A Masterpiece of Existential Despair (Spooky Animated Films)

Halloween may be over, but the Distracted Librarians have one more spooky episode for you - in the newest episode, Nicole, Drew, Killian, and Emily talk creepy, weird, and downright haunting animation. Check out the latest episode, and let us know what animated shows and movies creeped you out as a kid (or now)! Want to join the conversation? Email us at [e-mail]

Episode Transcript

Emily (00:00):
The views and opinions expressed in the
"Distracted Librarians"podcast do not necessarily
reflect those of Bloomfield Township,
Bloomfield Township Public Library,
Bloomfield Community Television,
the Birmingham Area Cable Board,
or its producers or production staff.

Nicole (00:17):
Hello and welcome.
We are the Distracted Librarians,
your friendly neighborhood bookworms,
who can't resist the sirencall of movies, video games,
music, and everything elsein the pop culture universe.

Drew (00:30):
Think of this podcast as a digital campfire,
where we share our latest obsessions,
analyze the hidden depths ofour favorite distractions,
and maybe rediscover thejoy of reading in between.

Killian (00:42):
So, if you're a fellow media junkie,
a book lover, or someonelooking for a fun,
engaging escape from your daily grind,
you've come to the right place.

Emily (00:50):
Sit back, relax,
and prepare to get delightfullydistracted with us.

Nicole (00:55):
Hey, everybody. On this episode of
"Distracted Librarians,"
we are going to talk aboutspooky animated films.
I'm Nicole. Emily

Killian (01:05):
I'm Killian. Drew

Nicole (01:08):
Alright. Well, spooky animated films.

Emily (01:12):
We've been wanting to talk about this.

Nicole (01:13):
We've been wanting to talk about this.

Killian (01:15):
We've had so many conversations about-

Emily (01:17):
This has been, this is, yeah.

Killian (01:18):
This is our childhood.

Drew (01:20):
This was one of the first topics
that we picked when we decided
we were gonna start being like topical
to the times in which theepisodes were being released.

Nicole (01:29):
Yes. Emily

Drew (01:30):
And one of, I think straight up,
the first thing one of us said was,
"Well, we need to do a spookyepisode for Halloween."

Nicole (01:36):
Mm-hmm. Emily
Yeah, of course.
And there's nothing better than an animated film
from our childhood toreally get us in the spirit.

Emily (01:45):
Yes. Nicole
necessarily be childhood films.
Mm-hmm. Nicole
because I mean, there's a lotof spooky stuff out there.
Yes. Nicole
That's what kind of brought that up for me
as I was thinking of like,
"What really scarred me as a child?"

Drew (02:02):
Yep. (group laughs)

Emily (02:03):
Well, I think, I think too, like it's,
I wonder if it's not so muchthat animated films are scary,
although I do have some theories
about why they are scary,particularly scary.
But it's, it's, as faras like fearful concepts
or fearful imagery, thoseare often the gateways.

Nicole (02:20):
Yeah. Emily
that specific, like"cartoons are for kids."
And so there's a scary thing,
that's where you're gonna see it,
rather than like, you're not gonna watch
"The Shining" when you're three.
Nicole:Right, right, right, right. Yeah.

Emily (02:31):
But... Nicole:and sometimes it's not even meant to really be scary,
or at least like,
I don't know if that'ssupposed to be scary,
but it is anyway.Emily: Yeah.

Nicole (02:41):
Like absolutely terrifying. Emily
The weird things that a young brain
can just suddenly besuper freaked out by that.
Yes. Killian
and you're like, "Why was that scary?"

Emily (02:52):
Mm-hmm. Killian

Drew (02:53):
But it was. Killian

Emily (02:55):
It was. Yeah.
I think it's because of the,
and this is like sort oflike a hair-brained theory,
but I think it's because it's,
it can also be like our first exposure
to the uncanny valley, you know?

Drew (03:07):
Yeah. Emily
like animations, or stop motion,
or claymation or whatever it is,
has that like, the, it's,it's rooted in like,
it's human, but it's not human.
And it looks sort of like,
I can't fully interpret what it,
how it looks, and what,and it's just, it's weird.
Like it's close to whathumans are, but it's not,

(03:31):
and I can't quite,
I think your brain kindof like shorts out.

Nicole (03:33):
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Emily
'cause some animation isjust makes your skin crawl,
because it's like, I don'tknow why, but it looks wrong.
It just looks wrong.
And I think it's, I think it's the,
the uncanny valley, like approaching.
Yeah.
And there are differenttypes of animation too.
So, you know, we havelike the cartoon type,
the typical animated,
like when you would watch aDisney movie back in the day.

Emily (03:56):
Mm-hmm. Yeah, like drawn animation.

Nicole (03:58):
Yeah, the drawn animation.
And then, you know, like claymation.

Emily (04:01):
*disgusted sound*

Nicole (04:04):
Which, I have the same feeling about it too,
because like, I think,

Emily (04:08):
It's, the jerky not smooth.
It's, it's the, it's,it's, it's, it's, it's...
(group laughs)
I can't even,

Nicole (04:16):
Can't even spit it out it's so terrifying.

Emily (04:18):
I can't, it's just not, it's just,
there's something like, I don't,
it's not, it doesn't look right.
It doesn't look, they don't move.
I don't know. Sorry.Drew: For me,
it's the way that they move
their lips around the words.
Yes. It looks, there's almost like a delay of like,
it's exaggerated.Drew: Yeah.
To really drive home the point of like,
whatever pronunciationis, I understand that,
but like, it doesn't,it doesn't look right.

(04:39):
It doesn't look right.
It's weird. (laughs)Nicole: Yeah. So, I mean,
clearly Emily and I know that,
we think that claymation isprobably scarier than the other,
but what do you guys think?

Drew (04:51):
I don't know about scarier than the other.

Nicole (04:53):
Okay. Drew
I see where the unsettling comes from.

Emily (04:57):
Mm-hmm. Killian
'cause a lot of claymationis stop motion animation,
so that's where you getthat like jerkiness from,

Nicole (05:04):
Yeah. Killian
Yeah, yeah. Killian

Emily (05:05):
Great point. Yes. Nicole
I mean, I feel like therehave been movies over time,
where there's something very unnatural
that's happening in the scene.
And so instead of it being, you know,
a realistic interpretation,
they just cut to the claymation
sort of like, whatever.
And I'm talking like "Indiana Jones."

(05:28):
What is the, which oneis it where his face-

Drew (05:31):
Oh, the face mask. Emily

Nicole (05:32):
In "The Holy Grail."

Emily (05:34):
Yeah. Nicole

Drew (05:36):
"Ark of the Covenant." Nicole

Emily (05:37):
Oh yeah.

Nicole (05:39):
He drinks from the wrong cup and his face melts.
And that is, it's claymation.
I mean, it's like his eyeballpops out and it's all like,
bloo-bloo-bloo-bloo-bloo.Drew: It sure does.
It's all very weird.
So like, there are these moments in film,
where that it just like cuts to that,
and you're like,
"Oh gosh, somethingterrible's about to happen."
(group laughs)

Emily (05:58):
It's so funny that you bring up that exact thing,
because I think that was one of the first
adventure movies that I watched
when I was in elementary school,
which that scene has haunted me.

Nicole (06:09):
Mm-hmm. Emily
a child being like, "Thisis a bad thing to look at."
Like, "It's not, it's notright, and it's terrifying."
Yes. Emily
but it's so good. Emily
It's terrifying and so good.

Emily (06:20):
Yeah. Yeah. Nicole

Nicole (06:22):
Okay, well, let's talk about some films
that we thought were creepy.
(Drew laughs)

Killian (06:27):
I just wanna touch on this one,
'cause I think my story about it,
I find it entertaining and ridiculous.
There was this movie from when I was a kid
that I had a VHS tape of called

"Little Nemo (06:35):
Adventures in Slumberland."
My grandmother must have bought it for me
because my mother has no recollection-

Nicole (06:40):
Okay. Killian
because I watched it exactlyonce, and it terrified me.
And I never watched it again.
And I was scared of the tape itself.
Oh my goodness.

Emily (06:50):
Yeah. Nicole

Killian (06:51):
I was a very easily scared child.

Emily (06:53):
I feel that. I feel that.
Killian:I have recently discovered
that this is available in the,
on the internet, on streaming services.
And I was like, "Cool, I'mtotally gonna watch this
"so I can actually figure this out."
Yeah. Killian
but I was doing other things,
and I did not pay any attention to it,
did not catch any of it,
and then could not,
like I got stressed out trying to

(07:15):
go back and watch, like,
trying to actually sitdown and watch it again.
Yeah. Killian
And I'm like this relic of my childhood
that I don't even knowwhat about it scares me,

Nicole (07:25):
Mm-hmm. Emily

Killian (07:28):
is affecting my adult ability
to sit down and watch this movie.

Emily (07:31):
Yeah. Nicole
Yeah. Killian
so if anyone out there has any idea
about what I'm soterrified of in this movie,
please let me know.
'Cause I don't know.
I simply don't know.
I think, see, because when you brought this up, I,
this is not a film thatI am familiar with,
but other than by like the title.
But I looked at a couple ofclips on on, online to like,

(07:55):
I was like, "Oh, this," youknow, "What is this movie?"
For me, I only watcheda little bit of it too,
because I started gettingstressed out with like
the bigness of the body language of it.
Like the expressions are very intense,
and the like, like there was some scene
where they're all the, like,
these policemen are all like,

(08:16):
clamoring over each otherand it's just this very
loud and like boisterous,
like elbows all akimboand like, running in this.
And I was like, oh.
Like, it just, I felt likemy blood pressure go up.
'Cause I'm like, "This is stressful."
This is, I don't, it'sjust so like, weird.
Just, I don't know. It's weird.
Like, it's just, I don't know.
It's creepy.

Killian (08:36):
It's so, I've like seen stills from it,
and I still can't pinpoint what it was.
Maybe I was just overwhelmed by it.
Who knows?
I was like, six I think.

Emily (08:47):
Isn't there also, isn't one of the characters,
now and again, I don'tknow anything about this
movie but is isn't one ofthe characters a clown, or-

Nicole (08:53):
Oh geez.

Emily (08:54):
Is in like clown style.

Nicole (08:55):
That's just asking for it.

Emily (08:57):
Maybe.

Killian (08:57):
I have no idea. Emily
Anyway, it's, there's some sort
of clownesque being,Nicole: Nightmare fuel.
'Cause see, you that, and I'm like,
"Yeah, no, that's from watching"Brave Little Toaster."
There's actually a clown in that.

Emily (09:08):
Oh God. Okay.
You have, you have rung the bell
on the "Brave Little Toaster."Nicole: Segue.

Drew (09:12):
That's a segue.

Nicole (09:13):
Insert "Brave Little Toaster."

Emily (09:15):
Okay. It's, I'm, you have prefaced with your,
your "Little Nemo" experience,
My experience with "TheBrave Little Toaster."
Now, "The Brave Little Toaster,"
I loved this movie when I was
like three or four years old.
I don't know why.
And, if you don't know what the
"The Brave Little Toaster" is,
it came out in like 1987.
It's basically a story of

(09:37):
anthropomorphic appliances who go on
an exciting and zany adventure to find
the adult man who used to be
the little boy who grew up in the house
that they now live in alone by themselves.
So they go on this adventure.
It is full of nightmares, and terror,
and sadness and suffering.

(09:58):
I did the same thing.
I tried to watch it when I was a teenager.
'Cause I loved it when I was a kid.
I got about halfway through,
almost started crying,
and I haven't started, I can't,
I can't watch this movie.
It is emotionally destructive.
It is heartbreaking.
It's about abandonment.
It's terrible. There's clowns.
There are radiatorsthat scream and explode.

(10:19):
There's, like all kinds of weird,
Peter Lorre is there kind of.

Nicole (10:25):
Yay... (Drew laughs) Emily
happily though, they never released it.
The court, the powers that be
who like are affiliated with"The Brave Little Toaster"
never released it for streaming.
So unless you have iton DVD or VHS, I can't-

Killian (10:41):
I do have it on DVD?

Emily (10:43):
I have it on VHS.
And so unless these copies,
I have the original frighteningVHS that I now can't-

Killian (10:48):
I think I probably have the VHS somewhere.

Emily (10:50):
Yeah. But the thing, but what's nice is,
I mean, I know it's on probablyon YouTube or something,
but like once, like everything collapses,
and we can't get wifi anymore,
the film will die when allof the VHS tapes are gone.
And that's probably a good thing.
'Cause it's-Drew: Oh my God.

Killian (11:06):
It's funny you say that. Emily
Because Emily
While I could not bring myself to watch
"Little Nemo," I did watch"The Brave Little Toaster."

Emily (11:13):
And how did you feel afterwards Killian? (laughs)

Killian (11:16):
Oh my God.
One, I have no recollectionof watching it as a child.
I know I did.Emily: Okay.
I also know that I watched it
with some friends in someone's dorm room
my sophomore year of college.
(laughing)Emily: That's a very
college thing to do.Drew: It is.
I have no recollection from watching it then.

Emily (11:29):
Yeah. Killian
I sat down and watched it,
and I'm like, "Ah, yes. Iremember so much of this."
Like so much has beenlocked away in my brain.
Yeah. Killian
was just protecting me, because,
Oh yeah, yeah. Killian
whole scene that I'm like,
"This is staged."
Like a scene from "Criminal Minds,"
like a murder scene from "Criminal Minds."
Oh, I know, I know the scene you're talking about.

Killian (11:49):
And I hate this.
It is this weirdcombination of "Toy Story,"
and "Homeward Bound," "TheIncredible Journey," whatever.

Emily (11:57):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Killian (11:58):
But it's appliances.
And like, okay, I neverbought into, oh my God,
"Toy Story" is the greatestthing ever because that,
it freaked me out too.

Emily (12:08):
Yes. Drew
Okay. Killian
also messes me up in a very different way.
Oh yeah. Killian
make me sob every time.
Mm-hmm. Killian
I'm just going through TikTok,
and someone has decided to throw
the closing scene of that onto TikTok,
and I start sobbing uncontrollably.
Yep. Killian

(12:30):
Nope. No.

Killian (12:31):
This scene is the entire reason
that so many millennialshave so many problems.

Emily (12:37):
I just felt,
I just felt my body like break out
in a galvanic skin response.

Drew (12:41):
Yep. Emily
And I think what is particularly bad about
"The Brave Little Toaster" is everything.
And it's so, it is so bleak.
It is forlorn and dark,and is full of sadness.
However, I think that there'stwo things going on with it.
Number one, all of theanimations are so cute.

Nicole (13:00):
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Emily

Killian (13:02):
or they're terrifying. Nicole

Emily (13:04):
It's, they're either horrible and awful,
and like, everything's fine.
Just kidding. Like, I'm gonna try to,
you know, kill you or whatever.
But the little protagonists are so
like wee and so dear, and so even riddled-

Killian (13:17):
Even the Kirby vacuum cleaner.

Emily (13:18):
Yes. Even Kirby, they are even,
they are like riddled withhuman emotions and anxiety,
and sadness and suffering,
but they're so adorable.
And it activates that like,
protective instinct because they're cute.
You don't want anythingbad to happen to 'em.

Nicole (13:32):
Yeah. Emily
a lamp in your house or your vacuum.
And it's very easy to look and be like,
"I too have a Kirby vacuum."
Like Lampy be the lamp, that is in,
that exact lamp was,
and still is in my dad'sworkroom in the basement.
So I lived with Lampy.
Oh my goodness. Emily
Yeah. Emily

(13:52):
I think like attach whatever emotion
is happening onto the appliances
you actually see in your,at least like in the,
in my Midwestern suburban life, you know.
It makes it so real.Drew: Yeah.

Emily (14:08):
and it's, (sighing) it's just-

Killian (14:12):
In my all caps, no.
Who decided children needed this?

Emily (14:15):
That is my- Killian
Genuinely, genuinely- Killian
If we can take, and then I will,
I won't rant about "The BraveLittle Toaster" further,
but I, if anyone can takeanything away from this,
please do not show this to your children.
I'm not joking.
I'm not joking.
It is so sad.
It is-Nicole: I considered
showing it to my children.

(14:35):
But after the conversationsthat we have had,
I don't think it's gonnahappen until they're like 16.
It's genuinely disturbing.
And, it does have some, like,
like you're talking Killian,about the junk yard scene.
It has some themes in it that you don't,
they're not kids you don't need-

Killian (14:49):
I in my mid thirties-

Emily (14:52):
Yeah. Killian
by the junkyard scene.Emily: Yes.

Nicole (14:54):
Nevermind. It's, it's off,

Emily (14:56):
it's off the, it's just not, it's, it's,
I understand artisticallywhat they were going for.
I can completely, and I dothink that as a, as a story,
I think that it is a well told story.
Should anyone watch it? No.

Nicole (15:09):
Oh my God. Killian

Emily (15:13):
In- Killian
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
It is an, it is an, a masterpieceof existential despair.
(laughing)

Nicole (15:20):
Wow.

Drew (15:21):
I think one of the things
that came for me most as a kid,
and this is sort of atangent off of "Toy Story,"
is when it's a movie thatis about like creatures-

Emily (15:33):
Yes.

Drew (15:33):
Where humans exist in the world as the antagonist.

Nicole (15:38):
Mm-hmm. Emily

Drew (15:38):
And those make me really uncomfortable about like,
my place in the world.

Emily (15:43):
Oh sure.

Drew (15:44):
And Sid was one of the first event,

Emily (15:46):
Oh, of course. Drew
in "Toy Story," and how he would like
manipulate and destroy all of the toys,
and give them scars,emotional and physical.
Right. Drew
always like sat on my chest,is "Once Upon A Forest,"
and it was in that sort of peak,

(16:06):
like nineties pro-environmental
FernGully/Thumbalina world.
Mm-hmm. Drew
it's a movie about a cute little
group of woodland creatures,
who are gathering and going to the school
at the wisened old raccoonshouse in the stump of a tree.
And they're having a lovely time,

(16:27):
and then all of a suddenthe sun is blotted out.
Oh. Drew
from humans fumigating the forest.

Nicole (16:36):
Ah geez. Emily

Drew (16:37):
And like the littlest girl in the school,
who's the little sisterof the main character,
gets caught in the fumes,
and is like on the brink of death.
And the rest of the movie is these kids
going on their own forest adventure
to like find the one root herb
that will save this little girl.

(16:59):
And I spend the entiremovie like, "I did this."
(laughing)

Killian (17:06):
It's truly horrifying.
That's another one that's onmy list of things that like-

Emily (17:09):
That sounds- Killian
about this movie.Drew: Yeah.

Nicole (17:12):
Yeah. Emily
is on my list as well.
- Mm-hmm.
- Now I, I love "FernGully"
as I hate "The Brave Little Toaster."
And "FernGully," like,
I love it so much that I was
reviewing some clipsof it when I was just,
when we were talking about this episode,

(17:32):
and I was like, "Oh, thisis a core memory for me."
Like "This is like Iwatched this yesterday."
But Hexis, the bad guywho does the same thing,
it's just like Hexis is the embodiment
of like deforestation andhe meddling with nature.
And he's Tim Curry,
because Tim Curry waseverywhere in the nineties.
And Tim Curry somehow has-Nicole: As he should be.

Emily (17:52):
Yes. And Tim Curry somehow has
to come into everything that I say ever.
So,(group laughs)
we have to reference him.
It's just, I don't know.
But he's like, Tim Curry is just
so good at being scary.

Nicole (18:04):
Mm-hmm.

Emily (18:05):
And he's such just a normal seeming man.
But he can do that scary voice.

Nicole (18:09):
The voice. It's the voice.

Emily (18:10):
And Hexis has this very scary, like,
like, and at the animation,
they have him like, thislike gloopy kind of,
'cause he is basically like,
goes from a being like anoil spill sort of thing
to this like toxic waste kind of deal.
And then this giganticlike final form bad guy,

(18:30):
that's huge, and it'sthis like skeletal death,
like with this like oil cloak
that's like burning from the inside.
It is like the most, it's like your,
your sleep paralysis demon.
(laughing)
And it's just so, it's not,you can't reason with it.
It only wants destruction.
It only, and it's causedby human meddling.

(18:51):
And it does make you think like,
"This," When you're four years old,
you're like, "Thiscouldn't happen, could it?"
And it's just like,
"Oh, it absolutely can,
"and it absolutely has,"
"and welcome to the human species."

Drew (19:01):
Yeah. Emily
reason it's so scary.Nicole: Yeah. Absolutely.

Emily (19:03):
That movie was awesome.

Nicole (19:05):
Definitely. I wanted to bring up "Fantasia,"
which has all kinds of like
lovely little nuggets of wonderfulness,
and, you know, ballet, hippos,
and doing ballet and so forth.

Killian (19:19):
The Ballet Hippos are my favorite.

Nicole (19:20):
Yeah. And of course we can remember,
you know, Mickey Mouseand his little wizards cap
with brooms, and thebubbles and whatever else.
But let's bring up "Nighton Bald Mountain" with

Emily (19:32):
(gasping) Speaking of gigantic-

Drew (19:33):
Oh, "Chernabog." Nicole

Emily (19:35):
Scary Figures. Yeah. Like rising over the landscape.

Nicole (19:38):
I mean, I remember watching that movie and thinking,
"Oh, this is just gonna be
"another one of those Disney movies
"where everything is sowhimsical and whatever."

Emily (19:49):
Mm-hmm.

Nicole (19:50):
And then "Chernabog"
shows up, and I'm like, "This is amazing."
(Drew laughs)Emily: It is.
This is why I love heavy metal,
because I feel like that whole part of
that movie could just be to any
heavy metal song ever.

Drew (20:03):
True. Nicole
like music video.

Emily (20:06):
It is. I remember you mentioned this,
and then I looked it up, and I was like,
"This is just cool."
Like, it's just, it just, it's cool.
Like it's, it's, I mean, it's not,
because there's likeflying skeletons and stuff,
which is scary.
But also he just, it looked,the animation is cool.

Nicole (20:22):
Yes. Emily
to being like, scary.

Killian (20:25):
So, my exposure to "Chernabog,"
I've seen "Fantasia" maybe once or twice
all the way through.Emily: Mm-hmm.
Had it as a kid.
was not a go-to movie for me.

Nicole (20:35):
It was not for me either.
But going back I'm like, "Whoa."

Killian (20:38):
Yeah. But "Chernabog"
is one of the Disney characters
that found their way intothe Kingdom Hearts games.

Drew (20:46):
Mm-hmm. Emily

Killian (20:47):
And so that is where my experience is,
and I think that's why like,
I'm like, yeah, this isjust cool, because I also,
my memories associated with "Chernabog"
are fighting "Chernabog"with a giant key sword.

Drew (20:57):
Yes. Emily

Killian (20:59):
And, that was cool. (laughing)
That was just fun. (laughing)Emily: Yeah.
But I can see how that would be scary.
Especially younger.
I was too busy beingscarred by "Little Nemo."
So.Nicole: Yes, absolutely.

Emily (21:12):
Yeah. Nicole
just for reference,
it's like this huge demon thing
that kind of comes out of the ground,
and then all of thischaos happens all around-

Drew (21:19):
Mm-hmm. Emily

Nicole (21:20):
where like Emily said, there's skeletons and-

Emily (21:23):
Yeah, darkness covers-

Nicole (21:25):
Witches on broomsticks, and everybody's flying around.

Emily (21:27):
Darkness covers the land,
and, and the tiny village is just like,
"Oh, no. You know.Nicole: Yeah.
It is, it is cool. Nicole
I think it's less scary because you don't see
as many like civiliansactually affected by-

Nicole (21:41):
Yeah. Emily
It's almost like you just woke up in a bad place.

Drew (21:44):
Yeah. He doesn't, he doesn't come off as threat.

Nicole (21:47):
Right. Drew
threatening anything.Nicole: Yes.

Emily (21:49):
He's just there being scary.

Nicole (21:50):
Yeah. Yeah. Emily
"Oh, it's midnight.
"Time to be scary."
He just like-(group laughs)
rises, is scary, and then morning comes,
and he's like, "Alright,see you tomorrow."
(group laughs)
It is cool.Killian: This will forever be
my mental image of how"Chernabog" works now thank you.
(group laughs)
I love it.
Awesome.
We were watching "PeeWee's Big Adventure"

(22:12):
with my kids for the first time.

Emily (22:14):
Mm. Nicole
is not animated,
there's a very importantscene which is animated,
in which Large Marge,
I don't know if youguys are familiar, but-
Oh, oh yes. Nicole
semi-truck and he's hitchhiking,
and he's trying to get to the Alamo.
And there's this woman truckdriver that's beside him,

(22:35):
and she's telling him this story.
And at one point she turns to look at him,
and her face just like turns into
this gigantic claymation thing,
and her eyeballs like are out of her head,
and her tongue's moving,and her hair is flying.
And it's just-
I see it in my mind that it's like,

Nicole (22:52):
It's a jump scare, like no other jump scare.

Emily (22:56):
Yeah. Yeah. Nicole
they still talk about it to this day.
It is like, and I feel like that's my bad
for like doing that trauma to them.
Yeah. Nicole
we've watched it enough times now
that it's no longer scary.
It's just funny.Drew: Yeah.
Yes. Nicole
like crazy people when they see it.
Yes. Mm-hmm. Nicole
we had some explaining to do.

(23:17):
Yeah. Yes. Yeah. (laughing)
That's how that goes sometimes.
I think that I feel similarly about like,
"Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"
Which is like half animation,
half the characters are toons.

Nicole (23:30):
Yes. Emily
And the guy who's,
I shouldn't have brought this up.
I don't know anybody's name.
I know Roger's name.
The scary guy.
He's like the judge or whatever.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I know what you're talking about.

Emily (23:41):
And he's, and he's scary. Nicole:Oh yeah. He's horrible.
And he walks around being scary at people.

Nicole (23:46):
He takes toons, and he puts them in that black stuff.
Whatever that stuff is.Emily: Yeah, and they melt.
And they just like disappear.

Emily (23:52):
Yeah. And then he,
by the end is all weird,
and his eyes are all weird and scary,
and he's being like,(Drew sighs)
Drew, you had a flash into your brain?

Drew (23:59):
I have a different thing. Emily

Nicole (24:00):
Oh. Emily

Drew (24:03):
Yes. Emily
No, it's a different movie.

Emily (24:04):
No, I, I don't wanna think about him anymore.
Go ahead. (laughing)

Drew (24:07):
So, there was this dinosaur movie
in the mid nineties called "We Are Here."

Nicole (24:12):
Okay. Killian

Drew (24:15):
Yeah. Killian
But it's, it's two brothers
who exist outside of time.

Nicole (24:22):
Okay. Drew
the canonical good brother,one is the bad brother.

Emily (24:26):
Sure. Drew
reaches back in time,
and adopts one of each dinosaur species.
One of each being, you know, kids movies,
those are five of them.Nicole: Mm-hmm.

Drew (24:40):
But they had, the good guy had
a magical like potion or cereal,
or something that they had.
I think it was like acrunchy cereal type deal.
(laughing)Emily: Magic Cereal.
That they ate.
And then the dinosaurs had
like human cognitiveabilities, and a conscience,

(25:02):
and were people essentially.

Emily (25:05):
And he thought this was a good idea because...

Drew (25:08):
History.

Nicole (25:09):
Okay. This is the most bizarre sounding thing
I think I've ever heard.

Drew (25:14):
It's a trip.
And like they go to theMuseum of Natural History,
and see the dinosaur bones.

Emily (25:19):
Oh, why would you do that?

Drew (25:20):
And they end up in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade,
and everyone thinks they're balloons.

Nicole (25:26):
(laughing) What? Oh my gosh.

Drew (25:27):
And they, they sing like a song going down the street.
It's really, really cute.
But then the evil brother'scircus comes to town.

Emily (25:36):
Okay. Drew
his own version that can make
anything into like its most feral state.

Nicole (25:44):
Okay. Drew
Is it also a crunchy cereal?

Drew (25:48):
No, his (laughing)
his was, this was the part that,
that Emily's story like brought this back.
His was like a magicallike essence that came out
of the screw that he had toreplace one of his eyeballs.

Emily (26:01):
Oh, oh. Nicole
Oh man.Drew: And he would like
stare them down,
and they would be encapsulated
in this like magic tornado.
And he-Nicole: I wish everyone
could see Killian's face right now.

(laughing) Killian (26:15):
I don't like this.

Drew (26:17):
And suddenly they were like thoughtless,
raging animals again.
And he could do that to like
the kids who were helping the animals too,
and turn them into likeprimates, and angry,
and every, it was terrifying.

Emily (26:31):
I don't like it.
I don't like it.
No, I don't like it.
That sounds

Nicole (26:35):
No.
Drew:It was a lot.
Everything about it is very weird and scary.

Drew (26:39):
I love that movie.
I re-watched it likethree or four years ago.
It, it's a ride.
It's a good time.

Emily (26:47):
Oh yeah. Drew
It sounds like a lot.
It sounds like a lot.

Drew (26:51):
Killian keeps shaking her head.
(laughing)

Emily (26:54):
The the other one,
I'm trying to think of like other ones
that are really, really scary,
that are less, you knowwhat I was gonna say?
Is there anything that'slike wilder than that?
I don't, I don't think so.
(Drew laughs)

Killian (27:08):
No. Emily
that's weirder than...

Nicole (27:11):
Just the description is fantastic.

Emily (27:13):
Yeah. I mean it's, oh, I think that another one,
this wasn't on my list, but it's,
it occurred to me when we were
talking about claymation,is "Chicken Run."

Nicole (27:23):
Yeah.

Emily (27:24):
"Chicken Run," now, I loved "Chicken Run" as a kid.
I still love "Chicken Run."
It's great, but it is very much like
when you're watching it as a,
when you grow up, you're like,
"Oh, oh, okay."
It's very not, you know.
It does not have any degree of wildness,
but it does have animals.Nicole: It's animals.
It's pretty bizarre.

(27:45):
Emily:- Yeah. It is, it's pretty,
yeah.Nicole: Mm-hmm. Definitely.

Killian (27:47):
"Antz" was a weird one too.

Nicole (27:49):
Oh yeah. Emily
- Ants.Nicole: Oh yeah.

Killian (27:51):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that was in that weird era of like,
you'd have something thatwas Disney or Disney Pixar.
We had "Bugs Life."

Emily (27:57):
Yeah. Killian
similar that someone else made.
And "Antz" came out rightaround the same time.
And I remember seeing that one.
And I only have little bits and pieces
of actual anything in my head around it.
Right. Killian
absolutely horrified watching it
in theaters with myparents and my brother,
and just be like, "Why is this a movie?"

(28:19):
Yeah. "Why did they make this?"
And I think that that,
that is a good question when it comes
to like, well, anything.
But I think that,
I guess a more philosophical question
that's occurring to meis why did they make,
like why did we think that
"The Brave Little Toaster,"
what purpose did it serve?
Or like what purpose did theDinosaur Macy's Parade do?

(28:42):
Like what-Nicole: Yeah. Like what's the moral
of the story here here?
What niche did that fill in our collective consciousness
that it's like,
"Yes, this is what we'rebringing to world."
Like having not seen it, I mean,
maybe I'll watch it, Iwould watch it and be like,
"Ah, yes, indeed I agree."
But I mean that's some ofit is the intention of like,
what is the intentionbehind the scary thing?

Nicole (29:00):
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Drew (29:01):
Money.

Emily (29:02):
Oh, there we go.

Drew (29:03):
Well, a lot of these came out
in the eighties and ninetiesin like the animated boom.

Emily (29:08):
That's true. That's true. Drew
they were just trying to tell
as many stories as they could, frankly.

Killian (29:13):
But I would like to know where
these stories came from because honestly,
like the concepts are, for some of them,
the very concept of it,
even without the animation, horrifying.

Emily (29:23):
Well, and I think to kind of mirror these two things,
yes, where "Fern Gully" actually got some
bad rap because they were like, this is a,
this is a like environmentalcentered story.
And they said, "This ishand drawn animation.
"How much paper didyou use to create this,
"like this whole film?"Nicole: Oh, geez, wow.
I didn't even think about that.
Yeah, and so, they were like,

(29:43):
"Well, yeah, actually."
But it was so, but it was like,
how much, how much was spent on this?
How much, you know, both financial
and physical resources werespent telling this story,
which is, which is an important story.
But when you think about it,
like how does that weigh out.
I mean, but it was part of that,
like the boom of animation.Killian: Mm-hmm.

(30:05):
So, and that's how, I mean,
that's how it was doneadmittedly at the time.
It was just like, "Well,we can't CGI this."
This CGI doesn't reallyexist in the same way yet.
But it is, I mean, what's the,
what is the, what is the use of fear?
I mean, yeah, you can saythat it tells a story,
or it has a moral,
or it like, you know,

(30:25):
promotes an idea of like, don't,
like don't cry wolf,because then the wolf,
the wolf will eat you or whatever.
Like stuff, like, or likedon't tell lies or whatever.
Like, and sometimes there's a moral,
and then sometimes it's just scary.
And you wonder like, ifit's just scary, why?

Nicole (30:40):
Mm-hmm. Yeah. I mean, 'cause some movies,
like, that's the purpose, right?

Killian (30:44):
Mm-hmm. Emily

Nicole (30:45):
Like they're an animated movie for kids or otherwise
that are meant to be scary.
Yeah. Like "Monster House."

Emily (30:50):
Right. Nicole
These are animated films
that, you know, we know for that purpose.
But then, you know, for"Fantasia" to have this like-
Right. And I-

Nicole (31:01):
This really crazy segment, and out of nowhere,
like, and I mean, that'snot the purpose of the film.
And I don't think anybodyexpected it really either.

Emily (31:09):
Right. And I don't think
that everybody, I should assume
that every kid was asmuch as a wimp as I was.
But, you know.

Drew (31:17):
I do think it's funny that the ones
that are sticking with us aren't those
that were like written to be spooky.
The like "Frankenweenie'," the"Legend of Sleepy Hollows."

Nicole (31:25):
Yeah, yeah. Drew

Emily (31:30):
Yeah. Drew
And, Or hit us differently.
I think that, I think that's it, Drew.
I think it's because the scary ones
are rooted in a world that is scary.

Nicole (31:39):
Yeah. Emily
like "The Nightmare BeforeChristmas" for example,
there's like, you know what getting into.
"Christmas Town," and "Halloween."
You know, like there's apreexisting world where this is,
this is logical because of the way
that the world works.Nicole: Right.
(laughing)

Emily (31:56):
But in the context of like real life,
we brought back somedinosaurs with Magic Cereal,
now we're in the Macy's Parade.
Like this, (laughing) there's no,
even within like the realworld context of this,
of the story that's being told,
it still isn't like theanswer is, why does this work?
Because, but it's weird
because there's no,

(32:17):
there's no landscape where,
where because is a reason.
Yeah. And it is thatsort of like situational,
uncanny valley I guess too.

Drew (32:23):
Yeah. We would love to find out like what some
of the ones are for y'all.

Killian (32:28):
Yeah, absolutely.

Emily (32:29):
What, what traumatized you as a child?
What was your, what wasyour "Brave Little Toaster?"

Drew (32:34):
We'll do this episode again in a year
with just fan submission.

Nicole (32:37):
Awesome. That sounds great.
Plus that gives us homework to do.

Drew (32:41):
It does. Nicole
about you guys,
but I just like sat and watched clips
from all of the moviesthat you guys suggested.

Emily (32:47):
Oh yeah. Nicole
it was kind of a fun day.
It was fun.
And it was also like,
"Why am I doing this to myself?"

Drew (32:55):
Yeah. That part. Emily

Nicole (32:56):
So, yeah, definitely. Okay, well thank you
for joining us for this episodeof "Distracted Librarians."
We will see you next time.
Thank you for joining us
for this episode of"Distracted Librarians."

Drew (33:10):
If you have any questions or suggestions,
feel free to reach out tous at [e-mail].

Killian (33:16):
Until then, keep those pages turning,
and those screens lighting up.

Emily (33:20):
We'll catch you in the next episode.