This deep into the Summer of Sequels, our hosts have learned to be on the lookout for some common pitfalls. Cheaper animation, inverted plot points and lazier songwriting are just a few examples of the trappings Disney likes to adorn their sequels with. Luckily for our Mary Poppins-loving hosts, MARY POPPINS RETURNS avoids many of these elements and is altogether a pretty decent follow-up to the beloved classic. Which isn't to say it's practically perfect in every way, by any means. For every so...
Aug 01, 2019•1 hr 10 min
It's been a busy summer of remakes for Disney, but it's finally over (at least for now) with the release of their updated version of THE LION KING. That's right all the words, notes and even some voices that you loved from the beloved animated classic, now with 100% more photorealistic looking animals. It's so similar, you'll gasp in wonder, exclaiming "what's the point?" as Timon and Pumbaa slurp down some very real looking creepy crawlies. You'll wince when you hear a line delivery that just d...
Jul 25, 2019•1 hr 10 min
No Summer of Sequels would be complete without a visit to the absolute depths of the Eisner-instigated era of sequels. While sequels to Disney's animated classics were generally relegated to direct-to-video releases, the odd time they decided to go the theatrical route, and Peter Pan sequel RETURN TO NEVERLAND is one such case. These movies also tended to be, well, more or less identical to their original installments, maybe with a few plot inversions. As you may suspect, that doesn't leave our ...
Jul 18, 2019•58 min
Our hosts' journey through the complete Disney filmography has always been one of discovery. Old favourites seen in new lights, modern classics being scrutinized, and yellow-face skeletons found in closets. But Vicky, Nolan and Jill often have the best time when they discover a diamond in the rough. On paper, THE BISCUIT EATER sounds like pretty standard 70s Disney fare, subcategory "boy and his dog" movie. In reality, it surprised and delighted with its good-natured characters, lack of having a...
Jul 11, 2019•1 hr 8 min
This week is a very special installment of the Summer of Sequels with a movie we're sure you've all heard of and have been looking forward to - RETURN TO SNOWY RIVER! ...What's that? Never heard of it? That's strange. How could you not have heard of this sequel to one of the 1983 Golden Globe Best Foreign Film nominees? Sure, Disney had nothing to do with THAT movie, so we have not and will not ever watch it for this podcast (or likely otherwise)...ok come to think of it that is pretty bizarre. ...
Jul 04, 2019•1 hr 13 min
During We Want The D Minnie Mouse-isodes, the listeners are represented by two separate yet equally important groups. The host who diligently researches and presents stories from Disney's colourful history, and the hosts who get to listen and crack jokes. These are their stories. DUN DUN. Winter, 2018. The geodesic dome known as Epcot. A weary Disney World employee makes his way into the abandoned pavilion. She gives the empty hall a casual once-over - nobody cares about this place aside from a ...
Jun 27, 2019•57 min
While it shouldn't really be a surprise to see how many unnecessary sequels Disney churned out over the years, they still manage to throw us a curve ball every once in awhile. Because who could have imagined that they'd make a direct, made-for-tv sequel to the Hayley Mills' version of The Parent Trap, appropriately titled THE PARENT TRAP II? Let alone that they'd make it 25 years later when the twins played by Mills are 40 years old. So while there are twin hijinks, they're pretty low-rent...sor...
Jun 20, 2019•54 min
The 90s were generally a pretty good decade for Disney, what with the renaissance of their animated features and some beloved sports movies and such. As we've seen before, however, there were some real clunkers in the mix as well. But perhaps none that land with such a dull thud as A KID IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT - a movie so bad it almost makes you wish it had been made in 60s/70s era Disney. At least that way maybe it would be about a baby goat running around a castle instead of some pubescent du...
Jun 13, 2019•1 hr 2 min
A little over a year ago, Vicky, Nolan and Jill were delighted to make the acquaintance of Merlin Jones, the scrambled egghead of Medvale Collage. Now, during the Summer of Sequels, our hosts couldn't be more excited to return to this campus of extremely old students for more of Merlin's wackadoo adventures in Disney's THE MONKEY'S UNCLE. Like all good sequels, this one gives us more of what we crave - more Tommy Kirk (in his final Disney role), more green screen dream sequences, and more of Ann...
Jun 06, 2019•1 hr 5 min
It's a banner year for Disney's live action remakes and it's all our hosts can do to keep up. This revisit of animated classic ALADDIN had some ill-tidings leading up to it, from a delay-causing casting process to find the right leads to some worrying early footage and images of Will Smith's take on the Genie. Is this destined to be yet another hollow recreation that trades on nostalgia dollars, or a worthy update to a beloved film? There's only one way to find out!
May 30, 2019•1 hr 37 min
We're kicking off another summer series here on We Want The D! What could be better than spending the season focusing on one beloved Disney franchise? Easy - focusing on many! In the Summer of Sequels we'll be tackling the theatrical, direct-to-video and TV movie sequels to some of Disney's best and worst and everything in between. We're kicking things off with the direct-to-video sequel to a theatrically released movie based on a cartoon TV series - AN EXTREMELY GOOFY MOVIE! All your favourites...
May 23, 2019•56 min
Welcome to another Minnie Mouse-isode, where we're showcasing yet another important figure in Disney's history. This week, we learn that while Ron Miller seemingly couldn't produce an on-brand Disney movie to save his life, he wasn't necessarily the bumbling fool who lucked into a cushy job thanks to marrying Daddy Walt's firstborn daughter we often view him as. Except for the luck part, he definitely had that coming out the wazoo.
May 16, 2019•47 min
Vicky, Nolan and Jill learned a lot of lessons from this week's movie. We learned that with a head-strong attitude and plucky spirit, one can stand in the background of some of the most pivotal moments in American history. We learned that even when working on the Sabbath and keeping a sharp eye out for passing constables, it's important to always handle molten silver with care. And we learned that there really isn't anything that Vicky can't and won't sexualize. All that and more from Disney's J...
May 09, 2019•52 min
It's our 200th episode! One that features all the hard-hitting, considered analysis you've come to expect from We Want The D. Is Disney's TARZAN a triumphant conclusion to the renaissance, or a sign that it was truly over? Was Rosie O'Donnell born to play Turk, or was her casting capitalizing on her Ellen-like popularity in the 90s? Does this movie have a younger target audience in mind than usual, or are there deeper themes about family and fatherhood at play? Are Tarzan and Jane the hottest an...
May 02, 2019•1 hr 30 min
The story set up in the Disney TV Movie LIFE-SIZE is pretty grim. A young girl, two years out from the death of her mother, has still not properly processed her grief. Her father, rather than be there for his daughter, has thrown himself into work. As we all know, that's a recipe for any pre-teen girl to start dabbling in the occult (or metaphysics). So it's no surprise that things go from bad to worse when Lindsay Lohan accidentally brings a doll to life instead of raising her mother from the g...
Apr 25, 2019•1 hr 11 min
Ol' Walt used to get inspiration for his movies from all sorts of places. His daughters beloved books, timeless folklore, heck even a mountain one time. So it's not all that surprising that when he happened to catch a performance of the Vienna Boys' Choir during his travels, he called up the studio with the latest hot idea. The result is ALMOST ANGELS, a film that is part mild early-60s Disney output, part straight-up promotional video for those high-singing Austrian boys. It's a little bit char...
Apr 18, 2019•1 hr 2 min
If you're familiar with this movie, or the classic children's novel its based on, you probably know what is in store here. Much like our hosts, who all pretty much knew what they were getting into when they sat down to watch this movie. It's hard not to be saddened by Disney's BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA, it's sort of built-in to the story; what with poor lil' Josh Hutcherson having trouble bonding with his dad, the T1000; lil' Mary Belle and her twinkees; and lil' AnnaSophia Robb...well, you probably ...
Apr 11, 2019•1 hr 21 min
This week's episode would come with a big ol' spoiler warning for the latest in Disney's line of live action remakes, except for the fact that this new version of DUMBO is pretty predictable for anyone who has, y'know, seen a movie before. Yes, unfortunately the only surprise to be had in this film is that it somehow made it to theatres under the Disney banner, while functioning as a part-parody, part-condemnation of giant amusement parks and megalomaniacal businessmen/entertainers...something y...
Apr 04, 2019•1 hr 22 min
From the corpses in the backgrounds of The Black Cauldron to Charles Martin Smith's D in Never Cry Wolf, the Disney movies of the 1980s have given us some strange and precious gifts. But perhaps none moreso than this week's film, MIDNIGHT MADNESS. Featuring a cast of dozens of some unknown but some very familiar faces, more hijinks than you can count, and a shrill disco theme song, there is no movie Vicky, Nolan and Jill have watched to date that better embodies the sheer aimlessness of Disney i...
Mar 28, 2019•1 hr 33 min
Our hosts have been hit with some standard podcasting pitfalls (travel delays, general illness) this week, but rather than leave our dear listeners without your weekly dose of D, we have another Minnie Mouse-isode for your enjoyment. Listen to Jill's story of her first trip to Disneyland, recorded shortly after her return back in January 2018, while Vicky and Nolan recount their own childhood experiences with Disney's theme parks and try not to get too jealous.
Mar 21, 2019•1 hr 7 min
You don't need us to tell you that the 1990s were a different time. There's enough "only 90s kids" memes to cover that territory. But what is often left out is how gaga everyone went for this Wonderful World of Disney staging of Rogers and Hammerstein's CINDERELLA. And on paper, our hosts can see why. Whitney Houston! Brandi! Whoopi! Victor Garber! A veritable who's who of titans of song and stage. But in execution? Erm. Well, it is Cinderella, that's for sure. But let's just say turns out when ...
Mar 14, 2019•59 min
As any regular listener knows, we often find ourselves confused by Disney's choice in movies when doing this ill-advised dive into their filmography. But this week's confusion has a bit of a different tone to it. Because in 1958's THE LIGHT IN THE FOREST, rather than romanticize the rugged individualism and rough-and-tumble attitude of colonial America, they almost seem...critical of it? Don't get us wrong, that by no means excuses them casting people of every background EXCEPT Native Americans ...
Mar 07, 2019•1 hr 10 min
One of the universal truths in life is that movies based on video games will never work, and it's a lesson Disney learned well with their attempt at adapting PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME. It's hard to pinpoint exactly where they went wrong first, but somewhere between not really thinking the plot through and casting all white actors in a movie set in Persia and about Persian royalty is probably a good guess. That's not to say there's nothing of value here - Jake Gyllenhaal dipping his rip...
Feb 28, 2019•1 hr 9 min
What is there to say about Disney's SUMMER MAGIC? A teenage Hayley Mills moves to the country and does some light home renovations; Burl Ives commits mail fraud and sings a song about bugs set over nature documentary footage; an easter egg from previous We Want The D episode The Barefoot Executive is revealed...and that's more or less it, really. For some (or one of our hosts) that's enough. For others...well, there's some meandering stories that even the charms of Hayley Mills and the songs of ...
Feb 21, 2019•1 hr
Funny how different people have different definitions of what constitutes a miracle. For many, it's an act of God - fishes and loaves, water to wine and whatnot. For others, it's when a hodgepodge of college hockey players are physically and psychologically abused and manipulated by their coach so they can beat a team of professional-level soviet players. Such is the story of Team USA at the Lake Placid Olympic games, as depicted in the Disney film MIRACLE. And if you're wondering what kind of t...
Feb 14, 2019•1 hr 1 min
Disney often confounds us with the stories they chose to tell in their feature films, and no more so when they lean heavily into the genre of war movie. But VALIANT turns that confusion up to eleven with its decision to focus on the, erm, brave pigeons who served as messengers during WWII. As always, it's not just the concept but the execution; why make the birds so ugly? Why are all doves girls? Why does that Nazi falcon have a blond flat-top? This movie raises so many questions, so of course V...
Feb 07, 2019•1 hr 4 min
The Mighty Ducks are back! That's right, the whole gang is here, except for the handful of players who are inexplicably missing. And while a few teammates aren't the only things retconned out of this sequel, our focus in this episode lands elsewhere. You see, as Canadians, it is our hosts' birthright to complain when hockey is inaccurately depicted. And boy are there all sorts of rules in regulations being broken here, both on the ice and in general tournament organization and administration. No...
Jan 31, 2019•1 hr 15 min
Don Quixote is a timeless classic that has been retold and adapted many times over the years. So it shouldn't really have surprised us that Disney would take their own kick at the can with SCANDALOUS JOHN, which takes the story of the Spanish noble who believes himself a chivalrous knight and adapts it into one about an old rancher suffering from dementia who holds dozens of people at gunpoint on his quest across the desert to the wild west equivalent of a pioneer village. Things take a turn whe...
Jan 24, 2019•55 min
This week on We Want The D we dive into another one of Disney's post-war package films. This is another collection of shorts that lack any sort of thematic commonality, only connected by the fact that each is backed by some sort of song or soundtrack. Something so nondescript deserves the title of MELODY TIME, so it's not surprise when Vicky, Nolan and Jill have a hard time focusing on shorts about bumblebees, trees and our old friend Pecos Bill and indulging in a few tangents that we're sure yo...
Jan 17, 2019•1 hr 1 min
To tell you, dear listener, anything about this movie here would rob you of the unique opportunity of hearing Vicky, Nolan and Jill attempt to explain this particular Disney movie. But we have to write something, so we'll say this much: THE ONE AND ONLY, GENUINE, ORIGINAL FAMILY BAND is a movie of length. The title is obviously long. The runtime is long. There's an almost absurd amount of musical numbers. And there is truly no end to how insane our hosts found virtually ever facet of this movie....
Jan 10, 2019•1 hr 14 min
