Janet Varney on Spirited Away

Janet Barney. She's wonderful, she's funny, she's kind, and she is supportive, and she is encouraging, and she's super talented and she's just the best. And so Janet agreed to come back to kind of book in Movie Crush and talk about Spirited Away. We uh, we get into some anime talk here. It's all new to me, but it's something that Janet knows quite a bit more than I do about um because she voiced Cora, and uh, any fans of Cora know that that's that's Janet's voice there.

So we talked about that a little bit. We talked about her new podcast project where she talks anime and Cora and among other things. And we talked about Spirited Away, and it was a great talk with my old friend. And we also talk a little bit about the show ending. It's a very better, sweet episode you guys, So I hope you enjoy it. So here we go with Janet Barney on Spirited Away. How are you I? I'm doing

all right. I'm doing all right. I feel like my voice has gotten less shrill when I answer that question, which is a good sign, you know, like the higher. I don't know if that's true for you or other people, you know, but I do feel like, Yeah, the more the more people like how are you doing, You're like, I mean that pretty good. I feel like that's a

dead a dead give away. Unfortunately, I always I also use that voice comedically, so maybe it's a little confusing, but usually when someone sincerely asked me how I am, if i'm if I'm up in that register, I'm hiding a lot. There's a lot of deep pain that has pushed it's it's put the pain has pushed so high up in my body that my vocal cords have been condensed, just a tiny whistle of a noise. Yeah, how about you, I'm oh ship, we are in trouble. This is going

to be a rough ride. Uh, you look great. I like your pink hair. Thank you, I um good. Thanks. I really like it. And I feel like people are nicer to me when I have pink hair. And I don't feel like people are not nice to me. In general, they are all people are nice. But there's something about my experience of having pink hair is that when people see you from Afar, they've already decided that you're fun, right, maybe that you have a little bit of a like

it's a little punk rock. But it's like also when you see what I wear, it's like I'm wearing a child's T shirt basically. So it's not like I'm like, I don't have like a you know what I mean. I don't have like I wish I had a sleeve. I would be so cool if I had a tattoo sleeve. But so when you put all those things together, I feel like initial, just any initial meeting with people, I feel that the niceness and familiarity level is it has is vastly improved from what I just have, like blond

hair or whatever. I only wish now that you had duped to me with fake tattoo sleeves cool because I would be and you were just like cool about it or whatever, because I I would swear to God, I would sit here and the first thing that I would think is have I ever seen Janet's arms? I feel like I've seen her arms before? Why that would be?

I mean, there's a there's a I really understand the level of like when you start realizing that you're getting so old that you don't really want to maintain yourself in a certain way for acting jobs like that is you know, there's there really starts to be the sense of like I just you know, I just don't care. I like I don't care and they'll have to work around it or whatever. Um. And there's something very liberating

about that. But it's also like, or is that just you're you're accepting that you're going to go into your retirement from that business because you know, I don't know that all of a sudden people are going to turn around be like you know what, I love your sleeve. Yeah, we're gonna start giving you sleeve roles. I just turned fifty a couple of months ago, Janet, so I know that's a big one. Every birthday, I said, every birthday. Day of I don't let let the record show. I

said it day of you did. I was just recording with John Hodgman, actually literally eighty seconds before you jumped on, and he said, uh, he was talking about you with someone else, about something like a role, and he said, well, why not, Janet? And then he said he realized that's a great sitcom starring you, called why not Janet? And he said it's up to you, now, me to go pitch this to you, come up with a premise, and

then that's the show. It feels like I wish that One Division hadn't all due respect to one Division, which I wasn't maybe not a huge fan of, but but they worked real hard on it, and there was a lot about it that I appreciated. Um, but that had they not just recently revisited the sort of old timey sitcom, I would say, why not Janet? Definitely seems like it was you out competing And I use that term loosely

because no one had ever heard of it. But it was competing against Mary Tyler Moore, you know, but no one was watching it because Mary Tyler War was a great show. I guess the premise would be someone like the character Janet, would be someone who was a jack of all trades and kind of like pretty good at everything. So anytime something comes up, they go, why not Janet? Sometimes insulted? Wait, I don't have to think about this that hard. I fully know what it's insulting. It's a

TV show, it's fiction. This is all well and good. I need to go because I gotta call Hodgman and find out if I have a chance or whatever this thing is. I gotta get and if a sleeve is going to be a problem because I have a lot of work. I gotta get downe in my arm with so in your mind, the rewrite is the show is called of course it's Janet. Yeah, where it's got to be Janet? Yeah, gotta be imperially Janet. PERI that sounds

like a little indie movie. Here's the thing, why not Janet? Sure, that's fine, maybe that's season one, But how do you keep refresh? Throw a comma in there? Why not Janet? And that's what the next season is about her taking chances that she wouldn't ordinarily take, living a little, living a little larger, you know what I mean, take a chance, why not Janet? And then it could just be why question mark and then not Janet exclamation. I don't even know what that means. I'm just going to move the

comma again and say why not Janet? But then that doesn't really that's that's about that. That years was better. I mean it was terrible, but it was still better than why comma not Janet? Janet? That I think this is all about beating the dead horse anyway, and we've done that. What is that background you've got there? Is that real? Or is that? No? This is ah, this is just a a tapestry. I mean, yes, I realized that you're saying are You're not saying are you in

the mountains? Are you in the mountains? I wondered if it was a screen. It's not a blue screen, it is. That's nice. Yeah, I got a bunch of these Society six. It's just a place where you can get various and sundry goods that are being produced. As you know, pillows, artworks,

floor mats, and tapestry is among the options. Do a little landscape photography filter and I now have a curtain next to the One of these is hung next to our bed that's like a desert, you know, Sonoran dessert looks like my where I'm from, Tucson, Um, you know, storm clouds, arrows, very pleasant. It turned out to be a real like everything I've done, I think during the pandemic, and also every dream I've had during the pandemic has been like transparently like textbook embarrassingly a two B do

you know what I mean? Like, oh, how to dream? The I was telling my therapist I had a dream about I think I'm having some like you know, like reintegration, anxiety, reopening, all that. And and then on a separate subject later in therapy, I was complaining about a disturbing dream I had had and as I was saying and then all of a sudden, I was in like it was almost like a fabric womb, and I was like trying to

get out of the whole. She was like, oh, gee, I wonder I want very direct short line we could draw to another part of the conversation. We found I was like, God, damn it. Everything I do is like just teach it in the pre count Yeah whatever. Yeah, it's so that's having having like fabric tapestries that represent places I'm not traveling during the pandemic. It's just so like, yeah, okay, sure, super creative, Dan a great job. Those are kind of fun though. I've had those dreams. I had one when

I moved to New Jersey from college. And I moved because my roommate in college, his parents were these, you know, I had, like corporate CEO types that had this big house in New Jersey and they were getting transferred to Australia, and they said, why don't you come up here and live for a few years rent free, And so I

followed him up there. But there was also, uh, I hate to say this, it was a girl I was trying to get away from in college that was It wasn't like stalker territory, but it was just it's gotten a little weird. And so I was like, perfect time

to move to New Jersey. So I moved to New Jersey and literally the maybe the first night or two that I was there, I had this dream that there was a bear that like came out of the woods and in a dress and was and beat down the door of the house and was and was chasing me around the house to kill me. And I woke up and I was like, I wonder who the bear was. That's amazing and it does not help that her name

was Stephanie Grizzle, right, she did it so easy. It's uh so, I want to talk a little bit about the new project that you've been working on because it kind of takes us into the movie that we'll discuss. Sure, uh,

I want to hear all about it. Well, So it is a I always feel like hesitant to say it's a rewatch podcast because that's kind of not really how I pitched it to Nickelodeon, But certainly that is something that Dante Bosco and I are doing together, which is, you know, we're not It's not like a watch along where you know you have to do you have to synchronize it and listen, which I guess there are some that do that, but you know, it's it's you know,

we talk about everything that's happening in each episode of

Avatar the Last Airbender to start. But Nickelodeon's intention is for us to do that with you know, all three seasons of Avatar and then all four seasons of Cora and then sort of if if we can and if it's doing well enough, like to just sort of always be doing this because there are all these you know, Avatar books and comics and um at Our studios which Mike DiMartino and Brian knets Go have founded, and it's living under the umbrella of Nickelodeon where they get to

sort of make a jillian projects over the next like series. I think it's like twenty years um, as they kind of grow out this universe. Um. You know I I I'm such a fan of them and would be a fan if I had nothing to do with the shows, So having any kind of credibility at all to talk about doing the show with Nickelodeon and have them get

excited about it. And then we brought Dante on who plays Prince Zuko in Avatar the Last Airbender and general I wrote in the Legend of Cora um and as a friend of mine who have done many cons with and really love being with. And we're very very different. Um. It's it's a great dynamic and it's been so fun. We've recorded. Must say, we've probably recorded like sixteen episodes, but we've only we've just now launched last week and

have released three. So um, it's that space of like, well I hope he but like what we've done, because we've already done all of those and we're not going to go back and change them. So I was so good. Let's back up a little bit, like where, uh where did you? Where were you situated when it comes to these original uh The Last Airbender and stuff like that, Like were you a big fan? Was this something you had always been into? And it's like that was at

the seed of it all. Yeah. Well, so when I auditioned for the Legend of Cora, I was a fan of The Last Airbender. I was a fan of Avatar, but was a recent fan of it. I came to it as a an adult um just through so many friends of mine who were like, you have to watch our show, and then I as as I was watching it, this audition came through for the sequel series, and I was so freaked out that I tried to emotionally separate

myself from it. I actually had the thought like, oh, I wish I didn't know how great this is, because I know how great this second series is probably going to be, and I stopped. I sort of put a I put the kai bosh on watching it until I was fairly confident that I had not gotten a part on the Legend of Cora because it takes so long to find out for some animation projects. UM, I'm not sure why, but for some reason, the casting process for

animation just tends to be much more. It's like luxuriously long. I mean, I want to say and I'll have to ask, uh, I'll have to ask. I mean, the guys won't remember. But maybe like the Glodeon casting will, I feel like months and months passed. I mean I really felt like.

I feel like it was a long period of time from when I did the very first audition to when I remember when I got a call back I said the words like, oh, that's not cast yet, and then from that to like a chemistry test again, I was like, wait a minute, I have long since thought this job was went to someone else, and then and so so that, and whereas with casting in live action, for the most part,

you know, it's like we're shooting next week. There's a lot of kind of like this is and this is the last piece is finding this person and then we immediately start shooting. UH and so UM I had returned to UH to the last Airbender, and then I found out I got the job. Um, and just lost my mind. Yeah, completely lost my mind. And it was immediately terrified, as we've been trained to be in Hollywood, and uh, like, how can this go wrong? When will I be fired? This is too good to be true, all of that

kind of stuff. And so I absolutely love it and it has been it's just been a great opportunity when it dropped on Netflix, and both shows dropped last summer during the pandemic on Netflix, and immediately just we're at the top of Netflix UM chart. I don't even know

what that means, but yeah, uh they were. They were just sort of consistently like, oh, this is you know, in in all over the world on Netflix, these two shows were yeah and and um And so I thought, because I had talked about doing something like this, because I do have a lot of experience in podcasting, um, having done the j V Club for nine years, over nine years and uh and I thank you. That's the first time a smattering of applause has really felt fantastic.

Uh and uh And you know, I that was a real situation where a few years ago I thought, Wow, if I could combine those two things and get to do something kind of meta about these shows, I would love that and I had mentioned it to Mike and Brian, but they were sort of off starting the Netflix live action thing. Um, and that was sort of it was like nebulous because it was like, well, yes, they have a relationship to Nickelodeon, but now they're working on this

other thing, and Nickelodeon hadn't licensed. Like it's just all that sort of where does this belong kind of conversation and but when it when it landed on Netflix, I was like, I gotta I'm gonna have to try and pursue this again. And so I did reach out this time to Nickelodeon, and um, the timing was was right for them as well, and they were like, yeah, we want to, We absolutely want to do this. We want to we're building you know, out our podcasting world and um.

And so I've been working on it for a really really long time. It's been you know, like almost a year, and it's it's just been amazing. It's been amazing. It's it's just a show that both shows are you know, they just there's just nothing about it that feels like limited or you know, I mean, yeah, like there's this there's also a SpongeBob SquarePants uh. Podcast. I love everyone who did SpongeBob I as people. I love the host, um, I love Nickelodeon. They are treasure to work with, at

least in my personal experience. I don't know how I would do a podcast about SpongeBob, Like, I'm not sure what I would and I'm sure tone only they're very different. But with Avatar Lost Airbender, we're talking about you know, we're laughing and talking about like the silly childlike adorable stuff.

We're talking about the quality of animation, but we're also talking about you know, genocide and you know children having more responsibility than they're ready for, and you know parental frankly abuse and you know, it's just it's very very dense. There's a lot of layers to it. And so it's just not something I've ever gotten tired of watching or thinking about. And um, and that's born out in in doing the podcast. It's a blast, that's awesome. So this

all makes sense to me now. I purposely didn't like look into a bunch of stuff. I know you've been posting a lot of stuff on your social meds, uh, And I was like, purposely like, I don't want to know what's going on, because I just want to talk to Janet about it in person. Uh, So I get it now, is it? Are you going episode by episode? Is it one of those? We are? But there's I mean, for example, there's at least forty episodes to the first season of our podcast, and there are only twenties episodes

of the first season of The Last Airbender. So the three episodes we've released so far, we started, yes with the very first episode, which is called The Boy in the Iceberg. We started with episode one, uh, and we recap that. We also talked about kind of what we were, what our own experiences, we're working on the shows, and

what to expect from the podcast. But then the very next one is a is a sort of deep dive conversation with Mike and Brian who created the show, UM talking to them about the mythology, about their relationship, how they met at risdy UM. And then that conversation went on so long that it's a two parter, so that

just got released. And then the next episode that's coming out next Tuesday is episode is Us recapping Episode two, And then we have episodes where we're just hanging with cast members UM and in reviewing them and talking about stuff we're talking to, um, you know, like let's talk about the martial arts techniques, let's talk about this South Korean animation with an animator, let's talk about the music composition.

Because the fan base, my experience with them has always been that they have a really really uh deep interest in appreciation for the craft of the making of the show. Um opposed to maybe you know, I'm sure there are some fandoms that are more about like, you know, this funny thing happens on the show, or I want it. Yeah, that's right, that's right. Uh So, so there's that, and again that feels unlimited, like we're having a problem that we have so many people that we wanted to fit

into the first season that we're having. We're like, oh no, we're not gonna have enough episodes? Can we Maybe we can add some more? And then you know, um, it's it's great, it's great. It's great to nerd out on. That's awesome. What about what is it about voice work for you? Is it is it your kind of I don't want to say favorite kind of work to do?

I know, you know a lot of actors talk about how great it is to just go in there and your sweatpants and not have to go through hair and make I don't think I've ever in a single recording seen anyone in sweatpants. I hate to out us all because I've also joked that, but I mean, yeah, everyone I know, everyone I know looks like they mind as well be going to a fancy dinner. But is it? Is that true? Though? As far as kind of shedding away some of the things that you need to do

for camera, is that a big part of it? In a big relief, It is? It is. And you know, when I started doing it, I think I was less conscious, but still a little conscious because I was looking around at all of these heroes of mine who have been doing it forever. You know, when like being friends with

someone like Lorraine Newman. You know, she does a ton of kids voices on cartoons, and I feel like she's like, you know, put her arm around my shoulder and was like, You're going to be grateful you have these voice over jobs when you're sixty, you know, Like so that I think that feels really good. That being said, I'm not, you know, a prolific voice over actor like someone like her, or like someone like you know, Tara Strong or somebody

who's just it does everything all the time, is always working. Um, because you know what, I'm a jack of all trades, master of none. Why not Janet? Why not Janet? She's producing a comedy festival. She's she doesn't have time to audition right now? Why not Janet? Yeah? I just found out about Tara Strong. Whose voice did she do? That? I just she does a voice on Loki? She does like a that's what I had just looked up. You're

totally right. And then I realized that she's you know, and she does a voice in and she does a voice and spirited away, So not to worry. She does a voice and spirited away. Yeah, she's the baby. Oh my god, that funny. I'm not ready to talk about that yet. Great, Like you said that, you really said that in a too soon kind of way, like I'm not ready, I'm afrad. I'm not ready to talk about that. I'm not emotionally ready to talk about that yet. When

does your podcast? Do you say? Just launched the first couple of episodes. It launched last Tuesday. Today is the whenever we're recording this. I don't know if you're I don't know if you want people that's going to ruin. The will be a couple of weeks old. So mid June we launched. We launched the podcast in mid June, and uh and we are. We dropped every week. The only reason that we have three out now is that we did, you know, sort of a bonus on our

opening week, and did dropped another one on Friday. But in general, every Tuesday, that's great. I bet that's so much fun. I love it. I love it, and I'm sure people are gonna love it. Super fans from other communities. We want to have them come in and talk about what it means to them, so you have time to become an expert in you know, in that world, and then you can come and talk about why you like it.

I mean, I guess we can go ahead and start talking about Spirited Away a little bit because I my background with anime uh is not was not strong at all. I didn't ever watch any of it, did never read any of the the comics, and it's just not something I was ever I think maybe I was a little

too old. Well, but yeah, came around. I was going to say that the same is true for me in the sense that like, no one was telling me about anime being I knew it existed because I lived in San Francisco and when you go to you know, spend time in Japantown, as I did because I worked right

near there. Um. I would always go into these like I'm sure I'm gonna butcher this word, but kinokunia these the books Japanese bookstores, and they have you know, manga, and they have like animy that you could buy on a DVD. But that seemed like something that people who knew about it already knew everything about it and it belonged to them, and no one was saying, like, come over to my house and let's watch this show and so and and because um, because it didn't become as

as widely available until much later. I think you're right. I think there are people younger than us who were right there for like Crunchy Role, which you know is streaming, and like is just all kinds of exposure to anime. And then you know, I waffle between saying anime and anime, um, depending on like how seasoned the person as I'm talking to. I feel like I have to say it the right way. It's like it's like going in being like I would like to order Ashila and totacos Um. Which where do

I fall on the seasoning scale? I mean zero, you fall in. Yeah, I'm saying it anime for you, and then for any listener who is seasoned, I am also I want to make sure they know it's like a secret secret word only slightly different. Yeah, because I'm a zero. You would say anime and I'm like, what do you quote?

Brian Can Let's go one of the creators of Avatar, as he sort of talked about their influence and vice versa, he was like, he pointed out, he was like, I mean, it's just short for animation, like they're they're the same thing. It's it's really okay. Um, but uh but yeah, So there's tons of stuff that I didn't get and that I still haven't seen because now the library of of options, even just on Netflix alone is just endless. There are

people who only watch who are American, who only watch anyway. Um, and when I go to conventions that are that are heavily on that side, like rather than on the kind of pop culture like oh look, there's an actor from Guardians of the Galaxy to like that's not Um. I always feel like wildly intimidated because there's always a ton of costplay that I just don't recognize, and I have to be like, tell me, tell me what you're dressed as.

And you can see the look of disappointment cross over their eyes, like, Oh, I thought you were cool enough to know what this was, Janet, thanks a lot for not knowing. You know. Um so, but but these are but but these movies are are sort of the most excess of the they to me, they be they were, I think, and and it's true for a lot of people. Um that's the first exposure to what you consider uh, Miyazaki is like the first you know, anime. I can't

I really can't decide it's terrible. I'm say anime. I'm gonna say anime. Uh. That that that many people ever saw because it was you know, Spirit Away in particular, was you know, an Academy Award winner, and it was uh it did very very well worldwide, and and so I think it was kind of a gateway, whereas like Avatar, the Last Airbender and Legend of Kora are kind of a gateway um animation to anime for some people. Uh, so so is and and for much longer and deservedly

so is is Miyazaki. Yeah. The other thing that happened to was, um, you know my adopted daughter Ruby. I was gonna say, how are you feeling about her being the right age to watch something like this or this is? But I'll get to that in a second. This is I'm not ready to talk about yet. Jane, by the way, just fully put her hand in front of the camera.

Uh stop in the name of love fashion. Um. So the reason I said my adopted daughter Ruby because I'm not like uh Royal Tannenbaum and like, that's how we introduced her to people, but it's it's purtned into the story. So when we adopted her, we went out to um to where we adopted her from, and uh, there's this process of getting to know birth mom, and so we're getting to know uh you know, I'm not going to say her name just because I want to protect her

identity and stuff. But we were getting to know her. And she's a kid, you know, who's who's giving us a child and very young and um was way way

way into anime. It was one of her passions and I didn't know anything about it, and I'm so you're in a situation where you're trying to connect a little bit, and because you're also even though they've decided, you also always feel like you're sort of auditioning to be like, you know, I'm gonna be a good dad and stuff like that, and so I was sort of not faking interests, but like, oh, yeah, that sounds so cool, you know,

like blah blah blah, tell me about it. And through those conversations it really became clear what it meant to her, and it wasn't just these cartoons that she was watching. And I realized for the first time speaking to her, how much meat on the bone there was, because she was really into it and really got into telling me about how it's not like what you might think it is.

And so flash forward to a year ago now that Ruby is she's almost six and at the time like five ish, getting to the point where she can watch

some of the stuff. I thought, you know what this is, I think in a way sort of honoring the birth mom to try and turn Ruby onto some of this stuff and and hopefully they will meet one day and they can have, you know, something sort of in common like this and so we watched uh my neighbor Totorow to start her out, and Emily and I and Ruby watch it and we were all just like completely charmed and entranced by how wonderful that movie is. And got her a tote robe stuffy a lovey and she sleeps

with it and it's just it was so wonderful. And then moved on to Spirited Away, which for her age was a little bit more intense. It's scary. It is scary, isn't it all right? I was going to ask if I'm wrong? She was She was fine. She's always been able to separate fact from fiction. And if she gets a little scared and a thing, she'll just like snuggle up a little tighter. But she's never it never freaks her out. Later, she never has nightmares. He's always been

able to punch a buy her class. And you got to start watching The Last Airbender with her, because if she if she was fine with Spirited Away, she's going to be totally fine with The Last Airbender. And it is so adorable. It's just wonderful. And I want to watch so I can tell, but you gotta watch my order. And Cora is scarier so she can age up into Cora. So you need to watch Airbender before Cora. I mean many people don't know you don't have to watch them

in that order to get it um at all. There are definitely people who watched Cora first and then who watched the Last Airbender. I'm sure there are Last Airbender fans who are like, I can't believe you just said that, Janet. But from Mike and Bryan's own lips, absolutely, you can

watch one before the other. Um. That being said, certainly chronologically like the like the Last Airbender takes place seventy years before the legend of course, so there are absolutely there's a value inherent to watching The Last Airbender first. And uh, it's just it's just better for younger kids.

I mean, I think it's it's there are sometimes there are people who bring up their kids who are like four, and they say, she's obsessed with Cora, And in my mind, I'm like, I would not have been able to handle the legend of four when I was four. I mean, I couldn't handle you know, Bambi when I was four. So I'm trying to handle it out and barely handle it now. Yeah, she has a hard time with all those Disney movies because she's like, why is always someone's

always sucking dying in these movies? And she should not be saying why is someone always fucking dying with that much vehemence in public? In public, people are going to think that's a little weird. I'm trying to watch your core show, though, and you're pushing me away from it. I'm pushing away because why not, Janet? Because you because you will not regret watching the last year of wnder first Okay, you won't regret it. And it flies by, and there's and it's almost sad how fast it flies by,

because it's so good. I just realized I have my notes on my phone for this, so I'm gonna email those while we keep talking for Spirited Away. I'm just I'm I'm stuck on the idea and how charmed I am by the idea of you, you know, still feeling like you wanted to impress the the mother Ruby's mom. I think that's so lovely. But I was sort of a man having being like, let's talk more bad enemy. Here.

Hold this baseball? Mit uh, grab this tr let me this princes us tr a child size Hold on to that for a second, Like, how else are you trying to you know, what, how do how does one other than just to try to telegraph as many ways as possible what a great person you are? Like, that's that's just that's such a specific experience that we don't hear about very often. You know, the experience I mean surely right,

there's the experience. I'm not making you talk about it, but the experience of of your I'm going to be adopting your child. Yeah, yeah, it's very intense. And here's and here's how I want you to feel about that and feel about me is very intense. It is very intense. Uh, one of these days I'm gonna do I don't know if it's would be on stuff you should know, because we may do a show on adoption, but I'd probably

refrain from getting super personal there. But at some point I feel like I want to like talk about that a lot, like to the people on the internet personal way I do because I have got to share it with nameless, faceless strangers. Well, for the reason why is not to do anything for me. But I think that there's so much I think so many people are scared of something like adoption because it's super, super fucking scary

that they might shy away from it. And I think, I think more people need to tell their story because it is fraught with many, many complications, but it's it's worth it because you know, and I would say, you know, without I'm speaking directly out of to quote Ira Glass Modern Jackass Magazine, But I feel like as people, as more and more people of this generation of future generations wait to have kids, perhaps adoption will become even more prolific,

just because it's just, yeah, it's a better choice for all kinds of reasons, within the context of like, well, I'm forty eight and I've decided that it's really important to me to be a mom. You know how what's that going to look like? The more that's out there supporting that as a viable choice, if you know, if that's if that's right for somebody, the more the better. I mean, yeah, totally, I love it. Maybe I'll do that one day, share it with the internet. It's not

even a person. So when we had heard a lot about I had heard a lot about Spirited Away, obviously because it's just such a huge movie and a big award winner, and what are you drinking? What is that? I'm sorry to say, it's a much a it's a ice much a latte, that's right, but it's also did you say that in a dumb down way? For me? How's it really pronounced? Mata? Uh? It's a spirited away is something I knew about because even though I wasn't

a fan. You can't be just a fan of movies and watch the Scars and stuff like that not know about it. But it was always in that category of like, oh, I'm not into anime, so I'm not going to watch that like a dummy, Like what a closed minded way

to think. And when we finally watched it, I didn't know what to expect because Totoro was so just such a simple story and so lovely and spirited Away was just so like druggie mind bending and out there and grotesque and scary, and uh, I was just like what the At times I was like, what am I watching? Is like it blew me away? Yeah, well that's one of the reasons that I am so fascinated by it and why I think it's so it's so interesting to talk about because this is a very very bad comparison.

So I should probably shouldn't even be doing it. But you know how like they are like, this is a very bad example, and it's of course I'm like, I'm whitewashing everything in americanizing it. But because I'm American, bear

with me. Radiohead is not a band I would have ever thought would have become a huge band all over the world, because you know, Tom York is interested in making more like his music was just becoming more and more experimental, and the more experimental became and the less sort of mass appeal you would think it had their

star continued to rise. And that's not always the case. Um, because you know, there's all you can snob out in pop culture and go like, oh the you know, a lot of the time really popular stuff is not necessarily great because it's been watered down, or it's doesn't have as unique voice or whatever. Um. And so the fact that something like this cross so many cultures and and was beloved to so many people in so many different age groups and is still so strange, I think it's

really cool and and worth noting. You know, I think that's a great comparison. Actually, Okay, well that's not bad. The two white people are great it's an Internet first Uh yeah, I mean it. I think as Emili and I were both watching it. Of course with Ruby, we were both a little bit uh not thinking I should we turn this off because she was really loving it. But I think we were just I didn't know it was so kind of batshit crazy right until we started

getting into it. And it's one of those that I watched it again, like just finished right before I recorded with Hodgment again for the second time. And I know it's a movie I'll revisit because it's one that I know you could probably see twenty times and just visually still find new things that just blow your mind somewhere

in the frame. Yeah, absolutely, And I will say, I mean that's the feeling that I have watching it, is it taps so quickly into the being a kid and feeling out of your elements somewhere, even if it's everything I say is so American, even if it's them all, uh like I keep getting awesome them all, but you know,

just that feeling of homesickness. I mean, I felt it activates my feeling of homesickness immediately because it's so it is so strange, and she's transported so quickly and she's so adorable, and the sense of like loneliness of feeling like I don't have anything to hang onto, I've got no sort of touchstone. I don't know what's happening to me. Uh for it doesn't pull its punches on that, to

be sure. And I completely understand why you would be watching with Ruby and going like sort of constantly just then watching realize you, oh, I'm just watching her. I'm not even watching the screen. I just want to make sure, however, she's responding to this, because I promise you, if I was four or five, six seven, possibly, there were so many movies that my dad thought I was ready for that he would turn have to turn off because I

would just be sobbing, sobbing. And it's those freaking mirror neurons, like when when a child would be afraid in in a in a moment in a movie, or even an adult, I would just be racked with like fear and sadness and I would have to take a break. Would be like, okay, j do you want it now here? There's all here are the categories. Do you want to stop watching it

and never come back to it? Do you want to keep watching it and power through the international breakdown you're having, or do you want to maybe we just take a break. Why don't we stop playing it and then we'll come back to it. I had to do that with a Life of Pie. Like the year that came out. I knew I couldn't see it in the theater. I was like, Nope,

not going to see in the theater. Finally got around to it and I and I was like, I got you know, forty minutes in and I was crying so hard that I was like, I'm gonna have to walk away from this, Mike, get a cup of tea, like, get myself back together. I know I'm going to finish it, but I cannot do it in one sitting. Um And this absolutely would have been the case for me. I would have the minute she's scared, the first time it starts crying, I would have been like, Okay, why don't

we stop this, why don't we bike ride? And then we'll come back and we'll be ready, will be stronger and tougher. We will have processed the first few minutes, right, you know. Yeah. The good thing about kids, or at least my experience with Ruby, is that they're they're so just brutally honest and like she'll let us know. First of all, we don't even have to check in um.

And also like just the little things that you find a five and a half year old saying watching a movie like Spirited Away along the way, you know the running commentary, which is, I wish I could have heard it. It's the sweetest thing because it's the basest, most honest take on something. Yeah, through those little eyes like um, it really helps you point because it can seem like a convoluted story when you read a plot summary of it.

It sounds crazy and hard to follow. And it is, like you said, as you're watching it, you're going, like, I am so engrossed in this. But if you asked me what is this movie about? Out, I would give the most cursory answer, knowing it was a waste of time because no one will get the sense of what it is just by saying, like a little girl gets lost in a bistical bathhouse, Like right, it's over. You can't talk about it, you know, but it is about Like it's one of those movies that an adult can

go and research afterwards, which is what I did. What's it about? And they're all these I know, I'm excited to talk about those themes because I too had to

be like, okay, I I know I'm missing stuff. It was that feeling, and even that is a little kid feeling, right of being like, I know this represents something specific and I cannot look I can't eyeball it and say, well, clearly, that's the difference between the working class and capital, like you quite able to fudget A little bit of this stuff is sort of obvious, But it's a movie that you can research and dive into. But the beauty of it is it's also a movie that can exist in

so simplistically for a five and a half year old. Absolutely, and she scared, she wants her parents. She loves Haku. Yeah, we all love HACKU. We all love hack. He's a dreamboat. First of all. I think him, I love him or be him. I'm not sure a handsome little Japanese dragon boy in our life to take care of things, that's right. Oh he's such what a splendid dragon he becomes, yeah,

very splendid dragon. Um. But let's talk about some of those themes because I did some research, and you know, some of the more obvious things is the class distinction, and like you know, obviously these parents literally become pigs after they drive up in their autie. And then at first you're like cash and credit cards and you know,

it's it's it's pretty black and white. But as the movie goes on, there's there's so much going on that I found myself wondering, all right, the three green heads, um, one of them has a full mustache and the other two do not, Like what is that? Like? Okay, one of these mustaches is different. If I activate that one, I will get out of the escape room faster. Uh, It's true, It's true. We think everything, which is a testament to it. I think absolutely, What are the themes

have you found? Janney, I was setting up to go, Well, there's also and who could forget? She said, hope, holding up her face. Well, I think the other another really big one is no face, right, Like wondering, like trying to understand, especially from you know, the sense you get of that character before he kind of transforms um and trying to sort of understand like, okay, is he something

it's it feels like he's mirroring his environment. But is that a very specific reference or is it just the sort of idea of how malleable we all are and how we need you know, some we we do need that touchdown, We do need that guide that who is going to remind us, you know, what the who we are or or what the best version of ourselves might be. Um, which actually don't know if that's like fully answered. I think.

I mean it's talks talks about the idea of him being you know, like reflecting the characters who surrounds him like and then becoming the things you consume, which makes you become even more of the thing that you've consumed, like if you sort of uh, it becomes this kind

of cycle. Um. But that's such an interesting character. And I will also say that that is an oft cosplayed character because when you look at the characters and spirited Away are like, oh, a lot of these would be a real challenge to pull off and pay homage to. If you're like trying to get around in a convention center, you put on your black cloak and you paint a beautiful no face mask. You have anonymity and you you know, provided you're not eating people, um, you stay pretty small

and you can you can navigate yourself across the coun floor. Yeah, and what was the magic trick that Miyazaki uses to somehow get different emotions out of no face and almost seemingly expression. But it doesn't change. I mean, it's all it's all in our own heads. As a viewer, I think, yeah, and this and just the I mean I I realized that I was leaning forward so hard when he's just going uh huh huh, like you really are like I'm with you, I'm with you, I'm okay, I'm right here,

like I'm trying to understand. I want to understand. Um that that that that could have such a strong effect and be so simple. You could say that for the whole movie. But that's definitely an example of like, oh, how do I help you? What do I do you need from me? You know, there's a lot of that in this movie. I think because you identify so strongly with all of the characters to want to jump through the screen and lend a hand. Yeah. Um, And and it's hard as a person of my age coming into

this stuff at the first time. I can't not compare it to Disney. And that's totally fair. Well, look, Disney had to, I mean, they that was like Pixar who kind of helped Shepherd in the movie on the American side. So were you thinking of the brooms the brooms uh and the little set care Well, I just mean sort of period, like just the different different animation styles, the fact that there's and you know, I love the Disney stuff.

I love the Pixar stuff, and there they do have substance, but there's so much more meat on the bone with this stuff than your typical Disney thing. And I think part of that is all the symbolism that you may not quite have it with the Disney movies. Part of it is it's not wall to wall pop music. Um, you don't always know, you don't know to look for the pidd and penises and the Little Mermaid. And I

love the music of all. I mean, I can listen to and now I have to and have enjoyed listening to Frozen and and uh and Frozen two and uh, what's the one on the Island with the girl? It was so great Mowanna, Like, I love all those songs. But there's something really refreshing about seeing a movie like this with just that wonderful score and not feeling like they're trying to sell a soundtrack on top of it. Well,

it's funny because there are elements of it. I brought up the brooms um from Fantasia with a little soot creatures, because there are some sort of like you could compare some of it to Fantasia, which is, you know, not something that Disney continuously repeated. But it was this very strange, special experiment that did have all of these different styles and all of these and was you know, so largely based in the music. And it was entirely based in the music and and some you know, more mature sort

of themes um. But I'm sure he did. I'm sure he did. I have absolutely Again, modern Jackass magazine do not know what I'm talking about. It seems unlikely that he wouldn't have been exposed to that. But I mean, that's the thing where it's like, well, if that was a mild influence or inspiray, shin, you've taken it to the nth level and so far out, you know, just surpassed whatever your influence was profoundly um. And I realized also by the way that I was lying, this was

not the first anime that I ever saw. I did I I saw, I saw. I know that there's something else that I saw, in addition to having seen something called Barefoot Gen which is UM anime that I watched in an ethics in film class when I was in college. And it is a horrifying, heartbreaking, shattering as it should be UH anime about a little boy and uh in the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and it is fucking horrible.

It will haunt you forever. I there are things in that movie I can't unsee and it is chilling, And it was definitely something that you know, it's so well done, but boy is it. I mean, it's like, you know, the only comparison is the Wall I guess you know, and that it's just you're like, oh, yes, the things that can be achieved through anime in terms of depicting human horrors that we put each other through no no bounds.

So if anybody wants to see something that will shatter their soul and make them never question whether Americans should be hated by other countries for decisions they've made through time. It's it's really something, It's really something well anime definitely feels like it's much more willing to walk through the door of of making a movie that really teaches kids something much more deeply than sort of the Disney stuff.

I mean, there are plenty of less Every Disney movie has it's lesson, But I don't think they're dumbed down. They're just very sort of down here and basic. I can't wait to have this conversation after you've watched The Last Bender, because you're twirling your hair. Guess what you will not say that about those Oh okay, you will be like, wow, I can't believe Ruby loved it for this. But the whole time during that episode, I kept thinking, God, this is so you know, there's some deep, deep stuff

in there. I guess one of the big themes is that's sort of talked about the parents feeding their faces, and there's so much grotesque sort of what was it called the stink distinct distinc spirit. There's so there's so much over consumption and purging. Were so the theme of regurgitation and like X explanation, I guess so, I mean

it just that happens over and over and over. Yeah, there's a lot of puking, like the idea of being like I'm gonna sit down with a you know, bag of pop corn and some snickers and just you know, it'll drive you towards vegetarian is well, I don't know if that was any of the point of it. Um. I love the Uh. Just that whole first bathing sequence. Uh, from the moment it started till the moment it ended

was just so fucking weird, amazing. Yeah. Uh, because you're trying to figure out, as the first time watcher, like what even is what is going on at this bathhouse? And like I think you spend most of the movie trying to figure this out, and and you think, boy, this is nuts. And that's in the first third ish of the movie, and it just gets crazier and crazy.

Yeah it doesn't. It's so unapologetically bizarre and it's not like things get wrapped up in a way that that like, using just this as one example, you know, the main character Yukuba, right is or you, Bubba. I don't want to say that wrong, So I hope that you can edit that out. Um yeah, no, I beg you, I beg you. I don't need the hate mail. I do not need the hate mail. Um yeah, yeah, Bubba, thank you.

But the fact that she has we find out, you know, towards the end of the movie, while not really maybe it's halfway through, but that she apparently has a twin sister, and yeah, and and a twin sister, Zeniba. And then when we meet we go to and then Zeniba says, it has this wonderful she has this uh they all have this kind of wonderful experience with her, and she call me, call me granny. Then when sen goes back

to see she calls her granny. And that's right at the end, and you're and you're like, oh, wait a minute, and but nothing is that's it, that's your that's your your experience of is that is she is she one? And the same is is there's nothing helping you along other than that she calls granny. And then you sort of project back and go, well, it does fly away every day. Where is she going? I need it? Well year old to explain it to me. Yeah, exactly, like

for real. But I mean, but that's the other ideas, like there's no one is ever any one thing. And I mean, as much as you would think, oh, this person stands for this, so this person represents this. Everyone's constantly transforming. People have more than one name. Um. You know, So there's like, I mean, there's as much transformative stuff that just keeps happening over and over as there is puking, yeah,

as there is barfing out sludge uh in. In my research, I did find that u shape shifting is such a big thing in Japanese culture, So I mean this movie is just full of it, like things morphing into different things all over the place. Yeah. I don't know that I've ever seen a movie with so many original looking creatures.

It's you know, when you're used to when you're raised an America and you're you've seen only Disney, you see kids and adults and like a talking animal, one talking parrot or something right, right, And that's sort of the extent of it. Maybe some of them get a little more creative than that, but like, nothing that comes close to touching this. And also why when you're watching it, why why are some people presenting as human? Why are some people? Why are some creatures sort of human what

you know? And then other creatures nothing like them? The big giant baby. You know, some things are have almost no shape at all and just totally just sort of shadows with like a little bit of a hint of maybe two eyes. And then some are fully articulated and have giant bushy mustaches and multiple arms and little claw nails and they're the good right, or they're the tiny little black little little guys are so cute, little city

dusk guys. Yeah, I think you know, there's so many little things about the movie that make it stand out above the rest. Like one of my favorite sequences at the end, when she's taking the train with no phase and instead of just having the train on the tracks, the tracks are underwater and that just like all of a sudden, everything is reflected and it's just a little decision like that where you know, whereas it could have just been a train track is just it's amazing. Yeah.

And those all the backdrop painting is just yeah, so stunning. I mean it hurts your heart how beautiful some of those renderings are. And um, you know, I had that there are these moments where I would be like, oh, I'm going to look away to you know, pick up my glass of water, and then I would go what wait, and then you would and then I would rewind. And it was like on that, especially specifically on the train, it was like, oh, the blank space quote quotes that

they're that they're going through. You don't want to miss that because there's this sort of open landscape that's just might as well be an abstract painting. But it's just beautiful. It's just beautiful to the eye. Yeah. I mean, the whole third act is just full of so much emotion

and heart. I think there's a lot of like sort of figuring it out of the story and a lot of fear of what's going on through the first two thirds, and then that last third it really goes into much more as far as if you're used to watching Disney and more traditionally able to digest it thing like linear even it's just like a sense of was a standard

linear storytelling style sort of Yeah. And then like oh my god, when she's flying with Haku and she remembers the story about the shoe, yeah, and he turned and she remembers that he was the spirit of the river and he changes back, it's just like the music swelling and oh, I'm like getting choked up just thinking. I know, I'm like crying in my house at a on a what's this a Wednesday at noon? About to record Ricogman and I'm finishing up that movie. I'm like, I gotta

pull it together. Yeah, And you know, Ruby's like, why are you guys crying? Like this is very sad to remember he was a river and She's like, but that's happy, and I'm like, oh, so simple. It really active. That was That was another thing that I was not expecting was um and this is you know, perhaps speaking of going deeper than necessary for movie crush, but uh it I felt I'm I'm so used to crying during movies.

It's it's a non issue. I mean, that's that's that's expected. Um. But I had the the feeling that for those of you who have experienced a loss that has resulted in tremendous grief of some kind, I had that like you can't take a deep enough breath kind of feeling where grief is like, oh I don't have lungs anymore, only grief, and it just there's a sense of there's a really scary, out of control role feeling about grief sometimes and crying

and feeling like, you know, you really understand why there are cultures that that have keening and that wail and and that that that that is a necessary part of of grieving because they're speaking of regurgitating. There is a sense of needing to get something foreign that's lodged inside of you out so that you can continue to be a person and survive. And that started bubbling up in me,

and I was so unprepared for it. And it like everything with this movie not like everything you can definitely draw, as we said, we're identifying certain themes, but at the same time, it's just abstract enough that you can't necessarily you don't have to necessarily point to any one thing because it's just this feelings are just being washed over you.

And then and the music and the visuals and the sense of emotion even not expressed through this specific fick experience of a character um that I was like I couldn't necessarily say, you know, because Brandon was like I was like, oh no, like like, oh, this has become something else now for you, and sort of like how what what was what was there a trigger? And I was like no, I don't know. It was almost like a sneeze, you know what I mean. It was just

like this is just happening to me. I'm just it's just happening, and I can't say, oh, I it was that moment. This moment reminded me of my mom dying, Like not at all, but it has just been. It was just down there. I was like, I'm ready here, I come. Guess what I really I really was like, God, I gotta I gotta get this under control. Like I have to sort of tell myself, like you can breathe, you can breathe. You know, it's okay to have this ceiling.

It feels good, absolutely, I mean it always feels better, like throwing up. The moment when the nausea stops and you've realized that you have you fear body feels amazing. Going from feeling so intensely difficult on some level, Is it is that's its own high of just saying, oh,

I feel so much better, this is amazing. Yes. Yeah, I've had those moments through movies, specifically where it I don't even know and if it, like you were saying, if it was something specific that was inside me that I clearly needed to get out but I wasn't in

touch with. But where I had found myself just un inconsolable and and just in a different state of upset than I had ever been at the at the end of a movie or something, and it happened a couple of years ago, and I can't remember the movie, so like, that's not even the important part. It's this. It's this literal physical reaction that happens. Like we said, there are no lungs anymore. It's like your your throat closes, and

it's uh, it's very cathartic feeling. I always wondered if like primal screen therapy would be something that would benefit me. I mean, that's you, I get it. There are cree creepy seventies therapy that you see in like cult documentaries. I'm sorry to say, I'm like, now this I don't have a problem with. It's like, wait a minute, that that's the thing that most people are pointing to, going like, well that's wrong, and it looks very healing actually exactly.

Oh goodness, um the I'm surprised Disney didn't try to rip this off at some point, not this movie specifically, but after Spirited Away. I'm surprised they didn't say, well, let's try our hand at anime, or maybe they did and I wasn't aware of it. I don't even know. Yeah, I don't. I mean I think you know, like Big Hero six sort of again, now I'm sort of conflating Pixar and Disney, and that's not fair to Pixar into sense, um, it's not fair to either. Look is that fair to either? Um?

I have I I feel the same way about Disney stuff as as you do anything. I still want to do voice work for both, and I'm and I am available, and I do and I am a princess. I'm a princess, princess princess. Uh No, I mean, it's just it's just a different The experience that you expect to have is different. And that's not to say that there aren't Disney movies that have had um, really lasting impacts on me, and

that I absolutely cherish an adore. I think to some degree there is a sense of I don't want to fetishize the otherness of being from a different culture, but the experience of of watching, you know, I mean, even like something like Aladdin is still told through the lens of American storytelling, Like that's okay, this is how we understand this is this is the Disney way of understanding this thing that you know is now like problematic yet

also very beloved and important. For other reasons to people, and I get all of that, um, but I think there there's you know, there's just something to be said for like we should all like we should all be so lucky as to have the opportunity to see art from all over the world that just feels really important and um, and it might connect you with something inside yourself that you haven't had access to through art because some some some way in which you've you've digested it,

like there, it hasn't touched a certain part, you know, um that maybe something else will. Yeah. I mean anytime I'm traveling or here in Atlanta at the High Museum, anytime I see like something, you know, the art of Zimbabwe coming for two weeks whatever, whatever, I always try and go because you know, and a lot of times it's not something that resonates with me, but sometimes it is. But it's just like, well, you know, now I know

what that's like. Now now I know what that country is putting out there, absolutely, and and that definitely goes I think for my Unsurprisingly, things that maybe would be more accessible or thought of as children's entertainment on some level if they are like Miyazaki or if they are like you know Hungarian like puppetry or I mean pupp treat to great example, speaking of the Center for Puppetry.

You see the way, if you see the way all these different cultures handle the same idea of like a doll that's moving on behalf of a person, like it has some sort of human traits and characteristics. Um, it's it's amazing what you can what you find is universal. And then also those moments that you feel like, oh, I'm seeing something that comes from some totally other place in terms of you know, like literally and and metaphorically, and that's it's you know, it's exciting and it is uncomfortable.

It can be uncomfortable. Yeah, and it doesn't even have to be another culture or country. Sometimes it can just be something and there's a little off track, but it can be something that you just never previously were turned onto. Yeah. That One of the maybe top two three museum exhibits I've ever seen was the Alexander McQueen one in New York that I was like, I don't know anything about fashion and how fashion and couture and I know nothing

about that stuff. So I go to the show and I'm just like blown away and then all of a sudden, I'm not all of a sudden some huge fashion guy, but I wanted to watch the documentary about this guy, and I wanted to know more about his life. And it's like, you know, Emily and I went to the opera once in l A. We've never been in the opera. It turns out we don't like the opera. Fair enough, fair you gotta you gotta try that chip. Yeah, I

got a couple of operas of it. You would like, Oh yeah, I don't know, being like a weird opera dealer, all of a Sunnen got a couple of I got a couple of operas. I think you met. Like we went to see La bo M that Bas Lorman put on stage in l A when I lived there. I was like, this is gonna be the one. It's bos Lorman,

it's operads, and we just couldn't get into it. There's a there's a German opera company um that did a version of the Magic Flute that was like, um, Tim Burton nineteen like Tim Burton meets the nineteen twenties meets opera. It's they used a bunch of film projection and um, and it's just strange and dark and unlike anything I had ever seen before, and I was like, oh, I love opera. And then I went and saw something more convention I was like, oh, no, I appreciate opera. I

appreciate opera. I just love that opera in that specific way, and says Janet, you need to take a little break. Do you need to finish this later? Do you want to power through? Oh, that's what intermissions are for got it, gotta gotta got it. It's your opportunity to leave with grace. Yeah, it's your opportunity to realize you left the stove on and that's fine. Um. Well, just to wrap up Spirited Away, I think the ending with um it kind of struck me today. Well, like the supposed goal is for her

to be reunited with her parents, but it's not. Um, it's not one that if you grew up on Disney, your conditioned that that is like the end all be all. Like as a viewer, you're not like, you're kind of like, do you really want her to go back to Yes? The movie yeah, And it pays off in exactly that way, like its ending is so abrupt you don't go to see started very quickly and yeah, like I don't know where she hero was going to live she see the

new home. I feel sorry for her that she is back with the parents that were greedy enough that they I mean, because at the end of the day, they were the ones who made the decision to you know, we don't have an understanding of them having been magic into gorging themselves on this food. Um, that seems to be a decision that they fully made on their own. And um, and it's yeah, it's so funny, Like here, I immediately Michael Chicklist just says one of those voices

that I just, you know, immediately know it's him. And I was like, oh, that's Checklist. That is full on Checklist, Like they're really they really did it because they picked this like just very like I'm just a regular guy, you know voice as his. Yeah, and and and then I had to look up that it was Lauren Holly who did the female voice, because it wasn't quite as iconic sounding. But yeah, but and Suzanne Plushchett is the ISA, which is like, you have to smoke a lifetime. She

had to. She really devoted a lifetime of smoking to that role. Um, with her incredibly raspy boys, but of course it was perfect. Um but yeah, she's she comes back and you really have a sense of like, oh, yeah, the regular world cool, cool, cool, and you know as she's going through that, and then they're like, well, you're gonna be going to do school and she's like, I

think I'll be okay. Credits it's just very over, yeah, not a lot of sentiment attached, like you're used to hear in the States, Um, well in fact, and she's like she's so she's feeling emotional in her mom's like don't stop clinging, like oh boy, okay. Yeah, it's like can we go back to the to the spirit world to Yeah, it's a little bit of the Goonies effect of like the kid has this big adventure and then as reunited with the parents and then it's kind of like, oh,

adventure Land was so much better. Yeah. Yeah, I think, um,

we are and we are. Yeah, you're right. We're conditioned to feel like if it's a it's a movie we think of for young people, there's more a sense of like I have to be taken care of all the way through, and part of being taken care of all the way through means that there's something beautiful and wonderful and and uh and and safe and great about being back with your parents and yeah, I think he wanted the parents to be different or like, if they were

here in the United States, the parents would have transformed somehow and been different. And then you know, but this means accuses like nah, yeah, back to it. Yeah, kid, they wish they could have eaten more of the those beautiful dumplings. I know, those dumplings that they eventually probably threw up. Well, Janet, this was great. I think we were going to record a separate thing to go into the final mini Crush, but I think since we're here and we're just chatting, uh, this is the last Movie

Crush episode officially. Uh. You started the show off with show number one, and everyone was like, oh, you started with Tron the best movies of all time. You can't listen. You came around, did you? I don't know, but you you, if I recall correctly, you begrudgingly acknowledged that there was personal history that made my choice really justifiable. Have you been hanging on to this for three and a half years? I am this is a reckoning, Mr, this is a reckoning.

Now it's not even about the movies. It's about having these great conversations with with people who are friends of mine sometimes and people who I don't know that I can connect with about movies and art and culture. And um, you were the first person to have on because it was it was just a no brainer for me to have someone on who has done a lot for me and my personal creative life. And I know I've told you that before, but you have always challenged me to

do things I didn't think I could do. And uh, I know that will continue through the years with um sketch Fest coming back back, which I'm so excited about. But I wanted to have you on here is the last guest, and that you were actually the fact you were already scheduled. And then it's kind of been in the back of my head about ending the show, and then it kind of hit me out of the blue. I was like, wait a minute, Janet's coming on. It's like, I think this is it, Like this is a sign

you'll just bookend it. An I can't thank you for that. That means so much to me. I I can't even tell you why. Um, I that means that just means the world to me, chuck, um, because I've been wanting to do the show again and um and then dem old Cole like became you know the guy who comes on the show. So oh, I goes, he's you do He's gonna talk about defending your life. Great, now I

can't talk about defending your life either, Thanks, Cole. Let's just keep cross him off all my favorite movies off less. Uh no, it's and it and it really you know, as you know, we were going to record earlier than this, and my mom passed away, and I was just sort of take, you know, pulling back because at any moment, I didn't know when that feeling was going to bubble up, and it felt very very unpredictable, and it felt like

a lot to put another person through. If I understand now, you know, you could have had the juicy your episode. If if we've done it, then uh and so and and so I'm really really glad that it that it did work out, because I don't know that you would necessarily have have thought, you know, oh right, I you know, Jan is probably wondering why I didn't follow up with her after her mom died to say are you ready yet?

Are you ready yet. Um, well, i'd certainly is trying to give you space, and I knew it would come around at some point. Well, I just and then too, you know, I I just miss you guys. I can't believe of how much love I have and such a deep connection I have with friends that I mean, I can but um, you know I I I love you guys like you're my next door neighbors and we've lived

next to each other for ten years. I it's so insane how much I would yeah, and and so you know, my it really it's very touching to me that you would that you would have me on and have it be the last episode. I don't I thank you and and and if you're and and if it's and if it feels good and like, yes, I'm I was ready to be do you know it's not like that. Obviously, no one's saying it's not a show that you that you would have done forever that someone else was like,

we're a Paula blug buddy. Sorry, you know, to feel like that's the nice thing that's sort of representative of one of the nice things about podcasting is that you can go I think I'm good like this was great. This was great. On your terms, I'll probably do some episodes here and there when I feel like it. No, this is the last episode. What are you talking about? Don't undo what it? Asshole. I can't believe I did that. No, I've told people that I will do one off episodes

here and there. But how about this. Of course, after every one of those potential last episodes, I will have you on to get and we'll have this moment again. Won't beat contrived? Mean a lot to me? You know what. I'll even watch whatever movie it was that your other guests wanted to talk about, and you just tag me on and we'll just do one minute's worth where I tell you my opinion of the movie, and then we spend the rest of the time saying, well, right, you're wonderful,

this is great. What a run? Can you believe it? Uh? So, thank you, Janet Barney. Where what's what's the name of your podcast? Where can people find it? Uh? The Avatar podcast is Avatar Braving the Elements. Uh. It is available anywhere you get podcasts. It is an I Heart Radio UH partnered presentation. But you can find it anywhere Stitcher, Apple, all that good stuff and it comes out every Tuesday, and I do that again with Dante Bosco and uh. And then obviously the j V Club has been around,

Chuck's been on it more than once. I talked to people about their awkward teenage years. UM one of my favorite shows. It's a very it's very very fun again like movie Crush, It's like, yeah, the premises, we talked about this, but it's really just about getting to know someone and getting a chance to hang out. Um. And then and then I do an improvised space comedy podcast called Voyage to the Stars with Kirsten vangs Nous from Criminal Minds, Felicia Day, Colton Dunne, Steve Berg and oh

you didn't. Oh we've been like, we've just finished recording our third season, but only two seasons I think are out. Um. Yeah, we were on a We're on a mad cap adventure, a bunch of people thrown together. I am not even a person. I'm an AI on a ship that eventually gets a robot body. Uh and uh, and have a bunch of uncomfortable space missive tuers that UM most often results in as accidentally destroying a planet as we try to navigate back to Earth. I got to check that out.

You should look because it's of course a ton of your favorite people are the guests of it too. All right, Janet, Well, I can't wait to see you hopefully next January sketch Fest and hug your neck and get Brandon and Emily and all of us together again. Yes, please, I need it. My soul needs it. My soul needs it too, And I'm so glad again to have been the very very final, final final episode of the movie Crush. Final episode. All right, I'm gonna let you have the last even word, So

go ahead, what's your final word? Final episode? One word by Janet? All right, everybody, that was it. I hope you like that as much as I did. I had such a good time talking to Janet. She's just you know, she's she's the best. I've said it before. I know you're tired of me saying that she's the best, but she really is. If you knew her, you'd say the same thing. So big thanks to Janet for for coming back and wrapping up the regular weekly interview editions with me.

Thanks to Janet for kicking off the show three and a half years ago with Tron and uh boy, It's It's been a lot of fun in between, and book ending this with Janet means a lot to me, so big thanks to her. So I hope you all enjoyed it, and I hope you take care of yourselves. This is not the end. Look for episodes here and there, everyone, They'll be coming at you with some regularity. But I

love you all and I thank you all. Look for a very special supersized mini crush coming up soon as soon as I can lick this covid and get everybody in the can that I wanted to And you're really gonna enjoy that. One's a lot of fun. So be well, take care of yourselves, get backs, and continue to wear those masks everyone. Movie Crash is produced and written by Charles Bryant and Meel Brown, edited and engineered by Seth Nicholas Johnson, and scored by Noel Brown here in our

home studio at Pontsty Market, Atlanta, Georgia. For iHeart Radio. For more podcasts for my Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.