109. '80s Fantasy Part 1 - Before the Boom: A Brief History of Fantasy

Before the loincloths, elf-muppets, crystal balls, dying horse trauma, and mullets of 80s fantasy cinema, there was… quite a lot, actually! In this opening episode of our new series on 1980s fantasy films, Steven, Benjamin and Sean gather round the mic to set the stage and trace the tangled narrative roots of fantasy, both on and off the screen, from a time before things got all neon-coloured and swordy.

We dive into everything from Ray Harryhaussen epics and surreal Euro-fairytales, to biblical epics, Bakshi’s animated LSD trips, Disney’s monopoly on German fairytales and folklore, and the unsettling brilliance of Jean Cocteau’s La Belle et la Bête (1946). There’s also time for myth, psychedelia, swords & sandals, and some classic self-pity as Steven once again laments his tragically cinema-deprived childhood.

As always, we’re unscripted, unfiltered, and occasionally unhinged. But always reliably off-topic.

So join us as we ask: How did fantasy cinema get here? And why did it explode (and flop) so gloriously in the 80s?