I don't know which one came first, where it was the blobs are the devolved versions of humans. That is the twist that we've devolved that much and that they don't even remember or understand that they're connected to that lineage And that's what Wally helps connect them with And they like got very far along in that. There are like animation models that were built and they had written the whole sort of version of that and done the story reels of it. And they were just like it the lift became so illed and heavy to get audiences to connect with the blobs who aren't speaking It is this thing for me where I'm like, I accept and I buy they just. tried and couldn't pull it off But the second I heard that I was like, Jesus Christ, if they had made that war It would have been astonhing. Listen, I say this is someone who has never found a blob that I haven't been able to connect with. We love blies. sureure to, especially Bobby, the OG U But bestest of loobby are one of the most important pieces of media repter that Griffin introduced me to. I think it's just thematically it doesn't really square because you implicitly there's different mo ass that being blob is worse than being human. R They need to be babies. like I said the axiom stuff is what I like more of these days. They need to be helpless. They need to learned helplessness. But the iteration was like, right, audiences aren't connecting to this. Maybe we have them talk. It's hard for the audiences to connect to the blobs to make them feel like distinct different characters. There was an era where it was like aristocracy, there was like a king and a queen and a prince There was a royal wedding, modern structures And then they're sort of like, let's put a nose on the blob. What if they're not green, but they're like flesh colored, you know? And then it slowly evolved into the baby thing. And in doing the kind of like classic Pixar research, He spoke to a scientist who said like multiple generations of humanity were to live in space. They wouldn't just have their muscles atrophy. theirir actual physical composition would change. You see the video of the astronaut? I mean, we're recording this in the middle of April, but people just came back from the moon or going around the moon And they had the video of the astronaut who hadn't walked on Earth in ten days, just ten days, and she could not pull herself along the parallel bars, intens toity supported. So it's like, if you're the like seventh generation born into space, you don't need muscles anymore. You don't need your bones are just sort of like shrunk within your bies. They're big babies Un Fortunately, technology has not had any sort of negative effect along those lines on us. No movie has turned out to be not prophetic at all. It's problem with this movie is it got it all wrong. We solved everything. They also figure out the ending or for a while, it was always going to be like He has to give her his like heart battery. There was like a sacrifice. They never liked it. Finally they had more the idea of like he loses his memory is the kind of crisis at the end. Need to interject with this ' it's another just kind of like fascinating Stanton story cracking moment like the findinding Nmo Barracuda thing. And all of this is important set up to John Carter where he breaks his own story roles in several ways I've never been able to understand. You know, they watched a lot of silent comedies and they watched a lot of Chaplin and Lloyd and Buster Keaton especially because I would argue that Wally is most closely aligned with the Buster Keaton character types. Even if the movie, I think leans more towards modern not modern, there is a lot of modern times in it, but also city lights. It's like a Chapplin movie with a Buster Keaton character And he said the thing we kept trying to figure out what Wally's emotional arc was trying to force one and what's his growth and how does he change? And then we started looking at those movies and it's like, very often Buster Keaton is an unchanging figure in the center of things And what he does is subtly affect everyone else around him. Sure. Whatone face, but of metal. Exactly. And so he kept being like Well, Wally has to like become empowered by the end of the movie. He has to save Eve. he has to become the dominant one It is one of the latest major changes in a Pixar film because the last twenty minutes were basically completely animated. And they did a test screening where they hadn't done final lighting passes and whatever And it wasn't even a note he got back, but he watched it with the audience I think it's on the disk you. There was one guy in the mall in Arizona who was like, Yeah, what if what if Poally falls asleep? What if Eva was a girl boss She had to save him Um, but there's a there's a clip of him going to the Pixar team and being like, guys, I'm so sorry. I'm about to ask you to do an insane amount of work We have to redo the entire last twenty minutes And usually it never gets that far. you identify those issues at a storyboard phase But it was completed physical animation. There are scenes in the trailers Fr that version of the movie, you can see that aren't in the final film whichich like shit never gets cut that finish But yeah, he was like, it has to be inverted. It has to be that his worldview has actually affected her enough that she needs to his mission and carry it out But you can see the like a lot of the extended deleted footage of Eva's like The battery's been fried and Wally has to save her and he's flying around with her at the end Stanton very shy about any kind of like Topical discussions not interested in talking about global warming like sort of dismisses a lot of the environmental stuff becausecause he's like, I don't have a political band. The last thing I want to do is preach. like all this just sort of made sense for my story asked about consumerism. he's like Yes, there's lots of things disconnecting us from each other that are consumerist But the reason I made them look like big babyies because was like a nastic guy told me, you know, that's what they would look like. But, you know, like he he's like the last thing I'm trying to do is make a message movie. Like he's very, whether or not you want to take this away from him. He's sort of seemingly uninterested in addressing that U Wait, that's so weird though I agree. I mean can I That's not my job. May I give my read on that for a second Because this criterion just came out in twenty twenty two, right? And that is this framework of now here is an adult sineniast Physical media package curated supplemental material to like frame this within an intellectual conversation And the new material on the crriterion disk is so much more pointed and transparent there' a lot of, I have to imagine Disney inheriting this movie And I think it's what's fascinating about watching this movie now. where're like The greatest concern was a kind of like U an anti intellectualism That's what culture is falling into and that anythingything in this movie that could have been seen as elitist Critical of an American apathy would have become like a fucking talalking point.ight because apathy would become Disney's lifeblood over the last ten years or so in the live action remake era. It does feel like there was a little bit of at the time cannot fucking politicize this movie, right? I think so. I mean, a lot of these interviews are also from like Christianity today in like twenty That's what I doubt that I was working for when I spoke to him in twenty twenty two. I talked to him not for Christianity for around the time the Blue Ray came out. and he was very receptive to talking about the sort of political violenceces of the film. more recent interviews, it seems he will be like Of course I do get a lot of boxes from Amazon and Wonder He said that was one of the main activating things was like he's twenty twenty. Right. He didn't say it at the time. No he he litler softened up a little. I did buy that he wasn't like trying to grind axes with this movie And I think you hear him talk about organically how the story locks into place, but also it was coming out of personal observations. Wow, I got a smartphone. I'm addicted to this. I know there's a website that sells everything. My house is filled with boxes. Yeah, I mean, my sense talking to him was that All those things are true, but I do feel like the sociopolitical commentary sprang out of what you were talking about earlier, which is this like deep rooted love for the movies, the early movies in particular, the movies that were formative for him, where he really sort of sprang to life, which was very convenient for my purposes, was talking about the movie as a expression of the joys of parenting Um, as the act of, you know, we were talking about a bridge earlierort of like the act of taking something from one generation showing it to another, robots acting like humans to teach humans how to stop acting like robots, the transference of going from consuming everything as Wall he's done for hundreds of years to displaying that, to showing that to someone else, which is a completely revelatory and transformational experience for him Alienware's back to school event is the perfect time to score top gaming gear with incredible features and Intel core processors to go beyond performance. Lord knows, I'm stressed about returning to school. You can save big on gaming desktops, laptops, and more. Start your Alienware journey with the Alienware fifteen gaming laptop featuring Intel core processors Smoothly game, live stream and multitask for hours on end. Plus, play through every game exactly how you want with customizable alien FX lighting across your alienware ecosystem, creating your very own gaming profile and more. We're talking full disclosure. Finally, pair your incredibly smooth gaming experience with immersive visuals and sound by saving on sleek alienware, monitors, headsets, and more the world deserves to know. This limited time sale awaits you now at alienware d. com slash deals. That's alienware dot com slash deals U So in the screenplay obviously, I guess you guys probably only know this one. I'll tell you anyway, like the dialogue is written even if the characters don't speak. So he would say like in brackets, like here's what Wall he's trying to say And then obviously later they put in All their little noises. Ben Burt, The great Benbert. The legend, Benberurt. Ben Burt is Ben Hosley, the man who like invented the entire Star Wars soundscape among many other things, but one of Lucas's closest collaborators you know, just these things we take for granted of just like droid languages and lightsabers and the sounds of ships. And you created that probably with a MOg like analog synthesizer There's another great thing on one of the Blue Ray releases, that's a breakdown of like how many people at Pixar have to touch one single shot of A movie likeike how many different departments work on it And they cut to Ben Bird explain what his contribution is And he was like, I was trying to find the right sound for this movie, for this shot. And then I remembered that in around nineteen ninety seven, I gone and done some recordings of Niagara Falls And it's very indicative of how Bent works, which is he just kind of fucking collects sounds. R.ways collecting sounds. Right. So there are things that he would sort of just like construct, but more often he just was Constantly building a sound library And then being like, oh, you know, be interesting. What if the sound of This ship is this plus this. What if he was collecting sounds one night and collected the sound of a mur? I mean, this is the question. And David Did he sense aank? Did he invent Robot beps and bloops being cute Because we had sleeps and boops. We had forbidden pl any. Let me tell you. I would agree with you that no cute. Bleep itself, I think, was not cute until R twoy two Right I don't know. Yes, I think so. I would love to look at a list of like history's robots like, you know, who who was there 'ause like Robbie's not that cute. All right. Ika best Bleep bloops. Okay So during while they're preparing this, Andrew Ston keeps saying like, I need this to be like R two D two. And finally, Jim Morris, who is the former president of ILM, who now works at Pixar, says Do you want to just get Ben Burt, like the guy who did R two D two? Which is basically the equivalent of like casting Tom Cruise in your movie. It's like this is your main actor basically. Not only does he literally end up being the model for the voice of Wally, but it's like, this is the guy who's gonna figure out whether or not your entire movie works. If he can make these compelling and distinct. Ben Burt as he puts it, had just finished what he considered a basically thirty year tour of duty making Star Wars movies And was not that enthused about robots. He was coming right off of Ansis. Yeah. He'd just been working on the prequels for so long and was like, I just don't want to do any more robots. ind a Capra romance buster key. Interesting hero thing. Yeah. That's an interesting challenge. And you know, the idea also of like they're going to it's just they're mostly communicating with each other brridging the sort of robot communication gaps, right? Like, which is sort of like the R two three PO. Yeah. Yeah. he likes that But you're removing the humans going like, what? you know? Well, and also, like mean they come in. you know, C three PO is human cyborg relations. His job is to fucking translate things. And it's like, what if you're not translating it? And how do you still make it read to the audience? What a crazy guy that guy is. U C three POo but ye Yeah, sure, Bbert. C P three Po though, there's a guy who could use a crush All right I think that would just make him anxious. It's kind of wild. nine movies C three PO never even like Carry on Finish your thought I even like fgs. ost to everyone else and o's a m was just stuckking left and road You know Art you could get it? Art you can get it. And I don' know what you're getting. I think sometimes he's rolling off to the side and you're like Where did A two go? And you're like, he's he's going He's hitting So u you know, they, you know, the usual Ben Burt thing of like, okay, now I've got this challenge of like creating character voices all distinct all have to sort of sound human. sound relatable He records in a little chamber, he says oo takes those recordings, runs them through his computer. He analyzes the sound and breaks them into component partarks like you would sort of break light through a prison. to get colors he says And then you start refabricating, you know, putting it all back together again, but you can control, you can be like maybe a little more of this, a little less of this Hold vowels, stretch. vocal chords in a way that you could never you know, pitches and You know, if sound were silly putty, you could stretch it and make it longer, he says. I found a way of working on Wally where you could do that. It sounds like something I would not be good at, but it sounds very, very cool He's very cool guy. He also just, I mean, I've only seen him in countless makingus, but just seems like a friendly fellow. I was going say it seems like a sweetie.y super charming.'s not like This is intense, like no also I also think some of these Lucasy guys in interviews, you're like, you're like, you are the spectrum You seem like a nice person, but you almost like are a robot looking for another robot to talk to Ben Birt I think is I got to meet him when we went with George Lucas to Skywalker Ranch. Cool. And he has since retired but was there giving a tour to his friend from high school. That's cool. I, he's pretty old at this point. He's in his late seventies. I asse you must have talked at length on this podcast about the trip you just mentioned, but I have no memory about it. maybe not at. about it much, but it was pretty interest very casual, George Lucas took me to his house. George Lucas did not take me to his house. George Lucas has not acknowledged us Um The way you presented it like sorry sorry, let me clarify. Yes go ahead. Yes. Other people within the organization like the George Lucas talkal show. Darth Mall and have always been like, I don't Trt would like it. There's always been this sort of one degree away. George does like comedy, but he's really sensitive and the extent to which he can find humor in himself And his work? Yes It seems to be it's more than it was, but I'm not detighting a ton of it It's more than it was, but also like every year at like Comicon, they would do a panel that was like Lucas Films's favorite fan films and parodies. Like he's always embraced that shit. and Connor, Connor Ralph always tells the story about like The first time Star Wars was on the cover of Mad Uh, u they they were sent like a cease and desist and George Lucas, they Madt responded to George Lucas's lawyer saying like, really? because this is a letter we got from George Lucas last week And it was George saying like, I'm so flouad to be on the cover of Mad, canan I please buy the original art But we walked into like the Sywalker Ranch library and the librarian looked at Connor and went, I was wondering if you were ever gonna show your face here It feels like so them watch the show U Yeah, fascinating. I have to say some of the only joy I've known in the last few weeks was watching Jared Harris on the George Lucas Tal show Wh he was just the first half of it, he was like decisions that I made in my life that l me into this moment. I will That's the joy of doing the show is watching people go through that and then by the end of it I'm all in on that. Right R. But it was so cool to watch Basically, we were being given a tour adjacent to Ben Burt giving a tour And it was at a on a day where there weren't a lot of people Like you could walk fifteen feet behind him and just hear echoes of Yeah s up front and watch him talk about it and whatever. He's a lovely guy Um, so Sigorny Weaver, obviously is involved with this movie. As he put it to Sigorny Weaver, you get to play mother now. Right. What if your mother, she likes that idea? She does it. Sigorni Weaver, I feel like also likes to do stuff. It does feel like a great way of incepting your kids with eventually watching Alien when they're seven It also is on the top. It also speaks to the tough sell of this movie where I remember like Sigorny Weaver doing fucking like the Today showh, Good morning in America and whatever for this movie Even though it's almost like an extended inro cameo because they were like, we have no stars in this film It to Gney Weaververs' the computer. The other lead actors are Ben Burt, a Pixar employee and the MAC Text to speech program. And two men who have been accused of being sex pests in different varieties? Yes, you're right. That' not out in my head. Yeah was the other Two pixar. Jeff Garland has gotten se Gar Garlland everywhere. And Fred Willard No No hes no listen, I didn't say I was jacked in the place you're supposed to jack it, right? He was appreciating the art. He was engaging with in the manner in which it was It wasn't a porn theater. It was a ty theater. You take that. I didn't say sex best in a derogatory way. you did isn' a deroggatory word. You keep' just being like, I'm being a pest. and everyone's like, Ah, yeah, you're my favorite p. I my life. I would call him a sex fan. He's an appreciator of sex condound ye. But yeah, no, it's right. Willard,, Garland, John Ratzenberg, the big three of the two thousands box office So u Wally, you know, they there is the right there Wally blood Well, right. there is the I think at the time for Pixar somewhat revolutionary thing of like, we will have Hans It's harder the movie. It's the only time they've done that. Right. Like they've never done anything like that since for No, Yeahah. So you got Willard, obviously is like It's a good joke. I mean, it's sort of like we will turn into CG. Yeah. we were once humans and we turned into CG. Yeah, this is also the movie where and Stan talks about that this was kind of his main project of like, if we're putting humans in it ' presenting this not as a form of like photorealism but we have to sell a sense of versamilitude. And so the technology has finally gotten to a point. And this is still an era of Pixar where almost every movie is built around a new technical challenge can we solve, right Like there are actual basic building blocks of this medium working that still have not been cracked yet. And his big pet project on this one was, can we truly make the virtual camera feel real unlike in two D animation where you are the animator also basically the cinematographer to a degree, that you are composing your shot, but you're very limited in the kind of camera movements or even approximations of camera movements you can do. CGI inherently has like a virtual camera built within it, you know, this is a movie where it's like we want to make the camera feel real. We want to only imperfections and the struggles of what a camera is. I did a lot of analog, seventy millimeter tests to try and capture that kind of the lighting, the texture. And they're like, where's the barrel distortion? you know, where are the imperfections? They got both Roger Deakins and Dennis Mirin to be consultants on this movie and he was basically like I explain to them all these things that have driven like Russian lensmakers crazy for decades that they've never been able to solve The weird quirks of just like human limitations that then Pixar is trying to replicate rather than computer, which is always trying to perfect everything. And a thing that happensuter kind Bad guy. C computer kind of bad guy U, But like especially in the sort of Leivianne Rose montage There's a lot of like, you feel a camera operator And they talked about this of like, especially the Semor Wally u triggers all the shopping carts. and they come like rolling after him against the wall. Like the camera is struggling to catch up with Wally and keep him in the frame. Yeah. There's like an over correction of the camera movement. That's basically the stuff they started fucking with in the bloopers Like the Toy story, buugs, L, Monsters and bloopers have that kind of like, isn't it funny to acknowledge that someone needs to like refocus? I don't care for those. The bloopers are funny. David, I understand You don't care for them at all. No No. I liked them when I was a kid. It's funny that animation Yes would have your stakes because you'd think they would just arrange along the way. We also we didn't call this out in Fing Nemo, but that was one of Stanton's moves also where he was like These movies can't start to feel like they're fitting into a pattern, a formula. one hundred percent. V. We gott to break the blooper thing because like we're about to start repeating ourselves. Yeah yeah, I don't like the blooper thing. And this movie does not thinkakes our boardroom storyb. No what I'm saying He retreated from that. Yeah. Like I mean, very clearly. I mean, obviously Brave their best film was still to come Change your fate Do you want to change your fate U was that the Wps? Now the film Oh how does Wally fit into the pixar theory? The witch turns into Woody and then where's Wally and then Wallys Is Wally precars? Like will cars come after Wally Wally is postcars Like if Wally charts the apocalypse and then but yeah, is it postcars? Yeah, I think it's that after the cars have d. Wally was not originally invented to clean up Squit's name, fucking McQueen Lighten to Mcqu in Yeah Wally his postcars, of course Guess what's post Wally in the Pixar timeline theory Onward, of course, set in the four thousands. This it fuck you. Hestly honestly. you I mean, I don't know what you're talking about. Is it worth diving into No No, no, No no. It's worth saying what it is and why we're not giving it any validity. It's not a real. The Pixar movies all have these easaster eggs, right? whereere it's like The Pizza Planet truck shows up in every movie. There' things like that And most of the Pixar movies include a preview of the next film. So we called out in the Fine Nemo episode in the waiting room, the dentist, a kids reading an inccredibles comic They would seed kind of the next movie in a little way, right? At the end of Monsters Ink, Boo has like a neemo toy There's always that kind of shit. And a very annoying corner of the internet started taking it literally and being like, oh, that means they exist in the same universe. What is the timeline that justifies all these things happening? And with every added Pixar film, it becomes sweatier and sweatier But you can watch like hour long YouTube essays, where it's like So I mean they believe there was like two hour die Hars take over. K this off Then when the cars kill themselves, Wally cleans up our garbage Wally starts with a real shot across the bow in that you like immediately it's just out there, you know, and it is so immediately removed from Pixar tonality up and P point. I thought about Couching Tiger Hidd Draon episober, you said hasas any movie more quickly announced itself as a masterpiece? Well, with the opening strings. Crouching Tiger still has it. Yeah, I don't know. good if the quality is impllicit what all he these. Because Crchhing Tiger Hid Draon begins with And you're like But in context, this is telling you it's Curkca two thousand eight when you're sitting in the theater. This is not your daddy's Pixar movie you're also there's no soft eason. You know, most of the Pixar movies like have like a cold open before you go to an opening credit sequence. and then they start to really minimize the opening credit sequence. This is like Disney logo, Pixar logo. The short before this was Presto, which is pretty good. In theater. Pretty good. You love Presto? I think that's the best one they ever did. Is think that's the best one they ever did? Apart from, of course, my beloved Red Stream wear the bicycle. Yeah. what's your fan lava Lava actually should have gotten Pixar shutdown You know what I mean?ike like everyone's like we appreciate everything and release lava and the government immediately. It's like, I'm sorry, you're done. I came home one day and found my daughter watching lava and it was like threw the TV out of the window. And hang your kid watching the ring tape. I was just like I was like, no What's your favorite of the shorts? I think Presto is so goddamn. I love Presto, but I'm like the top is interesting. What's the top I gota think on this. It's it better not be fucking lava. Well, yeah. I mean it better not be fucking what U I was about to say a funny one Boundon, but I do enjoy Bounden. Lly. He's Bounden. Yeah I like Yeah Yeah, I like lava the most. I look lava I sorry Iorry presso. sorry I hate. Lava's the I love bow And I've seen that really so many times because my daughter reallyally loved to bow for a long time. They sent me the little plastic prop bow when that came out and it's been living in my freezer for like eight years now. s in your freezer. 'use it's a frozen bow. I don't know if put it up there. I hit the corner Well,. I'm like, is Jerry's game my favorite? Do does that? Jerry'same very good. Yeah, Jerry's game very good. He's joining MCU soon, right Can you name which ones won the Oscar? Did Jurry's g win? Jerry's game won. Okay, so Luxo junior won Incorrect. Lux was nominated. Rude. It Tintoy w. Tinoy one. That's the first win. Did Nickneck win Nickack sadly lost two stack two Bodacious. Yeah right. Jerry's game one. Yeah. That was that second. Okay For the birds won I remember that. That was in that era where it was kind of like, they' just gonna to win every single time they do. long as it was too consecutive for it. Bounding got its ass kicked foundound and did get its ass kicked. Then it doesn't win, they don't win again for a while. Did Day and Night win? No, Launa U no. My daughter also loves L. Th those nominated. Yeah. Launa is a Luca prequel. Yes. It's got like Luca style. Yes Lava didn't win, did it No, thank God. Lava, not even. Did Piper win? Piper won. Piper's good. Piper looks amazing. Yes. Piper just looks incredible. Yeah, but there's not a win between twenty and twenty. Th then Bow one and And then Baow one. bow so good, she eat the bow. She eat the bow Do you remember when they announced Bow we were all like this sucks. I don't wantan to watch a food baby. and then everyone comes out of bow crying. Bow fucking rocks. And of course turning red rocks. Yeah turnurning red is the best. Yeah. God, turning Rd's so funny now I'm just thinking about it. with all their faces go funny. anime style. It's so funny. I just think the immediate quick cuts, establishing shots of space straight with fucking hello dolly lyrics. The weird juxtaposition of like what is the fucking tone of this movie The Hello Dolly of it is very funny in that that movie is so flawed. I mean, this is mean that's so beautiful. Greatest like Exactly. San's also said that he's like, I find it funny that Wally has bad taste. Well, it's like I always imagine he's a bit of a cheeseball. Yeah. Listen,ally Wally was not exactly you know, had a blockbuster video at his disposal. G But he just wants to hold hand. does. But I always do imagine like what if Wally had found like a VHS of citizen Cane or something he out Yeah, I think citizen King so fun. Right obviously not as funny, but you know what's the gag where he throws the good the ring? He picks up a ring throws the ring. Yeah. ye. I love that. But I think that's part of also like Fels reflective of like you're lucky Erlk that your son hyper fixated on Wally and that was the movie that had to play five hundred times in your. Oh there have been other much worse hyperfixations in its. Exactly. You're like he's like a child rightage the meltdown. For some reason he's fucking locked in on That's tough. tough movie. So step up from the first ice age. No. Step down from yourself in the face with a hand. One time I went over to your place and your son was insistent that we all watch ice Age the moutdown and got really angry when anyone else was talking to her. Oh yeah, yeah, he loves to do that. Yeah. This is part of why we had such a blow upp at the Alamo Draft call yes. What was the bla? story Read about it online You You media Erlk's draft house pase Oh, I did o, o yes, right. But that was not entirely his fault. No,. I mean there was waspled talking Uh, but no ASA is, you know, very serious about taking in his ice age does not like people talking over it. Eone has to. I really don't like going to. I've been to Draft House twice with my daughter and I don't like it as much as the Nightawk.lease do not even get m. Obviously, Draft house is right. ice age boiling point. The Night Hawk has been better. Draft House is now, I agree with you, the worst place to see a movie. It so easy to fix. Like it's just like you have the infrastructure We can fix this. it back. I told you not to do this And now it' not going I can't tell. I'm holding out hope for commommon sense to prevail, but I also think that they are so deep in it and are so invested in transitioning their work technology. Firing lots of people and reducing their hours and having no more season workers. That was their whole thing too was they were like, we're rolling this out as a test program to see if it works test The feedback was terrible. and they're like, great, we're gonna go ahead and force it on everyone It was like this was your plan all along. You didn't care how anyone felt at. All this. Yeah, of course, right. Some real BNL shit. it is some real BN L shed but I'm just trying to think the other movies that I've had to endure many times. He's now really into bigig City greens, which is not a movie. Yeah. It's a show that I had not heard of until he med this we haveve never heard of it. turns out like roughly sixty percent of the guests who have ever appeared on Blank Cck have done voice cameos on exact Not one Griff N. O host. No zero Hosley's been on it. Yeah.'s know's an ar. He's a regular k. Yeah But yeah, that's that's his latest thing. I'm still trying to figure out what it is Hi Ben. My name is David Erlich. You might remember me from such blank check episodes as Wally. So I figured that I would send you a quick voicemail because something has really been troubling me since we recorded our Wally episode a couple of months ago you know, any number of things that I've said on Blank check over the years have have plagued me, but but nothing has really me up at night quite like how callously I dismissed the children's television show, Big City Greens I think at the time, I was myiffed that my six year old son Asa was forsaking the infinite riches of children's cinema in favor of a streaming television show during his limited after school television time But it turns out that Big City Greens is a fucking masterpiece. It's basically the Simpsons for eight year olds or younger. I think it ages it's a little bit aged up for my son, but he seems to rock with it anyway drug to the Simpsons and that I came home one day to find my son watching completely unprompted. Did't know he was aware that the Simpsons existed, Marge versus the Morail which was a really profound moment for me Anyway, in sumation, Wally good, Big City Greens, veryy good, Chip Whistler evvil. That's what I got. Thank you love you, bye. Here's a question for you. How long had it been do you think since Aa had seen the movie last, after watching it hundreds of times. There's a gap when he discovered all until last before last night, when I had to sort of because he's so resistant to anything that is no longer his choice. anythingthing that he thinks is his sister's idea or preference. uh is not going to fly. so I actually Thinking that he would be just sort of enraptured by flashing lights as he is prone to do, I had my beautiful wife Mo turn on Wally as I was bringing the kids up the stairs. Yeah. so that would walk in it would just be there. And sure enough, you know, sllack jaw, you know, likeike' the thing from Batman forever. Yeah, just fucking watching Wally. It did immediately suck him in did and they ended up watching the whole thing. But it had been it had been probably And your daughter had never seen it before. Never seen it before. immmediately, immmediately fell in love with Wally. Alla, Wally falling in love with Eve However came from a place of profound concern. I think my daughter, unlike my I hesitate to call him a sociopath on a podcast that will outlive me. But it love my life, Asa. But he's not quite the natural empath that that my daughter is. but like every three seconds would just be like, Wally, no, is he okay? Wally, Wally. My daughter easily in peril My daughter we gets so anxious about when the rocket lands because that is I guess in the first act, pretty much the only moment of real peril When he's chasing the red dots. Yeah, and then like theming because she would just, you know, and she right had to always be reassured I be like, he's fine. She also E it does shoe wallally several times. She does, but likeike played more for laughs, I guess. you never really feel that threat. And then the later existential threat if he loses his personality. Yeah, I think didn't quite land with my like three year old daughter. She didn't really get the peril there. Uncle Griffin did buy a I think a wally and an Eva Or maybe I bought the wally you bought the wally. They're still making new wies and they haven't made a good even in a while And I b a vintage ea. Pt good. It's no, it's but it doesn't fly N of them do It's please, trust me. I did the work to get the best one. I could, but it was vintage. Like I don't think they've produced a compatible It does have a cannon. In like fifteen years. Yeah, which has blown several holes in my apartment walls. Eva fununk pop Of course for people. Yes, Yes. But right, her name is technically Eve. Her name is Eve, it's just that Wy Eve hear E that And she says, Hi And can we just say that she's hot? or should I just should I not do that? Like I walked out of the movie to take I at the time being like, well, I really liked that It wasn't quite as transcendent as I was hoping at the time. I remember However, I am rock then my second is you do bossy robot. Well her. She is a bossy round here. She is a bsy round. She could not be rounder. Correct. And she could not be bossier. She's an upside down egg. All she does is go Wally But he's like You know what moment I really love. Please After she kisses him and electrocutes his face, she does in space and he's like frozen and floating away. She goes, Wally. W. For the first time, she's like kind of like, come on, you old silly goose. I know that my sexual power is totally fried. You're operating system. She like waves her arm over Got any big summer plans? If you're traveling, you got late nights, packed weekends, zero structure, any of those Keing AG one in your routine helps you stay Consistent. That's a loaded word right there. consonsistent.. 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That's an eighty two dollars value s drrink. That's drink AG one dot com slash When I wear that hat, it's gonna to be so ironic. I don't like the mornings. No. But I love dgey onene. Yes We start with though, while he lives. As you said, start without there Well, that's true. But I mean read the first act and the silence and all that and, you know sances, we were breaking rules obviously was not A done thing. But this is my point. You start with the fucking blare of like yes. an obscure musical song and you're like, this is not how this movie starts. and then it winds down to absolute silence. But then it's get closer to Earth. The pivot that they make to the first notes of to the score, which are very ominous. sccore very important. that is hge That's a huge jarring moment think is similarly unexpected, where you're like, Ohh we're going from the joy of that song to something is unnerving. The palette of the first three minutes is already like throwing you totally out of whack of like, don't expect this to conform to the comforts of the usual Pixar movie. Why are they using like an old Hollywood song Why is there now just kind of silence and isolation and they film Wally from like such a distance? And you're sort of focusing on the spaces and then watching him cross in clear frame. And not even clocking necessarily that he built everything we can see. Totally. Right. And then the Thomas Newman score only kicks in once we sort of zoom out and understand, oh, he built these structures. And he's sad and alone. You watch the process of him sounds music doing the cubing king the one, the sort of pride he has in doing it precisely There's a great staying clip on there's a there's a like twenty minute feature on the criterion Ben to your question, you asked famously in the early days of podcasting How do you direct animation Draw faster, right? Yeah. There's a really good like twenty minutes, but also better. Yes. sort like mini documentary of showing what directing animation is And it's just kind of a compilation of reviews that Stanton's doing He said basically that like, as he puts it ing animation is you have to make a choice every three and a half minutes. He's like, I arrive every morning. My assistant gives me what they call the dance card. and it's here's everything you need to review today And the list is so long that basically on average, every three and a half minutes, you have to make a definitive choice about whether it's approving a design thing or a sound thing, or an actual shot, giving a note, know, deciding when a thing is finally finished, or what needs to be adjusted or any of that And there's a really good clip of him in a meeting with a lot of the story team, the design team trying to figure out, okay, how are the robots going to work And much like finding Nemo where he said, I really didn't want to antropomorphize the fish I wanted to find a way to make the fish expressive while sticking to Basically the physiology of how a fish could actually move. Secret, what if Jewish? solved? The answer, right U but for Wally, he was like I don't want them to mirror our bodies that much I want to play with limitations. R I think that's fun Right.. It's more interesting to me if their bodies can do a thing that we could never do And so Angus McLlean, who is a big part of this movie later directs Lightyear, which rewatching this, I was like, oh yeah, the whole fucking design language of Lightyar ripped off from this movie. It is what if was Lightyear had wally designs, even All the tech All the ships have the same kind of weird like round. a movie that's the origin story of the action figure? Oh my Godd, Erlk. It's not a mov about the action figure. It's about the real man that the action figure is based on.. nineteen ninety five, a young boy watched a movie I'm pretty sure you made a joke the same joke on the Nemo. So I think we'll just maybe have to do it every time. There's a lot of life d in this series. He has this great line where he's saying to Angus McLan, he's like, can I make the argument for giving him elbows, R right? Like Hankas McClean's making this plea of like it's going to make all of our lives easier give him an elbow. and Stanton goes, I'd rather give you a wrist than an elbow. And everyone in the room goes like, huh, and you watch them explain for the first time. Like it's coming to him. like what if his arms are like this? What if they're small and they're out like this and his wrist can extend in this sort of way? And that's now coming up with a language of movement that you couldn't do with a human being which is, I think so much of what Statan finds interesting in animation is like finding these midpoints between the language of live action film and the language of animation which is like, how do you kind of shhoot and cut a movie in quotes with what we understand from live action. on screen things that we couldn't ever film and find the sort of midpoint between human behavior and what kind of characters are projecting. And with Wally and so many of the robot characters in this movie, it is all in the eyes, which are obviously a cheat for animation, know whenever they're trying to anthropomorphize something, but I think is so resonant here because Wally is He really kept alive, not so much by solar power as he is by curiosity and wonder. I mean, this is what separates him from all the other wally units that have been decommissioned. It's that he gets off on discovering things about the world and that has sustained him for centuries. So tiny pin in this He the other sort of part of the lore of this movie is he was at like a baseball game and he had like cheap binoculars to watch the game from the cheap seats. and he got hyper fixated on the hinge of the binoculars. and how he was like, oh, if you tilt them down, they look sad Right And it's so clever. Which is the starting point of the design of this character. Obviously, the trash planet idea had existed kind of reactivated the like, you could build an entire character where that's the only face you have And there is the subtle thing, and it's like part of the language the movie teaches you that pays off so effectively at the end when Wally like back. Oh, all these robots are supposed to have a straight line for their eyes. And no that's right. when he turns personality lless, he goes back to it's the dro Yeah. No, no, the droop is when he ood again.ight. That's the moment where you're like, Ohh my God, our guy is back. Yeah.' our guy. And' our guy. They've taught you this thing we're suddenly seeing the droop conveys so much to you in this classic like Pixar teaches you a technology that is meaningless and by the end of the movie, it can communicate a complicated thing in one movement. think that is sort of the defining thing that this movie is about is like it's not about artificial intelligence in a sort of designed we want to create artificial intelligence way. It is this fascinating like creates a personality, what creates a soul. If a robot lives long enough do like aberrations start to happen. Which is why it tracks so well into a different context of artificial intelligence, which is as a criticism of something it couldn't anticipate necessarily, which is AI. And R movie being a very obvious now in hindsight broadside against what would happen if we just delegate all of our thinking and ability to automated systemistance, which this movie is basically all the robots you see in it aren't trying to comfort you by seeming human They are there to serve a specific function, right? This is just like what if a robot did your fucking makeup? And that's the one that needs to look Gon personersonate a social interaction because that's part of the dynamic Otherwise, it's just like, what is the one thing this fucking robot needs to do and it doesn't need a face and it doesn't need a personality. It's just gonna to serve this one job that we can like clean up in some cases, literally make the robot that cleans up All of the main robot characters in this movie are defined by a moment where you realize, oh, something has weirdly evolved in them where they now have a personality They now take some specific pleasure in doing what they do. It is no longer programming There is some joy in this that is basically like a malfunction In that malfunction, like feelings are developed So you start with like Wally, the sense of pride he takes in the garbage the reason that he has outlived all the other models I probablyrobably right? because like that's they're all the other models Burnt out, we assume, dead. And you watch what interesterested, you know, whatever. He's making architecture out ofight. He's doing arts. Yeah.. And as I say that little gesture with the wrists is just like You see the satisfaction of like another clean wall. But he loves to curate stuff. He's got his lunch box. Yeah, he lives in my apartment I get this guy. I really get this. He has. I mean, I hadn't quite made that connection, but right kind of hit me like a ton of bricks. Be of course like wally right oututside, he's making towers out of And you know, all that but that's what I consider podcasting my lives in it's a garbage truck with the kind of like the rotating, you know, he's got the kind of the tie rack of garbage, right? Like the curat, Right. Right And that was supposed to be the racks of all the other models of Right. And he hangs his favorite pieces. You know, that was one of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of ships that were just supposed to be levels of wies all sleeping in little boxes He's the last one we see in just like such fucking like clean quick visual storytelling of His treads start to wear out. He needs to find other dead models. You're like, this is how this one guy has survived. He's basically been Frankenstein himself from his de like this isn't even the original Wally at one point. He just became yeah, a hodgepodge of other w. But you're like right, the other guysy's all burned out. Why is Wally still here? Because Wally wants to be alive. Why does he want to be alive? Because he likes doing this It's not just that he's programmed to do this he enjoys it. and then in his enjoyment and also the isolation of everything else around him and the mission becoming impossible, you know, unending, he starts to get obsessed with the other oions. Well It dovetails with what Stanton said, which isational the theme of the movie for him that he would put on like a coffee cup so that everybody who was working with him could understand in every you chain in the system, what movie they were making is airrational love defeats life's programming And so it's like if take that to a literal place, it's like his love of this activity literally overpowers, you know, the programming and the obsolescence that's coded into his programming and whatnot. So I also think Stanton is a guy who's like constantly wrestling between instincts of cynicism and sentimentality that I relate to very hard And I think his characters and his movies are usually about that. Wait until you see if you haven't already, in the blink of an eye, it will be seen. Okay. we have to we have to legally first episode you do where no one has seen the movie. Lally We must. But yes, that there's always this battle within him between the two. I also just like love the idea that it's like he finds the pleasure in doing his job and stacking the garbage and then over time, he's starting to like pay attention to the garbage and curate the garbage. There study the garbage Not to overplay Stanton's religiosity, which I think we were talking about mostly before we started recording, but like his vested Catholicism and whatnot, that there is an issue or an element of like stewardship over the earth. and there you could easily abstract Wally looking to the heavens as, you know, waiting for a sign from God Yeah, we' agreeve, in fact, you know, to come down. Yeah. Indeed. They indeed even of course thought about the on the nose. do we call him Adam or something? but just was like Wally is the sad sack name. Like I could's the best. Yeah. you know, like and he's very, very smart of him off. He also said Steve Jobs' single biggest contribution was that the movie was originally called WALE. and he' like, I don't like that name. And then they were like like Wally had an And then it work. That's exactly what Steve Jobs said, Like the rapper. I think another contribution Steve Jobs made was his money. Yeah. That's another one he made. R He threw his wallet at Andrew Stanton. Yes and to do whatever the fuck Um, I mean, this is just like a really it's it's a rare moment that that is very, very short of just them feeling so empowered. and having so much money to play with that they can just do whatever the fuck they want and they're confident that it will have to be supported by whoever ends up releasing it. But you get the sort of like wally activating the video screens, the sort of physical pop up ads of the by and large deterioration This one company, a Walmart Costco S company has taken over all of the world. Our consumerism polluted everything. We had to leave. The robots were supposed to clean things up. except it was too late. They never fixed it and humans never came back. It's interesting that Fred Willard's character. I mean, maybe there is a distction made and I'm just not remembering, but he's the president by and large, but also seems to exert the president of the United States and possibly the world. Yes, But what I love is I feel like whenever you see his title in Kirons, it's like he hasn't actually become the president It's that being the CEO of BNL has maybe become more important than being the president It is it is one hundred percent. Yeah. Yes, it's just right. It's like capitalist oligarchy, whatever It's like we became. Does the president not matter anymore or did they actually not exist? It's not that Walmart, you know, still Walmart's still important. By and large feels Walmart coded. I know it's obviously also Amazon or whatever, but like does feel of that moment. I was there's stuff in this movie that is fascinating to watch now where you're like, the culture has changed more than I thought. Yeah ye. whereere you're like the Walmart thing of like, right in two thousand eight, we all agreed was like, is Walmart the most evil company that is like going to kill us? And you're like, Walmart's so far down on the list now. There is something qu Walmart almost feels cute. There is something quaint about this era of consumerist critique because We yeah, the evils that have supplanted it you stood on his shoulders are so much more pronounced and existential. But he also said like the environmental angle of this movie, he was like, this wasn't motivated by me feeling like the movie was a call to arms to shake people into action. No, right. Ag, that just doesn't seem to be his vibe. But it's not a polemical f. But also like seventeen, eighteen years later, I'm like, I can't believe how much fucking worse this got And if I knew how little we were going to do to fight this issue, I maybe would have made different choices. But yet at the same time, it's sort of central driving energy about humans needing to sort of regain control over their own fates and not surrender to automation and thoughtlessness and helplessness is as you relevant as ever. Well, that's the weird thing in the movie that simultaneously feels like quaint and still prescient to me at the same time which is Greatest concern being apathy, right? Like people just don't want to fucking care. They don't wan to think there's just like a complacency, which I think right now in America are One of our biggest issues, if not our single biggest issue, is that has basically been plplaced with an overriding anger. There is like a rage that is fueling everything in all directions where the sense of being this passive is a little hard to imagine. And yet we are on the scary precipice of A peoplee going to start opting out of having to do shit in order to have everything automated for them. Thatounds fine. It does, but I think, know, the movie sort of indulges in the sort of AI proponent fantasy of, oh, like when we have a of full automation, no one's gonna have to work, We're all just gonna be on pregnant vacation. But then' what is life? We've already seen that that is not at all the reality. No, and it is wild to watch it now And it's like there's like networky elements of this where you're like, oh, this doesn't even read a satire anymore. But the idea that they're like by the pool and everyone's just looking at their screens and not going in. They don't even know the pool's there. Right. I'm just like that felt really like exaggerated in two thousand eight when smartphones have barely existed for two years. Right. And now they're just like, of course The fucking traffic jams of no one looking where they're going because they're all just watching the screens. you're like Right, I get the heightening here is the hover chair But the relationship to the screen does not feel heightened time it felt silly Um, world's good. World is good. Wally is good. Wally has one friend H name is Hal Kukaracha. What' is his name Hal because of Hal Roach. D It's fun trip Uh, I mean, you know, I'm not. laughing out loud. You you went. And you smile. You cau me. May the listener not that As you already mentioned, Stanson says, they watched a Kat in the Chapelin every single day. They were very you know like interested in like pantomime conveying everything, right? Like howike can we make a movie where you turn the sound off and know what's going on? The kind of Chuck Jones. Well right's axiom This axiom, of course, also There's a true challenge of like let's actually test our fucking bones as animators to see if we can tell a story through movement. And when you remove the kind of recognizable autonomy of a human body, then how do you convey these things what I'm talking about of him not wanting to do the cheats of giving them normal human movements and whatever. And then he's also like by doing that, you also test every other department more. If you're not going to have words, even though we wrote those words into the script, then I'm asking the music to convey those things. I'm asking the camera to convey those things. I'm asking color to convey those things Ralph Egleston, who is one of like the early early Pixar guys and is the production designer in most of their movies and was part of that Cow Arts group. U he passed away twenty twenty, I believe, veryer tragically. Okay. What was it s Ralph Eglon. Ralph E. And the Criterion release has a really nice feature that's basically like a eulogy for him, but also explaining how important he was. I brought this up a little bit in the Fy Nemo episode, but the thing of the color scripts where they do a kind of visual script of the movie based on the color palette of every sequence so that you can chart the tonality of like what you want to convey through mood and color. You didn't need to do one of those for John Carter. red. It's a lot of red Um, But Stanton said and I'd never heard it put this cleanly before. He's like, It seems a little indulgent to people on the outside, but in animation, it is not a standard thing Egleston basically made it a new thing because he was such a student of production design that he found out that William Cameron Menzes. these his side movies of like the The crazy forties British, you know, like things to come which are super kind of like expression m cut made. Yeah. Right. And would think about like what are you conveying in color from setup to setup? And Egglon was like, this was a cool thing and those movies look really cool. We should try to bring this back. And everyone thought it seemed a little indulgent. then when he did it, he was like, right, animation is so piecemeal actually see the final version of everything until the last moment You're not getting like location scouting. you're not shooting things and being able to recognize like the color temperature in front of the lens at the time It takes so long to add color and lighting and all of that to have that as like a guiding force at the beginning to know you're working towards really helps. One thing I want to note in here Um, that we haven't mentioned, but this's not something I ever thought about because I don't like I've never seen this movie A lot of people noted that like Possibly accidentally while he does look like Johnny F five. Who is from short circuit. One of Ben's best friends He is one of my best again, though I'm short circuit to having revisited it on there's some issues? An episode of Flop House. It solves racism. Oh no. It was something that I didn't pick up on as a young kid. I think that's one I was an adult series I were quite shocked. What's this here? Yeah Fisher Stevenenss lives in my neighborhood and every time I see him at a coffee shop, I'm just like immediately short circuit human bom It feels so bad for him me because he's done so much work, You're right though, I've never thought about that. But they're veryable It's the ey. It's the eyes. and sort of on the long neck. Right I found that infuriating as a talking point at the time. It was a little mini version of the Avatar is literally just fern gully thing where I'm like, the fucking come on. L there's a thousand other things going on in this movie. I agree. I agree. So Wally, But Johnny five innocent Sure, he never did anything. wait, I'm seeing that Johny five here was at a J six No You basically wait, whereere was he on january sixth? He's trying to get up the stairs at the capapitol He's like falling over. I don't know. That's a funny mistake. Yeah. Here's just sight seeing. He's next to J Johnst. He's next to Jay John. All right You basically see one day of his, right? And a little d You see a normal day and then you see the weird day. It's a perfect way to do it, I feel. Yeah yeah Eve comes in at like minute thirteen. I mean, it's it's like so efficient while you you feel like you've spent a lot of fucking time with him. I think a lot of that is the silence makes all those moments really you lean in and they matter more. But yes, him going back home, the organization of where do I put the spork and all this sort of stuff, the understanding of the level of feeling and thought he's putting into everything and then his nightly ritual of like the iPod video playing the Hello Dolly sequence that he obsessively watches over and over again I think it is such a beautiful, simplistic boiling down of like If they're robots and they like don't have any biological drive to procreate. And it doesn to fuck that they would like need romance. Yeah. that he's recognizing something of like what is being expressed in the statement of holding someone's hand as a show of intimacy or having companionship It's such a nice like, you know, God gave him hands for a reason. good I mean arere they hands? I guess they're kind of like loaders or whatever. they're part of his sort of, you know, his cubing power. He also said that basically in the time that they were developing this movie, the iPod video got introduced. and he asked Jobs for permission, can I put this in the movie when it was a brand new thing. Who ammong us did not watch the first episode of Battle Stark Galactica on an iPad classic? Ipodcassic on a fllied. What a screen that is like one inch I was watching Lost on those on the phone Lost I remember Lost was kind of like the first show where they were like Like ye, iTunes video, like you know nine cents an episode. Yeah,. I was I mean, I' watch it on broadcast and then when an episode was good, I'd be like purchased re watchatch at schoolool. Wow. But he asked Jobs permission because it was such a new device. and he was like, I bet by the time this movie comes out, it's already antiquated technology And he was like, sure enough, like iPhone comes out a year before this movie comes out replaces the iPod video. It already was Wally has an antique But here's the thing about Griffin, I feel like you can relate to this along with me which is that I don't know if there is a better evocation in film animated or otherwise. of what it feels like to be a neurotic teenage boy and have an intense crush on somebody. This is This is where I'm saying. I'm not going to say for better or for worse This was the primary concern of my life when I was twenty years old Like you're awed by the girls you like terrified to talk to them. They are involved All I do things that are so far above your station. until I have a crush on someone and then I show them green plants and they go catatonic. I mean, Sims, you had to like deal with even a little later in my life the versions of this, where we'd be at a bar and I'd be like, I don't even know what how would I start a sentence once Instead of talking to a woman who I think may have been interested in you, you can't remember these specific. Of course the tragic irony was, they often were. of course. And I would fuck it off. Byshit Drew a picture. I wish I could find it. Let me see if I could find it U of just a sad little guy. Oh I remember that Jesus Christ. You do remember that? This was a videoideology. Oh girl you met at videoideiology drew a picture? No, no, Griff was just instead of like, you know being a person who talks to a right person, he was just instead drew a weird little picture. You passed a note like you No no, no clarify this story. just gave it to Yeah, people can fking over me. Videology trivia And for like ten consecive weeks, I turned to David and I'd be like, I have such a crush on that girl I cannot speak to. Yeah. And David would be like, go talk to her and I'd be like, I don't know how to do that. And it was one night where David was trying to like hype me up to be like, just like walk over and say something about trivia and instead I drew a sad face You' missing out because you know it's great Th when they're mean to you. Well, you're like, wally learn. Sometimes they have fully loaded cannons for arms. theyllow up giant ship. No I do think this movie is one of the greatest depictions of that. And I love the Buster Keaton movies that lean romantic because they weaponize a similar dynamic. except the difference is that Buster Keaton often seems kind of oblivious, right? That he's love struck and then it's just sort of like him chasing after and he doesn't realize how much the world is trying to stop him. whereereas Wally is like Smitten and also terrifyied likeah, it' the combination of being smitten, being terrified and being there was the third thing and then you sort of just took the words out of my mouth. But anyway odd. odd is the other thing I think completes the is or maybe my single favorite moment in the movie and speaks to what I was saying earlier. He sees the red dot, he's chasing it. You realize the ship is landing, right? He's hiding behind the rock He sees her come out. Everything is very kind of routine, right? The arm comes out, it unleashes her. She activates design is still so fucking cool where it's like seamless unibody thing and then the head and arms can float off to the sides and the hands the arms can turn into fingers if need be and all that sort of shit. I found a picture of Wilder. I'm so far back in my photos right now. That's falilder A Smitt Alenon. Yeahah. What happened? Wild. I know. He wasasis. This is twenty fifteen. so he's probably like, I think he was like one or two. He was like two, maybe two. Yeah. that came to. You're try to find the trivia drawing That would be like twenty. I know, I know. I went too far. Yes. I went too far. I think my favorite moment the entire film is like Eve is there, she's like locked in on her mission. The ship starts to leave and you see her kind of clocking once she's out of the view. And then it's like she takes a breath and has just the joy flight. And it's that moment of, oh shit, she's like him For some reason, she's a little different. She finds joy in doing things. She is doing things for her own satisfaction And if he wasn't already going to be smitten just by like I've never seen a fucking robot like that there's a personality there And as much as she then tries to immediately cover it and be like, I am all business It is every robot we meet who is a primary character. It's the same thing with Moe. when we get to Moe and he makes the decision to jump off the line Because he loves cleaning so much. does love. He do. That's his art That's how he, you know, whatever finds joy. Every one of those activation moments is so satisfying to me. is Me driven by Joy? Here it is Me driven by I found it. This is the drawing Griffin made rather than flirt with a girl. Okay, well'll make sure to post that. I don't know what to say. What is this name is about?umber three? I have no idea the fuck was. The joke might be like you're not even number two, you're number three. I don't quite know. It could be a kid Cutie reference I don't think it was. Wh we can tell it No Yes the rappers. Noes the rappers. Yeah. Yeah., no, but what a predate of that? I think it predates Yeah we'll post it on the Instagram. But yes, while he's just like chasing after her And then there's the moment where he she hears him exhale and then just immediately fucking like turboannons f L lovea when she turbocanons him hottest part. It's their me cute. is she thinks she's murdered. him gosh Just imagine dating an egg robot with an arm cannon P Pretty cool. Obviously, she's gota build a cold shower into the back of Blank Fick two Iirectly inspired by Apple products, but obviously she's also kind of like a nesting doll design. Like she's got this sort of Matrioshka shape, the egg Um Uh this is from Angus McLlean who that is that the guy who the Presto guy No, that which one is he amm I wrong in thinking No, Prest was in Teddy Newton. Is it is Presto Teddy Newton? Let's find out Presto film Be I remember like that that director, Doug Swetland. Oh, Doug Sweetland. M always being like when's he making a movie? And he ended up making storks., you know, he left I never saw Stork. H Storch was a Nicholas Stoler Joint. He wrote it. He wrote it Did he co direct it with Swedlander or He might only director. He might have How was that era where they kept snuck They were like we only let an animation guy co direct a movie with a live action guy or a comedy cororrect. It's it's to both them. Angus McLean is the guy who co directed Finding Dory and then directed Lightyar What year was Storks twenty sixteen? Because Storks like in my come to Jesus, after my C to Jesus moment of recognizing that forgetting Sarah Marshall is the greatest of all art and culture of the last hundred years and being like, I will see literally anything Nicholas Stowoler makes next. And he's like, I'm directing a movie about Storks dearing babies. And I was like,, I guess there's a line somewhere. That movie never sa. I found to be a bit of a rough hand Doug Sweet Lland is like an incredible character animator and especially incredible at like animated comedy, physical comedy and has is responsible for That's why Presso so funny, all the hijinks. But like a lot of the best Pixar physical comedy moments, I feel like the one that's always pointed at is Woody acting out in Toy Story two when they're like playing Woody's roundup and he comes out of the box and is like Be being all hot shit Angus McLean and Doug Sweetland felt like the two guys were was like, when are they going to let them make a movie? And they let Doug Sweetland get away. Right. And then Angus makes lightighty yearar, which is worse than making a movie. It's so bizarre It's like making a negative movies. But he did Bernie, which was the short that accompanied this. That really good. Yeah, that's fun. And he did Toy Story of Terror. Jesie finds a way. watch R of those early Pixar movies, you might like them Yeah, it's a total blind spot for me I'm just reading off the doc. Anyway, Jesse does find a way. J quote. Angus McLlean, She looks dangly she looks dangly and wind chimy when she's in automaton mode. When she gets emotional, she does more arcs, like a porpoise flying around. Yeah. well, that's when this moment of joy where she just kind of like flies around like a fucking flower They loved the cockroach idea alsoso just like that's a fun challenge, like making a cockroach cute Yeah, it doesn't have a face. doesn't have a face Um, So Uh One other note on production design N one is all romantic and emotional lighting and then act two They say act one and act two. You're right that the movie is reallyally in thirds, but I guess they basically mean like planet then spaceship. Act two is like get to know the axiom. Act three is like the uprising. Yes But you know, act two essentially the axiom is sterility, order, cleanliness. It's when it goes from being Bustler Keaton to Jacques Tetty. Right, Right. But then yes, sorry. They try to make the lighting more romantic as act two goes on. Like, you know, they try they sort of soften it as as, you know your personality enters. Well, the movie starts out really washed out thenen you start to get some warmth when Eve enters. I think the most beautiful sequence of the movie is when there's like the big dust storm and he brings Eve inside. And the way Eve reacts to the darkness of the room where she's like glowing and you see the weird ring of like fluorescence inside of her neck, and also the reflections of the Christmas lights and everything. And distinct fish, which is between this and the Sopranos is having a huge cultural moment. Billy Bass was one of our greatest But yeah, she basically almost accidentally shoots him And then it's just like, I the fuck are you? And then you get your sequence, the Livian Rose of him just kind of like following after trying to get her attention. Who among us hasn't had, What the fuck are you? She's just like, I'm working. I do feel like it's important to point out though that Eve comes into contact with Hal almost shoots Hal, the cockroach But instead, she likes him She likes them and they both Wally and Eve get tickled by the cockroach, which is really sweet. But it's showing that she's kind. Right, right, right. But that happens before she meets Wally. It's like Wally making such an advanced overture to her She's like, no, get away. I'm working. She wishes almost he hadn't seen her be nice to Hal. Maybe best wants to put on the face of all. Maybe the best shot in the movie is right after she's exploded all of the oil tankers. A. The shot from behind of Wally in Silhouette just sort of saddling up slowly beses her. But also that he recognizes that's the moment where it's like, oh, she's shown like Eotion beinging so frustrated that she caused this much damage that she had her fucking Adam driver punching the wall moment. But also little game that he is like now is my time to strike. But it's also so funny to see her and it's like it's like they convey physical tension in her body, even though that shouldn't be possible as she's watching the ships burn And she's just sort of like her eyes narrowing, like wanting the catharsis of watching something be droyed. When she when her eye go grumpy mode, The eyes are so good Oh ye. But he senses the opening of like Okay, if we can just exchange names, we're cooking here. R. And she's charmed by the fact that he can't say it U It's a little funny. He brings her into his home. She loves his collection. Y. It's possible And she laugh of show showing her one object that is going to so blow her mind. Right that she's fal Well, that's right not part of. You show her a boot with plant in it and she goes unconscious. But all of those gags of handing her the light bulb and then getting so kind of like frustrated that he can't turn it on. I like we're fixing the Rubik's cube. I like when she laughs when she goes Gic or whatever. Yeah M the pop in the bubble wrap. likeike she's finally just totally let her guard down and is as fascinated by every object he shows her, but also able to solve them so much faster We also see him turn into a cube Oh mean when he goes into like sleep mode? Yeah. Yeah. And we know that think charged by the sun. I think it's just awesome design. Yeah that heat not only makes cubes, but is a cube. Yeah, which like This is a classic Pixar logic thing. Stan is always the first to point out, it makes no physical sense If you keep seeing the way his stomach opens up to be able to compress the trash There's no space that his body could actually suck into Sure And it' big fs now that can like fold on top of themselves, man. anything's possible. They communicate it to you in movements so much that you're like, I just understand what you're asking me to accept But yes, he's showing her all the objects. He's trying to show her hello dolly. She doesn't give a shit. She can't even like pay attention to it. And then he makes the mistake of showing her, of course Planton boots Do you think that if he had shown her scen with Walter Mathow, she would have been a lot more locked in? She'd be like, And this guy is like a major of movies I now understand. He did like all genres, you'd be like the romantic lead in things Math now ' watching a clip I'm watching the movie here. he makes a little Eve statue and she is unimpressed and then he kicks a bunch of mle pipes and falls on her. great st. And its little these little treads like flip up. It's adorable. Yes I mean, it's very childlike and even as he's like He's sort of transitioning into like an almost parental mode, Although we see him in a parental mode with the cockroach, but I don't know, if you've ever seen your child like fall off a bed or something, it's like you're so concerned for them, but immediately it's very funny visual, I don't know. Yes, it also helps that we' you're just like guy, his center of gravity is so off, his build is so awkward that doing anything other than rolling on a flat surface, you're just like, I don't know if he's gonna make it. But there's also, I mean, I don't know how deep we need to go into the imagined lore of by and large, but some practical application towards designing him to be cute on the company's behalf. Yeah, because they don't want these things to be threatening. R. versus the robots on the axiom are less cute because people aren't even really paying attention. Right. They're all in the bowels of the ship Do we think there's a flaw in Eve's design? No offense to my perfect queen Go on One boot with one plant is enough to turn around like a ship with six hundred thousand people on it. Be like, well, Earth seems ready ' like I'm looking at Earth. It ain't like ready ready.ure. We might want to wait for like a tree or two. But that's like centuries ago programming It's just funny that she's like, well, like there's one plant, baby. That's not a flawsve kid li. Yeah. She's doing her job perfectly. That may be a flaw noting the work she's doing. You also have to imagine that their thought is we'll put everyone on a starliner for five two two ten years maximum. And if we see the first sign of vegetation, that means oh, it's coming back. It's ready to go back there. They didn't know that the world was going to become that fucking awful. and the idea of this one boot making it would be so against the opp. They knew. what if there was a guy on the axom Rent us. They knew and they did nothing. Ruffalo Rent us five So Uh yeah, what else happened? Now in the opening Th go sleep mode. Comma mode. Yeah uh, and Wally still tries to like, You have the the u Thomas Newman, kind of MZac Wally doing date nights with Coma Eve Oh we got a call out. He dances for her. He does the little so sweet and he had picked up the like trash lid and it pays off. He's like Darfing's hat. He's a cool guy. The top hat. I also love that. Th she tries to dance and she fucking shakes the whole thing and smashes him into the wall. She's a clomper. Dude, It is so funny though,, right? when she like hulk lookys him, right? Like like I also love the moment of him Look at how he injures the eye in the first place And I can't remember when he gets the new go when he the eye and he's so embarrassed that she's like seeing him naked having to plug the eye back in, but it also teaches you like what it's going to look like when he's recalibrating Oh, it's when he falls. I'm watching here when heall It's after the sl slams him into the wall, he falls down and breaks one of his eyes. There's a lot of very clever some more overt seed planting there. I'm thinking particularly of like the fire extinguisher, things that are just in front. I mean, even when they introduce the the boot, it's not even the focus of it's like a half second thrw. It It's part of his collection. Yeah. Well I don't give it any special emphasis. No, he puts it in the fucking igloo cooler, but it doesn't get any more attention than the bra It gets less attention than the bra. I mean, the bra kills so Yeah That's why? Because Wally's rocking' double D eyes. What about the u the lighter Ben there's like it's like two robots and on this you know, abandoned planet and they're looking at the original source of like f Yeah, it's f. But the other thing Ben is in the version of the movie where Wally has to save Eve and she is the one who gets crushed. And he's carrying her for the last twenty minutes There was some Chekov's gun of the lighter being the way they reactivated her It's why they put a lot of emphasis on it at the beginning. It's still a nice moment. Yeah, which is why I'm sure they kept it in But it was supposed to be in some way he replaces her battery with the lighter. It's also a machine using a machine It places him like an even more integrated machine sort of places him in this continuum where you understand him as a relic, but also as a product of the future. And it's a machine with a natural force inside of it. Yeah. You know. It's like organic versus I mean, that's exactly right. I mean, it's a machine that can create an element, which is so crucial just as metal box can feel love. It's, you know and an analogue. Right. He's got a flame inside of him. A question that made me that that a question that I had watching the first thirty Misses movie again was Disney would ever dare make a live action adaptation of a Pixar movie or if it is a tribute to the ineffable quality of Pixar's better films that they can't be conceived of in live action in the way that Moana can Yeah. I had that thought watching this of like, are they ever going to dare to do this? And it's like, what would it be? you know, like it's The line between this doing a more modern It basically becomes just like a fucking PS five rebuild of a PS two game. Right. likeike why bother? I mean, right, which what is now the disturbing thought experiment of like, what is the most live actionable up? It's up Upper incredibles. Yeah I have gotten the sense and I say this with no inside track, but the vibe I've always gotten is that Pixar retains the right to say no to that shit And it right They have to exercise every morning at nine AM. when they get the daily emails Exercising it fully. mean this is the other st Mana want to here No great. It's no surprise that like Disney inherits this batch of films in acquiring Pixar and Igar is like, great, we're going to put our full muscle behind them. We will try to make all of these movies hits fucking Toy Story three is next, right? Like the sequel run starts right after this. Yeah. It was like, we'll treat these movies as precious gems, but you gott to start fucking playing ball with us. Well up is right after this, Th then Toy Story. But up is the last of the three films acquired. Right. I'm saying the first film that Disney commissions is like Toy Story three now. It is like Ratate Wally up Toy Story three is Bridge, a movie I like, although not as much as some. and then Cars two Brave Monsters You. L it's a crazy downshow. Yes. like crazy. Yeah.'s you got to play ball now. You guys weren't fans of Cars two I've never seen I have been working on this theory and I rewatched the film recently. Did you know? And I did, I truly did You know that Mael Kain's in it Its based in truth. He plays Fin McMesson. Well, truth is in truth in comedy He plays F M Gonal who's MI six car His side kick of course is Holly Shiftwell. Which is it's twitter think he's already up. Yes. That makes me uncomfortable. I was watching Pse And I was like, you know, this really isn't as good as Cars one. Pars three, which I've never loved At least more integrity. Now how do they all stack up against place? Youult one. I was thinking planes fire and rescue planes. look like cars two. And cars two get too complicated. What make Cars three look like Cars one? The only Pixar movies I have not seen are Cars two and three. You seen onward Yeah, that on works. Yeah works. Ive seen rem. You're the only two people I've ever met.ve se them multiple times on the Steel book. That I can't say. I don't know miss De. Nice deeal. big fan of that. The denim jacket with all the patches on. Yeah, because I've seen Yeah, I've seen everything else The ones that I've seen a lot is disturbing is because of my daughter So like, well, it's not disturbing that I've seen Luka like twenty five times because I like Lua. good dinosaur is disturbing When you told me she was going through a good dinosaur phase. That was a pretty brief phase, but it did exist. but The turning red phase was so great. The Ratatoue phase amazing. Wally great. Luca That's a good movie. L but it's not my favorite It a simple movie It's really easy to have on. Yes. I love it though. I think I feel like you've hing around on Luca. I've always been a fan of Luca, but yeah I feel like your son had a phase where you were happy. I think because it pushes against what we were talking about earlier about like the capitalistic, you know fumes aroundixer stuff, it's fun, it's a little bit mores Pointedly small It sure does. although I wanted to, you know, we were bad mouththing with good reason, the good dinosaur, but a shout out to Peter Stone. I have definitely had a Stockholm syyndrome like experience with Elemental, which was the first movie I ever took A to the St Theaters, did not click at the time. But C I call this out? Yeah, I mean, put him on bl. I believe it was R Win Risess episod mean I wasn't here for that. Weren't the cast on wind Rises? I mean, if only. No, I was here for for castle another castle fucking house moving castle Oh right, sit up. Right. That's the one where I announnceced Matrix resrections. Yes Can't remember if it was that Or crazy that they let you make that announcement to the world of all people. but you did it well. I mean, I was a big fan. There's some episode that people have invoked where you say I will not let my son watch Western animation This is a classicism whereere it's one the one thing I know this child will not be loved, it will not be provided for, but they will they will not see any sort of stGI Western anime. You wouldn't show your kid deeply movies because you were afraid he wouldn't like. It turns out It turns out that you're mentally ill. I them. T turns outs the reality of raraising a child' very different than No Y reality is a weird reality, my friend. two years old was son This is an Apple TV remote. That is the bed where I am asleep in the morning. Use this to watch whatever the fuck you want as long as you're not waking up confident that you were going to hold the line of artistic purity. I think your son is like obsessed with Italian brain rot. He's got a good taste. And I know's many good things. I watch your son watch YouTube videos of ten wororddles being sol.. So I also have this competing instinct of me, which is like I cannot be that parent who voice The coolest kids I don't want tona be the onion ar child exactly. fuck. I would like to add It means more to me that you come to my favorite movies organically and like them on your own terms. and I'll show them to you, you know selectively when the time is right. but I'm not gonna to shove them down your throat. I'm gonna let you reach these places on your own Um Elemental was what was playing. I wanted to take it to him. He came back around in Elemental in a huge fucking way And he really my daughter did have ement. I just want to call out a very distant conversation I remember having with you which was I feel like I'm almost ready to take Aa to see a movie, but his first movie needs to matter. And I was like elemental. matters more than elemental. And you looked at me and said, My son's first movie is not gonna be a Pete Sone. Wow. then like sorry weeks later you were like took AO to Elemental and I said time. You said it was raining or something. It sure wast. It woke up. It was a Sunday afternoon. it was raining and those were dark times for a parent. I love see mov. Listen, New Yorkity s own, Pezs own respect. But I also took your son to You took him to Totoro because I could not you were like, I sit there and watch him potentially not like it. Mental illness Wallet. It was the same screening that you t I was I'm having I comping with been And I took her like son and you were like, if if he doesn't like it just don't sure. I mean my daughter but the difference between my daughter had seen Toto like twenty times. It was one of her first movies. And my daughter, who is a lot more pliable and responsive to the studio could believe it all, is obsessed with and turned me on to really converted me to the power of Pono which she now wants to watch you do through that or Toto. That was my daughter's firsty.. Toto was Yeah, dude. elevantal has some ch. Yeah. Great music. like I have really struggled to locate the charm of Elemental and I've seen it. Wade is a little bit of a nuisance, but it's a main character. But like I like when Ember speaks Irish. find all of I like the music of an element driving under Listen and you Do you own? That film Elemental Yeah. I do not, Ben. It's actually a really good question. Thank I own it. I was made becausecause Disney sent me a free copy. Okay I was mained a book I was maintaining not even a four k No, they sent me a blue and I was like, I'll put it on the shelf. They were like, do you care about the ces on this one? I was maintaining a own every Pixar film And even in the pandemic, I like broke down and bought three D blue rays of good dinosaur and maybe cars too. An one I like didn't like And elemental was the one where I was like, I don't need to own this in any form. Thank God, I'm truly relieved. Now, who knows? Tw months from now, I might hit a rough patch and start trolling eBay for the Elemental seal book. But as of this moment, I own elemental in no form. I don't even own right now. My daughter's first movie in theaters will by no means be minions, monsters, and minions three now thus guaranteeing that'sactly what it's going to be Mays of monsters I've seen the trailer for at every movie I've taken. and I'm always like And I think it's time for me to catch up with them The minions bounce off of me. I have never gotten it without any banana I see that trailer and I'm like, do I gotta do the fucking deep because it is a little galaxy brain to be like, the minions obviously love release Sworden Sandal cinema. of course, I think that's fine. That's great. Is this their like wally moment? You know, where Pierre Kaufin's like, I've made you so much fucking money. Right, I wantna make my passion project. right. Yeah. use the minions to express my interest in the birth of cinema. I feel like nobody liked the second minions, right? Rise of Grew That was the one I feel like really passate. You That's the only one I've ever seen. But you could slap the word minions on anything, and it would meant to hit. You could have the minions, minions and Mosquito coast. spepeaking of the episode. your show that most recently aired. And that thing would print money. Minions and soallo. Well So Maybe Msters and minions will have a shout out to Alo. It doesn't really fit into the fight, but why not? Yeah? Mions movie needs it S three could be entirely solo dependent. I feel like that would f very organically. That's another one first remake. I don't get fucking thing. Okay, so they get to the axiom. I think we need to get to the axiom now, right? Axiom time. He's just trying to take care of her, right? as she is now in firm basically and shut down until her ship returns to retrieve her And out in the elements. He's getting struck by light and and rain Yeah. But he's then covering her up with a garbage can. Yeah. He's really sweet. And boy. But her ship comes and he has to make a split second decision, which is like, I'm gonna grab onto the back of a fucking spaceship becausea I don't want to lose and I don't know where shes going. himim telling the cockroach to stay put where it is is as anthropomorphized as I think Wally ever gets. Yes. And now two hours into the episode, we've hit the thirty minute mark, which is when he blasts off into space. Yes. And you have the beautiful sort of five minute sequence of him seeing the solar system Touching the rings of Saturn Uh just beautiful shit. We argued in the Fining No episode that that's Thomas Newman's best score. And I think it's the best like use of the Thomas Noonan thing, Thomas Noonan, the great Tom Noonan, who recently died. Uh, I think Finding Nemo is the best version of what Thomas Newman does really well. I was surprised rewatching this how different it is from most of his work It has the strains of the motifs But I think partially because the movie is putting so much more weight on the score convey story, it has like five different tonalities that switches in between And it feels like this sequence where it's you know, the kind of like magical beauty of the stars is when Newman goes into Newman mode for the first time And they're flying too close to all these planets. They are But he lands at the axiom, which is a luxury star liner where babies just do baby shit. And he meets the main character of the film, M Moe is incredible. And I feel like Moe had largely kind of been hidden from the marketing. I think they hit a lot of the axiom stuff. They really front loaded. Yeah, they did because I remember everyone being so focused on this movie and being like And if you watch the trailer, it does look like it's not all on the planant. There's one shot of the captain in the trailer. Right. Yeah, but no one was really prepared for any of that, which I think might have been also part of why did bounce off some people like some people did bounce off it a little bit. I also think I mean I compare it to like shit like full metal jacket, right? Where it's like ofen Wally is compared to full metal jacket. Yeah It doesn't feel like you had a lot of people being like Wally sucks No the first act No you had a lot of people who were like the first act is so Norm me take amongst my friends. Right. First act, incredible. secondecond act is fine. It goes from being like, right. Perfect to being really good U I have always The purity of it is, it's just astonishing where you're like, I can't believe they're getting away with this and it's wor. Aree. And I think it's all good. I love the first act and I think it's so special. But I think the movie needs everything that happens. I the sci fi kind of dork that I am just love the axiom And I love all of the kind of like kids version of rebelling against, you know, the ship computer and all like it's just like it's it's classic sci fi storytelling that I respond to. I think it's so well done. I also And I like that it's goofy farce. like Yes. Like that it is like a mad That's where you feel the rea into of like bringing in a Simpsons c. And obviously the just the pixar, you know, like Yster Inc has a bit of that. and of course. I also know I really like The captain. There are so many versions of this where you're like, this is the cop out that we finally introduce a character who can speak all the subtext and explain everything directly to camera. But I think the arc of the captain is really well rendered. And I completely agree The captain could have used a wife who kept telling Wally to get the fuck out of her house That really would have added in Psy face. Well, that auto' kind of his wor I suppose. Yeah Otto the true villain of the right. there's Ctain McCraig, Jeff Garland's character who does not he's only called the captain really, but who is not a villain, right? And then Otto Voiced by Mac M and Sack isver it's called Voice by andcredited in the uncredited is Macint talkalk. Macintal. It's called MacintTalk, R.ight, whichich was that era's talk to feel. is deliberate that the antagonist of the film is the only one that have any sort of trace of human. Right? Like Ben Burt didn't do that. They just typed words to a computer and that's the Mac voice. Cordal is the year before The portal connection is strong. But I think it's an parallel thing. It's parallel, right? Like because it's not like but I remember at the time Portal, obviously the greatest video game ever made equals only by portal two Uh, like not not being able to shake that u that comparison. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, obviously Glaados. Obviously, Otuto is a lot more howll Visually, I mean the red eye the center is kind of dominant. but yeah, I mean, I think it was like the MAC aesthetic u combined with evilil super intelligence gives you gllados slush auto, but I just want to talk about Mo I married Mo, as I alluded to earlier in this episode U And well, can you speak on that? Yeah I mean I'm trying I'm trying to in that sort of pause figure out how best to do that. You' very public Your your wife a lovely human being. One of my favorite people. and I greatest person I don't project what you're saying You're like as derogatory, but I need you to unpack it so the audience understand Anytim your wife text me like, you know, are you going to this screening tonight? likeike, you know, David's out and I'm like, no, divorce him.' just me I' just like divor And's like go to Can. I'm like, divorced. you don go to Can. If she could carry our children up to our fourth floor walk up, ha time. Yeah'd here why don' need ities. But I am definitely the every relationship needs a wally and a mo And Eve sort of off in her own lane. She's the other woman as far as I'm concerned. But yeah, on one of our first dates, I drew, similar to how Griffin drew a sad version of himself at a bar. I drew a crude, maybe the best thing I've ever drawn as someone with no artistic talent whatsoever, a little character of Moe on her legs Uow and on both across both legs B And u the ballpoint pen It turned pretty well. A lot of just boxes Um identify this movie as a shared point? Yes. We've beenating fuck, we've been dating I started d sixteen years ago. So year or two after Wallet. Yeah, I mean, we knew each other since college, but we didn't start d until got drunk one night as happens. But the U yeah, she is very compulsive towards cleaning And I am more of a wally type in that I like arranging and collecting things that otherther people might think of his trash. I did appreciate there's a thing on the Criterion disk where Stanton calls out that he is an obsessive physical media collector And it's like the balance between being like, I buy these things, they give me comfort, they make me happy. I want to be in a room surrounded by all the things I care about. It doesn't actually solve anything. I'm not critical of Wally's compulsion. Right, of course. But I wonder about Moe, you know, it's sort of the classic one must imagine Sisyphus happppy sort of thing. Like, is he delighted or she delight? they? I mean, the robots are aggressively coded in this movie No, not so much. but aggressively gendered, I would say. But ismo Do Do you have the excuse to pop out of letting clean something or is Moe more irritated? This is a question I'm often asking in couples therapy with my beautiful partner. but you know, Mo is when Moe sees the dirt trail, goes whoa whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa that moment. mean not let lives shakes his arms on my work cut out. He lives on a line. Yes. Again from Portal two. Everyone on the axim basically. The Ax ball runs online Right. his big moment obviously is is Daring to jump the line and One assumes empt death. Like I feel like he's thinking, like if I jump the line will I just explode or shut down or something? But like his job is to obsessively clean everything in what is a very sterile environment. And whileally enters the ecosystem covered in dirt creates a new. But does this give Moe a purpose that Moe has never had before justifying Mo's life and therefore, should Moe not be pleased to have the opportunity to clean up after sometimes m That's a great question. argue. I think simar when I was saying like what defines Moe and makes him similar to Wally and Eve is that he takes pleasure in what he does. and you said, is it pure is it like obsessive compulsive? There is an argument that Moe is like mentally ill rather than like driven by joy, but it still is an aberration that gives him a personality. I feel like we're broaching territory that it's no longer fair to discuss without my wife Press. solely of Moe. I speak not of your lovely friend. Yes. Anyway, I will say that the dynamic between Wally and Moe is, I think a very complicated familiar one to me. Yes. And I love Io very much. it was so funny. Everything about him, his like his intensity Yes. Ver int mindedness. I mean He's earlier on a journey that Wally is far along on and even Eva is a little further along on, right? Like We're watching just the beginning spark of rebellion consciousnessness or. Maybe that's the question is like Wally and Eva when they start sort of deviating, Is it at first out of an obsession that then they let turn into a joy, you know, is Marie Condo. Yes. but Wally has For hundreds of years, we assume been iterating and thus getting weirder and weirder. This is most first moment of activation. And then the other droids we end up seeing the kind of like I forget what they call Fing contaminant. Yes, but the sort of like reject bots. Yeah are all like they've had their first kind of in the diagnostic bay. Yeah. Right, right, aberrant behavior That is maybe the activation of something I'm just watching a mo video now. It's just so funny. He's so disgusted by Wally Wally's so filthy. I think Mo' a little intctgotten. Like even just within the Pixar canon and the characters that are like off fol. Moe was in line to replace Tim Cook at out. Yes. I think he was one of the three. I think he should have There' a lot of politics. You know, Moe doesn't know, you know, he's tough to big personality. the way he says his name has all this wind up to it. likeike Wally, it's Etally and like Eve can get out quickly and M it's He's suicient. M just want to clean so bad. That's all he want to do. You just want to clean. Okay, so Wally is chasing after Eve We get to the roadway. Yes. And we see another aberration, which is that we're seeing the humans, they're, you know, laying on these little beds. Right. And they're in these like chairs. chair bed. Yeah chair bed. Which I'm assuming there's a toilet built into it. I think I think we no assumption necessary. That's going on. Yeah ye. Wally runs into The first human. This is where we start to get, right the Katney thing of can Wally just start to throw things a little bit off out of whack, right The amount of dirt he introduces into the ecosystem makes Moe jump the line. him chasing after Eve u knocks John off of his axis He's looking away from the screen for a second. He makes the introduction And I think it's a beautiful moment of Wally introducing himself and John being like, U John Like he's out of habit of need, But he probably hasn't done it. He knows what his name is, but he's sort of like, what am I what do I do here? When was the last time he met a new person or knew anything? Yeah. But I do need to give a shout out to the brain bug computer that I will never be able to look at without thinking of the brain buug from Starship Troopers. the seecretary Yes with the little thinkade. And I love that we don't really go back to that guy, but it's I say guy But the same thing of like wally waving makes them sort of look at their own articulation point and be like, can I express an emotion? There's go for the goher. Well, those that's they're like they are legion But but there's the first mate one that's w that like tries to in the planant. I mean, they suck, They're cops. They're fuck themh? They'reuck They're little fucking wee. Trying to think of other wally robots. The painting one is named Van Gogh. That's a little too cute It's really good But then you have the beautian bots, you have the boxing robot that's supposed to be theotules. I don't know what his job would be. No the idea is that he's for like physical training. He probably has not been used in a while Yeah. He's supposed to be the exercise bot that like he's like the vision proro of the ship. Right. He's your coach. And you have the defibrillator bot You have the vacuum cleaner botx.ot one this year that also has allergies Yeah, and I'm just like there is an incredible amount of entries on the Pixar Wiki There's a golf spot called Birdie Oh sure, you see yes. You eyes got his own short film. Yes, yes. There's also Bird Kama Brad, who made a lot of movies of f. He did. think yeah. ye Thank you for acknowledging that He guess Yeah, what is Bernie? Bernie's like a welder R Bernie's a welder on the outside of the ship who gets locked outside And it's sort of a blackout gag of like, what's this guy going to do? And Angus McLan pitched like, what if there's a subplot of him trying to get back into the building? And Stan was like, we don't have room for this in the movie, but like I think that's a good short idea. And this was the era where there were enough shorts being commissioned as developmental to play in front of movies, but they also always wanted a short O the home video. You had your Jack Jack attack. You had your Bernie. You had your mic's new car. The Bernie is really fucking good. They're ofking good. I always worried I always thought with those, like wondered with those like is it annoying at Pixar where it's like, hey, you got the sort of cute spin off versus the original short. Like I feel like more people might watch watch it, but it's you know in the shadow. Yes. It's a little bit of a double edged sword. My my daughter's questcusession with Jack Jack attack was very interesting Basically fall off a cliff right after this. Yeah. because Jackjack attack was directed by bird. Yeah, Bird's involved. But a lot of these things are gifts to parents, especially in the streaming era whose kids are obsessed with these movies. And instead of watching Frozen two for the ninety seventh time, you can watch Frozen fever were o offs wouldvent whatever the fuck huge. that Coco that started a mutiny. It's like forty minutes long. It was insane. But the one o. The one on up, they don't even fully fuck animate. Yeah. It's like on the disc as like story reels where they were like, Yeah, we ran out of time money on this one. But I find shorts before not like bringing kids to a movie, a short before a movie is very, very anxiety inducing for me because There's a narrow window where the kids' attention will be locked inough the movie and the candy won't fry their bir. picks drock it It's are very different. I think elemental was the last one O your anxiety is too high, I would say. Wait until Beepop and Rock Steady are a little bit older and exerting that boy energy. It is very possible. Did you see I amm in for hell What I placeed on your desk, David in the littleittle tray You know how you always struggle to remember which one's big whichich one's rock steads. I gave you a little study guide that has a photo on one side in the name on the Be Bop As I think I've told you, the toys are still in separate criptps. BeBop has BeBop, Rock Steady has Rock Steady. But at the start of every morning BeBop demands both R likeike he points like you know, and like I give him both Yeah. and then he plops in my lap and holds them. It feels great. And what is Rocksteady do during that? He's still drinking his bottle. Beivob drinks his bottle life D, you know, which is his energy generally. Whereas Rock St's a little bit more like Pause, you know I want to drink Be is not to be a big fan of short films before film. Bebop is the one I have my eye on Re attention. It's got some bruiser energy too. Yeah. Yeah. R You p everything. A very funny picture of Rock Steady reading a book the other. He's so fun. He looks like a little intellectual. I mean, that's just what it is about. Rocksteady likes to find a corner He likes to find like an egress. you know what I mean? Like if there's a part of the room that he can kind of wedge himself into that's where he wants to be. And then hedam drivers the wall. No, no, no, no, I'm saying like then he picks up his book or plays with that's a rock dadies. Whereas Bebop likes to just like walk around and throw shit and stack things and you know, put ' another thing, you know, classic baby stuff likeike crazy children Other robots,'s the flashlight, there's the umbrella. I mean, there's so many of them There's the makeup. Robot. Yes But what I like is that it feels like one of the things that's activating all these robots is that they're barely kind of engaged with anymore There's something about much like Wally, they're forced to do a routine behavior over and over again without even engagement Like when you see the callulfing robots, And it's they're watching the screen rather than watching the bot itself. R. Yeah. Um, yeah, everyone's It'sound like they aren't depressed, they're just in a daze Yeah, and Ctain Cray is the one who's sort of like half in. Yes. he is the one whose brain has to be the most awake even though it's only a little awake. does He does have to do like talkal to other people, but he needs to perform. He needs to get on a fucking Zoom and do the analysis. Be like you're getting a new cup this week or whatever, you know, whatever your merch is. Yeah. Right. His brain's still a little bit active and he thinks of himself as more engaged than the rest. He's the only thing only person who has even an illusion of responsibility. Yes. Even though at this point, it's like to what end, Otto doesn't even wake him up. No No, I mean he does the morning announcements, This is his only joy Right. And the idea of switching from day to night, which no one even notices. Like he oversleeps and then sets the time back to morning so that he can do the morning It's the only thing he gets to do. He loves to do it He a sleepy King. He's a good boy. Um, obviously his big Triumph is walking And to me it's another just triumph of physical animation as good as the robot stuff is like making his walking like compelling You know, he's like, okay, I got to actually get on my feet and walk. It's so funny that the uniform they made it's just like one size right. And so it's just become Yeah exactly. Yeah Do you think children immediately understand the sppoke Zarathustra as like, yes, this is, of course the music you play when someone is evolving that it's like so hardwired into our DNA at this point. So it's like, you know, it's like the fucking, o, this is what you play when someone's graduating. this is what you play when someone's getting a. play graduating music. Yes. They should play your graduationus. Yeah. Um Yeah. But I like that it is this sort of reactivation of curiosity that drives him. Well, it's yeah, the machines becoming more like humans. The humans have already become machines, but then the humans then have to they're reactivated into their humanity by their maches.ight. The two prong thing is all these qualities. Eva showing up with a specimen and he's like, wait, specimen, right, That's what I'm supposed to be waiting for but it's been so long that it's felt like it could even happen. I don't even know how to react to this. His moment when Otutto hands him the guidebook And he lifts up the one page and it's like, wow, what do you look at that? Right I think he speaks to it at first. Yeah. Yeah, that's pretty right. He talks into it like a tablet. But I do think it's always a morbid line for me when Fred Willard says that like, oh, just a few laps around the jogging track and your bodies will be right as rain again. It's like I think in reality, when they go back down to Earth's gravity, they are going It blobs. They they're not going to be able toagine It is hard of. It's hard to imagine quite what their life will be. You know, this is why they put in the uncredit sequence because when they did the test screening of the almost finished movie, the first note everyone got back is like, well, I don't think they survive. Right. Don't they just dieight And they were like we have to like put something on that tells them like they're gonna do the work I'll figure iting the works. Yeah. And that's basically the credit Yeah, the cute like over the is it Peter Gabriel? It's Peter Gabriel. now. Bea this is the year this is this is sllum doog. I'm going slum.. John Co beats this for B original song. I have a d I have a logic question. We see babies Now I think there's this is a crash quest. There's some harvesting going on. I think this is an artificial situation. Okay, because I was gonna say, how do they fit? How are they extracting these things? I don't know, but jump in or they just test tube in? who knows? Yeah. Are they Jeffrey tub in becausecause we see the relationship. There are on Zom ons in all. They're on Zoom all the time. They might actually What's the last time someone didn't tu in We see the relationship with the two humans. Yeah. I don't remember the character's name. It's John and. h Mary I think, but it's clearly like voiceed by Kathine Imigy People ha' touched one another. Yes. The act of them making skin contacts. It would be like the eleator or an old boy. They're just like instantly eject. He is funny They're like, okay, let's n makeate two songs from Slung Dog, onene song from Molly. Like there's one that I was an a where they couldn't even care to nominate five. Right. They were like, ye, you know what? I think that covers the songs of twenty eighteen. Danne Warren didn't have something In Warren should have like written Frostnix and song. Was z six the year where Dream Girls has three out of the five song nominations and then they're like, what are we doing here? And then I think they sort of went I think they went to a sort of like It can be up to five, but it can be smaller. can be lower and no movie can get mores to get three. Iot an article change. Dian Warren, the sc the scw the scour scourge of Oscar season. And I saw I don't use Facebook anymore, but I got an email that said De Warren has sent you a message and I was too afraid to look at it for an entire calendar year And then finally after she lost another Oscar, I was like, oh just check what it was. And it was just a smiley face It just is so funny. We need to rip off that fucking bandy And give her an award. But she has to stop writing songs for movies that are like in Diane Warren, the Dian Warren where she wrote a song for a documentary about how she always losees a fking Oscar in the. sometometimes you lose. like we're not giving this to you. I'm sorry. like fucking famous people write songs Like David Mim holding a microphone while he was singing that even though he is sitting in front of a microphone. documary the documentary about her. I mean she does she does We' written a lot of great scis on the spectrum. I don't want to be overly harsh, but like she is so embittered, even when she lost to like like Billy Islish, like Lady Gaga for a Starsborn, which was like she was never gonna to lose You're not been winning this year but she also wrote a st her shit and walks home. Right. The problem is that there were so many years where it felt like this category was so irrelevant where people were like, do you just fucking eliminate it from the telecast entirely? And we should have given it to her one of those years. I want to find out The lastine when do we give it? The last ten years has been like songs that people actually know written by giant pop stars. She's not gonna beat her canc' going some of her lses. Her first nomination was for Nothing' going to Stop us Now from Mannequin. an incredible song. What beats her time of my life from Dirty Diny. you're not beating that. No, but you're like in any other year. Maybe Yeah. But I think that's off like, okay, here's when she should have won. It's her second, although I wouldn't give it to her Her second nomination is for becausecause You Lved mee beautifully sung by Celine Deon from the forgotten film of close and personersal, It loses to you M lovevely from Avita, which is ass. Yeah. as what we call ass. That should have been her win and we could have we did a lot of. The correct winner there is that thing you do Yeah, whichich is better and was nominated and was nominated. Yeah. But if they give it to Warren, that's still better than the stupid. That's nomination two. Nomination three is How do I live from Con air? A banger. great. Hilarious that it is from C air, but a banger. What beats it? My heart will go on. Yeah. You're not winning B. You're not gonna then the year after that you just don't want to miss a thing. So the next year she has I don't want to miss thing for Armeddon, beautifully sung by Aosmith. There she loses to when you believe by the Prince of Egypt. I think we could have given it to her. I think that's also right I don't really like right. I got pretty sick of it, but like I don't think there's a huge problem skipping ' definitely an element of continued injustice that has fueled her. The next year she has, what's it called, Music of my heart for Music of the Heart. Well, that's She's starting to get this. That loses to Y'lli in my heart from Tarzan. And that's obviously bllameed Canada, Right. That's an Inync Glorestahon song. I remember Insync performing at the Oscar. I definitely remember Glora. Canada is my winner you'll be my heart Okay talking about That's the when she loved me from Toy Story two year. That's what should have won McLaughlan and Newman Now I'm going to shoot you in the head. Don't do that. Now the next then her next nom is for There you'll be from Pearl Harbor It terrible movie with it's regular Diane War. It's Diet What's the fucking Cir song I'm already f Fucking how do I? It's very similar. Yeahah yeah. it is It loses to another situation of the Oscars giving someone their their much delayed award. Randy Newman my if I have you, right? So So they had to give it to Newman. een year drought. That's Warren vanishes because I feel like kind of work she did was no longer needed, right? Those are the years where she could have eked out a win turns was the hero we wanted. Yeah not the one know we deserved, but not the one we And there' is it is it the the sexual assault on campus mov, is that in between that the hunting grounds and Pearl Harbor is her song from Beyond the Lights, Gateful. Oh ye, which is pretty good Yeah And that loses to glory from Selma. So she could have won there too.ory Gory is strong Glor Stong. It did make Ch time cry. Let's also remember that year was the whole thing where Selma only got two Oscar nomations was the only Selma was like if we don't give Selma the Oscar win, we look like assholes. She definitely could have won for the documentary about sexual assault with Lady Gaga song Joe Bid to you Because writing on the wall from Spectre was a song that sucks another loser. Yeah, terrible That's the San one. Yeah especially given the one that we eventually heard the song that radiohead with Yeah is incredible. So I do going into that night, everyone thought she was finally gonna to win. And the fact that Joe Biden was on stage presenting the song with Lady Gaga, it was like This feels like a moment. And then they were like, you know, whatever Since then, it's been like stop it. because like the nomination has been for Marshall BG breakrough The life ahead, which is like an Italian movie. Breakthrough. Breakthrough was a Chrissy Mz. Yes, she's like stuck under the ice. b Lucas, a kid's . Wh's your end of the ge. It like, I don't know. Cay a kid back to warmth That truly what that movie based on these movies you've never heard of The life ahead fourour good days which is the like Nilicunus heroin addict movie. David, why are you reading off my Spotify round? Then in twenty twenty two, the Oscars are like, hereere's an Honary awward. Stop it. She gets four more nominations after that Tell her Flaming' hot. Yeah. She got nominated for the Cheeto movie. What's the song? It's called The Fire Inide Jesus. Is that is that the year that Billy Eyilish beats her for the second time? I mean, I don't think she was ever going to win, but it does yes, Elish wins for Barbie. That's the year that I'm just Ken should win.es. and instead the Iyish song. But the Duie wasn't even nominated. She's too hot for the Oscars Yeah I famously never give Oscars to hot people. The six tri eight and then yes, last year she was nominated for the movie Diane Warren Relentless. And relentless she is. Yeah. And we cannot deny this. And I just like that it wasn't even considered to give it to her. You felt like everyone who wrote her in on the nomination ballot put parethetical, but I'm not giving her the win. In the b the golden year B All right Wally. W. I would just to end this tangent, to close this loop. what do you think she would need to do to win? Like if reasonable song? I think write a well like regarded song from a movie that is imp. Like Diane, you're not going to rope a dopeus in giving you a competitive win. We're not going to be shamed by you. Like we stopped being embarrassed at Nom ten and you're at like Nom twenty four. You' embarrassed. Like exactly. But the as you were alluding to earlier now It is also not just for the end credits, but baked into the meat of movies nowadays, are like very strong original songs by major artists. And I think that has never been so difficult It's come back just like Golden. You're like, right, like you're not this is not a kitty category. I mean, like these are right, Big pop songs make it. And the days when she was writing songs to compete with Golden, they existed, but they It was so funny that they were like ir. It's like a really violent R rated movie about like cons on an airplane. like Do think we need a fucking just this ballad. This is theera I miss, which is what I refer to, even though often this was not the proper title blank parenthetical love of theme from Any action movie or disaster movie? Blade Runner, I think, is famously. The one I always show people 'cause it feels like this was too late for this to be happening. It feels like an aberration that it's snuck through and I'm constant pointing out and saying, like can we bring this back Is Adam Lambert's Time from Miracles love theme from Roland Emmericks twenty twelve whichich has a music video of him like all decked out in leather and spikes walking through the wreckage over like shots of John KQuseck driving a limo over like the fucking Pacific Rim. My friend watched this video once a month. My friend Carolyn never seen an Inndpendence Day. I watched it recently, rewatched Inependence Day. It's kind of crazy how in that movie the firstirst lady dies Like right? Like she died. She was returned to area fifty one and she's like, goodbye, wife and sorry, husband and daughter. And they' like Five minutes later, never m. Everyone's like, high fiveing it's be like kill America Like She says happappy independent Day Daddy's like, Yeah, happappy independent Day to you. Like they're just like, I mean, it's already a movie where like no one sits down and it's like, I think a billion people are dead. Sure. L like they are just booming cities One by one. The question is like, should Diane Warren have hitched her wag to Figy and gone like every Marvel movie needs a love song sung by like a Gbin? Gobin sounds like a robot in Wal. I mean it ever was original piece of music. I am the Gobbin, the MCU other than just the theme song itself. There're the Menken songs in Captain America, The First Avenger that are fun that I actually think should have been nominated but get cut down a little bit in the film. Did they not nominate one of them? The Star Spangled manan? I think they did. Yeah that's the one time where they wrote. And then I guess the Hawkeye TV show has the fake. Don't know what that is.aptain America. Okay Wally. Wally Wally. Wally Okay So the plant get take it. the plant get taken Eve is deemed Well, you have she's brought up. He's like, oh my God, plant life Chest opens up, nothing in there. What the fuck? We the audience also go what the fuck? It's another good Stanton move where he originally had the audience see auto clock that Eve had the plant and organize hiding it. It's another deleted scene that you can see in storyboard form And he was like, Ay, I think we need to stay with Wally's perspective until basically he starts to get crushed B audience is going to follow you and be they're going to lean in on the intrigue of genuinely where did the plant go It helps us that we can't figure out what happened. It's classic Pixar, you know, Toy story to them looking for the bag. Yeah. Monsters Inc, obviously, like the door chase, right? It's a good way to end a Pixar. I know if became schematic for that. but like it's good. It feels like a magic trick too, where it's like we've been watching Eve this whole time Her chest has been closed. Where the fuck did the fucking plant go And that's, of course, what Captain McCray says verbatim. We're the fuck at the fucking plant. Every magic trick has three parts and the second one is Wally. Crect. They throw the pl. It's a great shot. Wally poking his head out of the tube. E's defective. They put they put the red kind of like cable fucking lock thing on her They put ye, it's like the boot. and send her down and while he's chasing after, we meet the other reject bots Um ye and u, you know what do they called rogue robots Also fun, you know Island a myst for T tooy boys. Gooses nests kind of Mental hospital vibes. W. Eactly. Right. The weirdos lauter behind him in slow motion and they all run rampant through the hallways of the axiom. F fun. And then eventually at some point they wind up. Oh, he winds up in the escape pod. Well, they're wanted and all of those those aren't the gophers, but those sort of like big screen guard bots have taken the photo that now Everyone's waking up a little bit by the danger of our robots turning on us whichich is another example of Wally starting to create the ripples that affect everyone. R. The whole system runs on everyone behaving. like it does not run if the robots have their own idea. And something that's just alarming enough to break everyone out of the trance. But I guess basically in running away and hiding out from the guards, they see the gopher trying to eject The gophherers got the plant. in his tummy and he puts it in the escape pod. And while he wants to go after. What were you going to say? I just that's the idea that I love of like this he he's been infected with consciousness. right? Yeah And like He brings consciousness back to all these people who've lost it. Like It's not just the robots coming to life. it's everyone coming to life. That's why I love this movie. Yes, I agree with. good. And that's why yes, everything on the axioms important. I think when I was twenty two and I saw this movie in theaters and was so h h for it and was then like probably mad that it was not like a Philip K Dick style Gonzo pressing fable of, you know, like I was like, oh, I don't like all the kind of fararsy kids shit at the end. like boring. And now I just watch that. I'm like, that's the point of the movie as much as anything else and it's so funny. L And it's so fun to watch with a kid who loves all the antics, of course. sorry I was just pulling on my iPad. but that's the other part of it is she's leading him to the escape pod because she wants Wally to leave. Right. That she's actually fully angry at him. R is like the fuck are you doing here? The plant's gone. It made it made Eve look bad. This is your fault. Yeah. I got this stupid fucking thing plugged into my head now I'm on like all the wanted screens And in trying to get him to go into the escape pod They then see the gopher show up, hide in the shadows, put the plant in there and Wally gets stuck in the escape pod trying to save the plant. which she then thinks explodes You mom little bit of Wally being all manic in the porthole's like about to exode. He's like And the fucking parachute coming out, like all the crazy gag shit and then the no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, of Eve actually She does care. She doesn't want him to die And then like one of ten Tgov gun moves this movie has is like, oh right, we saw him learn how to use the fire extinguisher on Earth He knows how to use this. He can propel himself They start dancing, define dancing Um becausecause Ctain McCray is also already now watched Eve's camera And he's like, the fuck is this place Oh Itan. notot the cute paradise of my storybook. Trees, water s basically the same plot as under the skin. I guess of like a creature becoming increasingly humanized you know, in this case, not to their detriment, Captain McCraig getting obsessively falling down a Wikipedia or rabbit hole, basically. Right I guess. It's important to remember re them restoring the planet They do have the robots And the robots will be helpful Now where are they going to put all the garbage and stuff, I don't know. It Do does feel like that's gott to go somewhere. Well, my thing is send it into space. put it on the a was probably the way they could have resolved the problem in the first place. Instead of building a ship to get humans to leave the planet, fill the fucking ship with garbage. send it out So like the low orbit anyway is so cluttered with satellites. thanks to Elon Musk Thanks to Elon. I know that it's like they can't even already their backyard is full of junk But I wonder if the robots, like the character robots are not going to want to do their functions because they have now discovered love and the joys of life and whatnot. And they're gonna to have to rely on the Wall As and sure, et cetera.ly. in the end credits, the way that like the robots are helping with the efforts, the way their programming can be reapplied to you farming and such. Yeah. Yeah. They're gonna to make a pizza. But I would feel bad asking Wally to like take out my trash for me or something. likeike he's got stuff to do. He's got life. He's got dates. He's really got to put the work in on this relationship if it's ever gonna survive you have the Divine dancing thing, which I just think is so Beautiful, Beautiful. them creating their own like colored trails. That ising between Newan fucking unleashed. Yeah That is a really This is what it's it's the argument that like It's the other one, I think you could say is his best score only because it forces him to do a lot of stuff outside of his usual real. You found it quite challenging I think. And then you have moments where it's like, and Tommy, I'm gonna to let you do your shit on this one. He actuallyually, the whole score was written by AI'or for the characion of the movie, but he just said like write me a pretty score was written on David, written by David when he was sad about missing his mommy Which David are we talking about Its the from AI. Yeah his love is real, but he's not. There's just too many Davids in the room now I'm sorry. Too many Davids. You see it lost score obviously to Slumdog, I guess, Which does have, you know, pretty ide music. Yeah. Thomas Noonan another ways Nonan. Thomas Newonan's in this film. Thomas Newonan is another one who I think is at twenty nominationss. Yeah He might only behind Diane Warning. T Lan also had twenty nine. It really fits Newmans like I think he's fifteen ns thing of like He's workmanlike, you know, like he he's pretty reliable. He's distinctive, but I do's also taken for granted Evelaid he's been a little but he's not taken for granted in that they like will nominate him for passage. That's the crazy where you're like They clearly know him and recognize him. You're noticing the passenger score and you also refuse to give him a trophy. I mean, the connection between passengers and Wally is pronounced. I mean I think they That is the live action remake of Wally. His nineteen seventeen score, which was his last nom. I listened to all the time. The film that was playing that I was supposed to go see the night that you He comes to my apartment or the when Lord was coming, I didn't get to see I didn't I was scared of having to see nineteen seventeen at the end And I ended up fucking. I had twins and I was like, well, I'm not gonna to get two snoos. And then like SpongeBob meme when months later, like the second snoo is being brought into my house Uh, he should have won that year because he lost a fucking joker Yeah, Jesus. But that was I mean, it's like the Slumdog win. Like even giving dry ho best song wasn't enough. Slumdog was such a fucking juggerna not. He should have won for this. Yeah He should have won for this overver, but This slum Dg moment. Yeah Obviously that is not my favorite film of twenty eight. No. it was was rewarding the Bollywood luminary and like his music. It does make sense. It like ye made it in the moment. Part of the kind of energy of that movie is the music and all that. Yeah. And then had the Nemo conversation, which was like, he would have won if Howard Schore had been disqualified which right kind of aberrant that they didn't do that. Well they're usually But the scor that's why the branch is so hated. No, what I mean yeah, yes. yees. I made the case of, of course the return of the King S sccor bs hard, but also it is just yeah, sometimes they're like, well, you can't have we're not nominating Dunon two because's too it's too similar to Dunone one and I'm like The Dune two scores completely different and You have allowed other sequel scores. Fing Rise of Skywalker got a knock. That same year they shortlisted Beetlejuice Beetle. And I'm like, guys, what's the line? Hfman Let me show you what instrument he used for that one. A phone Okay, He phoned it. Ecuse me. Okay, sorry. a keyboard and he copy pasted. Control V, Control V orr' control C control C control them, whatever. this is why you could never. R right en off not is print That's the problem. That's why had to be V. Wally and Eve Wally gets back on from being out from. I know. it's another three hour repportter wee. Yeah, I know, I know. I know. It's I know Eve has the plant. There's the point at which she can She gets the plant back. She's going to bring it back to the capaptain. She they're starting Wally to stay behind. They've also seen Gher so they're just like something weird going on here. We should be suspicious and cagey beyond the fact that everyone's looking for us now But she gets through, she brings the planant to Captain Mcay Mcray. also sees the video footage he's been watching of her on Eth. which now has gone into her hibernation period as it's like continues auto playing. So she gets to watch Wally taking care of her when she wasn't conscious. They don't really milk that moment as much as they could. And I'm not saying that's as the negative, but like there's a real opportunity there to sort of squeeze you by the heart. They use some restraint. They use, ye, it is restrained. But within that footage is Wally showing her Hello Dolly her like standby mode body directed at the screen when she wasn't paying attention before So now she sees it for the first time and you see her have the same hand realization activate fingers. does the internerlock fingers. Right. So now Eve kind of gets it, but she's already shunned him off and auto is going Turbo trying to block Captain Mcrraza K keepep yourreck atet Ralf terminology out of this conversation. I'm sorry., he's a good guy though let's not be seeing me. And then auto reveals the second video from Fred Willard Right. L like they just busted him at the Tiki Theater. Very disheveled Was he wearing a life jacket when Yeah? We didn't wantan to drown her A lot of fluids in that place. This is our episode on the Children's film But the idea that it's like five years later And things have gotten so bad. And he's just like, never mind, abandon. right And the secret protocol, you're actually just gonna to stay out here forever. And there's an argument that Auto is showcasing the same thing we're talking about with our other like hero robots, which is like Auto has clearly made a decision to hide this information from the humans Auto has been serving all of these captains And it's following protocol. I mean, that's Otto's design. But like was protocol not giving the captain the complete information? I think it was by any means necessary making sure that humans do not get back to He was following his prrime direction. You just could argue that Auto is starting to make like creative decisions of how to execute that Maybe in the way that like a learning language model, a large language model, whatever the fuck they are would make what appear to be creative decisions to gas somebody up when they're asking ChatyPT for advice. I mean, I don't think it is actually thinking for itself in that its's irrational feeling is defeating its programming in the way as all the other robots in the film. I think that's what distinguishes auto from all of them is that it is bound to it's bound to its order can't Novelistic They both get knocked down the garbage chute, zapped by auto, Wally gets crrushed and smushhed Uh, Eve sees that he has saved the plant And all is not lost. Yeah. ye It's also a fun moment with Moe Right, Wally makes The introduction to Mo who just uses as an opportunity to clean his hand off. But like that the team the doors when the the garbage is being It takes a big risk. Yeah. Yeah. And then most says life can be messy I love the moment.ie of Wally's sort of like back hinge flipping out his hook that he hadd previously been using for the ig glue. and you're like, that's a pretty perfect place to put m We got our fucking core three now, you know, like the three of them like Eve can carry Wally Mo can be on Wally's back And We're just fucking all business now what I'm taking from this is that maybe my marriage needs a third J just say like that Right. Eve Harmony, we need an Eve. You need an Eve. Maybe the Eve is your couple's therapist I'll bring that up ear there this afternoon. I think the last time I was here had couple therapy in the afternoon, which is not a dailyccurce, but a short a coincidence. But I to cancel it once because of Blank Check. I think I didn did actually have to cancel because of Schindler's list, which is gllad it didnt end marriage. I remember being quite abashed about that. abouting wallet at you I will It is a point of pride that Blankckheck has not yet knowingly ruined a marriage I'm sure it's happened. you don't know about it. Right. L maybe someone just listened to us so much that the other person was like, you know what? I'm out of here. like enough already. Anytime I meet a guy, I apologize.. People come up to be like, hey, I'm sorry, I don't actually listen to the show, but like my partner's obsessed with it. so it's on all the time in the home and I just go like, I'm so sorry If this is not a thing you're opting into. couldould be worse. It could be really into ice age the meltdown. Wally Um Yeah, they're they're just in fucking mission mode now because Eve is just like A, it's like her protective instinct is kicking in Wally is close to death. his circuit board is fried. There's no time to waste He has in a slightly Christ like way, potentially sacrificed himself. Yeah or the sins of humanity to try to save them. But that always I was watching the movie and I was like, he'll be okay. Like that would be tooge. I had half a moment of is Pixar going do it. I think future generations of people once they repopulate the Earth should worship Wally. They should. Yeah. as orr at least the child. This is a good movie. But they've locked Captain McCre Wally even Moe are trying to find a way to get to the Ledo deck because if they can put the plant in the what I holiday The hollow Dck U the ship will autopilot itself It will override autopilot himself even U and just go straight to it. And I just again, McCraay justt needing to give a shit He's still trying to stay in the hover chair and do everything he can, but then you finally get to the breaking point. as you said, this excellent piece of animation of I gotta fucking walk None this is going to happen if I don't make the effort to take the first step And it's such beautiful walking. Little Bobby boy I mean, this is really when Wally sacrifices himself though He gets notock d gets cross in the trash compactor. it's that Otto is trying to drop down the chamber where they're supposed to put the plant into. Yes. Well, right, The first thing that happens is that Atto like shocks him, which fries the circuit board. And then now he's additionally physically crushed. I like that they fool Otto with a drawing of a plant. Yes. Oo The projection Yeah And yeah, and it's just like the ripple effects of everyone that Wally has affected in some way or woken up. now everyone is suddenly joined in the Paddton esque right his way. The sort of I know that guy thing where people are like, Oh yeah,ally's o,'s Wally. Go Wally. R the window. Right. in a civilization where people have no social interactions, Wally is like their favorite thing they've ever met because it's the last time they had a feeling about anything Um. It's a smart choice that it's just hyper spepeed and it's like once you get the boot in there, we're just gonna to go straight.'s That's how it's all designed. But then you have what I find so emotionally affecting is Eve in that panic mode of like, I don't have a second to waste, how do I keepe him alive. How do I save him? going, trying to like reconstitute with all the spare parts inside his little trash home, blowing the hole in the ceiling to like light him up. And then that moment where you're like, are they going fucking cuckoo's nest? Like is he gone And the long recalibration of the eyes readjusting, and then the satisfaction of the dream.atf. Yeah. I just you can't end a Pixar movie that way. I'm just picturing like Moe breaking out of the window and running away into the space. This movie felt so audacious that I was like, are all rules out the window? Can they get away with doing this? I didn't want it to happen a big. I felt a genuine tension from it There's tension for sureight. And then obviously Toy Story three is like actively toweing the linees that tension even more of like, are we going do it All guys,, I don't like. I know that's what you don't like. But others do I don't find it credible at all. It's not credible I just I'm like, right. I'm like, you know, just don't piss on my leg u and tell me it's raining I think it's a credible moment. I think what's credible about is it's more about the acceptance of death than the fact that the threat is actually real. what I think you're done in Toy Story movie. That is exactly what I want from my Toy Story movie. They're immortal. They can't die part that's their curse, which is what I like about the Toy Story movies. Yeah the way it explores. The only good thing about Toy Story three is that Todoto is int it. That's youre like totally dis qu potato head turns into all the incinerator where it belongs. Wow. You don't like lotzso? No, I do not. Why would he like lotzo? L workplace. All the like smells b. I'm not into it. S sms of strawberes. Anyway, we see a bunch of greenery and it's nice to think that Wally played a big part in clearing all of the debris that enabled the plants to grow Right. You're like, even if They still have these giant trash towers to deal with. He did at least create open enough spaces that they can plant things for wasn't in vain. Yes, Yes. Yes And society rebuilds itself as depicted in the evolution of artistic styles and movements. And it's a great movie Wally's my boy man. When you get to like, fucking pointalist Wally, and Eva under the tray It's a great movie. I love this fucking' movie it is it hits the ending quickly It's it's abrupt, but it's like it's very efficient Yeah, and it greatest tension at this point is just can she save him? And if it takes too long to get home then you don't believe there's any way to save him. Yeah. it is. My only reservation is that I think that the bit with the ship tipping over and all the babies sliding is themematically on point But I always wished it were a little bit more viscerally satisfying afterfter the thirty minutes of this like great tati like scramble through the ship, which feels so bioletic and fun This it feels a little clumsy Maybe it's suppos I don't know. just I always wanted something a little that like pulled me in a little bit more at the end Um, this is one of the movies that broke the Academy Awards. It is. Let's just briefly touch on Ray. onn the research here, there was some concern L, um you know I feel like is the bigger anxiety point, but they'd already had uh, ratatoue where they had some of the kind of like is there like There's no merch. Is this movie pretentious And Ratatui did well, but it was down Right. It was a hit, but it was leggier. It was less front loaded and it still ended up way below Wally doesn't even have legs This this is true. He's got tread. Wally was an uptick, but they definitely were worried about it. And the marketing, I mean we mentioned the fucking hidden City cafe teaser, but I remember the Super Bowl ad for this movie was Buzz Lightyear and Woody watching the game. and Woody turns to buuzz and go, you hear about this Wally guy? And they were so freaked out by this movie that they were like Can we just remind you of our legacy and our track record And use that to buffer, please trust us. Movie also very expensive. Is one hundred eighty million dollars budget. Yes,s very high Uh It opened to sixty three domestic. It grossed two twenty three million to twenty three five twenty one. So was below gratitude Which had been below be incredible. How was it below Ratu worldwide? Yeah, how did it play Ratu was two hundred domestic It went above Radatitoui Wally feels like a universe Raditu made six twenty three worldwide U Cars also obviously had been a disappointment to some extent on release, although It had a long tail, you know, merch fies It won Best film at Lafka whichich is a big deal bigig deal There was a real feeling of like, is it time to let this into the bigger conversation? instead it does get six Oscar nominations. screenplay animated, you want to guess? Screenplay animated It gets both sound categories. correct. And then score and song. Right. So it's like Six is a lot, but at the same time it is you know, they're kind of in their category. I mean, arrguably the only two other nominations that could have realistically gone were picture and directors. And it felt like they were on the bubble and it was a real conversation and it felt like you were reading a lot of think pieces of like had there been ten nominees, obviously, it's a best picture nominee. And that's what breaks the Oscars, you know, becomes as Toy Story three It's that this doesn't make it Dark Knight doesn't make it. and I've always contended that Graan Torino not making it is the third one Although, you know, Dark Knight and Wally are a much bigger deal, but it's like if we're getting like more elevated serious blockbusters Do we need a space to recognize these? If these animated movies are becoming this artistic, do we need a space to recognize these Um yeah, drives them insane L as we said in our S Dug Millionaire episode Sland Dg Millionaire was the highest grossing best picture nominee until Oppenheimer They had a movie that was a genuine blockbuster crossover success And they were so freaked out by the fact that they didn't show enough respect to Wally and Dark Knight that they they go to ten the next year and up becomes only the second animated film to ever be nominated for Best Picture in attack Toy story three is the third has not been another one in sixteen years. I have it, where do I have it on my eight l. It's my number two What's your number one? Synectic Synectic in mine two. Yeah. twelve Iaybe I should get a highireer. Oh, get the bad fuck, I'm gonna throw my wallet at you. What do you have above it A lot of good movies You'll get a little higher though. really What' above it? Name one Uh Happy go luck in New York I think I'm gonna to get it up to seven. You have the reader What is it What is what is it leapfrogging I'll tell you abbove it, I definitely had movies like Secticy happy go lucky spepeed racer Wendy and Lou Milk. These are big movies for me. Milk is the best I love these movies. They are lower And then like it's sort of in more like the Rich are getting married in Bruge, hunger, step brrothers See Rach really good. Rachel's maybe my three year. Not a bad year for American film. Good year. No. Rachel get married incredible. But it a terrible Oscar year. Okay veryy bad times part over milk any day of the week. You're like, we had good fucking options and like three of the best picture nominees are kind of wet blankets Uh yeah, of course. I mean, I think Fross Nixon is obviously That is that Frost Nixon contributes to the ten B picture nominees as much as Dark Knight and Wol Readers one that's eregious, but Frost Nixon is a little bit of like, are we just like auto nominating anything that feels like an Oscar movie? Reader, you were like, I could find a few people who thought that was good. Right. There was not one person There was own who was like one of the best five movies of the years, Ron Howard. It was also like that play was really good. Yeah, play's pretty good Yeah they didn't really translate it well. It translated poorly. Right. I saw the Let's give it eight Oscar nominations. And it was like You know, it felt like that, you know, those moments were thet likea L Green book. where the old Oscar voter' like, I know we're changing. I can't help it. Like you know, like one more time, please, you know, like Frost.it, it's Slumdog, Frost Nixon, Reader, milk So so much better than those. And what's the air? the fifth one? The fifth one I'm forgetting. Benjamin Button And I like that movie a lot, but even that one is at the time, everyone's like a little underwhelmed, It's a little trakly, you know, like just And like we're nominating that over Dark Knight and Wally, which actually kind of really hit Z My son has never seen a minute of Benjamin Button is fascinated by the premise. He's always like, what's that movie about the guy who was born to being a hundred years old and Ais Packwards You maybe should show Acea Benjamin Button supercuts like B best of Bobby. Like I don't think he' want movie.id someone make a Benjamin Button supercuts? Is it just their like like B like You would like Benjamin Button and the Revival tent. Yeah But So Fark Svice game, right? Yeah Sorry I'm just coordinating a little photoshoot, maybe. Okay. coordinating a little photoot I interviewed somebody and they They're gonna to take pictures of you I should do that free any timee introducing his dad like And who interviewed him? But David Sims here scen. Can I paint you I interviewed what's the name Cane Pars? Y that movie? Well all know by the time this comes out. I'm quite fond of it, especially all the parts where they are in the backroom. cool. That's a good percentage of the movie. But there was yeah, sure. but there was a moment during our interview when he said, Yeah, no, I started to get into this stuff, Luminal heartr and all that stuff. My first year of high school, which was the first year of COVID, twenty twenty It's just you can hear it on the audio of our interview, right? The loud shotgun bu I do to my. You ate a bowl of bullet soup? where I was just like, oh, partard of me Drink poison. Okay. so it's number one of the box office, Griffin. What's it opening against opening to a very surprising fifty million dollars? Wanted. I feel like wanted like massively over indexed because Uh, it was sort of the Angelin Na Jolie moment of like This is serious, like she is a magnet. The only thing I wanted was to never see that movie again. I That movie is a little terrible I was say terrible. She is really good in it though. because this is the Changeling year, which is a movie, you know I don't like and I always contended It'd be a Her for B Supporting actress would have been a more deserving nomination and wanted over Changelink for lead actress. I I think that's a bad take. I don't like that movie and I think Jolie iss really good. I think she she definitely like I gives wanted some pe U and she's doing her and it's bullet. It It's I'm a change link. strange specific performance, but maybe I need to rewatch changelink. Terrible I like never needs to be thought of again. Want it Want it, I mean. That guy, I mean, M backm Beto. He's a product of Harry Knowles. It's just them gassing up What was then the night shift? Yeah. whatever the fuck it was. That was those big movies in P. O night watch. Night watchatch Yeah. It wanted I remember, I haven't seen it since two thousand April. Yeah. Every time it made a choice, it made the loudest most of the wrong. Well, they have loomers who Weve tamama trees that tell them where to bend bullets. when McAVoy screams Chris Pratt in the face with a right with a keyboard and then the words fuck you but teeth are filling in like the O's or like the, you know, like home your're the most inspired visual choice in that j. Right. And that was in that mov. Chris Bratt plays his coworker who comes He's like it's Chris Pratt in like sweaty tubby mode. Right backack when he was in playing office workers. Yeah. But that movie, yes, you're right, massively overperformed. massively overperformed Number three at the box office right. Th are all films I like saw alone in cinemas in my first year living New York U comomedy, TV adaptation Uh it's it's the first x in the city movie, is it not? You are correct. Incorrect. That movie is at number nine though. Oh okay It's a different older TV. It's an older, it's not the Honeymooners movie. It's an older. What's it opening to It opened last week. two thirty million It's going to end up at one hundred and thirty dilers It's get smart. Get smart. It was ahead. Forgotten Forgot They kept threatening to make a sequel and they were like, Didt you guys like this? And people were like, what? There is What? There is not an inch of pop culture that is not somewhat connected tone Hathway over the last thirty years And rocks She's gonna She' have a very defining year this year. and we all recognize that. By defining, you mean every single movie beatures exactly. Zend are having an arm wrestling m work against her. Yeah, I mean, in some senses maybe I think have just four or three Zendaya's got Dune, drama, Spiderm Man, Odyssey, Euphoria Odyssey. and thenuphia Luckily, it seems like Euphoria season three is going to pass without anyone talking about. I do think that this year will sort of cement in the public consciousness to an even greater degree than it had before that Anne Hathaway is an institution. Hathaway fucking rules. I meanay We're very pro Hathaway in this house. Yeah in this house. We respect Anne Hathaway. I worry this year will be too much Hathaway. So it's Mother Mary Devilwarears Prada, Odyssey, Varity house at the end of Oak Street. Is there a six I think one I'm forgetting. But with the exception of Verity and Devilwarears Prad, I think those movies have such different core audiences that I don't think it's gonna feel like It isn't widespread Is it just five or is there I'm seeing five, although I could have swarn that There's a movie called Alone at Dawn, The Ron Howard movie? Right, That's coming next year right That right doesn't have a date yet, but that's the other one on her I mean, My main concern is that Prit two might like suck really bad I've heard that it is Basically the same as the first one, but obviously diluted. So first one's a masterpiece. it's diluted, I'm fine with it. Right. it' like a kind of like ase hit like, that's okay. I was worried it was gonna be like M too. Super Mario Galaxy of Duffin Wars Prada where just shit happens. It just starts tal they point at the M st is She goes color girls and you're like, ye. I really have been worried of like jangling keys shit without I'm troubled by the implication of the trailer that she does not remember and has How advanced is her dimension? Oh but she worked for for a long time No No, she didn't. she worked for her for six months. It was a memorable six months, Gab. Trust the jok This was not much memorable thing. I do think that trailer did make it seem like it was like a men in black two style memory. That might be too difficult a bit to sell in the trailer. Exactly. I get the idea that she's aloof and they're doing that joke, but to the point where you're like Hey, Joe Biden, anyone else?? Yes Is Kungfu panta stol in the top five Kung Fu Panda, you have crressed correctly is number four at the box office. That's another one that overperformed and there was a real arms race. of they ended up very close in terms of the final totals. Sure. sure. Kung Fuanda is fun. It's got a Kung Fu Panda in it. Yes. There you go. But I think there was a little way. didid he's there? Pixar go to Eesotera versus Kung Fu Panda is right. Pixar is like, ah, yes, the existential cident, Kung Fu Panda is like the panda is large, yet does Kung the title explains the pl And showed I sh so many times, but the urban legend, I have heard that when Jeffrey Katzenberg was pitched Kung Fu Panda, his first response was, I like all three of this work And that movie is the best executed version of Kung Fu Panda I think when it came out, everyone was like, oh, it's actually like good U you know, Wally was trying something very ambitious and they ended up at the exact same number and Wally cost. You don't hear a lot of podcs about Kung Fu Banda these days No there' for them There're four Right, Kung fu panda did endure, I guess' right, Sequel fodder and all that as well. Number five of the box office is a film in a Cinematic universe that's getting its start. This is here in two thousand eight. Is this hulk? The incredible hulkul Yeah Uh yeah, that moie Really bad, but did introduce me to my favorite MCU character, Liv Tyler's Betty Ross. Y. And I finally got to see her one more time recently. I love when we're at O can we quickly if you wantan to salute our president There is. Bright and red. I thought you werere going to say Tim Ross abbomination, which is most Aican' favorite Yeah your character. Yeah also clearly the most delighted to be those films. Having a great time. S meets everyone R. You know my favorite Betie Rossine is? Tell me. It's tough to pick 'cause she's got so many good mes on the MCU. I can't guess 'cause there's too many. My personal favorite Betty Rossin is when her human body walks into the raft to visit her incarcerated Red Hulk former president father, and her head is definitely the same as her human body All things were sh at the same time. Union fr of on a real set next to Harrison Ford God, what if it turned out Joe Biden wasn't insane? Yeah, wasn't I sorry, you know, losing his mental faculties but instead was just suffering from Red Hawke's disease and that would had been It would answer some questions and raise raise others, yes Number six was the oh, a good film here, the love guru wow. we covered a lot of covered a lot of these Num seven, we've covered one too with this very person, Indiana Jon the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.. N eight, another film we've covered. M Night Shamalan's the The happenpping.. Number nine, a film we've yet to cover Sex in the city Number ten, a film we've yet to cover I wonder if we will The opportunity is kind of pass us by. You don't mess with the Zo handan Yeah That's maybe top of the list of movies I used to argue our masaces that I am terrified to ever read. In my memory, it is a movie that, you know has a good heart like it wants everyone to be friends. Maybe it doesn't have the most textured view of the geopolitical situation. two thousand eight, it felt like the politics were surprised surprisingly good for the time for a movie say that movie the moment when the Democratic leadership stopped aging. It's been frozen in time. Right. film like him. Today that movie might feel like a weapon fast destruction. Zoran, maybe. Yeah. truly don't mess with the Zor. That's all the biist came. Not me. That's happened like three times. Yeah, it happened. I'll never learn. We're done. We've been talking for so long. Wally is a very good movie and I think it's nice. And he's my. G goodood friend. he's really the best of us. Yes. now next week on the show We're going to meet another good friend, John Carter slightly less successful movie. Pulitzer Prize winning writer, Tony Kusharn is the Yeah that one for that one. But Michael Srabon is the co writer of well, he was the co writer of some shit I mean, God bless. Yeah, but that was this was a passion product. I mean, we'll get into all of it. It is it is a fascinating movie U it arguably has become the short hint we were saying this, we were talking about this in Madison Ben that we were like John Carter kind of took over the like You know, Waterworld replaced Ishtar, Ishtar replaced Heaven's Gate John Carter just is the thing that people Jonah Hax made a bid for it, but couldn't compete. No And I think some of it just boils down to This movie costs this much and it's just called John Carter. and I'm supposed to know what that is We will talk about it next week. I'm very excited. Fascinating movie to look at now and pull apart ten years now. I'm excited to rewatch. I've only seen the one time. Eric, thank you for being here. Do you have anything you want to look? Like done We are done. Do I have anything I want to plug Writing a book that's gonna come out in like three years. so start I'm excited. getting kned. this recording not written a single word. Yeah but working on it. I was gonna joke you're finish, but you just want to leave the manuscript out in the sun for three years. Yesir on my my wife to discover. Oh I want to say I got an idea from Wally. There's a twwinkie that Wally feeds Yeah how broach, Cal hangs out and so I think I might start bearying twwinkies with the jeans Yeah, continue. No, I mean, how cant say anything after that it's a brilliant idea. I'm also gonna force you to plug fighting in the war room because your co hosts always get mad when you don't do that. Yeah. I mean I guess if you want to listen to it, you can. I think its entire audience listens to your show is already well aware. onene hundred best podcasts ever. ye U yeah, you can find me on the internet and my name and the Indiewire reviewing movies. By the time this comes out, I'll already been so Cannon back and life will go on you can Am I excited for C? Yeah, I mean, if you're not excited for canan, what are you doing in this line of work, I suppose U yeah, I'm excited to hear if the Sorseseia episode I nominated myself for, if I was ghosted by abject silence for David Sims was rejection or just omission. I wanted to find out. I just want to remind you that the episode you threw your hat in the ring for is basically a calendar year away because Corseseia is so long. That's what I figured.'re just going to be stepping out of its toes. We're just not making decisions about the. We're trying to keep. We're not giving you the silent treatment as much as it here we'll say it on Mike Your interest is noted What I don't even remember I'll say it off Mike. Fine, great. Okay, let's be done As always, our friend Wally. Thank you all for listening. Please remember toate review and subscribe, Tun next week for John Carter over on our Patreon, We're finishing up a book. Who you guys got for John Carter? The great Mat singer. I'm looking now. Yeah, we're still in RobocCop mode. I think it's Roboco Cop three is next. Yeah funnyubb. enjoy the Rbit talk and you want more rubbit talk then go over and listen to us talk about Ruba ninjas fighting Ruba cops And as always, E's a b Stay your name Isa? Good name. Asa. Who is your favorite character on Big City Greens Yeah What do you like abouticket Well, he's a rock class boy like me. and he's about the same year as old as me. And I'm a big brother, but he's a little brother. It's kind of weird. He's kind of sick What would you say if somebody asked you what Big City Greens is about It's about twenty two minutes long. Yeah, that. What's the show about? What happens? The family moves from the country? The family moves like from the country It a It's a big city and they get all cry all cry when they don't want to go before they think that they don't want to they think that's going to be like a creepy mansion the door but but then both said like that were mo that were leaving the country and moving to big city. And and they c and they let cry out. And why is Chip Whistler so mean to them? they first wantce a big city cricket like told Cricket something and then and then Cicket kicked him and theicks. And then it all began And last question, what What do you think of the movie Wally What is that after new? It's unrelated. What do you think about Wally? You used to love Wally. We watch it every day for like six months. Nope Okay, say goodby BlankCck with Griffin and David is hosted by Griffin Newman and David Sims Our executive producer is me, Ben Hosley. Our creative producer is Marie Bardy Salinas, and our associate producer is AJ McKeon. This show is mixed and edited by AJ McKon and Alan Smithy Research by JJ Birch Our theme song is by Lane Montgomery in the Great American novel, with additional music by Alex Mitchell Artwork by Joe Bowen, Ollie Moss, and Pat Reynolds Our production assistant is Minick. Special thanks to David Chow, Jordan Fish, and Nate Patterson for their production help Head over to blankcheckpod. com for links to all of the real nerdy shit Join our Patreon, Blank Check Special Fatures for exclusive franchise commentaries and bonus episodes Follow us on social at bllank Check pod Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, checkbook on Substack ast is created and produced by Blank Check Prouctions. And Wallally is kind of a vehicle. Yeah What do you think about that? Wal's kind of got some main character syndrome With regards to this move. He does, he does. He's also kind of a great friend.. Well save this for the That's the kind of observation must be recorded at all times Um Okay David, I'm going to send you a thing in a second Did you guys record finding Nemo already? We did. We did that one good U Fish. Okay, David. Yeah. Well nice if you don't me. Yeah, sor. Ben Are we ready We are