Season 7
The Year of the Story
September 2023
Anywhere But Here
BOOK TO SCREEN - Once Upon A Time
The Little Mermaid is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, first published in 1837 as part of a collection of fairy tales for children. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a human soul.
The original story has been a subject of multiple analyses by scholars such as Jacob Bøggild and Pernille Heegaard, as well as the folklorist Maria Tatar. These analyses cover various aspects of the story, from interpreting the themes to discussing why Andersen chose to write a tragic story with a happy ending. It has been adapted to various media, including musical theatre, anime, ballet, opera, and film. There is also a statue portraying the mermaid in Copenhagen, Denmark, where the story was written and first published.
The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 28th Disney animated feature film, it is loosely based on the 1837 Danish fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. The film was written and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements and produced by Musker and Howard Ashman, who also wrote the film's songs with Alan Menken. Menken also composed the film's score. Featuring the voices of Jodi Benson, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Pat Carroll, Samuel E. Wright, Jason Marin, Kenneth Mars, and Buddy Hackett, The Little Mermaid tells the story of a teenage mermaid princess named Ariel, who dreams of becoming human and falls in love with a human prince named Eric, which leads her to make a magic deal with the sea witch, Ursula, to become human and be with him.
Walt Disney planned to put the story in a proposed package film containing Andersen's stories but scrapped the project. In 1985, while working on The Great Mouse Detective (1986), Clements and Musker decided to adapt the fairy tale and proposed it to Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, who initially declined due to its similarities to a proposed sequel to the 1984 film Splash, but ultimately approved of it. Ashman became involved and brought in Menken. With supervision from Katzenberg, they made a Broadway-style structure with musical numbers as the staff was working on Oliver & Company (1988). Katzenberg warned that the film would earn less since it appealed to females, but he eventually became convinced that it would be Disney's first blockbuster hit.
The Little Mermaid was released to theaters on November 17, 1989, to critical acclaim, earning praise for the animation, music, and characters. It was also a commercial success, garnering $84 million at the domestic box office during its initial release, and $235 million in total lifetime gross worldwide. Along with the major success of both Disney's 1986 animated film The Great Mouse Detective and the 1988 Disney/Amblin live-action/animated film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Little Mermaid is given credit for breathing life back into the art of Disney animated feature films after some films produced by Disney were struggling. It also marked the start of the era known as the Disney Renaissance. The film won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song ("Under the Sea").
The film's success led to a media franchise. A direct-to-video sequel was released in 2000, focusing on Ariel's daughter, Melody. A prequel followed in 2008. The first film was adapted into a stage musical with a book by Doug Wright and additional songs by Alan Menken and new lyricist Glenn Slater opened in Denver in July 2007 and began performances on Broadway January 10, 2008 starring Sierra Boggess.
Other derived works and material inspired by the film, include a 2023 live-action film adaptation directed by Rob Marshall, and a 2019 live musical presentation of the film aired on ABC as part of The Wonderful World of Disney.
In 2022, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Opening Credits; Introduction (1.19); Background History (14.13); The Little Mermaid Plot Synopsis (15.17); Book Thoughts (21.47); Introducing a Film (58.50); The Little Mermaid (1989) Film Trailer (1:02.28); Lights, Camera, Action (1:03.49); How Many Stars (1:50.42); End Credits (1:52.10); Closing Credits (1:53.48)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: In Harmony by Jodi Benson. Taken from the Little Mermaid Television Soundtrack. Copyright 1992 Disney Records. Kiss The Girl by Ashley Tidsdale. Taken from The Little Mermaid Soundtrack Copyright 2006 Disney Records.
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
BATMAN: The Animated Series
I Am The Knight
Batman falls into the depths of depression after Commissioner Gordon is shot by the Jazzman during a botched raid. Batman was meant to be present but was delayed by thugs while paying his annual visit to the site of his parents' murder. With Gordon hospitalized and near death, the Dark Knight becomes consumed by self-doubt.
Only when the Jazzman escapes custody and attempts to murder Gordon does Batman snap out of his funk. His spirit is further renewed when he encounters a young man, he'd previously given up hope on, now on the road to reform and grateful for Batman's intervention.
Off Balance
While following Count Vertigo's trail, Batman encounters comes across a mysterious woman called Talia, who was sent by her father to prevent the capture of a sonic drill that the Count stole from Wayne Enterprises. On their quest to stop Vertigo, Talia learns Batman's identity and they are forced to work together in order to fight Vertigo's effects, but the more they collaborate, the more doubts Batman has about Talia's loyalties.
The Man Who Killed Batman
While a third-rate mob stumble-bum Sidney Debris was acting as look-out for drug runners, Batman surprised him on a warehouse roof. The two struggled, and Sid’s bumbling caused Batman to pitch off the roof and into a shed of explosive gas. After the ensuing fire, the only thing found was Batman’s cape and cowl. It seemed Sidney had done the impossible and become the man who killed Batman.
Mudslide
Clayface is falling apart – literally. His clay like body is virtually disintegrating. Fortunately, Stella Bates, a woman scientist he knew from his movie star days, tries to stabilise Matt’s decaying form by using a rare isotope stolen form Wayne Enterprises – the irony being that Bruce Wayne would gladly help if given the chance. But Clayface is too hateful to yield, and winds up falling into the sea, where he dissolves into nothingness.
Opening Credits; Introduction (.56); Episode One: I Am The Night (49.49); Episode Two: Off Balance (57.29 ); Episode Three: The Man Who Killed Batman (1:09.54); Episode Four: Mudslide (1:18.28); Favourite and Least Favourite Character (1:37.30); Favourite Episode (1:49.17); End Credits (1:51.40); Closing Credits (1:52.50)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Off Balance by Victor Ray. Taken from the album Off-Balance. Copyright 2023 ZOZO records.
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
TWO FOR 1: Dark Families
Pufnstuf (also known as Pufnstuf Zaps the World) is a 1970 American comedy fantasy musical film produced by Sid and Marty Krofft Enterprises and released by Universal Pictures. It is based on the children's television series H.R. Pufnstuf, a show that features a cast of puppets on a "living island."
The NeverEnding Story is a 1984 fantasy film co-written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen (in his first English-language film), and based on the 1979 novel The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. It was produced by Bernd Eichinger and Dieter Giessler, and stars Noah Hathaway, Barret Oliver, Tami Stronach, Patricia Hayes, Sydney Bromley, Gerald McRaney and Moses Gunn, with Alan Oppenheimer providing the voices of Falkor and Gmork (as well as other characters). It follows a boy who finds a magical book that tells of a young warrior who is given the task of stopping the Nothing, a dark force, from engulfing the wonderland world of Fantasia.
At the time of its release, it was the most expensive film produced outside the United States or the Soviet Union. It was the first in The NeverEnding Story film series. It adapts only the first half of the book, and consequently does not convey the message of the title as it was portrayed in the novel. The second half of the book was subsequently used as a rough basis for the second film, The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990). The third film, The NeverEnding Story III: Escape from Fantasia (1994), has an original plot not based on the book.
Opening Credits; Introduction (1.22); Background History (13.09); PufnStuf (1970) Trailer (29.44); Our Opening Presentation (16.29); Let's Rate (55.07); Introducing Our Next Feature (1:00.40); NeverEnding Story (1984) Trailer (1:02.11); Lights, Camera, Action (1:03.30); How Many Stars (1:41.31); End Credits (1:49.16); Closing Credits (1:51.23)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: NeverEnding Story by Limahl. Taken from the album Don’t Suppose. Copyright 1984 EMI Records/Zap the World by Billie Hayes and Martha Raye. Taken from the album PufnStuf. Copyright 1970 Capitol Records
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
ANTHOLOGY
Fantasia is a 1940 American animated musical anthology film produced and released by Walt Disney Productions, with story direction by Joe Grant and Dick Huemer and production supervision by Walt Disney and Ben Sharpsteen. The third Disney animated feature film, it consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Music critic and composer Deems Taylor acts as the film's Master of Ceremonies who introduces each segment in live action.
Disney settled on the film's concept in 1938 as work neared completion on The Sorcerer's Apprentice, originally an elaborate Silly Symphony cartoon designed as a comeback role for Mickey Mouse, who had declined in popularity. As production costs surpassed what the short could earn, Disney decided to include it in a feature-length film of multiple segments set to classical pieces with Stokowski and Taylor as collaborators. The soundtrack was recorded using multiple audio channels and reproduced with Fantasound, a pioneering sound system developed by Disney and RCA that made Fantasia the first commercial film shown in stereo and a precursor to surround sound.
Fantasia was first released as a theatrical roadshow that was held in 13 cities across the U.S. between 1940 and 1941; the first began at the Broadway Theatre in New York City on November 13, 1940. While acclaimed by critics, it failed to make a profit owing to World War II's cutting off distribution to the European market, the film's high production costs, and the expense of building Fantasound equipment and leasing theatres for the roadshow presentations. Since 1942, the film has been reissued multiple times by RKO Radio Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution with its original footage and audio being deleted, modified, or restored in each version. When adjusted for inflation, Fantasia is the 23rd highest-grossing film of all time in the U.S.
The Fantasia franchise has grown to include video games, Disneyland attractions, and a live concert series. A sequel, Fantasia 2000, co-produced by Walt's nephew Roy E. Disney, was released in 1999. Fantasia has grown in reputation over the years and is now widely acclaimed as one of the greatest animated films of all time; in 1998, the American Film Institute ranked it as the 58th greatest American film in their 100 Years...100 Movies and the fifth greatest animated film in their 10 Top 10 list. In 1990, Fantasia was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Fantasia 2000 is a 1999 American animated musical anthology film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Produced by Roy E. Disney and Donald W. Ernst, it is the 38th Disney animated feature film and sequel to 1940's Fantasia. Like its predecessor, Fantasia 2000 consists of animated segments set to pieces of classical music. Celebrities including Steve Martin, Itzhak Perlman, Quincy Jones, Bette Midler, James Earl Jones, Penn & Teller, James Levine, and Angela Lansbury introduce a segment in live action scenes directed by Don Hahn.
After numerous unsuccessful attempts to develop a Fantasia sequel, The Walt Disney Company revived the idea shortly after Michael Eisner became chief executive officer in 1984. Development paused until the commercial success of the 1991 home video release of Fantasia convinced Eisner that there was enough public interest and funds for a sequel, to which he assigned Disney as executive producer. The music for six of the film's eight segments is performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Levine. The film includes The Sorcerer's Apprentice from the 1940 original. Each new segment was produced by combining traditional animation with computer-generated imagery.
Fantasia 2000 premiered on December 17, 1999, at Carnegie Hall in New York City as part of a concert tour that also visited London, Paris, Tokyo, and Pasadena, California. The film was then released in 75 IMAX theatres worldwide from January 1 to April 30, 2000, marking the first animated feature-length film to be released in the format. Its general release in regular theatres followed on June 16, 2000. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised several of its sequences, while also deeming its overall quality uneven in comparison to its predecessor. Budgeted at about $80–$85 million, the film grossed $90.9 million worldwide.
Opening Credits; Introduction (1.00); Background History (15.06); Fantasia (1940) Film Trailer (18.19); Opening Presentation (21.15); Let's Rate (41.33); Introducing Our Second Feature (43.40); Fantasia 2000 (1999) Film Trailer (46.11); Lights, Camera, Action (48.12); How Many Stars (1:19.57); End Credits (1:24.29); Closing Credits (1:25.46)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: The Age of Not Believing by Angela Lansbury. From the album Bedknobs and Broomsticks Original Soundtrack. Copyright 1971 Disney Records
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
DOCTOR WHO: The Web Planet/The Crusades
Dr Who and the Daleks (1965)
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The Web Planet
13 February – 20 March 1965
The First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his travelling companions Ian Chesterton (William Russell), Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill), and Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) ally themselves with the Menoptra, the former inhabitants of the planet Vortis, as they struggle to win back the planet from the malignant Animus (Catherine Fleming) and its Zarbi slaves.
The Crusades
27 March – 17 April 1965
The First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his travelling companions Ian Chesterton (William Russell), Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill), and Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) arrive in 12th century Palestine during the Third Crusade and find themselves entangled in the conflict between King Richard the Lionheart (Julian Glover) and Saladin (Bernard Kay). They also meet King Richard's sister Lady Joanna (Jean Marsh) and Saladin's brother Saphadin (Roger Avon).
Dr Who and the Daleks (1965)
is a 1965 British science fiction film directed by Gordon Flemyng and written by Milton Subotsky, and the first of two films based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. It stars Peter Cushing as Dr. Who, Roberta Tovey as Susan, Jennie Linden as Barbara, and Roy Castle as Ian. It was followed by Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966).
The story is based on the Doctor Who television serial The Daleks, produced by the BBC. Filmed in Technicolor, it is the first Doctor Who story to be made in colour and in a widescreen format. The film was not intended to form part of the ongoing story-lines of the television series. Elements from the programme are used, however, such as various characters, the Daleks and a police box time machine, albeit in re-imagined forms.
Opening Credits; Introduction (.43); The Web Planet Synopsis (1.27); Television Thoughts (4.25); Let's Rate (25.04); Introducing The Crusades (27.04); The Crusades Synopsis ( 34.41); Discussing the Episode (38.15); Rating the Episodes (47.42); Film: Doctor Who and The Daleks (1965) (53.08); Doctor Who and the Daleks (1965) Trailer (54.14); Lights, Camera, Action (57.24); How Many Stars (1:09.59); End Credits (1:14.56); Closing Credits (1:21.53)
Opening Credits– Doctor Who Theme. composer Ron Grainer and realised by Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Copyright 1963 BBC World Music.
Closing Credits: We’re Not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister. Taken from the album Stay Hungry. Copyright 1984 Atlantic Records
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
MAKE/REMAKE
Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated musical romantic fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 30th Disney animated feature film and the third released during the Disney Renaissance period, it is based on the 1756 fairy tale of the same name by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont (who was only credited in the French dub),[6] while also containing ideas from the 1946 French film of the same name directed by Jean Cocteau.[7] The film was directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise (in their feature directorial debuts) and produced by Don Hahn, from a screenplay by Linda Woolverton.
Beauty and the Beast focuses on the relationship between the Beast (voice of Robby Benson), a prince who is magically transformed into a monster and his servants into household objects as punishment for his arrogance, and Belle (voice of Paige O'Hara), a young woman whom he imprisons in his castle in exchange for her father's freedom. To break the curse, the Beast must learn to love Belle and earn her love in return before the last petal falls from an enchanted rose or else he will remain a monster forever. The film also features the voices of Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, and Angela Lansbury.
Walt Disney first attempted to adapt Beauty and the Beast into an animated film during the 1930s and 1950s, but was unsuccessful. Following the success of The Little Mermaid (1989), Walt Disney Pictures decided to adapt the fairy tale, which Richard Purdum originally conceived as a non-musical period drama. After seeing a test reel, Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg scrapped Purdum's idea and ordered that the film be a musical similar to The Little Mermaid instead. Lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken wrote the film's songs. Ashman, who additionally served as the film's executive producer, died of AIDS-related complications six months before the film's release, and the film is thus dedicated to his memory.
Beauty and the Beast premiered as an unfinished film at the New York Film Festival on September 29, 1991, followed by its theatrical release as a completed film at the El Capitan Theatre on November 13. The film grossed $331 million at the box office worldwide on a $25 million budget and received widespread critical acclaim for its romantic narrative, animation (particularly the ballroom scene), characters, and musical numbers. Beauty and the Beast won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, the first animated film to ever win that category. It also became the first animated film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 64th Academy Awards (ultimately losing to The Silence of the Lambs), where it won the Academy Award for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for its title song and received additional nominations for Best Original Song and Best Sound. In April 1994, Beauty and the Beast became Disney's first animated film to be adapted into a Broadway musical, which ran until 2007.
An IMAX version of the film was released in 2002 and included the new song "Human Again", originally an eight-minute storyboarded musical sequence ultimately replaced with "Something There", but later revised in the 1994 musical as a five-minute piece. That same year, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". After the success of the 3D re-release of The Lion King, the film was reissued in 3D in 2012. A live-action adaptation of the film directed by Bill Condon was released on March 17, 2017. In 2014, Time magazine ranked Beauty and the Beast as the greatest film of the Disney Renaissance and one of the greatest animated films of all time.
Beauty and the Beast is a 2017 American musical romantic fantasy film directed by Bill Condon from a screenplay by Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Mandeville Films, the film is a live-action adaptation of Disney's 1991 animated film of the same name, itself an adaptation of Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's 1756 version of the fairy tale. Starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens as the eponymous Belle and the Beast, the film features an ensemble and choir cast including Luke Evans, Kevin Kline, Josh Gad, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Audra McDonald, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Ian McKellen, and Emma Thompson.
A live-action Beauty and the Beast remake was first announced in April 2014, with Condon hired to direct it; Watson, Stevens, Evans and the rest of the cast signed on between January and April 2015. Filming took place primarily at Shepperton Studios in England from May to August 2015. With an estimated budget of around $255 million, it is one of the most expensive films ever made.
Beauty and the Beast premiered at Spencer House in London on February 23, 2017, and was theatrically released in the United States in standard, Disney Digital 3-D, RealD 3D, IMAX, and IMAX 3D formats, along with Dolby Cinema on March 17, 2017. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its cast, songs, and visual detail. It grossed over $1.2 billion worldwide, becoming the second highest-grossing film of 2017 and the tenth-highest-grossing film of all time. The film received several accolades, including two nominations at the 90th Academy Awards, four nominations at the 23rd Critics' Choice Awards, and two nominations at the 71st British Academy Film Awards. A spin-off television series, Little Town, was in development for Disney+, but has been put on hold.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.27); Background History (15.24); Beauty and the Beast (1991) Trailer (19.47); Original Thoughts (21.27); Let's Rate (49.53); Introducing a Remake (53.54); Beauty and the Beast (2017) Trailer (56.29); Lights, Camera, Action (58.48); How Many Stars (1:48.23); End Credits (1:55.29); Closing Credits (1:56.54)
Opening Credits– Beauty and the Beast Prologue by Alan Menken. Copyright 1991 Disney Records. All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Beauty and the Beast by Marilyn Martin. Taken from the self titled album Marilyn Martin. Copyright 1986 Atlantic Records.
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
October 2023
Is This Even Normal?
BOOK TO SCREEN: Once Upon A Time
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Coraline is a dark fantasy horror children's novel by British author Neil Gaiman. Gaiman started writing Coraline in 1990, and it was published in 2002 by Bloomsbury and HarperCollins. It was awarded the 2003 Hugo Award for Best Novella, the 2003 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and the 2002 Bram Stoker Award for Best Work for Young Readers. The Guardian ranked Coraline #82 in its list of 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. It was adapted as a 2009 stop-motion animated film, directed by Henry Selick under the same name.
Coraline is a 2009 American stop-motion animated dark fantasy horror film written and directed by Henry Selick and based on Neil Gaiman's novella of the same name. Produced by Laika as the studio's first feature film, it features the voice talents of Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Keith David, John Hodgman, Robert Bailey Jr., and Ian McShane. The film tells the story of its titular character discovering an idealized parallel universe behind a secret door in her new home, unaware that it contains a dark and sinister secret.
Just as Gaiman was finishing his novella in 2002, he met Selick and invited him to make a film adaptation, as Gaiman was a fan of Selick's The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach. When Selick thought that a direct adaptation would lead to "maybe a 47-minute movie", the screenplay had some expansions, like the introduction of Wybie, who was not present in the original novel. Selick invited Japanese illustrator Tadahiro Uesugi to become the concept artist upon discovering his work when looking for a design away from that of most animation. His biggest influences were on the colour palette, which was muted in reality and more colourful in the Other World, similar to The Wizard of Oz. To capture stereoscopy for the 3D release, the animators shot each frame from two slightly apart camera positions. Production of the stop-motion animation feature took place at a warehouse in Hillsboro, Oregon. Bruno Coulais composed the film's musical score.
The film was theatrically released in the United States on February 6, 2009 by Focus Features after a world premiere at the Portland International Film Festival on February 5, and received critical acclaim. The film grossed $16.85 million during its opening weekend, ranking third at the box office, and by the end of its run had grossed over $124 million worldwide, making it the third highest-grossing stop-motion film of all time after Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. The film won Annie Awards for Best Music in an Animated Feature Production, Best Character Design in an Animated Feature Production and Best Production Design in an Animated Feature Production and received nominations for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film. It has since developed a cult following in the years since its release.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
BATMAN: The Animated Series
Paging The Crime Doctor
Dr Matthew Thorne, a formerly respectable surgeon who lost his license after sheltering his brother Rupert Thorne from the police and once a friend of Dr Thomas Wayne and Leslie Thompkins, is reduced to acting as a mob doctor. When Rupert is critically injured, his brother coerces Leslie to assist with the surgery. But the recovering mob boss wants no witnesses, and Mathew is forced to decide where his real loyalties lie.
Zatanna
Zatanna was the daughter of Zatara, an excellent magician who taught Bruce Wayne, under the name of “John Smith”, everything he knows about escape artistry and “magic”. Zatara was a world renowned magician and was considered quite possibly the best in his field. He also passed on his teachings to his only child, a daughter named Zatanna. Zatanna gained her talent from her father and became an excellent magician herself.
She also had a romantic relationship with Bruce, despite never knowing his real name. Zatanna always had close ties with Bruce Wayne, although Bruce was cautious of this relationship by never giving her his real name.
Years later in a show in Gotham City, she made the contents of the Gotham Mint disappear to show up magic debunker Montaque Kane. Unfortunately for her, Kane had not only seen through her trick, but was a thief, and stole the money while framing her for the crime. She was freed from custody and assisted Batman in bringing Kane to justice.
After their collaboration with Batman, she eventually recognised him as her old friend from long ago. she then told Batman that Zatara, who had passed away by this stage would have been proud of him, putting his arts to use in fighting crime.
The Mechanic
Thanks to a freak accident during a high-speed chase, the Batmobile is virtually demolished. After Batman takes the car to his personal mechanic, Earl Cooper, the Penguin makes his move and tampers with the Batmobile, putting it under his control.
Harley and Ivy
After a failed heist, a frustrated Joker boots Harley Quinn from his gang and to prove her worth to the Clown Prince of Crime, Harley goes solo on her own crimes. This path eventually leads her to form a partnership with fellow criminal Poison Ivy. The success of Harley and Ivy as the new “Queens of Crime” doesn’t go unnoticed by The Joker, or Batman, both of whom set out to stop the amazing duo for their own personal reasons, Little do they know, no man can stop Harley and Ivy.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
TWO FOR 1: Dark Families
Kuntilanak is a 2018 Indonesian horror film directed by Rizal Mantovani and written by Alim Sudio. The plot revolves around five children who find a mirror in their orphanage. The mirror contains a ghost that kidnaps children and imprisons them inside it.
The Hole is a 2009 American 3D dark fantasy horror film directed by Joe Dante and starring Chris Massoglia, Haley Bennett, Nathan Gamble, Bruce Dern, and Teri Polo. The film follows Dane and Lucas Thompson, two brothers who move into their new house in Bensenville with their single mother, Susan. While settling in their new home, Dane and Lucas, along with their new neighbor, Julie Campbell, discover a trap door in the basement, leading to a bottomless pit and, upon opening it, accidentally unleash a supernatural force that manifests itself into any fear of the person who looks into the hole.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
ANTHOLOGY
Trick 'r Treat is a 2007 American anthology horror comedy film written and directed by Michael Dougherty and produced by Bryan Singer. The film stars Dylan Baker, Rochelle Aytes, Anna Paquin and Brian Cox. It relates four Halloween horror stories with a common element in them: Sam, a trick-or-treating demon wearing orange footie pajamas with a burlap sack over his head. The character makes an appearance in each of the stories whenever one of the other characters breaks a Halloween tradition.
Despite being delayed for two years and having only a limited number of screenings at film festivals, the film received much critical acclaim and has since garnered a strong cult following.
Tales of Halloween is a 2015 American comedy horror anthology film consisting of ten interlocking segments, each revolving around the titular holiday. Segments were directed by Neil Marshall, Darren Lynn Bousman, Axelle Carolyn, Lucky McKee, Andrew Kasch, Paul Solet, John Skipp, Adam Gierasch, Jace Anderson, Mike Mendez, Ryan Schifrin, Dave Parker and, in his film debut, Jack Dylan Grazer.
The film premiered on July 24, 2015, at the Fantasia International Film Festival, before receiving a limited theatrical release and through video on demand on October 16, 2015, by Epic Pictures.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
DOCTOR WHO: The Space Museum/The Chase
The Space Museum
24 April – 15 May 1965
The First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his travelling companions Ian Chesterton (William Russell), Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill), and Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) arrive in a Space Museum on the planet Xeros, where they seek to change their fate after seeing themselves turned into museum exhibits in the future. They also become entangled in a conflict between the militaristic Moroks who run the museum, and the servile indigenous Xerons who work for them.
The Chase
22 May – 26 June 1965
The First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his companions Ian Chesterton (William Russell), Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill), and Vicki (Maureen O'Brien)—to kill them and seize the TARDIS for themselves. The Doctor and companions encounter several characters, including monsters Dracula (Malcolm Rogers) and Frankenstein's monster (John Maxim), human astronaut Steven Taylor (Peter Purves), and an android replica of the Doctor (Edmund Warwick).
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
November 2023
We Shall Survive
BOOK TO SCREEN: Once Upon A Time
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Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH is a 1971 children's science fiction/fantasy book by Robert C. O'Brien, with illustrations by Zena Bernstein. The novel was published by the New York City publishing house Atheneum Books.
This book was the winner of numerous awards including the 1972 Newbery Medal. Ten years following its publication, the story was adapted for film as The Secret of NIMH (1982).
The novel centres around a colony of escaped lab rats–the rats of NIMH–who live in a technologically sophisticated and literate society mimicking that of humans. They come to the aid of Mrs. Frisby, a widowed field mouse who seeks to protect her children and home from destruction by a farmer’s plow.
The rats of NIMH were inspired by the research of John B. Calhoun on mouse and rat population dynamics at the National Institute of Mental Health from the 1940s to the 1960s.
After O’Brien’s death in 1973, his daughter Jane Leslie Conly wrote two sequels to Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.
The Secret of NIMH is a 1982 American animated fantasy adventure film directed by Don Bluth in his directorial debut and based on Robert C. O'Brien's 1971 children's novel, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. The film features the voices of Elizabeth Hartman, Peter Strauss, Arthur Malet, Dom DeLuise, John Carradine, Derek Jacobi, Hermione Baddeley, and Paul Shenar. It was produced by Bluth's production company Don Bluth Productions in association with Aurora Productions.
The Secret of NIMH was released in the United States on July 2, 1982, by MGM/UA Entertainment Co. under the United Artists label. It was praised by critics for its elegant and painstakingly detailed animation, compelling characters, and deep and mature plot, and won a Saturn Award for Best Animated Film of 1982. Though only a moderate success at the box office, it turned a solid profit through home video and overseas releases. It was followed in 1998 by a direct-to-video sequel, The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue, which was made without Bluth's involvement or input and met with poor reception. In 2015, a live-action/computer-animated remake was reported to be in the works. A television series adaptation is also in development by the Fox Corporation.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
BATMAN: The Animated Series
Shadow of the Bat Part 1
When Commissioner Gordon is framed for taking bribes from Rupert Thorne, his daughter Barbara pleads with Batman to show up at a rally being put on in the commissioner’s behalf. But when Batman disappears after finding the person behind the frame-up. Barbara takes matters into her own hands as Batgirl.
Shadow of the Bat Part 2
Batman has been captured by Two-Face and his gang, leaving Robin to do the investigating behind Commissioner Gordan’s framing. However, Robin will find an unusual partner in Batgirl, who is also on the path to clear her father’s name and the information she has uncovered about acting commissioner Gil Mason will help them on their quest.
Blind As A Bat
In the course of stealing a high-tech military aircraft called the Raven, the Penguin injures Bruce Wayne, causing temporary blindness. But Batman refuses to sit back while Penguin holds the city hostage, and dons and experimental headset that will allow him to “see” while the battery holds out.
In an intense sky battle that ends with a crash landing, Batman manages to foil the Penquin’s scheme – but his faltering gear leaves him blind once more, attempting to hear his way through a violent confrontation with a muscle-bound good and ultimately the fowl fiend himself.
His Silcone Soul
When a Batman impersonator appears in Gotham City, the real Batman deduces that Karl Rossum is somehow involved and confronts the inventor. The other Batman, a duplicate, then shows up and a battle between the two takes place. After the duplicate Batman escapes, it begins its campaign to recreate H.A.R.D.A.C’s goals of a robotic society.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
TWO FOR 1: Dark Families
The Breadwinner is a 2017 animated drama film from Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon directed by Nora Twomey. Based on the best-selling novel by Deborah Ellis, the film was an international co-production between Canada, the Republic of Ireland and Luxembourg, and received a limited release on 17 November 2017.
The film had its world premiere at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival in September. The Breadwinner received a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the 90th Academy Awards but lost to Coco.
The House with a Clock in Its Walls is a 2018 American fantasy comedy film directed by Eli Roth, based on the 1973 novel of the same name by John Bellairs. It stars Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Owen Vaccaro, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Sunny Suljic, and Kyle MacLachlan. The film follows a young boy, Lewis, who is sent to live with his uncle, Jonathan, in a creaky, old house. He soon learns it was previously inhabited by a villainous warlock. Universal Pictures released the film in the United States on September 21, 2018. It was a box office success, grossing over $131 million worldwide and received mostly positive reviews from critics who largely praised the cast, but said the film did not fully live up to its potential.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
ANTHOLOGY
The Uncanny is a 1977 British-Canadian anthology horror film directed by Denis Héroux, written by Michel Parry, and starring Peter Cushing, Donald Pleasence, Ray Milland, Joan Greenwood, Donald Pilon, Samantha Eggar, and John Vernon.
Although it is similar to the horror anthologies released by Amicus Productions and could be mistaken as one, it was actually distributed by The Rank Organisation. However, the co-producer was Milton Subotsky of Amicus.
Cat's Eye (also known as Stephen King's Cat's Eye) is a 1985 American anthology horror thriller film directed by Lewis Teague and written by Stephen King. It comprises three stories, "Quitters, Inc.", "The Ledge", and "General". The first two are adaptations of short stories in King's 1978 Night Shift collection, and the third is unique to the film. The three stories are connected only by the presence of a traveling cat, which plays an incidental role in the first two and is a major character of the third.
Its cast includes Drew Barrymore, James Woods, Alan King, Robert Hays and Candy Clark.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
DOCTOR WHO: The Time Meddler/Galaxy 4
The Time Meddler
3 – 24 July 1965
Set in Northumbria in 1066, before the Battle of Stamford Bridge, the serial features the time traveller the First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his companions Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) and Steven Taylor (Peter Purves) as they attempt to outwit the time traveller the Monk (Peter Butterworth), who is plotting to change the course of European history by wiping out King Harald Hardrada's Viking invasion fleet, leaving Harold Godwinson and the Saxon soldiers fresh to defeat William of Normandy and the Norman soldiers at the Battle of Hastings.
Galaxy 4
11 September – 2 October 1965
The First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his travelling companions Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) and Steven (Peter Purves) arrive on an arid planet, where they encounter the beautiful but dangerous Drahvins and the hideous but friendly Rills, two crash-landed species in conflict with one another. Both species wish to escape as the planet is set to explode in two dawns, but the Drahvin leader Maaga (Stephanie Bidmead) only wants her people to make it out alive.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
December 2023
We Interrupt Our Programme
BOOK TO SCREEN: Once Upon A Time
Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade is a 1955 novel by American author Patrick Dennis chronicling the madcap adventures of a boy, Patrick, growing up as the ward of his Aunt Mame Dennis, the sister of his dead father.
The book is often described as having been inspired by Dennis' real-life eccentric aunt, Marion Tanner, whose life and outlook mirrored those of Mame, but Dennis denied the connection. The novel was a runaway bestseller, setting records on the New York Times bestseller list, with more than 2 million copies in print during its initial publication. It became the basis of a stage play, a film, a stage musical, and a film musical.
In 1958, Dennis wrote a sequel titled Around the World with Auntie Mame.
Auntie Mame is a 1958 American Technirama Technicolor comedy film based on the 1955 novel of the same name by Edward Everett Tanner III (under the pseudonym Patrick Dennis) and its 1956 theatrical adaptation by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee. This film version stars Rosalind Russell and was directed by Morton DaCosta. It is not to be confused with a musical version of the same story that appeared on Broadway in 1966 and was later made into a 1974 film, Mame, starring Lucille Ball as the title character.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
BATMAN: The Animated Series
The Demon’s Quest Part 1
When Robin is mysteriously abducted from his college campus, Batman begins a fruitless search…until he is astounded by the sudden appearance in the Batcave of Ra’s Al Ghul. Ra’s quickly reveals that his daughter, Talia, has been abducted under circumstances similar to Robin’s, suggesting that the same persons are responsible. So begins an uneasy truce between the Batman and ‘The Demon’.
The Demon’s Quest Part 2
After learning the secret of Ra’s al Ghul’s immortality, Batman and Robin escape from a death trap and follow the only clue they have to stop Ra’s plans – the world ‘Orpheus’. After discovering the ‘Orpheus’ is Ra’s private satellite that will orbit over the Sahara, the duo travel to Demon’s desert stronghold. There, Batman learns that the satellite is actually a weapon which will explosively destroy all the Lazarus Pits simultaneously, throughout the world, changing the eco-system and returning Earth to is original natural state.
When Robin is mysteriously abducted form his college campus, Batman begins a fruitless search….until hie is astounded by the sudden appearance in the Batcave of Ra’s Al Ghul. Ra’s quickly reveals that his daughter, Talia, has been abducted under circumstances similar to Robin’s, suggesting that the same persons are responsible. So begins and uneasy truce between Batman and ‘The Demon.’
Fire From Olympus
Believing himself to be the reincarnation of the Greek God Zeus, mad shipping magnate Maxie Zeus hijacks an experimental electron cannon. Mounting the weapon atop his penthouse, Maxie plans to rain ‘lightning bolts’ down on the wicked mortals of Gotham City.
Read My Lips
Gotam Police are baffled by a series of crimes executed with clockwork-like precision. Batman investigates and discovers that the crimes are planned by a mob boss known as Scarface. He traces Scarface to his lair – a deserted mannequin warehouse – and discovers, to his astonishment, that the crime czar is a wooden dummy, manipulated by a mild-mannered man called the Ventriloquist mortals of Gotham City.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
TWO FOR 1: Dark Families
The Music Man is a 1962 American musical film directed and produced by Morton DaCosta, based on Meredith Willson's 1957 Broadway musical of the same name, which DaCosta also directed. Robert Preston reprises the title role from the stage version, starring alongside Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett, Hermione Gingold, Ronny Howard, and Paul Ford.
Released by Warner Bros. on June 19, 1962, the film was one of the biggest hits of the year and was widely acclaimed by critics. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, with composer Ray Heindorf winning Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment. The film also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and Preston and Jones were both nominated in their respective acting categories. In 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Island of Love is a 1963 American comedy film directed by Morton DaCosta and written by David R. Schwartz. The film stars Robert Preston, Tony Randall, Giorgia Moll, Walter Matthau, Betty Bruce and Vassili Lambrinos. The film was released by Warner Bros. on June 12, 1963.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
ANTHOLOGY
A Christmas Horror Story is a 2015 Canadian anthology horror film directed by Grant Harvey, Steven Hoban, and Brett Sullivan. It premiered on July 20, 2015, at the Fantasia International Film Festival and had a limited theatrical release on October 2, 2015, along with a VOD release. The film is a series of interwoven stories tied together by a framework story featuring William Shatner as a radio DJ.
Tales from the Crypt is a 1972 British horror film directed by Freddie Francis. It is an anthology film consisting of five separate segments, based on stories from EC Comics. It was produced by Amicus Productions and filmed at Shepperton Studios.
In the film, five strangers (Joan Collins, Ian Hendry, Robin Phillips, Richard Greene and Nigel Patrick) in a crypt encounter the mysterious Crypt Keeper (Ralph Richardson), who makes each person in turn foresee the possible manner of their death. It is one of several Amicus horror anthologies produced during the 1970s.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
DOCTOR WHO: Mission To The Unknown/
The Myth Makers
Mission To The Unknown
9 October 1965
The only standalone regular episode of the show's original run, it serves as an introduction to the 12-part story The Daleks' Master Plan. It is notable for the complete absence of the regular cast and the TARDIS; it is the only serial in the show's history not to feature the Doctor at all, although William Hartnell was still credited on-screen. The story focuses on Space Security Agent Marc Cory (Edward de Souza) and his attempts to warn Earth of the Daleks' plan to take over the Solar System.
The Myth Makers
16 October - 6 November 1965
Based on Homer's Iliad, the First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his travelling companions Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) and Steven (Peter Purves) land in Troy during the Trojan War. The Doctor is captured by the Greeks and forced to formulate a plan for taking the city, while Steven and Vicki are captured by the Trojans and forced to devise a means of banishing the Greeks; the latter duo meet Katarina (Adrienne Hill), who becomes a companion by the serial's end.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
MAKE/REMAKE
The Lion King is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance, it is inspired by William Shakespeare's Hamlet with elements from the Biblical stories of Joseph and Moses and Disney's 1942 film Bambi. The film was directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff (in their feature directorial debuts) and produced by Don Hahn, from a screenplay written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. The film features an ensemble voice cast that includes Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Rowan Atkinson, and Robert Guillaume. Its original songs were written by composer Elton John and lyricist Tim Rice, with a score by Hans Zimmer.
Set in a kingdom of lions in Africa, The Lion King tells the story of Simba (Swahili for lion), a lion cub who is to succeed his father, Mufasa, as King of the Pride Lands; however, after his paternal uncle Scar kills Mufasa to seize the throne, Simba is tricked into believing he was responsible for his father's death and flees into exile. After growing up in the company of the carefree outcasts Timon and Pumbaa, Simba receives valuable perspective from his childhood friend, Nala, and his shaman, Rafiki, before returning to challenge Scar to end his tyranny and take his place in the Circle of Life as the rightful king.
The Lion King was released on June 15, 1994, receiving critical acclaim for its music, story, themes, and animation. With an initial worldwide gross of $763 million, it finished its theatrical run as the highest-grossing film of 1994 and the second-highest-grossing film of all time, behind Jurassic Park (1993). It also held the title of being the highest-grossing animated film, until it was overtaken by Finding Nemo (2003). The film remains the highest-grossing traditionally animated film of all time, as well as the best-selling film on home video, having sold over 55 million copies worldwide. It received two Academy Awards, as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.
The film has led to many derived works, such as a Broadway adaptation in 1997; two direct-to-video follow-ups—the sequel, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998), and the prequel/parallel, The Lion King 1½ (2004); two television series, Timon and Pumbaa and The Lion Guard; and a photorealistic remake in 2019, which also became the highest-grossing animated film at the time of its release. In 2016, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The Lion King is the first Disney film to have been dubbed in Zulu, the only African language aside from Arabic to have been used for a feature-length Disney dub.
The Lion King is a 2019 American musical drama film directed and co-produced by Jon Favreau, written by Jeff Nathanson, and produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Fairview Entertainment. It is a photorealistic computer-animated remake of Disney's traditionally animated 1994 film of the same name. The film stars the voices of Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alfre Woodard, Billy Eichner, John Kani, John Oliver, Florence Kasumba, Eric André, Keegan-Michael Key, JD McCrary, Shahadi Wright Joseph, with Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, and James Earl Jones reprising his role from the original film. The plot follows Simba, a young lion who must embrace his role as the rightful king of his homeland following the murder of his father, Mufasa, at the hands of his uncle, Scar.
Plans for a remake of 1994's The Lion King were confirmed in September 2016 with Favreau attached to directed following box office successes for Disney remakes such as The Jungle Book (2016), which was also directed by Favreau. Disney hired Nathanson to write the screenplay in October 2016. Favreau was inspired by certain roles of characters in the Broadway adaptation and developed upon elements of the original film's story. Much of the main cast signed in early 2017, and principal photography began in mid-2017 on a blue screen stage in Los Angeles. The "virtual-reality tools" utilized in The Jungle Book's cinematography were used to a greater degree during filming of The Lion King. Composers Hans Zimmer, Elton John, and lyricist Tim Rice, all of whom worked on the original's soundtrack, returned to compose the score alongside Knowles-Carter, who assisted John in the reworking of the soundtrack and wrote a new song for the film, titled "Spirit", which she also performed. The film serves as the final credit for editor Mark Livolsi, and it is dedicated to his memory. With an estimated budget of around $260 million, The Lion King is one of the most expensive films ever made.
The Lion King premiered in Hollywood on July 9, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 19, 2019, in the Dolby Cinema, RealD 3D and IMAX formats. It has grossed over $1.6 billion worldwide during its theatrical run, breaking several box-office records, including overtaking Frozen to become the highest-grossing animated film of all time. It also became the seventh highest-grossing film of all time and the second-highest-grossing film of 2019. The Lion King received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its visual effects, musical score, and vocal performances (particularly Rogen and Eichner), but criticism for its lack of originality and facial emotion on the characters. The film received nominations for Best Animated Feature Film and Original Song categories at the 77th Golden Globe Awards and 25th Critics' Choice Awards. It was also nominated at 73rd British Academy Film Awards and 92nd Academy Awards, both for visual effects. A prequel film, titled Mufasa: The Lion King, is set for release on July 5, 2024, with Barry Jenkins attached to direct.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
January 2024
Death And Politics
BOOK TO FILM: Once Upon A Time
Watership Down is an adventure novel by English author Richard Adams, published by Rex Collings Ltd of London in 1972. Set in Hampshire in southern England, the story features a small group of rabbits. Although they live in their natural wild environment, with burrows, they are anthropomorphised, possessing their own culture, language, proverbs, poetry, and mythology. Evoking epic themes, the novel follows the rabbits as they escape the destruction of their warren and seek a place to establish a new home (the hill of Watership Down), encountering perils and temptations along the way.
Watership Down was Richard Adams' debut novel. It was rejected by several publishers before Collings accepted the manuscript; the published book then won the annual Carnegie Medal (UK), annual Guardian Prize (UK), and other book awards. The novel was adapted into an animated feature film in 1978 and, from 1999 to 2001, an animated children's television series. In 2018, a drama of the story was made, which both aired in the UK and was made available on Netflix.
Adams completed a sequel almost 25 years later, in 1996, Tales from Watership Down, constructed as a collection of 19 short stories about El-ahrairah and the rabbits of the Watership Down warren.
Watership Down is a 1978 British animated adventure-drama film, written, produced and directed by Martin Rosen and based on the 1972 novel by Richard Adams. It was financed by a consortium of British financial institutions and was distributed by Cinema International Corporation in the United Kingdom. Released on 19 October 1978, the film was an immediate success and it became the sixth-most popular film of 1979 at the UK box office.
It features the voices of John Hurt, Richard Briers, Harry Andrews, Simon Cadell, Nigel Hawthorne and Roy Kinnear, among others, and was the last film work of Zero Mostel, as the voice of Kehaar the gull. The musical score was by Angela Morley and Malcolm Williamson. Art Garfunkel's hit song "Bright Eyes" was written by songwriter Mike Batt. It has garnered a cult following.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
BATMAN: The Animated Series
The Worry Men
Wealthy socialite Veronica Vreeland returns from Central America bringing tiny handmade dolls for all her friends. According to native legend, once placed under a pillow the dolls do the sleeper’s worrying for them. Unknown to Veronica or her guests, each of the dolls contains a tiny microchip which plants hypnotic suggestions inside the sleeper’s brains, even Bruce’s.
Sideshow
Enroute to an upstate prison, Killer Croc escapes and leads Batman on a dangerous chase through the wilderness. After throwing Batman temporarily off his trail, the reptile-man takes refuge with a group0 of retired circus freaks and convinces them to help him. When Batman arrives, Croc and the freaks band together to capture him.
A Bullet For Bullock
Someone has put a hit out on Gotham’s toughest cop, Harvey Bullock. After surviving several near misses, Bullock realises he has no choice but to reluctantly ask Batman to help him discover who is behind the murder attempts. During their investigation Bullock learns that his gruff and mean-spirited manner has created enemies in the unlikeliest of people.
Trial
Gotham’s deadliest criminals, The Joker, Two-Faced, Mad Hatter, The Ventriloquist, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy among many others, kidnap Batman and put him on trial in Arkham Asylum. The Dark Knight’s only hope rests with District Attorney Janet Van Dorn who, despite her anti-Batman stance, is forced to defend the Caped Crusader’s life as well as her own.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
TWO FOR 1: Dark Families
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The Iron Giant is a 1999 American animated science fiction film produced by Warner Bros. Feature Animation and directed by Brad Bird in his directorial debut. It is based on the 1968 novel The Iron Man by Ted Hughes (which was published in the United States as The Iron Giant) and was written by Tim McCanlies from a story treatment by Bird. The film stars the voices of Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick Jr., Vin Diesel, James Gammon, Cloris Leachman, John Mahoney, Eli Marienthal, Christopher McDonald, and M. Emmet Walsh. Set during the Cold War in 1957, the film centers on a young boy named Hogarth Hughes, who discovers and befriends a giant alien robot. With the help of a beatnik artist named Dean McCoppin, Hogarth attempts to prevent the U.S. military and Kent Mansley, a paranoid federal agent, from finding and destroying the Giant.
The film's development began in 1994 as a musical with the involvement of the Who's Pete Townshend, though the project took root once Bird signed on as director and hired McCanlies to write the screenplay in 1996. The film was animated using traditional animation, with computer-generated imagery used to animate the Iron Giant and other effects. The understaffed crew of the film completed it with half of the time and budget of other animated features. Michael Kamen composed the film's score, which was performed by the Czech Philharmonic.
The Iron Giant premiered at Mann's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles on July 31, 1999, and was released in the United States on August 6. The film significantly underperformed at the box office, grossing $31.3 million worldwide against a production budget of $50 million, which was blamed on Warner Bros.' unusually poor marketing campaign and skepticism towards animated film production following the poor critical reception and box office failure of Quest for Camelot in the preceding year. Despite this, the film was praised for its story, animation, characters, the portrayal of the title character and the voice performances of Aniston, Connick, Diesel, Mahoney, Marienthal, and McDonald. The film was nominated for several awards, winning nine Annie Awards out of 15 nominations. Through home video releases and television syndication, the film gathered a cult following and is widely regarded as a modern animated classic, and one of the greatest animated films ever made. In 2015, an extended, remastered version of the film was re-released theatrically and on home video the following year.
Monster House is a 2006 American computer-animated haunted house film directed by Gil Kenan in his directorial debut and written by Dan Harmon, Rob Schrab and Pamela Pettler, about a neighborhood being terrorized by a sentient haunted house during Halloween. The film features the voices of Mitchel Musso, Sam Lerner, Spencer Locke, Steve Buscemi, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kevin James, Nick Cannon, Jason Lee, Fred Willard, Jon Heder, Catherine O'Hara, and Kathleen Turner, as well as human characters being animated using live action motion capture animation, which was previously used in The Polar Express (2004). It was Sony's first computer animated film produced by Sony Pictures Imageworks.
Produced by Robert Zemeckis' ImageMovers, Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment (marking their first theatrically released fully animated film since Balto) and Relativity Media (their first animated film), the film was released theatrically by Columbia Pictures on July 21, 2006. It received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $142 million worldwide against a $75 million budget. Monster House received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature but lost to Happy Feet.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
ANTHOLOGY
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Sin City (also known as Frank Miller's Sin City) is a 2005 American neo-noir crime anthology film produced and directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller. It is based on Miller's graphic novel of the same name.
Much of the film is based on the first, third, and fourth books in Miller's original comic series. The Hard Goodbye is about an ex-convict who embarks on a rampage in search of his one-time sweetheart's killer. The Big Fat Kill follows a private investigator who gets caught in a street war between a group of prostitutes and a group of mercenaries, the police and the mob. That Yellow Bastard focuses on an aging police officer who protects a young woman from a grotesquely disfigured serial killer. The intro and outro of the film are based on the short story "The Customer is Always Right" which is collected in Booze, Broads & Bullets, the sixth book in the comic series.
The film stars an ensemble cast led by Jessica Alba, Benicio del Toro, Brittany Murphy, Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, and Elijah Wood, and featuring Alexis Bledel, Powers Boothe, Michael Clarke Duncan, Rosario Dawson, Devon Aoki, Carla Gugino, Rutger Hauer, Jaime King, Michael Madsen, Nick Stahl, and Makenzie Vega among others.
Sin City opened to wide critical and commercial success, gathering particular recognition for the film's unique color processing which rendered most of the film in black and white while retaining or adding color for selected objects. The film was screened at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival in competition and won the Technical Grand Prize for the film's "visual shaping". A sequel also directed by Miller and Rodriguez was released in 2014, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, but failed to match the critical and commercial success of its predecessor.
Southbound is a 2015 American anthology horror film directed by Radio Silence, Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, and Patrick Horvath. Produced by Brad Miska and Roxanne Benjamin, the film premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on September 16, 2015, and was released theatrically on February 5, 2016, in a limited release. The film was included on numerous Best Horror Films of 2016 lists including those by Rolling Stone, BuzzFeed and the Thrillist.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
DOCTOR WHO: The Daleks Master Plan/The Ark
The Daleks Master Plan
13 November 1965 – 29 January 1966
This serial marks the final appearance of Adrienne Hill as companion Katarina, and the only appearance of Jean Marsh as Sara Kingdom. Katarina and Sara Kingdom both die during the serial, marking the first two companion deaths in the show. Episode 1, "The Nightmare Begins", marks the first appearance of Nicholas Courtney in Doctor Who, here playing space security agent Bret Vyon.
It was the second Doctor Who story never to be screened in Australia; the Australian Broadcasting Corporation judged the story to be unsuitable for children. Only three of the twelve episodes (two, five and ten) are held in the BBC archives; nine remain missing.
The Ark
5 – 26 March 1966
The serial is set at least ten million years in the far distant future. In the first two episodes the time traveller the First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his travelling companions Steven Taylor (Peter Purves) and Dodo Chaplet (Jackie Lane) arrive on a generation ship that Dodo names "the Ark". The Doctor searches for a cure for a fever that has spread across the human and Monoid races on board the ship, who have no immunity to it. The last two episodes are set 700 years later, and involve the Doctor, Steven and Dodo working with the Refusian race to stop the Monoids from wiping out the last of humanity with a bomb.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
February 2024
Home is A Lonely Number
BOOK TO SCREEN: Once Upon A Time
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz after she and her pet dog Toto are swept away from their home by a cyclone. Upon her arrival in the magical world of Oz, she learns she cannot return home until she has destroyed the Wicked Witch of the West.
The book was first published in the United States in May 1900 by the George M. Hill Company In January 1901, the publishing company completed printing the first edition, a total of 10,000 copies, which quickly sold out. It had sold three million copies by the time it entered the public domain in 1956. It was often reprinted under the title The Wizard of Oz, which is the title of the successful 1902 Broadway musical adaptation as well as the classic 1939 live-action film.
The ground-breaking success of both the original 1900 novel and the 1902 Broadway musical prompted Baum to write thirteen additional Oz books which serve as official sequels to the first story. Over a century later, the book is one of the best-known stories in American literature, and the Library of Congress has declared the work to be "America's greatest and best-loved homegrown fairytale."
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. An adaptation of L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's fantasy novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the film was primarily directed by Victor Fleming (who left the production to take over the troubled Gone with the Wind), and stars Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke, and Margaret Hamilton. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, while others made uncredited contributions. The music was composed by Harold Arlen and adapted by Herbert Stothart, with lyrics by Edgar "Yip" Harburg.
Characterized by its use of Technicolor, fantasy storytelling, musical score, and memorable characters, The Wizard of Oz was considered a critical success and was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture, ultimately winning Best Original Song for "Over the Rainbow" and Best Original Score for Stothart. While the film was sufficiently popular at the box office, it failed to make a profit for MGM until its 1949 re-release, earning only $3 million on a $2.7 million budget, which made it MGM's most expensive production at that time.
The 1956 television broadcast premiere of the film on CBS reintroduced the film to the public. According to the U.S. Library of Congress, it is the most seen film in movie history. In 1989, it was selected by the Library of Congress as one of the first 25 films for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"; it is also one of few films on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register. The film was ranked second in Variety's inaugural 100 Greatest Movies of All Time list published in 2022. It was among the top ten in the 2005 BFI (British Film Institute) list of "50 films to be seen by the age of 14" and is on the BFI's updated list of "50 films to be seen by the age of 15" released in May 2020. The Wizard of Oz has become the source of many quotes referenced in contemporary popular culture. The film frequently ranks on critics' lists of the greatest films of all time and is the most commercially successful adaptation of L. Frank Baum's work.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
BATMAN: The Animated Series
Avatar
A mystic Egyptian scroll donated to the Gotham Museum by Bruce Wayne is stolen by Ra’s al Ghul; forcing Batman and his lover Talia al Ghul to join forces and prevent the powermad Ra’s al Ghul from unlocking the scroll’s secrets of life and death.
Their quest takes them to a hidden temple deep beneath the Egyptian desert. There the Dark Knight is forced into a terrifying battle with an ancient Egyptian sorceress who seeks to destroy them all.
House and Garden
Not only has Poison Ivy been released from Arkham Asylum, she’s also married her doctor and settled down to help him raise his two sons. Still, wealthy Gotham bachelors are being poisoned and robbed in ways that exactly mirror Ivy’s old crimes. The attacks take a personal turn when Dick Grayson is kidnapped by the mysterious assailant. Is Ivy responsible? And if so, how can Batman prove it?
The Terrible Trio
Three wealthy, bored friends decide to seek new thrills by becoming master criminals. As the Fox, the Shark and the Vulture, The Terrible Trio pick Gotham clean, until they encounter the one person who can not be bought off – Batman.
Harlequinade
The Joker gains possession of an atomic bomb which he uses to threaten Gotham City; forcing Batman and Robin to form an uneasy alliance with Harley Quinn in order to stop the Clown Prince of Crime. Harley leads them on a madcap hunt through Gotham, and eventually into a deadly show-down where Harley is torn between her promise to help Batman and her twisted love for the Joker.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
TWO FOR 1: Dark Families
Return to Oz is a 1985 dark fantasy film released by Walt Disney Pictures, co-written and directed by Walter Murch. It stars Nicol Williamson, Jean Marsh, Piper Laurie, and Fairuza Balk as Dorothy Gale in her first screen role. The film is an unofficial sequel to the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film The Wizard of Oz, and it is based on L. Frank Baum's early 20th century Oz novels, mainly The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904) and Ozma of Oz (1907). In the plot, an insomniac Dorothy returns to the Land of Oz to find it has been conquered by the wicked Nome King and his accomplice Princess Mombi ; she must restore Oz with her new friends Billina, Tik-Tok, Jack Pumpkinhead, the Gump, and Princess Ozma.
In 1954, Walt Disney Productions bought the film rights to Baum's remaining Oz books to use in the television series Disneyland; this led to the live-action film Rainbow Road to Oz, which was never completed. Murch suggested making another Oz film in 1980. Disney approved the project as they were due to lose the film rights to the series. Though MGM was not involved in the production, Disney had to pay a large fee to use the ruby slippers created for the 1939 film. Return to Oz fell behind schedule during production, and, following a change of Disney management, Murch was briefly fired.
Return to Oz was released in theaters on June 21, 1985. It performed poorly at the box office, grossing $11.1 million in the United States on a $28 million budget, and received mixed reviews, with critics praising the effects and performances but criticizing the dark content and twisted visuals with many deeming it inferior to the original film. However, it performed well outside the US, and has since acquired a cult following from fans of the Oz books for being more faithful to L. Frank Baum's works and those who saw the film at a young age. It received an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects.
Oz the Great and Powerful is a 2013 American fantasy adventure film directed by Sam Raimi and written by David Lindsay-Abaire and Mitchell Kapner from a story by Kapner. Based on L. Frank Baum's early 20th century Oz novels and set 20 years before the events of the original 1900 novel, the film is a spiritual prequel to the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film The Wizard of Oz. Starring James Franco in the title role, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Zach Braff, Bill Cobbs, Joey King, William Bock, and Tony Cox, the film tells the story of Oscar Diggs, a deceptive magician who arrives in the Land of Oz and encounters three witches: Theodora, Evanora, and Glinda. Oscar is then enlisted to restore order in Oz while struggling to resolve conflicts with the witches and himself.
Kapner began developing an origin story for the Wizard of Oz after a lifelong interest in wanting to create one for the character. Walt Disney Pictures commissioned the film's production in 2009 with Joe Roth as producer and Grant Curtis, Joshua Donen, Philip Steuer and Palak Patel serving as executive producers. Raimi was hired to direct the following year. After Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp declined the titular role, Franco was cast in February 2011 with principal photography commencing five months later. Danny Elfman composed the film's score.
Oz the Great and Powerful premiered at the El Capitan Theatre on February 14, 2013, followed by a general theatrical release on March 8, 2013, in Disney Digital 3D, RealD 3D and IMAX 3D formats. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film grossed over $493 million worldwide against a $215 million budget, making it the 13th-highest-grossing film of 2013. The film won the Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Live Action Family Film and Kunis won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain for her performance as the Wicked Witch of the West.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
ANTHOLOGY
Twilight Zone: The Movie is a 1983 American science fiction anthology film produced by Steven Spielberg and John Landis. Based on Rod Serling's 1959–1964 television series of the same name, the film features four stories directed by Landis, Spielberg, Joe Dante, and George Miller. Landis' segment is an original story created for the film, while the segments by Spielberg, Dante, and Miller are remakes of episodes from the original series. The film's cast includes Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks, Scatman Crothers, John Lithgow, Vic Morrow, and Kathleen Quinlan. Original series cast members Burgess Meredith, Patricia Barry, Peter Brocco, Murray Matheson, Kevin McCarthy, Bill Mumy, and William Schallert also appear in the film, with Meredith assuming Serling's role as narrator.
The film's production achieved notoriety when Morrow and two illegally-hired child actors were killed in a helicopter crash during filming of a stunt for Landis's segment. The deaths led to several years of legal action; although no individuals were found to be criminally liable, new procedures and safety standards were imposed in the filmmaking industry. Upon release, the film received mixed reviews, with praise directed at Dante and Miller's segments, but criticism towards the segments by Landis and Spielberg. Despite the controversy and mixed reception, it was a commercial success, grossing $42 million on a $10 million budget.
Night Gallery is a 1969 American made-for-television anthology supernatural horror film starring Joan Crawford, Roddy McDowall and Richard Kiley. Directed by Boris Sagal, Steven Spielberg and Barry Shear, the film consists of three supernatural tales that served as the pilot for the anthology television series of the same name, written and hosted by Rod Serling.
Serling garnered the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best TV Episode for this effort. The film originally premiered on NBC on November 8, 1969.
Serling appeared in an art gallery setting as the curator and introduced a trilogy of supernatural tales by unveiling paintings (by artist Jaroslav "Jerry" Gebr) that depicted the stories. The original pilot theme and background music was composed by William Goldenberg.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
DOCTOR WHO: The Celestial Toymaker/
The Gunfighters
The Celestial Toymaker
2 - 26 April 1966
The alien time traveller the First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his travelling companions Steven (Peter Purves) and Dodo Chaplet (Jackie Lane) are pitted against a powerful adversary called the Celestial Toymaker (Michael Gough). The Toymaker separates the Doctor from his companions to play the Trilogic Game, while Steven and Dodo are forced to win a series of seemingly childish but deadly games before they can be reunited with the Doctor and return to the TARDIS.
The Gunfighters
30 April - 21 May 1966
The time traveller the First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his travelling companions Steven Taylor (Peter Purves) and Dodo Chaplet (Jackie Lane) get themselves involved with the events leading up to the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
March 2024
Mixing The Medium
BOOK TO SCREEN: Once Upon A Time
Who Censored Roger Rabbit? is a fantasy mystery novel written by Gary K. Wolf in 1981. It was later adapted by Disney and Amblin Entertainment into the critically acclaimed 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 American fantasy comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary K. Wolf. The film stars Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Stubby Kaye, and Joanna Cassidy, with the voices of Charles Fleischer and Kathleen Turner. Combining live-action and animation, the film is set in an alternate history Hollywood in 1947, where humans and cartoon characters (referred to as "toons") co-exist. Its plot follows Eddie Valiant, a private investigator with a prejudice against toons, who must help exonerate Roger Rabbit, a toon framed for murder.
Walt Disney Pictures purchased the film rights for the story in 1981. Price and Seaman wrote two drafts of the script before Disney brought in executive producer Steven Spielberg and his production company, Amblin Entertainment. Zemeckis was brought on to direct, and Canadian animator Richard Williams was hired to supervise the animation sequences. Production was moved from Los Angeles to Elstree Studios in England to accommodate Williams and his group of animators. While filming, the production budget began to rapidly expand, and the shooting schedule ran longer than expected.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit was released through Disney's Touchstone Pictures banner in the United States on June 22, 1988. The film received acclaim from critics, who praised its visuals, humour, writing, and performances, with critics and audiences considering it to be "ground-breaking". It grossed over $351 million worldwide, becoming the second highest-grossing film of 1988. It brought a renewed interest in the golden age of American animation, spearheading modern American animation and the Disney Renaissance. It won three Academy Awards for Best Film Editing, Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Visual Effects and received a Special Achievement Academy Award for Williams' animation direction.
In 2016, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
BATMAN: The Animated Series
Two Out of Joint
The Clock King returns to carry out his vendetta against Mayor Hill. This time the clock-mad criminal hopes to murder Hill with the help of a stolen invention that allows him to warp time and travel at super-speed. Securing another device from its creator, Batman and Robin take on the Clock King in a furious high-speed battle for the mayor’s life.
Catwalk
Anxious to take up her old ways as Catwoman, Selina Kyle joins forces with the Ventriloquist and Scarface to humiliate socialite Veronica Vreeland. But the real victim is Catwoman herself, who has been secretly set up by Scarface to take the fall for another robbery. Batman has to intercede before the furious feline makes things worse by killing the double-talking Ventriloquist.
Bane
Batman comes face to face with his most powerful adversary yet, the chemically charged assassin, Bane. Originally hired by Rupert Thorne to kill Batman, Bane plans on taking control of Thorne’s criminal empire once Batman is destroyed. It’s a fight to the death with all of Gotham in the balance as Batman takes on the man who has vowed to break the Bat.
Baby-Doll
A former child star, now grown bitter and insane, kidnaps her TV family and holds them prisoner on an abandoned sound stage. While Robin works fast to free the actors from Baby-Doll’s explosive death-trap, Batman pursues the tiny fiend through a deadly carnival fun house.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
TWO FOR 1: Dark Families
Bedknobs and Broomsticks is a 1971 musical fantasy film directed by Robert Stevenson and songs written by the Sherman Brothers. It was produced by Bill Walsh for Walt Disney Productions. It is based upon the books The Magic Bedknob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons (1943) and Bonfires and Broomsticks (1947) by English children's author Mary Norton. The film, which combines live action and animation, stars Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson, John Ericson, and introducing Ian Weighill, Cindy O'Callaghan, and Roy Snart.
During the early 1960s, Bedknobs and Broomsticks entered development when the negotiations for the film rights to Mary Poppins (1964) were placed on hold. When the rights were acquired, the film was shelved repeatedly due to the similarities with Mary Poppins until it was revived in 1969. Originally at a length of 139 minutes, Bedknobs and Broomsticks was edited down to almost two hours prior to its premiere at the Radio City Music Hall.
The film was released on December 13, 1971, to mixed reviews from film critics, some of whom praised the live action/animated sequence. The film received five Academy Awards nominations winning one for Best Special Visual Effects. This was the last film released prior to the death of Walt Disney's surviving brother, Roy O. Disney, who died one week later. It is also the last theatrical film Reginald Owen appeared in before his death next year in 1972; his last two acting credits were for television. It is also the last film work of screenwriter Don DaGradi before his retirement in 1970, and death on August 4, 1991.
In 1996, the film was restored with most of the deleted material re-inserted back into the film. A stage musical adaptation has been produced. The musical had its world premiere at the Theatre Royal, in Newcastle upon Tyne, on 14 August 2021 before embarking on a UK and Ireland tour, until May 2022.
Enchanted is a 2007 American live action/animated musical fantasy romantic comedy film directed by Kevin Lima and written by Bill Kelly. Co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Josephson Entertainment, and Right Coast Productions, the film stars Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Idina Menzel, Rachel Covey, and Susan Sarandon, with Julie Andrews as the narrator. It focuses on an archetypal Disney princess-to-be exiled from her animated world into the live-action world of New York City.
The film is both a homage to and a self-parody of Disney's animated features, making numerous references to past works through the combination of live-action filmmaking, traditional animation, and computer-generated imagery. It also marks the return of traditional animation to a Disney feature film after the company's decision to move entirely to computer animation in 2004. Composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, who had written songs for previous Disney films, wrote and produced the songs of Enchanted, and Menken also composed the film's score. The animated sequences were produced at James Baxter Animation in Pasadena, while filming of the live-action segments took place around New York City.
Enchanted premiered on October 20, 2007, at the London Film Festival, and went into its wide release in the United States on November 21. It was critically well-received, established Adams as a leading lady, and earned more than $340 million worldwide at the box office. It won three Saturn Awards, Best Fantasy Film, Best Actress for Adams and Best Music for Menken. Enchanted also received two nominations at the 65th Golden Globe Awards and three Best Original Song nominations at the 80th Academy Awards. This is the first Walt Disney Pictures film to be distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures after Disney retired the Buena Vista brand from its distribution division. A sequel, Disenchanted, was released on Disney+ on November 18, 2022.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
ANTHOLOGY
Dr Terror's House of Horrors is a 1965 British anthology horror film from Amicus Productions, directed by veteran horror director Freddie Francis, written by Milton Subotsky, and starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.
It was the first in a series of anthology films from Amicus and was followed by Torture Garden (1967), The House That Dripped Blood (1970), Tales from the Crypt (1972), Asylum (1972), The Vault of Horror (1973) and From Beyond the Grave (1974). It is also the first horror film from Amicus.
Torture Garden is a 1967 British anthology horror film directed by Freddie Francis and starring Burgess Meredith, Jack Palance, Michael Ripper, Beverly Adams, Peter Cushing, Maurice Denham, Ursula Howells, Michael Bryant and Barbara Ewing. The score was a collaboration between Hammer horror regulars James Bernard and Don Banks.
Made by Amicus Productions, it is one of producer Milton Subotsky's trademark "portmanteau" films, an omnibus of short stories (in this case all by Psycho author Robert Bloch, who adapted his own work for the screenplay) linked by a single narrative.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
DOCTOR WHO: The Savages/The War Machines
The Savages
28 May - 18 June 1966
The Doctor (William Hartnell) and his travelling companions Steven (Peter Purves) and Dodo (Jackie Lane) arrive on an unnamed planet where they encounter two distinct people - the Elders and the Savages. They soon discover the Elders are the evil ones, draining the primitive Savages for their life source to remain young and powerful forever. This serial marks the final appearance of Purves as Steven.
The War Machines
25 June - 16 July 1966
Set in 1960s London, shortly after construction of the Post Office Tower was completed. In the serial, the time traveller the First Doctor (William Hartnell) and sailor Ben Jackson (Michael Craze) work together to stop the self-thinking computer WOTAN (voiced by Gerald Taylor) from invading London with the deadly War Machines controlled by WOTAN.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
MAKE/REMAKE
Pete's Dragon is a 1977 American musical fantasy film directed by Don Chaffey, produced by Jerome Courtland and Ron Miller, and written by Malcolm Marmorstein. Based on the unpublished short story "Pete's Dragon and the USA (Forever After)" by Seton I. Miller and S. S. Field, the film stars Sean Marshall, Helen Reddy, Jim Dale, Mickey Rooney, Red Buttons, Jeff Conaway, Shelley Winters, and the voice of Charlie Callas as Elliott.
The project was initially conceived in 1957 as a two-part episode of the Disneyland television series, but it was shelved until it was revived as a musical film in 1975. The film was released on November 3, 1977, to mixed reviews from critics, though some praised the animation. It was a moderate financial success, grossing $18 million over a $10 million budget.
The film received two nominations at the 50th Academy Awards, for musical scoring and original song. Capitol Records released a single of Reddy performing "Candle on the Water" (with a different arrangement from that in the film) that reached #27 on the Adult Contemporary charts.
The film spawned a remake made by Walt Disney Pictures and released in 2016.
Pete's Dragon is a 2016 American fantasy adventure film directed by David Lowery, written by Lowery and Toby Halbrooks, and produced by James Whitaker. The film is a live-action remake of Disney's 1977 live-action/traditionally animated musical film of the same name, although the 2016 live-action film is not a musical. The film stars Bryce Dallas Howard, Oakes Fegley, Wes Bentley, Karl Urban, Oona Laurence, and Robert Redford. The film tells the story of an orphaned feral boy who befriends a dragon in the Pacific Northwest, and the ensuing repercussions of their discovery by the town's residents.
Pete's Dragon premiered at the El Capitan Theatre on August 8, 2016, and was theatrically released in the United States on August 12, 2016, by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed over $143 million worldwide against a $65 million production budget.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
April 2024
Monsters Come and Go
BOOK TO SCREEN: Once Upon A Time
Where the Wild Things Are is a 1963 children's picture book written and illustrated by American writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak, originally published in hardcover by Harper & Row. The book has been adapted into other media several times, including an animated short film in 1973 (with an updated version in 1988); a 1980 opera; and a live-action 2009 feature-film adaptation. The book had sold over 19 million copies worldwide as of 2009, with 10 million of those being in the United States.
Sendak won the annual Caldecott Medal from the children's librarians in 1964, recognizing Wild Things as the previous year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It was voted the number one picture book in a 2012 survey of School Library Journal readers, not for the first time.
Where the Wild Things Are is a 2009 fantasy adventure drama film directed by Spike Jonze. Written by Jonze and Dave Eggers, it is based on Maurice Sendak's 1963 children's book of the same name. It combines live-action, performers in costumes, animatronics, and computer-generated imagery (CGI). The film stars Max Records, Catherine Keener, and Mark Ruffalo, and features the voices of Lauren Ambrose, Chris Cooper, James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara, and Forest Whitaker. The film centres on a lonely young boy named Max who sails away to an island inhabited by creatures known as the "Wild Things", who declare Max their king.
In the early 1980s, The Walt Disney Company considered adapting the film as a blend of traditionally animated characters and computer-generated environments, but development did not go past a test film to see how the animation hybridizing would result. In 2001, Universal Studios acquired rights to the book's adaptation and initially attempted to develop a computer-animated adaptation with Disney animator Eric Goldberg, but the CGI concept was replaced with a live-action one in 2003, and Goldberg was dropped for Jonze. The film was produced by Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman, Sendak, John Carls, and Vincent Landay, and made with an estimated budget of $100 million. Where the Wild Things Are was a joint production between Australia, Germany, and the United States, and was filmed principally in Melbourne.
Where the Wild Things Are was released on 16 October 2009, in the United States, on 3 December in Australia, and on 17 December in Germany. Despite concerns from within Warner Bros. and news outlets leading up to release over whether or not Jonze's approach to the film was suitable for children, the film was met with positive reviews and appeared on many year-end top ten lists. However, the film was a financial disappointment, grossing just $100 million against a production budget of $100 million. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 2 March 2010.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.
BATMAN: The Animated Series
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The Lion and the Unicorn
The International terrorist known as Red Claw strikes again and kidnaps Alfred luring him into a trap on his native England. Alfred once worked for the British Secret service and Red Claw has learned he was entrusted with the firing code to a hidden long-range missile. Batman and Robin have to rescue Alfred before Red Claw learns the firing code, or else she will use the missile to bring England to its knees.
Showdown
Ra’s al Ghul storms a retirement house with the Society of Shadows in order to take someone with him, leaving only a recording behind. Batman and Robin take the tape and listen to a tale from Ra’s mysterious past during the 1800’s, when he attempted to destroy the fledgling railroad and seize control of the US government. The one person who stood in his way was the renegade bounty hunter, Jonah Hex. How Ra’s battle with Hex is tied to his present-day activities, is for Batman to discover.
Riddler’s Reform
Upon his release from Arkham Asylum, The Riddler becomes an instant celebrity with his own line of toys and games. Soon he’s rich, well-liked, and happy, except for the fact that he’s never managed to best Batman in battle of wits. Realising that he’s still obsessed with beating the Dark Knight and that the obsession will lead to his downfall, the Ridder lures Batman into a death trap puzzle to get rid of his opponent and end the riddle games.
Second Chance
Just before he is to undergo the operation that will restore his face, Harvey Dent is kidnapped by a mysterious villain. Batman and Robin split up to nab the criminal behind the scheme to abduct the Dark Knight’s old friend. They suspect that either the Penguin or Rupert Thorne may be behind the kidnapping but after doing their investigation, they come to realise there is an unsuspected third enemy in the scheme.
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (28.49); Whatever Happened To Cousin Charlotte Plot Synopsis (29.44); Book Thoughts(34.10); Let's Rate (49.13); Introducing a Film (57.07); Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte Film Trailer (58.31); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.22); How Many Stars (1:57.17); End Credits (2:08.03); Closing Credits (2:09.49)
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
Closing Credits: Deadly Valentine by LVCRFT, Scary Ana Grande, Deja Vudu & Count Tracukla. From the album Deadly Valentine. Copyright 2022 Spooky Never Sleeps
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.
All rights reserved. Used by Kind Permission.
All songs available through Amazon Music.