STUDY GROUP: Out Of The Dark Age

05/24/22 • 90 min

Class is back in session! But in true nearly-the-summer-holidays style, you’re not expected to do any work this week. Film journalist Ben Travis and animation academic Sam Summers are back to banish The Dark Age once and for all with another Study Group episode, capping off the era of Walt Disney Animation Studios films we most recently explored. Rankings are updated, the best characters, songs and sequences are discussed, and the stage is set for the Disney Renaissance. All that, and there’s plenty to get caught up on: the Oscars performance of ‘Bruno’, the arrival of Pixar’s Turning Red, a mind-boggling Letterboxd list, Sam’s beloved (and expensive) new action figures, and important updates from guests Sam Clements and Nick de Semlyen. Next episode: Chip ’N Dale: Rescue Rangers bonus episode Disniversity is brought to you by Ben Travis (@benstravis) and Sam Summers (@samsummers0), with art by Olly Gibbs and music by Nafets. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @disniversity. This podcast is not affiliated with Disney. — Welcome to Disniversity, the podcast crash course through the history of Disney’s animated classics, with film journalist Ben Travis and animation academic Dr. Sam Summers. Each week, we’ll be moving forward in time through the legendary Walt Disney Animation Studios catalogue, watching every feature film in chronological order – from Snow White to Encanto. Watch along with us, and listen as we explore each film’s historical context, advances in animation and lasting legacy, and talk about how they stand up today.

Previous Episode

124 – Oliver & Company

With the smell of hotdogs and sound of honking horns in the air, film journalist Ben Travis and animation academic Sam Summers are ending the Dark Age era on a high – and they’re absitively posolutely thrilled to be delving into 1988’s Oliver & Company. Prepare for Billy Joel bangers and Dickensian delights aplenty in a (very) loose adaptation of Oliver Twist, relocated to contemporary NYC – a film that flings the Walt Disney Animation Studio into the angular modernity of the late 1980s. This episode takes in Sam’s enduring love of Billy Joel, Disney’s mythologised uber-‘80s New York, archetypal ‘Diet Coke guys’, and the bizarre French pop hit that spun out of the film. And, as you’d expect with its bop-heavy soundtrack, there’s a lot of singing in this one – including a Bette Midler impression you won’t soon forget. Next up: Study Group episode (then, The Little Mermaid) Disniversity is brought to you by Ben Travis (@benstravis) and Sam Summers (@samsummers0), with art by Olly Gibbs and music by Nafets. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @disniversity. This podcast is not affiliated with Disney. — Welcome to Disniversity, the podcast crash course through the history of Disney’s animated classics, with film journalist Ben Travis and animation academic Dr. Sam Summers. Each week, we’ll be moving forward in time through the legendary Walt Disney Animation Studios catalogue, watching every feature film in chronological order – from Snow White to Encanto. Watch along with us, and listen as we explore each film’s historical context, advances in animation and lasting legacy, and talk about how they stand up today.

Next Episode

BONUS: Chip 'N Dale: Rescue Rangers

Okie dokie, Artichokies! There’s not long to go until Disniversity returns for more regular classes – but first, film journalist Ben Travis and animation academic Sam Summers have a little extra treat for you. Having just discussed Chip ’N Dale: Rescue Rangers in The Rescuers and The Great Mouse Detective episodes of this very pod, the good folk at Disney saw fit to drop brand new original meta-reboot movie Chip ’N Dale: Rescue Rangers on Disney+, stacked with cameos, in-jokes, and all kinds of deep-cut animation references. Dig into it with the Disniversity duo, talking the delights of Captain Putty, Pooj the Fat Honey Bear, and Ugly Sonic, the film’s approach to 2D-3D hybrid animation, Sam’s obsession with forgotten ‘80s anti-drug mascot McGruff the Crime Dog, and the future of Disney’s cartoon series. Oh, and Ben brags about his recent adventures in Disneyland, California. Next up: The Little Mermaid. We promise! Disniversity is brought to you by Ben Travis (@benstravis) and Sam Summers (@samsummers0), with art by Olly Gibbs and music by Nafets. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @disniversity. This podcast is not affiliated with Disney. — Welcome to Disniversity, the podcast crash course through the history of Disney’s animated classics, with film journalist Ben Travis and animation academic Dr. Sam Summers. Each week, we’ll be moving forward in time through the legendary Walt Disney Animation Studios catalogue, watching every feature film in chronological order – from Snow White to Encanto. Watch along with us, and listen as we explore each film’s historical context, advances in animation and lasting legacy, and talk about how they stand up today.