Welcome back to spooky season! 🍂👻 Our favorite season for cartoons. And we’re diving right into all things gothic and skeletal with stop-motion favorite, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride! In this episode, Sonya and Deidra break down the gothic and tubercular aesthetic, the “wight in a wedding dress” trope, Russian Jewish fairy tales, the fraught nature of race & diversity in Tim Burton’s aesthetic and works, the intersection of love and tragedy, and the spice of love triangles. Grab your favorite cozy warm beverage and join us for the ride!
And if you enjoy these spooky analyses, check out our episodes on Coraline and Over the Garden Wall!
Even if you have watched An American Tail, you’ve probably never watch its straight-to-video sequel, “The Treasure of Manhattan Island”, and you know what? That’s okay! Think of this episode as our pitch to you, our listeners, as to why these films are worth taking “out of the vault” for another look.
In this episode, Sonya and Deidra dive into "An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island" to discuss its narrative treasures, offering unique additions to the "American Dream" once again through its plucky and inspiring mousy characters making their way in a cat-riddled world of oppression and prejudice. Sound familiar? Probably. How has the "American Dream" aged today? How have narratives on immigrant struggle and Indigenous identity matured over the years? Why is telling these complicated stories through animated animals worthwhile? Let's discuss!
As always, give us a follow on IG and Threads @cartoonrevolution.pod, Twitter @cartoonrev_pod and TikTok @cartoonrevolution to share your thoughts <3
Sources:
Origin of the “model minority” term, NYT 1966: http://inside.sfuhs.org/dept/history/US_History_reader/Chapter14/modelminority.pdf
Can Stereotypes Ever Be Good?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFXmyNUaXFo
Rush Hour: An Unexpected Image of Black and Asian Solidarity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT7yzz5DRG0
Before Barbie (2023) dir. Greta Gerwig, there were over 40 animated movies produced for the Barbie franchise with beloved classics like Barbie as Swan Lake, Barbie as Princess and the Pauper, and more. Deidra and Sonya dive into the history of Barbie, the influence of the animated films and today’s Barbiemania as a result of the recently released movie! Is Barbie feminist? Sexist? What does it mean for a doll to represent women? Is Barbie killing our planet? And finally, are men kenough?
Some sources:
The 2023 Hollywood Strike for Dummies (Jason P. Franke) - https://www.vulture.com/article/wga-strike-2023.html
WGA Bulletin - https://www.wgacontract2023.org/updates/bulletins/writers-are-not-keeping-up
Hollywood Has A Problem: AI, Strikes & Unfair Wages (@naomi.cannibal) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VXvpjCDx0c
SAG-AFTRA website - https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/
Oh to find a ✨portal✨ to another world—our dream! In this special episode, Sonya, Deidra and guest, Anna, react to the finale of the beloved Disney show “Owl House,” and talk all things portal fantasy🚪, the “chosen one” trope, the power of fantasy, and queer representation. Learn who our palismans are, some juicy tidbits from our childhood, and how to (try to) save a villain from…villainy? Trigger warning: Ron DeSantis. 🤮
While Season 2 of The Legend of Korra (LoK) is not everyone’s favorite season, Beginnings 1 & 2 (episodes 7 and 8) are important cornerstones to the world of Avatar. Almost 10 years since the airing of those episodes, Sonya and Deidra take another look at their impact, diving into our spiritual connection with the environment, the implications of “Good vs. Evil”, and the joy in befriending forest spirits. Celebrate Earth Month with us and join us in our effort to become Avatars for the planet!
You knew this was coming, right? This month we cover perhaps the most controversial of the Scooby-Doo properties - Velma!
Love it? Hate it? Feel kind of “meh” about it? Listen in to hear our takes as we discuss the legacy of Mindy Kaling, race-bending, the role of meta-commentary and woke-ism in cartoons, and most importantly ask, Scooby-Doo, where are you??
Ready to "Kiss, Kiss, Fall in Love?" It’s the month of looooove 💓 so naturally we’re discussing one of the most popular “shoujo” romance anime of all time—Ouran High School Host Club! Get ready for a wild deep dive into anime genres and tropes, the power of fandom, queer analysis, class bridges & divides and much, much more through the lens of our favorite, ridiculous rich boys who have too much time on their hands!
Also, is the Bachelor basically a harem anime? We discuss.
Hey 2023! It’s been a ~cold start to the new year, which means it’s time to discuss Frozen, on its 10 year anniversary! In this episode, Sonya and Deidra discuss sisterly love, the evolution of the Disney Princess, mental health, Disney’s cartoon rebrand and more. Learn about toxic princes, whether or not we can relate to Anna & Elsa, our thoughts on the queer analyses of the film, and the commercial feminism of the Disney empire.
We're diving into one of our favorite cartoons of all-time: Over the Garden Wall, along with a very special guest, Lylia! Lylia is Sonya's college friend working in tech, but also an intrepid artist with a passion for computer graphics and a love of animation, find her on Instagram @lylia5040!
In this episode, we explore Over the Garden Wall as a modern American classic, a coming-of-age story, and discuss what it means to embrace your inner child, face your anxieties and fears, and enjoy Halloween! Tune-in for some Fred-the-horse fangirling, past Halloween costumes, and a race to guess all of Jason Funderburker’s (the frog) names.
Sonya and Deidra celebrate 1 year and 11 episodes of Cartoon Revolution, digging into rapid fire community questions (cartoon crushes, favorite anime, self care watches, and more!). Embarrassing secrets are revealed, including how they met and their journey to this podcast!
Join us next week for our Halloween Special with a special guest!
Sonya and Deidra dive into the recently completed series, Amphibia! Amphibia explores the relationship and development of three young teens as they navigate their new lives in the world of frogs, newts, and toads. Join us as we break down healthy and unhealthy friendship patterns through Anne, Marcy, and Sasha! In this episode, Sonya and Deidra pick their fave amphibian societies, engage in some Marcy fangirling, learn about axolotls, discuss “Thai-ness”/Asian American representation, as well as share their thoughts on the series finale. This episode mainly discusses Seasons 1 and 2 but there will be a spoilery section on the finale!
Have you ever wanted something so much, you dedicated your entire career and life to finding it? Sonya and Deidra discuss Satoshi Kon’s “Millennium Actress” (2001) and break down its love for Japanese Cinema, the meaning of love vs pursuit, the pitfalls of memory and history, and the blurred line between fiction and reality in a wonderful, beautifully animated story loosely inspired by Japanese film actress, Setsuko Hara.
SOMEBODY once told me…Shrek would be on Cartoon Revolution! And it is! On this 21st Anniversary of Shrek’s release, Sonya and Deidra dive into animations’ best parodies, Shrek 1 AND 2. In this episode, we dig out its cultural references and Easter Eggs and over-analyze fairy tail politics, trauma, love, Hollywood and, of course, the dirt on Disney. Grab your onions, grab your parfaits, and tune in for a nostalgic and fun discussion!
Happy AAPI Heritage Month! “Turning Red” is Pixar’s newest and boldest release directly addressing periods, puberty, parenting, (and pandas!) —everything we cringe about in our early teens, everything parents gasp about, and everything we rarely see in cartoons and mainstream media. “Turning Red” also dives into concepts like boundaries and growing up in an immigrant family. In this episode, Sonya and Deidra dive into the AAPI experience, share our boy band experiences, love for early 2000's cell phones and much much more.
Coraline is the imaginative, adventurous, and creepy movie adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s book of the same name. Released in 2009, when children’s content was being censored so as not to be “too scary,” Coraline flew in the face of that notion as it hit the big screen to critical acclaim. Exploring the question, “is there value in scary children’s stories?” Sonya and Deidra delve into arguments for and against the historical precedents, and why the film continues to generate fan theories, more than a decade since its release.
"Pokémon" continues to be one of the most successful and prolific franchises, and hold's a special place in the hearts of fans of all ages. Referencing the original series, Pokémon: Indigo League (1997), and several of their most popular games, Sonya and Deidra explore their own relationships with Pokémon, and the lasting mark it has had on how fans relate to pets, wildlife, and the conservation movement.
“Arcane” represents a new wave of animated content borne from the intersection of video games, music, and television/cartoons. The big budget show was creatively and massively marketed through many different mediums out of a desire to flesh out and deepen the lore and characters of the popular game, League of Legends. The show is not just a pretty advertisement, however, and does offer deep insights into class, capitalism, and the unequal impacts of technology and drugs in a divided world. Arcane is all about dualities, which we can break down to understand human nature.
This month Sonya and Deidra discuss the overlooked Ghibli classic, Pom Poko (1994). This episode discusses topics of humans' role in environmental degradation, the resilience of nature, the Tama New Town development, and the Shinto folklore, and the (in)famous Tanuki "pouches".
This episode, Deidra and Sonya discuss the series Steven Universe as it relates to how characters embody gender, portray different types of relationship, and challenge the ideas of conventional family structures. Oh, and have you picked a favorite Steven Universe song yet?
Welcome to Cartoon Revolution's very first episode!
This month, Deidra and Sonya discuss Avatar: The Last Airbender’s “The Painted Lady” (S3E3), specifically myths of colonization and saviors (both human and godlike), climate narratives in cartoons, and human agency to solve world problems. Katara fangirling included.
