Mary Poppins Kerfuffle

Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, a professor of English at Linfield College and regular contributor to The New Yorker and Atlantic magazines, wrote an article for the New York Times in January 2019 about the problematic racist imagery in both the 1964 and 2018 Mary Poppins films from Disney. The article sparked a huge outcry and backlash, resulting in calls for Daniel’s dismissal and threats to him and his family, and this week Daniel talks about how the article came to be and how he’s been dealing with its unexpected response, how we confront (or don’t) the legacy of white supremacy in so much of our popular culture, an impertinent reference to J. Robert Oppenheimer, the badge of honor of being on an alt-right watchlist, prescient wives and why they should be heeded, the question of why Disney keeps returning to problematic racist tropes, the threat (promise?) of being spat on by Julie Andrews, and what’s next in the multi-part series “Daniel Ruins Everything”. (Length 25:15)

Episode 521. Reviewing Shanghai Disney

” As foretold in last week’s episode, we spent a day at Shanghai Disney, the recently opened newest addition to the Disney family of theme parks, and this week we discuss the park’s highs and lows. Featuring general excitement and a few sore necks for Tron, unanimous thumbs-up for Pirates Read more…

Episode 213. Epic Two-Parter

The interview so long it took two years to complete! This week: the conclusion to last week’s conversation with Roy Conli, the producer of Tangled, Disney’s 50th animated feature. Featuring wisdom from the Nine Old Men, the value of seeing the windows to the soul, and the counter-intuitive notion that Read more…

Episode 212. Disney’s ‘Tangled’ Rapunzel

Oh, what a tangled weave…Take a rare peak behind the scenes at the Walt Disney Studios as producer Roy Conli describes the creation of Disney’s 50th animated feature Tangled. Featuring advice on the attributes of a great producer, the use of wine imagery to describe the return of John Lasseter, Read more…

Episode 163. Waverly Place Wizard

”OMG! Are you like, so into Wizards of Waverly Place on the Disney Channel? Neither are we, but our kids are. Peter Murrieta is the Executive Producer of the Emmy-winning children’s show, and talks about how he uses his improv and sketch-comedy training to create TV sitcoms, how he bucks Read more…