Episode 107 – The Santa Clause Santa Claus and Christmas go hand in hand. Whatever traditions you may have, Santa is pretty ubiquitous during the holidays. But who is he? Some traditions hold that he is Saint Nicholas, the 4th Century Greek Bishop. Others believe him to be Father Christmas from British folklore or Sinterklaas from Dutch stories. Still others claim he is the embodiment of the Germanic god Wodan, who is associated with the Yule Festival. Whatever his origins, he has always been associated with the modern Christmas season. But, what if Santa Claus weren’t a person so much as a title? Well, in 1994 a movie attempted to answer that question. It produced to 2 sequels (and a lot of existential questions), while cementing Tim Allen as the quintessential Santa in a lot of our minds. That movie was The Santa Clause. From Wikipedia: The Santa Clause is a 1994 American Christmas fantasy family comedy film written by Leo Benvenuti and Steve Rudnick, and directed by John Pasqui...
Episode 106 – How The Grinch Stole Christmas You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch. You really are a heel. You’re as cuddly as a cactus, you’re as charming as an eel, Mr. Grinch. You’re a bad banana with a greasy black peel! The song is a classic. Even if you don’t know the all the lyrics, you know the melody. Dr. Seuss’ classic tale of selfishness, isolation, and redemption is a Christmas favorite for many around the world. What does Christmas mean to you? Does it mean presents? Food? Family? To the Whos, it meant all that and more. But to the Grinch, well, the Grinch just wanted to be left alone for Christmas. But what kind of Christmas would that be? Not a great one, that’s for sure. Let’s see how Christmas was handled in 1966’s How The Grinch Stole Christmas. From Wikipedia: How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (also known as Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!) is a 1966 Christmas animated television special directed and co-produced by Chuck Jones. It is based on the epony...
Episode 105 – Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm If you were a child of the 90s, I guaranteed you played Mortal Kombat. The game was a cultural phenomenon. It was in every arcade (when there still were arcades, that is) and often attracted a crowd whenever anyone was playing. But it was just as infamous as it was famous. The gory nature of the game and it’s signature fatalities caused parents groups and community leaders to condemn the game and, in part, lead to the creation of the ESRB, which provides age ratings for video games. It’s strange then that the creative team behind Mortal Kombat decided, just 4 years after the game’s initial release, to develop a cartoon series based on the game franchise. This cartoon showcased fairly toned down versions of some fan favorite characters, as well as some new characters that had just debuted in the third installment of the game, and was called Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm. From Wikipedia: Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Re...
The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn’t Thanksgiving is a time to come together as a family to eat and be merry. It’s an American holiday that has its roots in the pilgrim days of the 1600s. In 1972, Hanna-Barbera decided to create a Thanksgiving special that told the story of the first Thanksgiving and the talking squirrel who played an important role in bringing together the pilgrims and the native Americans. From IMDB: A talking squirrel must save the holiday by rescuing a young Pilgrim boy and a young Native American boy that has gone missing in the woods on Thanksgiving day. Links: Watch it on Hulu:https://www.hulu.com/movie/the-thanksgiving-that-almost-wasnt-80590d24-4da0-453a-9390-d01972d128b2 IMDB:https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1230175/ Hanna-Barbera Wiki –http://hanna-barbera.wikia.com/wiki/The_Thanksgiving_That_Almost_Wasn%27t www.childhoodremastered.com www.facebook.com/childhoodremastered www.twitter.com/remasteredcast childhoodremastered@gmail.com
Episode 104 – Rambo: The Force of Freedom Show Description There have been a lot of cartoon adaptations of books and movies throughout the years. Often times, those adaptations advance the stories and sometime introduce new characters to the show or book’s mythology. Think about how much was added to the Ghostbustera mythos by the Real Ghostbusters cartoon. Well, sometimes a cartoon adaptation can vary so wildly from the original material that a completely new concept is created. That’s the case with the show we’re talking about today. Whereas the original book and movie portray the title character in very human and, often times, very troubling ways, the cartoon doesn’t so much showcase a character as it does a caricature. That show is Rambo: The Force of Freedom. From Wikipedia: Rambo: The Force of Freedom, often called simplyRambo, is ananimated seriesbased on the character ofJohn RambofromDavid Morrell‘s bookFirst Bloodand the subsequent filmsFirst BloodandRambo: First Bloo...
Episode 103 – Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos Chuck Norris is a renaissance man. He’s probably most well known as a martial artist and actor. He created his own form of martial arts called Chun Kuk Do and has earned black belts in Tang Soo Do, Taekwondo, Karate, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Judo. He served in the Air Force. He’s also a film producer and writer. He was a big deal in the 80s. Honestly, he was a big deal until fairly recently. The man was a meme, for crying out loud. Chuck Norris facts were pretty ubiquitous on the internet for a while, but his heyday was definitely the 80s. Ruby Spears decided to capitalize on this popularity by creating a short-lived, but ultimately memorable cartoon starring Norris called Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos. From Wikipedia: Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandosis anAmericananimated television seriesthat originally aired in 1986 as asyndicatedfive episode mini-series. It was created by and starredChuck Norrisas himself, and produced byRuby-Spears Ent...
Episode 102 – Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Movie Many of you remember Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina Spellman, and the many adventures she went on over numerous seasons with her 2 quirky aunts and her talking cat bent on world domination. But what you may not remember is that her portrayal of that character started out in a made for TV movie on Showtime. This movie also starred a very young Ryan Reynolds. Yes, that Ryan Reynolds. Yes, we never thought Deadpool could somehow cross streams with Archie Comics or Sabrina…but here we are! From Wikipedia: Sabrina the Teenage Witchis a 1996 American television film adaptation based on thecomic book series of the same namefromArchie Comics. It served as a pilot for theSabrina the Teenage Witchtelevision series and premiered onShowtimeon April 7, 1996. The only two actors who would appear in both the film and television series would beMelissa Joan Hart, whose character possessed a different surname from her comic book and television counte...
Episode 101 – Bride of Boogedy The name Disney is synonymous with a lot of things — magic, princesses, animation, Mickey Mouse — but one thing people don’t usually associate with Disney is horror. Well, maybe not horror per se. Maybe scary is the better word. There aren’t too many scary Disney movies out there. But we found one. If you asked 100 people about the movie we’re about to cover, I would wager 99 of them would say they’ve never heard of it.It is, in fact, the sequel to an equally obscure movie we covered just about a year ago. It’s a movie that has magic, and ghosts, and revenge, and a demon being dragged back to hell. That movie is The Bride of Boogedy. From Wikipedia: Bride of Boogedy is a 1987 family film, directed by Oz Scott[1] and written by Michael Janover, which originally aired as an episode of “The Disney Sunday Movie.”[2] It tells the continuing story of the Davis family and their encounters with an evil 300-year-old ghost in the fictional New England ...
Episode 100 – TNMT 2: The Secret of the Ooze The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been a cultural phenomenon since their debut in 1984. What started as a simple drawing of a little turtle wearing a mask with nunchakus strapped to its arms has rown into a media empire complete with comics, multiple TV series, and movie. Fans of this podcast will no doubt recall our fondness for the franchise. Fifty episodes ago, we covered the original Ninja Turtles movies from 1990. Despite the somewhat negative critical reception of that film, it went on to earn over $135 million at the box office. This meant a sequel. It also meant a bigger budget. But an increased budget doesn’t always translate to a better movie. Let’s see if that’s the case as we take a look at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret of the Ooze. From Wikipedia: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Oozeis a 1991 Americanmartial artssuperherocomedy film directed byMichael Pressman, based on the fictional su...
Episode 99 – Legends of the Hidden Temple What kid hasn’t imagined themselves as Indiana Jones? Crossing treacherous rivers in search of treasure. Delving into a long forgotten temple deep in the jungles of South America to find some sacred idol or priceless totem. Solving riddles and pitting your wits against ancient traps and cursed magics. Well, Nickelodeon found the answer to all those questions back in 1993 when they created a game show that would turn teams of adventurers into modern day Doc Savages. Sending them to far away places like the pit of despair and the shrine of the silver monkey — all under the watchful eye of Olmec. That show was Legends of the Hidden Temple. From Wikipedia: Legends of the Hidden Templeis an American action-adventure[3]TVgame showthat broadcast from 1993 to 1995[1]onNickelodeon. Created by David G. Stanley, Scott A. Stone, andStephen Brown, the program centered on a temple that was “filled with lost treasures protected by mysterious Mayan temp...