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The Fandom Portals Podcast
"Welcome to Fandom Portals—the show that explores how your favourite fandoms can help you learn and grow!" 🎙️✨
Each episode, we explore TV, movies, comics, and games to reveal how these worlds and the characters in them help us learn about resilience, courage, friendship, and more.
The Fandom Portals Podcast is hosted by Aaron Davies and Adam Brasher, two friends who are obsessed with fandoms, storytelling, and building a community where passion and positivity come first. From Marvel to Middle-earth, Star Wars to indie comics, we dive deep into the stories you love — and how they help us learn and grow. ✨
The Fandom Portals Podcast
Weekly Round-Up: Minecraft Movie Misses, Murderbot Hooks Us In, and Lilo & Stitch Nostalgia
Episode Summary:
In this Weekly Round-Up episode of The Fandom Portals Podcast, Aaron and Brash catch up on what they've been into—and not all of it gets glowing reviews. From the chaotic fan-service of the Minecraft Movie, to early reactions to Apple TV’s The Studio, and a rave over Murderbot Diaries, the duo explores what’s working, what’s flopping, and what hits that nostalgic sweet spot. Plus, Aaron shares a touching moment rewatching Lilo & Stitch through his son’s eyes, and they preview next week’s emotional dive into Kevin Smith’s Jersey Girl.
Topics:
- The Minecraft Movie: Fan service overload or misunderstood fun?
- Why live-action video game movies keep falling back on the "real world crossover" trope
- The Studio on Apple TV: Satire, cameos, and a surprisingly annoying protagonist
- Murderbot Diaries: Book-to-TV adaptation hype and Skarsgård steals the screen
- Weekly nostalgia pick: Lilo & Stitch rewatch through a parent’s eyes
- Concerns about the Lilo & Stitch live-action remake (where is Gantu?)
- Will Elvis make the soundtrack cut?
Key Takeaways:
- The Minecraft Movie skips the game's survival mechanics in favor of chaotic energy and celebrity cameos.
- The Studio is technically brilliant but not emotionally gripping—yet.
- Murderbot nails emotional storytelling through a non-human lens, earning a full episode deep dive soon.
- Lilo & Stitch remains a perfect starter movie for kids—and a tearjerker for adults.
- Fans are wary of live-action remakes losing the heart (and villains) of the originals.
Quotes:
“We’ve got to mine... and then we’ve got to craft!”
“You don’t see him build a wood pickaxe! That’s like Minecraft 101.”
“The Studio is like The Office meets Hollywood satire... but everyone’s extremely annoying on purpose.”
“Murderbot is a robot that understands humanity better than the humans around him.”
Apple Podcast Tags:
Minecraft Movie, Murderbot, Lilo and Stitch, Apple TV, The Studio, Fandom Round-Up, Weekly Podcast, Geek Freaks Network, Fandom Portals Podcast, Movie Reviews, Book Adaptations, Kevin Smith, Jersey Girl, Live Action Remakes, Pop Culture News
Contact Us:
Website: https://www.fandomportalspodcast.com/
Instagram: instagram.com/fandomportals/?locale=en
Threads: threads.net/@fandomportals
Email: fandomportals@gmail.com
Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/fandomportals
Welcome to the Fandom Portals podcast, the podcast that helps you learn and grow. I'm joined here with Brash for another short episode. What are you into?
Speaker 2:What am I into? What are you into? Well, I watched the Minecraft movie. It was a movie Like they tried too hard, like this, really like the whole, like the thing is really cool, like it looks really cool.
Speaker 1:It's very colorful, it is.
Speaker 2:And they really got the essence of like the Minecraft and everything like that. I think the thing that really ruins it is the people, all the actors in it.
Speaker 2:I've heard I know all the amazing actors, but it doesn't fit Okay To me. It doesn't. I would have preferred even if it was still Jack Black, that's fine, but I would have preferred a movie about Steve. I would have preferred a story about him and from start to finish, like how he learns about the world and he starts building this stuff and then maybe having to fight in the nether and stuff like that, and just a big story about that. And like he's building up something and then all of a sudden nether people from the nether come in or he finds where he's nether and then pisses them off and they come and try and fight him and he has to fight them back by building kinds of weird shit and new shit. And instead of just having a whole bunch of random kids and adults fall into the world and they just run around and like they don't do any, like like you think it was just like a minecraft expose, like what you just said.
Speaker 1:Then sounds like you wanted it to be, uh, highlighting the survival aspects or the strategy of minecraft, as opposed to, uh, just having characters slapped into the world and then almost like how movies do for fan service, how they just show you what you want to see. So they showed the highlights of Minecraft, basically, and tried to tie them together with story elements, because the only things that I've been seeing about it are obviously the chicken jockey and all of the connections and publicity from Jack Black and Jason Momoa and people have been saying their chemistry was good, but whether it's what the Minecraft movie needed, not too sure.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, like it was good, but I think it took like I think maybe the chemistry was too good or too strong, because it sort of took away from the actual overarching movie. Because like at one point Jack Black's like we've got a mine and's like we've got a mine and then craft. We've got a mine, craft. And then there's like this little montage thing, but it's really like well, it's like a couple minute montage. Jack Black breaks one rock with diamond in it, a couple of the kids make one item on the workbench.
Speaker 1:It almost seemed like it was pushing for all the trending stuff, yeah. That being said, though, it has almost made a billion dollars. So my question to you, brash, is do you think maybe you didn't like it because we're just too old for it now?
Speaker 2:No, no, the thing, my thing was it wasn't enough about the game Minecraft movie. It's supposed to be a movie about Minecraft but literally you see Jack when he first gets into the world and you sort of see this like sort of thing about him learning how to craft things. But it's sort of you're like, oh, I can break this thing, oh, and then I can place a block there, place a block there, oh, I can start to build stuff. And then it just about all those cool shit he's built. It doesn't show like how he learned to do things, like you never see him craft, or like a basic wood axe or anything like that. Or first of all, before you can do anything else, or a wood pickaxe and then one or anything else. It sort of just skips all that and then cuts back into the real world where you meet the other characters and then, after their bit of real world nonsense, they all inadvertently, somehow these four random people that only sort of barely know each other all get together and get thrust into this, into the minecraft world.
Speaker 2:And I'm taking a story about, like jennifer coolidge. I love jennifer coolidge, but the whole thing with her and the village that comes out. Yeah, it was a bit funny, but god, it just took away from the actual movie because, yeah, there's no building or crafting, it's there. That's what dulled it for me. I was just like, oh, it's more of it's more of them just joking around, rather, and I would have rather, because it is meant to be, you know, kids, it is meant to be a survival game?
Speaker 1:yep, no, I can see that. I think that, um, when they released the Super Mario Bros movie, for example, I was very much looking forward to seeing the game elements in that movie. But they attached it to a story and the game elements sort of enhanced the story. Yeah, movies, they have to make sure that the mechanics of the game, or the easter eggs in from the game that you're doing, enhance or accompany the story in a productive way, as opposed to just putting them in there to get the reels or to get the viral boost or to get that sort of fan service. Hey, look at that moment.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean my cry, like, and like I did like to do that. Like they place things in the background and they had that little, that homage to techno bladelade, which was really beautiful and a good one for that as well, because it was a really big thing for Minecraft, technoblade and like they had, like they had bits and pieces there and all the things there. But I think it's oh, actually it is. It reminds me of there's a movie where it does the same thing, where, um, oh uh, the um monster hunter movie oh yeah, they did this thing, where they brought these people from our world into the monster hunter world.
Speaker 2:I'm like why? It's like a monster hunter movie about the people in the monster world? Why drag people from our world into that world? And I'm like they probably could have done the same thing with, we'll see, because with mario, mario was a human who went into it. That's that's where it's different people from our world into that world. And I'm like they probably could have done the same thing with, well see, because with Mario, mario was a human who went into it that's where it's different.
Speaker 1:I think that's where the trend started, because Mario originated from a world that was not the Mushroom Kingdom exactly, but because that's worked so well, I feel like it's the trend going forward.
Speaker 2:And, yeah, they did the same thing in Monster Hunter. They brought people from our world into Monster Hunter world and now all of a sudden in Monster Hunter world you have all fucking machine guns and stuff, and so there's lots of cool ass weapons that Monster Hunter has.
Speaker 1:I feel like it's also a way that the people try to immerse the audience into the movie. So it's just like a real world person, just like you. It goes into the game world. You know, that's how you feel when you're playing it. You're part of the world, that kind of thing.
Speaker 2:I know that If people want to watch that kind of stuff, just stick to Isekai's anime yeah.
Speaker 2:Isekai's. They're way better. They're way better Like if you want to watch Monster Hunter, watch Gate instead, an anime called Gate. Like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like even Kingdom Hearts in a way. They could do it like that. I reckon that'd be a really good movie and they could sort of do that like kids on a beach on this island and all of a sudden get sucked into this Disney Final Fantasy world, like yeah, that's where it works.
Speaker 1:I think it works when it's actually part of the content, but, as you said, I don't think it's needs to be a Minecraft movie.
Speaker 2:Even if they still wanted to keep Jason Momoa and the other kids in it, they could have just made them other characters in Minecraft.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it comes back to them trying to create movies based on an existing IP because they have an audience already that they can bank on to come to the movie to watch it. But when it's something like Minecraft, where there's not really a Minecraft story as opposed to it just being a survival game, it gets really difficult to do sort of properly. I guess my last question for you, brash, in this regard is would you recommend it to anybody?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I'd recommend it to everyone. It was still a good watch. I would have just rather it be more about the game than the story that it really had about these random people. Honestly, they didn't need those real people in there, even if Steve fell into it and he was in the world and he was still human and they didn't animate him. That's fine. But then having these randoms come in and being able to go back and forth from Minecraft has been weird. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And being able to go back and forth from Minecraft has been weird, yeah, unnecessary.
Speaker 1:All right, do you want to know what I've been into?
Speaker 1:Sure sure I have been watching the Studio. The Studio is on Apple. There's 11 or so episodes out now and it is a series that stars Seth Rogen, catherine O'Hara and Ike Barinholtz, created by Evan Goldberg, and it's basically a. It's about a legacy Hollywood movie studio that's trying to survive in the world where it's really difficult for a studio and a business like that to survive in, and it's a complete satire of the film and movie going business. It's getting lots of critical acclaim.
Speaker 1:Watching the first few episodes, I didn't really understand or get the hype because, yes, it's getting lots of critical acclaim. Watching the first few episodes, I didn't really understand or get the hype because, yes, it's clever and I can see the messages that it's trying to do. But I just find the main character played by Seth Rogen to be very, very annoying. In his people pleasing manner he plays this executive called Matt Remick and he's just like so flip-flop with all the decisions he makes. He gets put into this position of leadership and he's highly underqualified to do it and he's just trying to impress everybody and he's slowly learning throughout the episodes that as a studio head, he has to break some eggs, basically. And, yeah, as the episodes go on, I did find myself enjoying it more and more.
Speaker 1:One of the good things about it is how technically creative it kind of is. So they have an episode called the one-er and it's literally a one-shot episode, which means there is no scene cuts. So the whole thing is just one um, one scene cut and the yeah it's, and it's a 40 minute or so episode. So it's pretty impressive as a feat and the like. Just the way that they sort of go about pulling off some of these studio techniques is really impressive to see. But it's just not. It's just not really grabbing me, I don't think, because I'm so annoyed by the main character and I don't really know if that's the purpose or not. Perhaps it is, but there are a few episodes that kind of stand out for me.
Speaker 2:Does it have an issue with like hooks in the episodes, like something that hooks you?
Speaker 1:in. Some do and some don't. So there was this episode called the Missing Reel. It was episode four and it's basically starring Olivia Wilde as a guest star director and he's working with the guest star, yeah, and she made this movie that she's really impressed with and Zac Efron's starring in the movie. So it's kind of meta that way. But there is a film reel that goes missing and the whole episode is shot as a neo-noir detective, like one of those old school movies where they do voiceovers and it's all darkly lit and there's smoke machines going throughout. And they've modernized it by making the main character Seth Rogen's character. Instead of monologuing to the audience, he's taking voice memos because his therapist has told him that voice memos can help him when he's feeling really heightened. So it's really clever in that sort of space and that episode was really funny and that one hooked me in. But then there are other episodes, like the very first episode.
Speaker 1:I was almost not going to watch any further, but the episode after that, the one hour, was technically brilliant. So I was like, okay, I'll give it. I'll give it more of a shot. So I feel like the characters are developing in chemistry. There's not really many that I would say I would like.
Speaker 1:So I think I'm watching in terms of characters, to see what celebrities cameo in this show, because there are heaps and it's probably the most cameo filled or star studded tv show that I've ever watched. So it's got like ice cube. He cameos ron howard, zach efron, steve bishimi, um olivia wild, as I said, josh hutchison as well. Yeah, paul dano is in one of the first episodes as well, johnnyville is in there and Dave Franco plays a part in three of the episodes and so does Zoe Kravitz as well. So it's growing on me, but I probably it wasn't something that grabbed me straight away, and when I was looking at internet reviews, it was being raved about and for me it wasn't something that straight away grabbed me. So I think it's something that takes a little bit of thought. So I don't.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't think, because obviously there is a bit of satire, so is it because maybe like and then maybe you're finding more? Annoying because the like they're probably making all the celebrities more cliche in the way of being celebrities and they're being handfuls, and annoying because they're rich, entitled people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would absolutely think that that is. That is exactly what they're doing, because, um, all of the celebrities do appear that way and they are extremely annoying. So maybe this show is actually so brilliant that it's making me feel the things I'm supposed to.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I'm feeling annoyed at these. You meant to. You meant to feel annoyed because you're seeing that was the purpose.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're seeing like a more expanded, exploded and warped version of like being a celebrity, yeah, or running a studio or the industry as a whole as well, and I think it does do a good job of of commentating some of those business elements Like it gives me I've. This is me admitting something here. I've never actually seen the Office, but it feels like the Office if it was set in a film studio and you know, the four title characters in this are growing on me but, as I said, not really forming a connection Like I don't really like any of them.
Speaker 2:Who's the four title? So you've got Seth Rogen as the main character. Yep, catherine O'Hara, oh, catherine O'Hara.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she plays Patti Lee, who was the ex-studio head before Seth Rogen's character, matt Remick, got employed. Mike Barinholtz is in it. He plays Matt's secondhand man, basically as Sal Saperstein, and he's like a klutz combined with just like a lovable idiot but also a conniving kind of, but at the same time I feel like he's really loyal to to Matt, like they have each other's back really really well, but it's just like a cutthroat business. So those two together are really good and they play off each other really well.
Speaker 1:And the last one is is Chase Sue wonders, who I haven't seen very much of in anything else, but she plays Quinn Hackett and she's like the intern, she's like the first year creative consultant who's trying to get up in the business and is literally she's like the new wave, gen Z, of people that are entering the film world and Hollywood.
Speaker 1:Because there used to be like a process and one of the episodes talks about this, the episode called the War. It talks about how there used to be this process for interns that come in and they had to wait their turn and in meetings they just were silent and shut up. But she goes in there and she's very boisterous and it's combating towards what Sal Saperstein, ike Barinholtz's character, usually does, because he came up in the old school way and is only just now as a second stand-in person for for Matt Remick, the studio director, but Quinn Hackett Chase, who Wonders, is coming in and rising through the ranks very quickly, so he's getting very jealous and because it's that combination of the old school way and the new school way, those two characters represent that really well in my opinion. So those are the four mains, and then there's also Katherine Hahn, who comes in every now and again as the marketing expert.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she's the over the top 11 episodes apparently. Yeah, yeah, 11 episodes. It's literally just finished a couple of weeks ago at time of recording, but it's already been greenlit for a second season, so I think it's being raved about and they've got a budget to get all of these awesome celebrity guests and everybody wants to be a part of the in-joke of the studio, so that's a good sign.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to see all the people who play themselves. Even Dave Franco plays himself.
Speaker 1:Yep. Dave Franco plays himself, Zoe Kravitz plays herself.
Speaker 2:Yep, yep, peter Berg plays himself, ice Cube plays himself.
Speaker 1:They play themselves, but they also. I don't think that's what they're actually like.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh yeah, they'll all be they'll be extremely exaggerated, exaggerated versions of themselves.
Speaker 1:Yeah, or you just it's exaggerated um versions of their style of like, like actor or person, I guess yeah, or the yeah, the role they need to play in this particular for example, the olivia wild episode that I mentioned before, the missing reel. She is this crazed director who is completely obsessed with getting her movie correct and show the vision that she wants to see, and she plays that to the nth degree. Whether that's something Olivia Wilde is like on set, we don't really know, but we know and have heard stories about directors being like that, so she's playing that satire.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she's playing the satire version of a director.
Speaker 1:Yeah. My one question for this is I don't know, because it's so steeped in current pop culture and Hollywood culture right now, I'm wondering will this be something that survives, like Friends has, for example, like that's just survived generations upon generations because it's so easily accessible? Or is this just a hit for the now, because it's something that communicates a part of right now, getting the attention now, but will it in future To have a show last?
Speaker 2:as many seasons as sort of like anything. Now it seems very difficult and it doesn't really happen. Yeah, not anymore Like what the last sort of ones were like. Were that one, I think it'd be like some stuff like Supernaturals and you know Offices and New Girls which started in the early 2000s, these ones here.
Speaker 1:It's like companies buy shows for 11 to 12, sometimes 8 episode runs and then they're not guaranteed a second, third, fourth season, and to me I think that stifles storytelling, because you could tell these overarching tales across multiple seasons or across multiple episodes, but you were never really sure if you were going to get that next season.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it stunts that initial ability to be like, ooh, I have this idea that can play out over seasons, but we may not get there. So we might have to not do that and try and focus on quick, short-winded sort of storytelling to try and just get us through these eight episodes and hope for the best that we get.
Speaker 1:And because of that it sort of loses any interest, because people aren't interested in going to see what's happening next, because there hasn't been any sort of long-term development, um, that people are going to be waiting for, because it's all based in the short term, and that's 100 correct, because I think that from what I've watched so far of the studio, matt remick in episode one is exactly the same as he is in episode seven, so there's no sort of character growth across the seven episode arc. Are we going to see a different Matt Remick in season two? Not too sure like and how long does that system last until people start to get bored of it and then the show has ended up being cancelled halfway through or not continued. So I think that's the nature of streaming, and the nature of television now is because we're so able to pick and choose what we can watch instead of it being on the network. And you watch it at seven o'clock every weeknight.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's either that or whatever else on one of the other channels. Exactly Like three channels or four channels?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so because it's so readily accessible, people really do pay with their watching presence. So if you're not watching it, it's not going to continue. I'll probably watch the second season of this one. I probably would recommend it, just for some of the clever shots they are. You just have to get through watching some of the annoying characterizations that are in here. But from talking to you, I do think that is the purpose of these characters. They're supposed to be annoying, they're supposed to be over the top, they're supposed to be a satire of what the industry is. So, yeah, the studio from Apple TV. If you want to watch it, watch something a little bit clever, get your teeth into it.
Speaker 2:Not too bad. Speaking of Apple, I'm not going to talk about it too much but Murder.
Speaker 1:I recommend watching that. Yeah, let's get into your recommendation. I know you've read Reddit. Yes, yeah, I've read the books. They are Actually funny story, those books.
Speaker 1:I was wanting something quick to listen to on audiobook because I was doing menu log delivery over night time and my shift would usually last for like three or four hours and I needed something that would be done start and finish during that time because I didn't want to continue it over. So I picked those books up and they were like there's seven or eight in the series now, but at the time that I was doing it there was five and I'd consume them all in a week and it was just so awesome to just the character of of Murderbot was immediately loved by me and for for lots of obvious reasons if you've watched the show, but if you haven't, brash is going to recommend it for you. Now I'm not going to give too much away about it because I said to him as well. I said I think I'd like to do a full Phantom Portals episode on it because I do love it. It is.
Speaker 2:I was like I'll watch it and I'll see what it's like I'm like because, like it's got Alexander Skarsgård in it and I'm a big fan of Skarsgård. I've watched like all True Blood, like him and True Blood and like him as Tarzan and him as any other sort of extremely handsome and ripped and buffed character he plays. But I was like, ooh, yeah, I'm going to watch it. And then like also David, his last name, dashmalian I think it is Dashmalian Dashmalian and he always me, always. I love watching him like act because he always plays that weird, weird creepy yeah, he does.
Speaker 1:He plays the spot or something in the suicide squad.
Speaker 2:It's that guy yeah, yeah, he does, he plays the spot or something in the suicide squad. It's that guy yeah he always plays awkward in that really well, and yeah. So I'm like. I'm like oh, I'll give it a watch. And I watched the first episode and was like crap. Only two episodes are out currently.
Speaker 1:So I watched the first two episodes and then the third episode came out and I'm like crap, now I'm gonna waste the fourth episode yeah, so highly wrecked, I would just based on the book series because the character of the murder bot developed so much in these five small stories. It's a real good portrayal or picture of humanity. And I'll say that in quote marks because the murder bot is obviously an automaton robot, but he presents such a really vivid picture of the human condition, more so, I think, than some of the human characters, which is the interesting part for me. So yeah, I haven't watched the Murderbot series yet. I'm waiting to watch it in full in the 10 episode full run, and after that I think we will do an episode of Phantom Portals on it as a deep dive because it's so great. But Brash is watching it as we go, so I'm glad another fan's on the on the murderbot train yeah, yeah, I'm a bit um upset with myself.
Speaker 2:I probably should have done what you're gonna do and wait for the 10th time, because I mean and this probably probably tags into what you're talking about the studio about hey, there's gonna be a long, long, long running show like I want to watch all of it right now. But I think that also in a way ruins longevity of shows, because if everyone just watches a show in one quick span, it only lives for that quick span.
Speaker 2:Exactly. And then there's another show, and then another show comes out and then you watch it, and so, in a way, it's good and sucks. So it's good because I'm going to be watching this now over the 10 episodes over the next 10 weeks, and then I'll get excited for the next season to come out. If there's a next season or if they're going to expand on it Awesome. And then I can watch that, whereas when they throw out the shows, it's all just one show. I'll binge watch that and be like cool, I'll watch that now.
Speaker 1:And then yeah, and that's the thing with this as well I know that I mentioned before that there's about seven or so books out now. I'll be interested to see how they pace the first season, whether one season is one book, because then I'll get an idea of how long it may go for, or if it's going to be multiple stories from multiple books across this 10 episode arc. That's what will be interesting to have a look at, and maybe once I watch it, I'll be able to gauge what that longevity will be like, based on what I know happens to the character and how far they stick to it as well. They might create their own stories based on the character as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, which I reckon. Well, I reckon they can do so much with it too. I know at the moment, I'm quite hooked.
Speaker 1:But, yes, definitely go and watch Murderbot on Apple TV. My recommendation for this week. I'm going to go to a throwback, but it's a relevant throwback because I have been tossing and turning, umming and ahhing about what my son's first movie going experience is going to be and I thought maybe it's the Lilo and Stitch live action movie. So we watched the cartoon. I'm going to recommend everybody go and watch the old cartoon of Lilo and Stitch and I say old but it's not really that old, just for some of that nostalgia. And it was interesting Brash to see it through the lens of a child, because when it came out I was about 14 or 13 or something like that. I was a teenager Seeing it through the lens of a child, a child that's three and a half, almost four.
Speaker 1:He asked all the right questions, which is great, and some of them were really hard to answer. But that's kind of why I like movies and TV and watching things like this with him because you're able to explore and talk about things like that with your kids and through a lens of Lilo and Stitch instead of through the lens of a real life thing that's happening. It could be upsetting. So, for example, nani first came on the TV who is Lilo's sister? And he said to me my son said to me, dad, is that Lilo's mom? And I said no, that's Lilo's sister. And then he said dad, where's Lilo's mom? And I said, oh, how do I do this? How do I answer this question?
Speaker 1:And then you know he did the same with Jumba, the alien Jumba. He asked the question about Jumba. He goes is that man evil? I was like the question about Jumba. He goes is that man evil? I was like, well, he didn't make an alien experiment, but he loves it very much and he is trying to shoot at him right now. But you know he's trying to get him back and he stays on Earth to look after him.
Speaker 2:It's a tough question.
Speaker 1:It's a tough question. He becomes his uncle, yeah. And then you know, he got emotional at times in the movie as well. When we were watching it so like when Lilo gets taken away and Stitch escapes and they're all agreeing to go and find him again he got pretty upset Not crying upset, but you could see that the emotional beats were hitting him as he was watching it. So it just replayed the magic of cinema and then, obviously, when they all get together as a family, he was extremely happy at the end of it, when you know there's the montage of photo album shots and everybody has is an ohana again. So I really hope I haven't seen the new one, but I really hope that the new one captures that kind of magic. Have you seen a brush?
Speaker 2:I haven't seen it but, but I've heard some scathing things.
Speaker 1:Well, I have heard the biggest thing that I've heard. That is my like. I don't think I'll write it off for it, but apparently Captain Gantu isn't in the movie.
Speaker 2:At all. The main bad guy in the movie is not in the movie Is not in the movie.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I don't know how they're going to fix the movie through around that.
Speaker 2:Well, because Jumba is made the bad guy throughout the whole entire movie. Oh okay, he doesn't become a good guy. I hope he does by the end. I, from what I've heard, I don't believe so, because everyone's upset at the fact that what they do to Uncle Jumba Hmm, okay, so that means Pleakley is obviously his inept assistant yeah, and they don't do any cross-dressing completely yeah so at no point does he ever dress up.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, because that's another thing that I have actually seen as well is that Jumba and Pleakley are aliens hiding in plain sight. In the cartoon they're dressed up as humans, but in this one they are using alien technology to actually look like humans, which I think takes away some of the charm and the hilarity of the actual you know, I have heard, like Maya and Sydney who play Nani and Lilo and Stitch and all that is all really good, but they're just upset with the fact that, yeah, there's the main bad guys.
Speaker 2:No, not even in the movie anymore. And um, zelda and jumba doesn't have the german accent, he's just that guy the russian accent?
Speaker 1:yeah, I think everybody's. I watched an interview with zach galifianakis and he said that it's a little bit of a sensitive issue now when you're doing villain accents and they're done like Lilo and Stitch. For example, the movie Jumbo has a Russian accent and apparently that's a little bit of a faux pas these days is to do that sort of thing why don't they just get the voice actor that?
Speaker 2:did it before to do a TV show to do it yeah that's what I understand, like, did they actually need Zach Galifianakis to voice that character, or could they have just had the voice actor who voice acts that? Okay, jumbo voice actor.
Speaker 1:Yeah, one thing I did love about the upcoming or the the time until this was released was the marketing campaign they did with Lilo and Stitch, where Stish just started appearing on TV places and was just chaotically ruining all different things, like even the Super Bowl. He was on a Super Bowl commercial as well and he was out like rampaging along the field.
Speaker 2:That's what I mean Like the whole. Like Stitch, lilo, nani, all that it all works, seems really good. It's just that they sort of they've changed the story and for a lot of people I think like there's probably reasons why.
Speaker 1:I'm not sure entirely why, but I think people are just upset because they're like you changed it, but we don't know the reason why you changed it. Yeah, I I heard that the gantu situation was changed. The director said that it was very difficult to pull off gantu in live action like it didn't. It didn't fully work. Um, one thing I will say is that in its opening weekend it made $146 million, which has already surpassed its $100 million budget. So it's a financial success.
Speaker 1:The new Lilo and Sitch movie and I think it is definitely drawing from the nostalgia of the original cartoon because there was a spinoff series on Saturday Disney. There was a second movie that went straight to video that everybody was sort of enamored by and in love with for a very long period of time. And there's lots of memes going around now, especially on Instagram, that show like dancing memes where it says me being 32 in the cinema when Lilo and Stitch comes out, or another one where it's like the meme of Billy Madison sitting amongst the class and he's just like me enjoying Lilo and Stitch in a cinema full of kids. So I think it's that cross-generational thing where parents are taking their kids to it but also people like our age would be going to it because of the nostalgia of the original. So it's got a good market and I think that's why Disney has started to do these live actions, why they continue to do them as well. But overall, in summary, I recommend watching the original when it All Started Lilo and Stitch.
Speaker 1:Here's a question, actually, before we go on to this does Elvis Presley feature in the new one? Do you know? Because he's got to, not as like a character, but on the soundtrack. Surely he's a staple of Hawaiian culture? Yes, yeah, that is true. Somebody that knows, if you're listening to this and you know, please comment and let us know. Does Elvis Presley feature in the soundtrack at all in this movie? I hope so. Yeah, because one of my favorite scenes from the original is when Lilo's lying on the floor singing Heartbreak Hotel or mouthing Heartbreak Hotel, while her sister tries to get in the dog door or unhooking all the nails that have been pelted in there. Another question my son asked as well was why is the house so messy? I was like because they're being looked after by somebody who's also working a lot.
Speaker 2:A lot yeah.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I think the feelings that are evoked from the original should be revisited by everyone. So that's my recommendation Everybody go and watch Lilo and Stitch. All right, let's get to our preview of what's coming up on next episode of the Fandom Portals podcast. If you're listening to this, it means coming up next in your feed will be the Fandom Portals episode on Jersey Girl. Brash and I are going to talk about Kevin Smith's unusual pivot from his usual movies to this more heartfelt one of Jersey Girl. So make sure you check that out as well, and we'll see you very, very soon here on the Fender Portals. Goodbye everybody. Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.
