Video Store Podcast

• Rankin/Bass B-Sides II

  Welcome back to the holiday season at the Video Store Podcast. I’m back today with another edition of Rankin/Bass B-Sides. I love Rankin/Bass so much, and they’re part of just about every holiday season for me. Here are four more lesser-known Rankin/Bass B-Sides for you to enjoy this holiday season. And bonus! If you missed it last year, go back and check out my original edition of “Rankin/Bass B-Sides.”Cricket on the Hearth (1967)Starring Danny and Marlo Thomas as father/daughter duo Caleb and Bertha, this is a heartwarming adaptation of a lesser-known Charles Dickens Christmas classic. This special has great tunes, and the titular cricket, Cricket Crocket, is voiced by brilliant character actor Roddy McDowall. This special also features the talents of Ed Ames, Hans Conried, Paul Frees, and singer Abbe Lane. The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow (1975)Can a young orphaned shepherd boy find a new home and still keep his sheep? This special is notable for its beautiful animation, songs, and stars the late, great Angela Lansbury as Sister Theresa. Cozy up under a wool blanket and with some wool socks, and join us for this lesser-known Christmas special. The Stingiest Man in Town (1978)Based on the stage musical of the same name, this is an animated adaptation of Charles Dickens’ iconic novela, A Christmas Carol. This animated musical features the talents of Walter Matthau as Scrooge, Tom Bosley as B. A. H. Humbug, our insect narrator, voice acting legend Paul Frees as the ghosts of Christmas Past and Present, among others. The music in this special is top-tier, so be sure to check it out, especially if you love a song and dance number in your holiday specials. Jack Frost (1979)This iconic mythologizing of this winter sprite, Jack Frost, is a fish-out-of-water tale as Jack learns to be human. Can he win the heart of the girl he loves and remain human? This is a special with catchy tunes and loads of fun. You’ll feel a chill in the air, but warmth in your heart. Thanks again for joining us at the Video Store Podcast. From all of us, to all of you, have a safe and happy holiday season. Thanks for reading Video Store Podcast! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.videostorepodcast.com

  --------  

  16:48

  --------

  16:48
• The Other Disney Tapes

  This week on the Video Store Podcast I am picking four Disney tapes you might have turned to when the big animated titles were already gone at the store. These were the ones that less visited shelf of the Disney section. You might not have planned on renting them, but once you did, they stayed with you. They would sometime sit untouched for weeks, but occasionally a family would rent one and their kids would fall in love with them. That meant they would return to the rent them again in the future. A Dream Called Walt Disney World from 1981 is the first tape on the pile. It is a friendly tour of the resort at a moment when the whole property still felt wide open. You get long looks at early Magic Kingdom walkways and enough hotel footage to remind you of how new everything once was. The narration has that calm voice that Disney liked to use in this era. It is the kind of tape you might put on after a long day just to let the music and visuals calm you down. I used to rewind certain parts just to capture moments again and again, although I guess a lot of us did that.Next is Walt Disney World EPCOT Center A Souvenir Program from 1983. This one always felt a little more polished. It has that nice steady tour feeling. The camera moves through Future World and World Showcase at a relaxed pace and gives you plenty of time to look at the early design work. You get glimpses of shops, shows, and attractions that changed only a few years later. People would keep this one longer than they were supposed to because its pacing calmed their kids down. Although I think the adults also liked it.The third pick is Where the Toys Come From from 1984. It is different from the others, but it showed up in the same section since it wasn’t a “Disney Classic.” Theodore Thomas directed it and his father was one of Disney’s Nine Old Men, which gives it a little history under the surface. It is a small story told. Not a lot of noise, not a lot of movement, just a pleasant mix of travel and simple moments with the toys.The last tape is Disneyland Fun from 1990. While we kept it in the children’s section, that did not stop older viewers from giving it a try. It is part of the Sing Along Songs line and it moves through the park with a sense of energy that fits the late eighties/early nineties. A few numbers were filmed just for this release, which gives it a couple of moments that never showed up anywhere else (Haunted Mansion!). The crowds and costumes look exactly like what you saw if you visited around that time. We played it at Suncoast often and I bought my own copy after seeing it the firs time.These tapes were steady choices when everything else was checked out. They sat there waiting for someone to notice them and they did their job without much fuss. They made a quiet night at home feel a little brighter with Disney Magic.Thanks for reading Video Store Podcast! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.videostorepodcast.com

  --------  

  21:10

  --------

  21:10
• Tango and Turkey

  Welcome to the Video Store Podcast.It’s Turkey Time! The leaves are changing and the air is crisp. As the jack-o-lanterns turn into pumpkin pie I love to sit down and watch Thanksgiving movies. Some people will tell you there’s only one Thanksgiving movie to watch this time of year, I disagree. I’m going to recommend four other Thanksgiving movies that will get you in the holiday spirit and hopefully become a permanent part of your Thanksgiving watch-list.First up we have Son in Law, the 1993 Pauly Shore movie. Becca, a small town Midwestern girl moves to Los Angeles to attend college. She meets Crawl (Shore) an eccentric surfer dude filled with chaotic energy. When Becca brings Crawl home for Thanksgiving the family and town aren’t prepared for teh antics.John Hughes wrote two movies about Thanksgiving, one in 1987 and Dutch in 1991. Dutch is a road trip movie about a blue-collar and his spoiled, soon to be stepson. Along they way they each learn to view the world different and accept each other for who they are. The third movie on out Thanksgiving list is Home for the Holidays, directed by Jodi Foster. Home for the Holidays is a raw, unfiltered look at Thanksgiving through the lenses of a dysfunctional family. The Thanksgiving dinner scene alone is worth the price of the rental. It’s not your normal ‘everyone hug and say I love you’ happy ending. It’s a fantastic movie and highly underrated.The final film on my list is Scent of A Woman from 1992. It’s about the unlikely friendship between a prep school student and a retired Army officer. It stars the great Al Pacino and it is his movie through and through. From start to finish, he gives a master class in acting. In the end it reminds us that no matter what our situation there’s always something and someone to be thankful for. No matter how you spend the holiday, with family, with friends or something else, have safe, enjoyable and relaxing holiday.We’re thankful you stop by The Video Store Podcast, please come again for more great movies to add to your list.Thanks for reading Video Store Podcast! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.videostorepodcast.com

  --------  

  19:19

  --------

  19:19
• The One With The Best Thanksgiving Episodes

  November means Thanksgiving, and for me, that means holiday specials and Thanksgiving-themed TV episodes. One of the most popular shows to hit American television, Friends, had 10 Thanksgiving episodes across its 10-season run. I’ve picked 4 of my favorites for this week’s show. Bonus: if you want to watch the other 6, we’ve got the entire series here at the store. Season 5, Episode 8, “The One With All the Thanksgivings”If you’ve never seen Friends before, I bet you’ve seen some out-of-context images of Monica wearing a fez, sunglasses, and a 20 lb. turkey on her head. This is the episode where you get context for the wearing of a turkey. Don’t let the title fool you—this is not a repackaged clip show. Season 6, Episode 9, “The One Where Ross Got High”Monica and Chandler are bracing for an awkward Thanksgiving. Monica’s parents are coming to dinner, but they don’t know about their relationship, let alone that they’re living together. And to make it worse, they don’t like Chandler. In this episode, we get to the root cause of why the elder Gellers don’t like Chandler, and we also find out several other long-kept secrets. Season 7, Episode 8, “The One Where Chandler Doesn’t Like Dogs”Chandler doesn’t like dogs, but Ross doesn’t like ice cream. We learn some more long-kept secrets in this Thanksgiving episode of the series. And we just can’t name that last state. However, by the end, it might just be a “Moo Point.” “The One Where Chandler Doesn’t Like Dogs” features some of the iconic moments of the series and is well worth a watch. Season 8, Episode 9, “The One With the Rumor”Brad Pitt guest stars in this episode as Monica and Ross’ high school friend, Will, who’s had a glow-up since the last time they saw him. Will is in town for the holiday and is joining them for dinner. However, Rachel made his high school days miserable, and in a classic Rachel move, she doesn’t remember it all. That makes for an awkward Thanksgiving dinner. This episode gives us the concept we all require this time of year—Thanksgiving Pants™. We’re thankful for you at the Video Store Podcast, and we hope you have a safe and happy Thanksgiving with your friends and family. Thanks for reading Video Store Podcast! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.videostorepodcast.com

  --------  

  13:26

  --------

  13:26
• It's a Mall, Mall, World

  When I was a kid if you wanted to talk to people about movies, you went to the local mom and pop video rental store… but if you wanted to hang out with other kids your age, you went to the mall. On this week’s episode of the Video Store Podcast, I’m recommending four movies that were filmed and heavily feature malls.First up is Fast Times at Ridgemont High, a film that follows several teenagers as they navigate the halls and malls of southern California. With a star-studded cast, this film opens in a mall, which sets the tone for the entire film.Next up is Dawn of the Dead, George Romero’s 1978 sequel to his original zombie film, Night of the Living Dead. In this film, four characters — two police officers and two news broadcasters — take cover in an abandoned mall… or is it? It’s not long before the mall is crawling with zombies and, eventually, pie-throwing bikers. Known as special effects wizard Tom Savini’s breakthrough film, this one features lots of bullets, brains, and blood. Third is the lesser known Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge, released in 1989. This lesser-known 80s slasher features a mall-roaming “phantom” who used to live on the land the new mall was built on. It’s not a great movie, but it does feature a young and pre-MTV Pauly Shore which… well, doesn’t make it any better, but does make it interesting. This movie contains lots of interior mall shots and even more bad actors. What’s not to love?Rounding up this episode is one of my favorite films of all time, Chopping Mall. In this 1986 horror classic, a group of teens plan a sleepover inside a furniture store inside their local mall. Unfortunately for them, that same night lightning strikes the building which short circuits the robots and turn them into killbots! If yo always wanted to know what would happen if Johnny 5 went bad — no, like, really bad — this will let you know.Today’s malls are nothing like they were back in the 1980s. If you want to see what they were like in their heyday, check out one of these films. Malls were full of lights, food, shopping… and apparently, lots of murder. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.videostorepodcast.com

  --------  

  25:15

  --------

  25:15

More TV & Film podcasts

Trending TV & Film podcasts

About Video Store Podcast

Video Store Podcast: Podcasts in Family