Blank Check with Griffin & David - Family Dog - Amazing Stories

Episode Date: June 28, 2018

Griffin and David review an episode of the 1993 television series Amazing Stories directed by Brad Bird: Family Dog. This episode is sponsored by Never Seen It podcast.

Hello everybody, my name is Griffin Newman. David Simms. And this is Blank Check with Griffin and David, bonus edition. This is usually a podcast about filmographies, and it still is today. Directors who have massive success early on in their career give a series of blank checks, make whatever crazy passion projects they want, and sometimes those checks clear, and sometimes they bounce baby. Sure.

Now, in the past, we used to do bonus episodes. They kind of fell by the wayside for a bunch of different reasons. A couple directors who didn't have good options. Yeah, it was more directors who didn't have a thing. Also scheduling stuff. Sure. But we're trying this out now where it's not a full-length episode. We do it as a bonus release the same week we're testing this out.

I'd like to keep on getting to the bonus. It's nice to do some appendix work. Something like this that's an early non-feature thing. Or sometimes it's something like the Animatrix that wasn't really made by the person or fully by the person. Today we're going to talk about Family Dog. Which was Brad Bird's segment from Amazing Stories. Episode. His episode.

It's a whole episode. Which is kind of like three animated shorts in a weird way. Right, it's three little movies. But the ad breaks in between. He's three little movies. Three little. But the ad breaks in between. He set it up as sort of three. It's kind of like how those Cartoon Network shows used to be. Yeah.

Or like Rugrats. Powerpuff Girls. Where it would be like two episodes per episode, you know? Right. And then you have a little like interstitial, like a gag. Little thing. Right. Yeah.

Amazing Stories, which was a very hyped up show. Here's Spielberg doing an anthology show. It's like Twilight Zone, but full of wonder. Have you ever seen them? I've seen a handful of episodes. I kind of like the show. It was inconsistent. It was very expensive.

It didn't live up to the hype. I think it was sort of seen as a folly. But there's good shit on it. And I will say the opening of the show is the most pretentious fucking thing I've ever seen where it starts with the original storyteller

the caveman by the fire and then it ends with that caveman now on a TV screen and there's like the CGI and there's like hieroglyphics that can go fuck itself there was one I used to watch a lot for some bizarre reason.

Maybe I had it on tape. It was kind of basically like a little shop of Harzaboff with like a plant. Oh, weird. I'm going to try and see. Plant. Yes, the 21-inch sun. A sitcom writer writes a script

thanks to a spider plant that absorbs TV rays what a weird I used to watch who is that they had a lot of good people behind the scenes on that show no they did when you go through it it's all these names that you recognize it was directed by Nick Castle okay who was who you know

did the last starfighter co-wrote escape from New York played Michael Myers he was a carpenter guy. Yeah. Read Robert Townsend. Right. Robert Townsend. The Meteor Man himself.

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I used to love that one. I don't know why. There are a lot of people who got their first jobs on Amazing Stories as well. I mean, like Brad Bird. But then there's also weird reclamation projects like Tobey Hooper did.

Right. Danny DeVito directed an episode Was that before he had made a feature yet? Or was he already? I'm trying to remember when he made I think War of the Roses had come out by that point No maybe that was later Throw Mama from the Train is 87

That's his second film The ratings game, his TV movie War of the Roses is 89 Let's do DeVito. Hoffa. Throw Mama was before. I'm here to tell you that Throw Mama from the Train is 1987. Wow.

War of the Roses is 1989. I'd like to do DeVito. Duplex. Death of Smoochie. That must, must the children's films. Fuck. I'm just testing you now. At this point, you must know I'm testing you it's all

you do yeah also death of smooshy rules and by rules I mean fucks so yeah Brad Bird who what a thing I find very interesting about family dog yeah

I really just felt like cartoon network shit to me like pre-cartoon design the sort of well i was talking about it with ben but yeah all right say your thing say your thing uh i was tim burton fanatic as a child yeah he was sort of like the first director i got really obsessed with through the idea of oh there's a director there's like a person who makes all this stuff he's a real starter kit director in that way because it's like all his movies are about the same thing. They all look the same way.

Right. You know? I was such a completist that like Family Dog, the series, is one of only, I think, two things he has a producer credit on that he didn't direct before the year 2000. The other being Cabin Boy. Sure.

Which he was also supposed to direct. Weird. So I saw both of those things early on because I was like, I've ran out of Tim Burton movies. Give me other things. We're never going to talk about him, though. No. Which is why I'm talking about him now.

Exactly. Tim Burton designed Family Dog. Conflicting reports as to whether he initially developed it as his idea The dog looks like Frankenweenie 100% he designed all the characters and what I had heard was that he pitched this to Amazing Stories

because Brad Bird and Tim Burton were kind of in similar places in their career in like the early mid 80's they were these guys out of CalArts who had really distinct styles and reputations. These guys are weird. They're going to do something.

And Brad Bird kept on floating around the ether almost getting projects and same thing with Tim Burton. Yep. Tim Burton's debut film

was almost After Hours. Huh. I did not know that. Because Griffin Dunn liked Frankenweenie so much he hired him and then when Scorsese got interested in the project Tim Burton Burton was like, that's fine, I'll step away.

Sure. But Tim Burton was like developing after hours. He was a guy who was being passed around. Same thing with Brad Bird, right? What I had sort of heard, but then I couldn't find anything online to corroborate this, is that Burton pitched this, I'd love to do domestic, suburban, nuclear family from the perspective of the dog, which feels very much in line with his work,

especially in this early period, started developing it. Then his feature career took off. And Brad Bird, who was a classmate of his at CalArts, had his reputation as probably the best pure animation director from that group. The man knows drawing. Takes over it.

He gets sole writing credit. I think he took just the germ of the idea, but all the designs are Burton. And Burton gets the animation designed by Tim Burton credit in the end of this thing. Yeah, he does get sole credit though. And then when he creates the TV show, it is created by Brad Bird.

Yeah. Right. But Tim Burton gets an executive producer credit on the animated series as well. So I had seen the series, which is like- Tim Burton's getting his checks. Yeah. His family dog checks.

That thing is everywhere. I had seen the series, which was like four years later. Yes. I can look it up. It was in the post-Simpsons wave of we need more primetime cartoons. Yeah. It was in 1993. And this is 87. So six years later, it was so the it was on in 1993 and this is 87 so six years later it was on cbs

and it was a summer show it aired june to july so i think because at that point they were dumping it but it was like you remember capital critters no no i know what you're talking about yeah there was this wave of like what are other it's for buff the simpsons yeah totally put cartoons at it's funny that it was on CBS because I think Amazing Stories was NBC. But maybe Amazing Stories was like syndicated. It was also done by that. No, it was NBC.

No, I know. It was long time. Yeah. What have you. I don't fucking know. Brad Bird refused to carry over to the cartoon. But he did create it. Like, he gets a credit.

I think that's a contractual credit. No, possibly, yeah. He had no involvement with the series, which I had seen. And at the time, I was like, where involvement with the series, which I had seen. And at the time, I was like, we're the Tim Burton proofs. This thing is fine. It was a big disaster.

It took them a long time. They got an episode order of 13. They only ever produced 10. They ended up rewriting and reanimating a bunch of the first 10 after they were done and then loaded them off in the summer. Sure. Fuck that show. What have you. But I had seen those for years and then when I became a Brad Bird fan later and started

to understand his career a little more, Ben came over to adjust my microphone. I did it myself and now he's Charlie Brown walking back in resignation to his chair. Then I dug into like, oh, Brad Bird made that thing and watched the original one, which I think I had seen I don't know mid 2000s and then rewatched last night for this yeah it's a very interesting piece because it is like this

very expensive like real for what Brad Bird is capable of that's true at a time where people wouldn't hire him because I thought he was difficult and we talked about this on our Iron Giant episode. Yeah. He sort of got this pass from Spielberg to be like, hey, you got

22 minutes. Did you know there was a Super NES video game? Yeah. Fuck. Yeah. Like, they really tried to make it a big thing. That's why it took so long because they were like, there's a lot riding on Family Dog. We already have licensing deals. We got a video like, there's a lot riding on Family Dog.

We already have licensing deals. We got a video game. He's going to be on cereal boxes. So they kept on pushing it back and redoing it. Like you say it took six years. I think it was in development four years or three years later, and it took another two or three years to make it on air. We're watching a Let's Play of the video game. Weird, right?

It looks kind of cool. And the cartoon show has Martin Mull playing the dad. Yeah. But it loses Annie Potts and replaces her with Molly Cheek from It's Gary Shanling Show. Fair enough. Yeah. So I was talking about this with Ben.

It's like these 80s cartoons and the 90s have it too. They're just about these miserable fucking families yes where it's like that's the it's that era of like well now everything's solved we have all the conveniences and we live in these boring nuclear and it's just like it's always like the dad being like you know and the mom being like shrieky. Yeah. But I also think. And that's what The Simpsons is, except The Simpsons immediately expands out. Right.

I also think whether he was starting this wave or just in line with a sort of cultural movement, this was kind of a cornerstone of Burton's brand at the beginning of his career, which reads as it's apex in Edward Scissorhands, which is here's a guy who grew up in sunny, beautiful California in the 1960s and was miserable. You know, like here's my dad mowing the lawn. Here's my mom baking the cookies. And I think all of this sucks.

And I'm really cynical about all of it. Right. And it's like less horrifying than Lynch, more funny, but like that similar vibe. Which is why I think it, well, we'll never talk about Burton again. No. But This game is weird, dude. You're still watching the Let's Play?

You should buy it. It's like all set in the apartment. Do they have it for Sega Genesis? No, I think it was an SNES exclusive. It was core part of their 1994 or whatever. Do you remember when certain video games were siphoned off as a blockbuster exclusive and it was clear that the developer gave up on it? They're like, we're not even going to sell this in stores.

This is the classic game that you get bought for Christmas and you're like, what? You know, like you wanted Bonestorm, like whatever the Simpsons joke is. But like, you got a fucking family dog. You're just playing fetch. Look at this you got a fucking family dog you're just playing fetch look at this shit i see it still playing fetch and so you would be like well you know you're seven years old you're like well this is what i got so i'm gonna play this game do you remember a game like that though that you were given at christmas i had the gremlins 2 game on the game boy that you're like Gizmo and it's like this

fucking impossible platform game where your weapon is like a pencil and it sucked and I was like I am beating this game. I don't care. The thing is for me like I was a Game Boy kid and I like two things. Like I like like Mario Nintendo games and I liked games based off of movies and TV shows. Right.

And you're still like that. Right. And there were so many video games I got that were objectively bad that I had so much fun playing because I was like, but look at me. Right. It's like you're getting peanuts.

I'm Major Chip Hazard, leader of the Commando Elite. Like I just had fun playing like the fucking Small Soldiers game, whether or not it was good. Yeah. So I don't think I ever disliked a video game.

Did you like that Toy Story game? Yeah, it was the best. It's a good game. I got it for the genesis now i found the one i got which one i like i think literally my uncle was like i saw you wear like a floral print shirt one time leisure suit larry no that'd be green dog the beach surfer dude what i've never heard of it it's called green dog the beach surferfer Dude? Yeah. Here we go. I'm loading it up. Oh, shit. Because they thought you were a surfer dude because you were a floral.

I mean, my uncle literally knew nothing about me. He was grasping at straws. He knew my... He barely knew my name. What is this shit? I don't know, but it's... This is like the Cool Spot game or whatever. Yeah.

Is this a video game that your uncle made? Maybe. Did you play it? Did you play it a lot? Can you turn your computer screen around? Can I get a look at this? Was it like a Genesis game or something? what the fuck is this?

it looks weird it is so weird and I actually did end up playing it it got really into it you get into it because it's like I had this game called Cybernator which is just like

you're a robot and you shoot shit I've never heard no one's ever mentioned this game to me in any other context I like beat that game 10 times because what else am I going to do? so that's been our bonus episode thank you for listening fuck i see i liked the genesis aladdin better than the super nintendo aladdin that was the one where they

were weirdly different uh oh yeah i didn't have a genesis my friends did but i would like go play the aladdin well that's so my my friend pat may we were at like an old video game store and i found the toy story game for the genesis which i've said I have one of those, like, Genesis emulator, the $40, like, plug-and-play thing. But it takes cartridges. And I had only played the Toy Story game on the Game Boy. And he was like, you know that game is, like, insanely hard, right? Yeah. And I don't remember the Game Boy game being as hard.

But I also don't know if it was just that it was more diligent. Some of these games are, right. Different versions were harder. Like, I had a Game Gear, because my parents, like, convinced themselves that, like, that was a good choice, because it, like, was color, so it wouldn't hurt your eyes, you know?

And I had, like, Sonic 2 on the Game Gear, which is, like, punishing. It's so cruel. Yeah. Whereas, like, Sonic 2 on the game gear, which is like punishing. Yeah. It's so cruel. Yeah. Whereas like Sonic 2 on the Genesis is fun and colorful. And like Sonic 2 on the, it's just like, fuck you. This game sucks. Eat a turd, you asshole.

And so I would just play it obsessively. Those are the level meds. Like level 16, eat a turd, you asshole. Yeah, level 16 is like, you're an idiot. Dumb kid. God, this Toy Story Game Boy game looks weird. I love it. Okay, but look at like the Genesis version of the SNES version

because the big selling point was it was the first video game with like CGI rendered characters. Yes, no, I remember that. I remember how it looked. It was so cool. That was the advertising campaign was they didn't think Toy Story was going to be big, so they just sold it off of like, the characters are 3D.

Yeah, I just remember the scene where you like it's in the nightmare yeah and that was cool the level not seen hey are you tired of pretending that you've seen things like hbo's masterpiece the wire when you're at a party and people start talking about it okay well then you should check out a podcast called never seen it it's hosted by comedian kyle ayers and people will come on comedians and they'll rewrite famous movies that they've never seen and then they'll do a cold read in studio so you'll hear dan harman's take on lawrence of arabia or you're or amy miller rewriting the shining or flula borg's no country for old men and they'll do segments like what What movie is Kyle's dad describing based solely off having seen the trailer and never heard of the movie? Or, guess which three movie scenes are playing when the audio of all three is played simultaneously?

So they have fun with things you know you're supposed to have seen but never got around to. And you can listen and subscribe at iTunes or or spotify or tune in or wherever you listen to podcasts so make sure you don't miss a single episode of never seen it anyway family dog it's funny what i was gonna say is animation at this point is it such a uh a sort of a trough as a medium yes in the 80s. Yes, absolutely, of course. Because adult animation, you know, hasn't come back at this point. Pixar is but a, you know, a company in someone's garage, basically.

In the feature department, Disney is slashing budgets, putting them together cheaply. You got the Bluth movies. You got the Spielberg stuff. This is what's happening concurrently, which is Spielberg saying, like, I want to bring animation back.

And so he's the one guy who's got the blank check to be able to get animators big budgets. And the animation on Family Dog is way above TV animation. Like I look at this thing. Yes, it looks amazing. This was, I think. Not amazing, but it looks good.

I think it looks amazing. And it was one of the most expensive episodes they did of the show. And as a byproduct, they like heavily promoted it as an episode not just as the series like bought ads just for like this week Family Dog gets animated you know this is going to be like

movie quality animation that was still a cool gimmick at your home and so he had this massive like here's a premise that Tim Burton came up with it's really general because this is still like two years before the Simpsons correct yeah yeah right and I think it takes them two years to make this thing honestly sure

so he sort of had a lot of latitude on this thing and this is a fascinating artifact because it's kind of like here's Brad Bird with the top resources of 1987 animation getting to show off what he can do as a director with

no real ideology behind it. Like all the murky Brad Bird stuff that we've been digging into of like, is he kind of fucked? What's up with you, Brad? Right, what's going on here? Like this is just like, I want to show everyone

that I'm a really fucking good animation director. I mean, I actually, I agree with you by and large, but the movie is kind of funny. I mean, the show is like funny and cynical. It's very cynical. I guess there's that Burton-y thing. Like, I love the turn of him just joining the bank robbers.

I mean, that's funny. But that also just feels like... It's just like Bugs Bunny shit. Exactly. It's termite terrace. It's like, what's the funniest situations we can put these characters into? It's coming from a darker sense of humor. It's darker, but you're right.

There's that Burton. But you can't read the philosophy of this dude. He's coming from a darker sense of humor. It's darker, but you're right. There's that burden. But you can't read the philosophy of this dude. No, no, no. He's a dog. Family dog. You can just go like, God, this guy is such

a fucking master of performance. But I'll say this. It's a hard movie to summarize, a hard premise to summarize. Yes. Someone's like, oh, what's family dog about?

It's kind of about how the dog is really treated like shit by its family. And you're like, that's not like a thing. It's not like everyone's the dog is really treated like shit by its family. And you're like, that's not like a thing. It's not like everyone's like, you're right. The dog is always treated like shit. No, it isn't.

Usually the dog is well-liked. There's three acts. There's three acts of this thing, right? Where the ad breaks would have gone, separate them. And they're each kind of their own thing. So the first one is, here's just like a day, a normal day, uneventful, from the POV of the dog and how everyone relates to the dog. Right. Which is not as much, I think, the game of like everyone treats the dog like shit.

It's more the game of like if you're a dog, you have a perspective on every member that's different than how they would ever react to the humans. Right? The mom is very like shitty to the dog but it's clear that it's just like the mom is almost at a breaking point that she has this whole rant about her place i love it's family i know it's that's what i'm saying this is a true first to herself as a line cook yeah and like when she gives him the food and it comes out in, like, a can shape. Which is, I think, the single best piece of, like, animation direction in this thing. Yeah. Is the one continuous shot where she takes out the can and the, like, gross, like, cylinder of meat is very slowly dripping out of the can as, like, one solid, like, chunk.

slowly dripping out of the can as like one solid like chunk and you just watch the dog's expression change from like the pure like ecstatic optimism at like food to just getting more and more disappointed at what the thing is by the time it lands in the bowl he's like disgusted by it doesn't even want to eat it

it's really good character animation but that's like the mom's relationship the boy is kind of like a little Ben he's like the mom's relationship. The boy is kind of like a little Ben. Right. He's like a little terror. Um. He sucks. He's like a Bart Simpson-y. No, yeah, he's got like a little sly grin. You're right. But I would never

hurt an animal. I know that. Okay, because that's some serial killer shit. Right. But that's this relationship, right? Yeah. Is the dog being kind of terrified of this boy who looks a little satanic. Yeah. The girl, the daughter just wants to play with the dog like a doll.

That feels very classic. Yes. That is a dog's predicament. Right. You know, the girl or boy, whatever, wants to dress up the dog or whatever. Right. And the dad, he just like cannot engage. Yes. Until the fart.

The fart thing is a little fucked up. Yeah. That was where I'm just like, this is a little fucked up. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know. Did that bother you? Didn't bother me. Or did that, I was just like, this is mean. It's kind of gross. Right. It's weird. But it ends with them

blaming everything on the dog when the dog pisses on the rug which is sort of like this boiling point moment where they're all fighting with each other so much. So right.

I get that. The dog becomes the scapegoat. It's like why. Right. Yeah. So that's the first idea. I love how the dog emotes too. It's so expressive.

Yeah. The dog is great. And it's such great like classical animation stuff where it's like like this is the whole reason they've made 17 ice age movies is because they just cracked something with that fucking scrat character where it's like he's got big eyes and he wants to get the nut and it's like so simple and so

expressive that people just like that fucking roadrunner wily coyote game that they play there right um and this dog is just like, it's great that like, it's all low level. It's like all on the floor. You're seeing everyone from these like low angles or you're just seeing their feet or whatever. And he's just kind of

this sad sack who like can't get a break. You know, there's something like so working man about this dog. He's just like trying to do his best.

That's like half of animated animal characters. Yeah. Like half of them are little stinkers his best. That's like half of animated animal characters. Yeah. Like half of them are little stinkers. Yeah. And then half of them are like, I just want to fucking do this thing. Right.

Half of them are Griffins and half of them are Davids. I'm the bad one in that. Yes, you're right. Yes. You're, you're Tom and I'm Jerry. Yep.

I'm a little stinker and you're trying to eat me. Okay. Bow style. Yep. Yeah. Bow bow. Um, so then, so then like the dog is on the lawn. What if the movie just ends with it being like, I ate my son.

That's it. It's just the end of the movie. It's just like, you know movie It's just like The credits rolling My dumpling boy You know something I can't believe we didn't talk about In the Incredibles episode that we just recorded That they changed the logos The logos?

That the Disney logo they redid in Crevel style And the Pixar logo they didn't red Which they have never fucked with It looks so good though And you know Bird likes to change logos. He had that Iron Man logo that was very unique. Iron Giant. My sir.

What was that? Anyway like that. So like Family Dog kicked to the lawn. Sad sack. At night. Here he is. And then just like fade to black and then you just imagine them cutting to like you know a dodge commercial or whatever yeah you know like cindy crawford selling

coke i know you're right i mean that's what amazing stories is it's weird it's kind of weird that that was on tv it's crazy that it was just like hey you can do whatever you want spielberg is just letting filmmakers tell fucking stories right it's true and some of them are hack and some of them aren't. Comes back, then it's like a short skit which is like the family watching home videos and just doing commentary

on their home video. Yeah. Okay, so that's the weakest element. Right, that lasts like two and a half minutes. Right, right, right. But it's also very similar to the beginning of Frank and Weenie.

Yeah. The live action short which is them watching the film that he made and all just commenting on it and you watch just the screen without seeing them which is interesting just because the dog is so Frankenweenie-ish as well.

And then we get to this third bit, which feels like the old animation tradition of like, you know, not just at Warner Brothers, but like all these other animation houses. It's like, okay, come up with a fun character. And then if your character's good, then okay, great. Now Droopy Dog's a hit. We want to make it a series. What's the next Droopy Dog cartoon? Like the first act of Family Dog just feels like here's the setup.

And now it's like, okay, your character's a hit. What are other funny things you can do with this character? Yeah. Like it's like they're already jumping to the sequel within the same half-hour block. Another thing I want to... Well, okay, go on. All right, go on, go on.

How do you find other games for him to play, right? And so this game of this shitty fucking dog who's always getting all the blame. I'm on the dog's side. I agree with you. I'm saying shitty from the perspective of the humans, right? They're like, fuck this dog. And the dog's like, I'm trying.

It's a living. Yeah, sure, sure, like, I'm trying. It's a living. Yeah, sure, sure, sure. I'm trying my best here. Right. Apparently the most crime-infested neighborhood in America, right? It just gets so dystopian so fast. It reminded me of Beavis and Butthead kind of universe of just like this shitty town

and sort of these shitty burglars who are like not even good at really disguising what they're up to. Right. And this nice looking family that's miserable in the middle of it. Right. Like they got the nice house and the nice clothes and the big smiles, but they're also just like fucking angry. They keep on getting robbed every time they go out. They blame it on the dog.

Even the bit with the mom making the meal. Yeah. And then trying it herself in the kitchen being like, this is awful. It is weird that in the home videos, just like, yeah, there's the thing where the dog ate the Christmas dinner. Yeah. And they had to get pizza. Right.

And the mom is justifiably like pizza for Christmas dinner. And the dad's like, it was a good pizza. You don't like that because they didn't eat the food. I didn't think they ate the food. I also think it's shitty of a dog. He really sinks into that ham or whatever. Well, they was a good pizza. You don't like that because they didn't eat the food. I didn't think they ate the food. I also think it's shitty of a dog. He really sinks into that ham or whatever. Well, they should have been watching. And then the dad should be like, yeah, no, that sucked.

He's like, pizza was, who wants pizza? Anyway, whatever. Back to your thing. That's my dream. Just pizza. Oh, yeah, for Christmas? Yeah. So they're angry that the dog isn't a guard dog?

Yes, even though he is a cute dog. Why would you expect him? But it's kind of funny to me because it's like that argument people would always make about dogs where it's like it also keeps you safe. Burglars try to break in. And it's like you never hear stories about that happening. No, they're domestic dogs. It's like they bought like the fucking line from the dog commercial. Right, right, right.

And now they're angry the thing isn't doing the thing that it was never supposed to do. Yeah. Well, the predator keeps the criminals out. But then it becomes this like very Burton-y, like they have to bring the dog to like a conversion therapy place. There's like four twists in four minutes. And the conversion place is very Burton-y. Those characters. Yeah.

Now, the woman. Sounds like Edna Mode. Must be Edna Mode. It must be Brad Bird. Because Brad Bird gets a voice credit. I was just looking this up. It has to be. It has to be.

Yeah. Right. Because he gets a voice credit. But then just looking this up. It has to be. It has to be. He gets a voice credit, but then on IMDb it just credits him for playing the dog, like the whimpers. I think that has to be Bird. It sounds exactly like his Edna Mode voice, basically. That's funny. They convert the dog into a killing machine. He becomes like Jason Bourne.

He's like an MKUltra sleeper agent. And then. Well, first the robbers come in. And I like already the bit they keep on playing of the robberies happening all over. And that one shot where they walk in through the front door and it's just the silhouettes of all the furniture that's missing. Right. The house is like completely empty and the dog's just there like.

furniture that's missing right the house is like completely empty and the dog's just there like um but uh yes when the robbers come in the dog bites the arm right but then there's a great like cartoon premise of they're just like well i guess we'll just leave and he's just holding onto the arm right just stays on the arm for like a long time until they realize that they can train the dog to commit crimes for them. They have like a weird little criminal house that they live in. Yeah, and then there's that scene at the bar that's like something out of like a Dick Tracy like comic where it's just like this rogues

gallery of all these like disgusting looking animated creatures. So I'm assuming the TV show is less fucked up than this. Like the TV show is more just like a family sitcom. I haven't seen it since I was 10, but that's what I remember being like.

It's a family sitcom that's a little less from the perspective of the dog, but it's like family shit that always somehow circles around the dog. The one episode I remember distinctly is the dog somehow getting roped into a dog show. Okay. Someone scouts him and is like, that's a great looking dog. Good premise. And heped into a dog show. Okay. Someone scouts him and is like, that's a great looking dog.

Good premise. And he goes to the dog show and he's not well behaved and he fucks everything up by accident. And at the end, they're like, well, you win the prize for being, you know, he came in third place. And it's like, there were only three, dad. And it's like, it's still the third best, you know, whatever. It's like the dog just kind of fucks things up. That was what the show was. Remember Fish Police? Yes. What was the other one? it's like the dog just kind of fucks things up that was what the show was remember fish police yes

what was the other one there was the one that Klaski Kupso did that was like south of the border it might have actually been called south of the border it was like bugs in Mexico who lived under a sombrero do you remember that capital critters was the big flame out that was John Ritter

as a mouse in the White House, right? Neil Patrick Harris. Oh. Capital Critters. Yeah. Okay. Oh, my God. Rama's Storm.

I'm trying to find. Oh, no. Santo Baguito. That's what I'm thinking of. Thank you very much. Santo Baguito. There it is. Yep. That was like if I was Baguito. There it is. Yep.

That was like if I was homesick and like, oh, great. I get to watch Cartoon Network during the day and there would be two episodes of Santo Baguito. And I was like, of course. They save the good shit for night and the morning when kids aren't home. That's when you understood what primetime was. Yeah. Anyway. Family Dog.

Family Dog. Four stars. Yeah. It's like a good piece. Good job, dog. Family dog. Four stars. Yeah, it's like a good piece. Good job, Brad. Of animation. And you go, despite this thing being cynical, obviously Brad Bird's got Chip on his shoulder. This maybe comes from a point in time

where Brad Bird feels less angry about needing to prove how brilliant he is, which then becomes the dominant theme of his work. Yeah. At this point, he maybe still has some optimism of like, well, I'll just get jobs. People will pay me to do stuff because I'm good at what I do.

Milkman. They say we want to do a series. He goes, I don't think this can sustain a series and steps away from it. Yeah, well, that's his damn integrity. Yeah. Gets him every time. But that's what everyone said at the time.

Like, this guy's too difficult. How is he going to have a career? Yeah, now he has a career lecturing America from on high. Integrity. Yeah. Gets him every time. But that's what everyone said at the time. Like, this guy's too difficult. How is he going to have a career? Yeah, now he has a career lecturing America from on high. What a wacky guy. He's so full of rage. I love him. So, like, this is the thing, the real reason I want to do these bonus episodes.

Because I feel like we used to have these sort of concluding thoughts. Where we're just sort of thinking about Brad. Right. It's been fun talking about Brad. It's been fun talking about him. It's been fun talking about him and listening to these episodes at a distance from when we've recorded them. Which is fun. Like, look, obviously this is a guy I like a lot, but he's super fucking messy to dig into.

Yep. Right? And I feel like I've seen a lot more sort of re-evaluation of his work in the, you know, anticipation of Incredibles 2. People being like, is this stuff fucked up? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

But it's like good fucked up. And I also think. I also am just fascinated by an artist with a point of view. Even if it's a point of view I don't agree with. That's my big thing, which I think is a cornerstone of this show. A lot of times people will suggest certain directors and I'll be like, that person's made a lot of interesting movies. Sure.

I don't really know who they are. Who are you thinking about? Let me get back to you on that one. Here's one. Someone started a thread in the red about Kenneth Branagh. Sure. And I'm like there are certain things I know he likes like Shakespeare. Branagh is fun. Yeah he likes Shakespeare. Right but there's not necessarily a strong point of view. No I think

Branagh is more a guy who's like i'll give that a shot that seems fun like he likes to work in different genres just kind of to fuck around right because like he likes 70 millimeter like he likes beautiful photography when uh when he started with the shakespeare movies and he was so young everyone was like is this guy orson wells and it's like no he's probably more like richard attenborough right he's like a decent journeyman. Right. That's, yes.

I mean, Attenborough is like a guy who I feel like is, I am making David Lean type movies. Like, you know, and he's not here anymore, but here I am to make these very classic epic movies about great people, you know. But don't you think that's what- He's not interesting Branagh would do if those types of movies still

existed maybe but I think Branagh he's he he just likes to do a new thing yeah yeah I think he just likes working he likes working he does like working that's why but like Branagh made a remake of sleuth I know which is so bizarre which was like a bad idea anyway but then it's also this cranky

script written by like very old Harold Pinter. Right. And like that's a wild movie. Yeah. And it's really toxic and weird. And that was like sandwiched between two Shakespeare movies that were unreleasable. Those are sort of interesting. All of his Shakespeare movies are interesting.

And then his other stuff is. Did he do a magic flute movie too? he did I've never seen that but he did as you like it that's the one that I think got like that was released in Britain but it was not in America I'm trying to find his filmography you know interesting guy

Ben is pointing at David what are you doing on a bonus episode? Grew up in Britain. Grew up in Britain. What? Grew up in Britain. Kath Branagh. Ben is lifting his microphone all the way to the ceiling.

No. Making an Artemis Fowl movie. No. He's making Artemis Fowl? Which my school friend is in from Britain, Nick Esch. Congratulations. Really excited for him. Hey, actually, this is a great opportunity as a bonus episode.

Should we retire bits? 100%. I think we should. Really excited for him. Hey, actually, this is a great opportunity as a bonus episode. Should we retire bits? 100%. I think we should. I think we should. Well, which bit do you want gone? I think that that might have been maybe the last UK drop. We can't. That was so-

And we can bring it back eventually. Ben, that was- It's not ceremonial enough? We were both so apathetic on that one. We were going through the motions. You didn't even register for you. The problem I have with the UK bit... That was like old married couple sex.

We can't retire on that. No, the problem with the UK bit for me is that it has poisoned every well in my life. Wait, which bit are you talking about? Where like fucking people who I am friends with who already knew this about me and wouldn't make fun of me are now like wait what you know like everyone

does it david i'm sorry knew what about you yeah i'm sorry i i grew up in britain what oh my god oh my god a spoiler alert yeah on, this is a bonus episode! What if people don't listen to this one? They won't be able to follow the rest of the podcast! Jesus. You were supposed to be- What is this, comedians in cars getting coffee? You're supposed to be a connoisseur of context.

People can have no context. You sound like science. Apparently it's comedians in automobiles drinking tea. You know what I'm saying over here? Let me pay for this tea with some pounds? He's not wrong. What? How many meters do we have to drive to get

to the... I mean, who do you even... How do you... Did we have to show up to the studio and get on the lift? I mean, on this economy, how do you even, how do you? Did we have to show up to the studio, get on the Lyft? I mean, on this economy, how do you even do that? Do you know what I'm saying? I can't even. I actually have a question for you guys.

What's the British word that jars you the most? You're saying Lyft. You're doing all the jokes. I mean, this isn't a word. It's a pronunciation. Aluminium. Yeah, that one I hear a lot. people really can't deal with that one aluminium that's one for example that because when i went moved to britain i grew up there wait a second shut the fuck up um uh there were some words that i adopted just as a matter of course because i just wanted to survive because, anytime you say the word in your American accent,

it's just mockery, right? And aluminum was one I just couldn't get to aluminium. I just couldn't do it. There was a British girl in my middle school who moved there from... Let me try to explain this to you, David. She grew up in London

and then moved to New York City. Yeah, I get it. As like a teenager. I'm so weak. What was the word she would say? When she would say that, it would weird me out. It would give me like reverse ASMR.

And I also would be like, I can't even remember. Like I want to be able to like mimic that to complain about how much I dislike it. And I can't even keep it in my head I would like sit down and be like how do you pronounce aluminum incorrectly like which syllable would she

put the wrong answer on it's so weird I'm always hated vitamin I just felt another chill down my spine you know what's another one that's subtle for me but that always I'm like oh right a man called sure right right right right you know uh there's the dropping of the um definite article like uh he went to hospital you know things like that yeah weird stuff that

like just like you wouldn't even notice um uh the one i always hated the most that i always got me in front of the most was sidewalk i always thought that was so mean that they would make fun of me for that because I was like it's a perfectly ordinary word sidewalk and if I said like the word sidewalk they would just be like oh you're you're gonna walk on the

sidewalk like they would just like lose their minds they call it the pavement which is stupid it's too broad a word pavement means all kinds of things. So that was our sidebar on Kenneth Branagh. That one really drove me crazy. The point I was going to make is

I don't feel like there's meat to dig into there. Even if there's meat in individual films. We'll do Kenneth Branagh in like 2028. I don't know. Right, exactly. When we've like totally given up. No! We'll've like, we're just out. Totally given up. No,

we'll be giving in. You just said that and I just pictured myself slowly be lowered into a grave. 2028. Just sitting with an umbrella as it's raining.

Of course it's raining at my funeral. It better be. Yeah. We're doing bits. And we're going like, so today we're talking about dead again. Well done. Thank you. I better be. We're doing bits. And we're going like, so today we're talking about dead again.

Well done. Thank you. I have comedy points. This is called... Where's the death card? Pod Ryan shadow cast. Sure, sounds good. I gave it to myself.

15 minutes. 15 minutes. We're done. People online... Sometimes go like... In Britain you say they were queuing. 15 minutes. 15 minutes. We're done. People online. Uh-huh. Sometimes go like. In Britain you say they were queuing. Get the fuck out of here.

Hey. He spiked the audio again. All right. Red card. No screaming right at the microphone, Griffin. That's an ace of spades. Yeah, that's right. People online.

Sometimes say. That did genuinely just hurt my ears. There was such a loud crack. Yeah, that's what happens. I hated it. Fix that, Ben. Ben, I hated that. Ben.

Ben, I hated that. Alright, people online. People online will sometimes say like, does this person fit in the blank check? Is this? And I'll see people in response go like, they pretty much dropped the premise. And I feel like,

whereas we started out as like this act of like, we're going to solve a mystery show. And the first couple of director miniseries carried into this, like there's a central question we're asking about this person. Even if we haven't had these bonus episodes where we kind of like bring the room together, I still think there's always like... Rug apps we could call them. Sure.

I like that. I still think there's always like us trying to sort of like figure out what their filmography is. Sure. And why they did connect at certain points and didn't connect at certain points and they have to be people who have some kind of through line there in some way or another

for why they were so in touch with the culture at some point, you know, and either continued to be people who have some kind of through line there in some way or another for why they were so in touch with the culture at some point you know and either continued to be or escalated crashed whatever it is and there's so much uh meat to him to brad bird but this thing i keep on coming back to is when you know like people are like oh is he randian and you and i are like well actually it's about ethics and game journalism. He's more of an exceptionalist. Or is it that he's an elitist? Or is it that he's this? Or is it that he's that? Sure, sure, sure.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. What I find kind of interesting about him is I sort of feel like at the end of the day, he's not someone who completely fits into a box in that way. No. I think he's got a lot of conflicting ideas. Yeah. And I think we're in a culture now where it's very much like, what are your party lines? Like, what is your philosophy that you buy part and parcel?

Are you on this side? Right. And you accept all the ingredients, all the toppings on the burger. Sure. And he's kind of a guy, like a lot of interesting directors, you know, who's like his work is very personal. You see himself in there and he's not telling stories about himself. And there are a lot of contrasting things. I feel like when you talk about guys in like the old studio system in like the 40s and 50s, you sometimes have those things where you'd be like, it seems like he's for this but against this.

Yeah. You know, he's like anti-'d be like, it seems like he's for this but against this. Yeah. You know? He's like anti-war but like pro-capitalism. Is that in there or am I just reading into it too much? Okay. And because he's working on such a high level in like big expensive studio products, either doing like big live action blockbusters or family films, it's kind of interesting the way that stuff gets smuggled in there and can't totally be parsed because he's not offering them up as pat lessons like the lesson is always share don't lie you know right yeah and a lot of disney movies especially are like the lesson is it's important to be yourself or whatever like there's like seven movies that make the same right message

when i was like five or six and like starting to really like become obsessed with like stories. Because I'd hear my parents like use certain terms and I'd be like, oh, so that's like it's called this when that happens in a story and this and that. I got really into like the moral of the story thing. And the idea because children's entertainment like almost always has a moral. Which I think the Incredibles movies have like a lot of ideas and lessons in them and things like that. But they're pretty devoid of a clear moral to carry through with you. But I have this very distinct memory as a child

where I was watching all the Disney movies and would parse the moral. I was like, okay, so the moral is to always do this and never do this. And I was watching The Aristocats for the first time. On the movie I like. And I turned to my cousin who was like 17 at the time. And I was like, so what's the moral of this story?

And he was like, I don't know. Everybody wants to be a cat. And at the time I found that very- Life's good if you're a cat. At the time of the movie, like as a six-year-old, I found that so unsatisfying. And when I think back to it now, I'm like,

that's one of the funniest things that anyone's ever said to me. Very funny. Just this jaded 17-year-old in the house with a six-year-old. What is the moral of the Aristocats? There isn't, but that final number

is all them like jamming on the piano going, everybody wants to be a cat. And I was like, what's the moral of this story, wiser, older person? And he was like,

I don't know. Everybody wants to be a cat. Fuck this. I don't want to talk to a kid. What a bad movie The Aristocats is. It is true, though, that everybody wants to be a cat. No, it isn't. Yes, it is.

All right, fine. Truth and comedy. That's the end of Brad Bird. Oh, rankings. Okay, so here we go. Ranking them. I've got my ranking. I'm pulling it up. Okay, ready? that's the end of Brad Bird rankings okay so here we go ranking them I got my ranking I'm pulling it up

okay ready your dears number one six movies The Incredibles okay number two

Ratatouille Ratatouille number three The Iron Giant number four Ghost Protocol Ghost Protocol The Iron Giant. Mm-hmm. Number four. Ghost Protocol. Go to call. Number five.

Incredibles 2. Number six. Tomorrowland. Well, I have the same list as you, except the first two are flipped. You got two E's tops. I'm two E Incredibles Giant. Go to call.

I got two E at two. You got two E at tops. I'm Tooie, Incredibles, Giant, Go To Call. I got Tooie at two. You got Tooie at tops. Correct. Tomorrowland six. Like them all. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, look, he's a symphonic filmmaker.

Like even when he fucking misses like he does in Tomorrowland, it's like. It's crazy. He knows how to make movies and it's crazy and it's engaging. Even when there's stuff in it that's maddening. Maddening maddening I just think he's a guy who's incapable of making an uninteresting movie very weird

I was thinking about pitching something but I'm not going to do it what? Ben can we end this episode with Do the Bartman? Why? Why? Because he worked on The Simpsons.

He directed that music video. All right, let's end it. That was his other big credit. You can sing it. Do the Bartman. Sing it. What is, yeah, how does it,

what did it like? Everybody, follow me, Do the Bartman. You know, there's a rumor that Michael Jackson wrote Do the Bartman.

He didn't want residuals And now that he's died the guy who got the credit Is like no I wrote Do the Bartman He produced it Brian Lauren The rumors that he called up Matt Groening And was like I want Bart Simpson to have a number one hit

And then sent him You know sheet music. Do the Bartman. He's in that weird episode. This is why you tune in to bonus episodes, folks. What a weird episode that is. So that you can do the Bartman. Star Craving Dad. It's a weird one.

He didn't get credit because... John J. Smith is credited. Do you remember that song? The new birthday song? Yeah. Lisa it's your birthday. Happy birthday Lisa. I mean Bart's part is you gave me the gift of a little

sister and I'm proud of you today. Nice. Okay look folks it's been a fun bonus. I don't know what to tell you. Smell you later. He had no time to make it. I'm just reading about Do the Bartman. Yeah. He had to get on a plane to Hungary where it was animated.

The song Bartman is copyrighted. Right, so let's play it. Yeah, let's play it in full three times. One, two, three. Can you edit the minutes? Really bad this episode out. We're at 50 minutes all right okay thank you all for listening please remember to rate review and subscribe ben's head is in his

hands he's spread his two fingers out a little bit so i can see his next week angley angley uh pushing hands and um wedding wedding banquet two for one two movies one of them is amazing one of them is fine right it's the opposite of this episode where we didn't have enough to talk about in the next episode we got two movies to talk about we recorded that one I don't know fucking eight months ago right

yeah I think do we just be Truman in the newspaper right thank you all for listening rate, review, subscribe and for good

for social media Joe Bonpet rounds for artwork Liam O'Connor for the theme song go to blankies.red.com for some real nerdy shit and as always wait a second what do you see the lights going down oh my god what it's flashing oh my god look at those cables they're lifting something a jersey what does it say on it the david is from uk bit it's being lifted to the rafters.

Oh my god. Oh my god. This better be real. That's what I'm saying. It's retired. Is it in the rafters? Look at that. It's in the rafters.

Okay. All right. Let's salute it. Oh my god. So you're not going to make fun of me anymore? A lot of good times were had with... Yeah. But this is it?

This is it? We're done? This is it. We're done. Well, what do you want me to promise? That we're not going to do the UK bit or that we're not going to make fun of you anymore? That you're not going to do the UK bit. If I say I'm from the UK, you just accept that as a matter of fact.

God. This is what I'm saying. You want to put it in the rafters. Griff, it's in the rafters. You've got to do it. I know, but you just... And I like the bit of having things in the rafters. It was so hard for me not...

It's a fucking reflex for you. It really is. I genuinely felt like a physical, like, a clenching to stop myself from saying it. Fine, it's in the rafters. I didn't do it. I like the rafters bit because then it's like another weird bit of marginalia for our fans to like build out a Wikipedia page about. Okay, so now we have cards and we have the UK bit.

Out with the old, in with the new. The UK bit is in the rafters. It's done. It's out of here. It's retired. And this is why you gotta listen to the bonuses or otherwise you're not gonna be able to keep track of the narrative. Ah! Fuck!

That's it. That's the end of the episode. Get out of here