The Christmas Tree (1991)

28:23There's no way we've done this show for 15 years and we're just finding out that you had Iditarod style dog sled in Long Island, New York. I'll show you a picture of it right here. What on earth is happening? All right, here, hold on one second. I'm going to share my screen. Are you serious, Paul? Okay, yeah, here it is. That's what I had. What? Yeah. How did you make it bigger? You had enough dogs for this? Can you please make it bigger? Yeah. Let me see if I can. That looks like fun. I'm not going to lie. There you go. Sorry. I'm going to get bigger right here. No, I get it. But did you have Huskies?

28:55No, we had Pointers, which were like hunting dogs. So yeah, that's exactly it. It's like, it almost looks like a tricycle that you attach dogs to. Yeah, no, no. I get it. I get it. I'm just like, I don't. I'm explaining it for the people who can't see it. I can't rectify. I can't make it make sense. Yes. Yeah. And did anyone question you? You're riding around in that thing. And did anyone say like, whoa, whoa, buddy, what is this? Hey, hey, little guys. Sweetie, sweetie, hold up, hold up. Stop the dog. What's going on? I would attach the dogs to it to impress my sitter, like my babysitter, who was often a high school girl to show her that I could control the dogs.

29:40You got the pointers for the sitter? Well, I didn't get the pointers for the sitter, but I would say, hey. You hook up the pointers just for the sitter? By the way, what they call this, according to what I'm seeing online, is dry land mushing. Yeah. Okay. So that's what I was doing. I was doing dry land mushing. Okay. Which I'm sure made the sitter absolutely soaking wet. That dry land mushing. Oh, my God. What on earth is happening? I am absolutely stunned. I can't accept this as new information. No, that's really the craziest thing I've ever heard. So is this the same era? Because to have that, you have to have open space to ride around in.

30:24Is this the same era where you had horses? Yes. Oh, 100%. Yeah. We had a dog run behind the barn, and that's where the pointers lived outside. And that was like, yeah. So I would be cleaning the dog run. So I would go in there and take the shovel and clean up the poop and everything and hose it all down. What year was this? I mean, this is all before. It sounds like you're describing the teens, the 19 teens. I mean, look. It was my job to go around the back of the stables and feed the dogs. I mean, I had to get the salt licks. I had to get the salt licks for the horses, and I had to make sure that I put the hay in there.

30:59I had to put more hay in their kennels during the winter, so they had to warm, you know, keep them warm. But they were outdoor dogs. They lived in their outdoor kennels. you know and that was it this is astonishing I don't know where we were going but I was going to say now that's a sleigh that's a sleigh that's what I want to see slip some dogs up to this stuff because these kids seemingly are just going uphill at all points they are using that sleigh as if it has an engine well the engine is licorice you know eventually licorice is hooked up Paul Scheer style pointer style to um to drive but this is obviously this this is snow mushing not dry mushing i guess we did also have a a regular sleigh too you did you that was that was available to you if you yeah yeah yeah that's good that's good to know just for people who are keeping track at home as to what uh what you had available at what point in life yeah vis-a-vis modes of transportation and I am looking right now that pointers are good dogs for sled dog racing because they're fast.

32:09Yeah. And they have, I guess, a good chest. Just last question about this, I promise. But was there anybody else that you knew that had this? No. No, no, no. I have another question. Yeah, sure. And this one is real. Significant. Yeah. Why? Why did you have both the dry and the snow sleds? Did you or anyone in your family race these dogs? That's a good question. Did you use these as transportation? Like, what? Right. Well, we didn't use it as transportation. I'm just going to say why. This is something that comes up in my book a lot. I understand why Jesse has the dogs in Life Below Zero. That makes sense.

32:46He gets around with them. He needs them because he's in a place in Alaska where he needs the dogs for transportation. Well, no, this, the dogs were, the dogs kind of just were. Exercise for the dogs. Yeah, I mean, I guess we had them. These dogs were going out. We were hunting with them. I mean, these dogs were always coming out and doing something. They were pointers. So when they saw a bird, their tail would go up. And then that's how you know, okay, we got a bird. Did you hunt a lot? I had multiple guns, but I never was out there to kill animals. I would shoot much more to kill. You had multiple guns, but I was never out there to kill animals.

33:26No, I was out there to shoot. Were you out there to kill the most dangerous game? I would hunt humans, sure, but that's a different thing. Now, these pointers are really good at finding bodies, human bodies. Wow, so interesting. And I think, I don't know if I ever mentioned this, but most of my fifth grade class were weirdly shot. I don't know why. Weirdly shot. Weirdly shot. How they were shot was weird. Weird, it was weird. Oh my God, oh my God. Yeah, so I shot a lot more skeet than I did. That was my bread and butter. um but we did but we were that was my bread and butter but i shot plenty of skeet that was my bread and butter but i mean i've told i think i've told this on the podcast that i did kill a lot of quail okay yeah so like that's what you guys would do you would go out and do quail hunting no no no we we raised them and then i would uh then we would chop off their heads and then put them into a defeatherer and then and then sell them featherer yeah this is so horrible how does that word.

34:28It's basically like imagine, and I'll give the funnier description of it. You chopped off their heads? I didn't do the chopping off their head. I did the thing where I'd stick them in the defeatherer where you would hold them by their legs. And it's basically like a steel drum with, let me just say for your visual, like a bunch of dildos attached to it. And so it's like these rubber things and you put the bird in. And it just pull it off. Oh, okay. And you would sell the quail. Yeah, we sell that meat. You'd sell the quail meat? Where? Where would you go to do that? Again, these are the things.

35:03I just did the chores. I guess, yeah. Okay, I got to be honest with you. I wish you'd asked more questions. I do, too. You were part of, I want to be clear. You were part of something. You were part of something that I don't think you understand. I guess I call it a chicken plucker machine. Chicken plucker machine is what I'm looking at. Why? Why? Paul, who sold the quail? Where? And what were the proceeds used for? What system was this a part of? This is crazy stuff. I'm looking at all these machines. These machines are bringing back memories now. Oh, God. How are there more memories? How are there more memories?

35:43I guess I just felt like we were raising quail, so then we had to... Did you eat them? We had to sell them. We're not going to just keep a bunch. We were raising a tremendous amount of quail. I understand the concept of if you're raising quail, you're probably selling them. But in what capacity? I don't know. Farmer's market? I never went to a farmer's market. We're trying to understand what the funnel looks like. Well, yeah. So I don't know. I mean, I never. Was this black market quail sales? What did I marry into? Is there a quail fortune? I don't know about that. I never went to a farmer's market.

36:18I never did that. So I know that we didn't sell it there. But I also think that we had a big freezer. We were putting things in the freezer. And then I think that people were picking up things from the freezer. People? Would come by. I think it was much more of a... You think people were picking up... You think it was an open freezer and people would just take a quail, leave a dollar? What is this? I remember distinctly saying, we'll leave the garage open. You can come and get the quail. What? So I think we were selling We were selling animal meat Locally Got it Again Not quite positive And again I should have asked these questions These are great I would love to know if these were FDA You were just trying to get your chores done So you could get on your Dog sled and enjoy yourself Like I understand I don't blame you Hey guys I want to hang out I just have to de-feather 300 quail so I can fill up the quail freezer in the garage that everybody knows will be open.

37:25Now, here's the thing that I will say. I definitely believe that we ate them as well. Sure. Because we were not raising, when you say 300, I would say we didn't have 300 at a time, you know. So we were probably raising maybe like 50 quail. Like, so we were a low tier, you know, probably like, yeah. Like, and you go in there and the coop was just a mess and feathers and shit. And you'd have to get in there and dig around. You lived with a quail coop. Yeah. We're getting, this is, again, this is just astonishing new information. The quail coop was on the property next to ours, which we rented the house of, but we kept the backyard.

38:02So that was like a deal that we had to give. Okay. So you had the stables for the horses. On our yard. You had the kennels for the dogs. That was on our yard. That was in our yard. And then the quail coop and anything. What else is in, just so I have a, and I would love it if a fan. could maybe just do a property sketch of all the information we now know from Paul. I mean, what a, I mean, what a, what a childhood, you know, like it, it feels like when you talk about your childhood, it feels somehow like, even though I know you grew up in Long Island, it feels to me like you grew up on little house on the prairie.

38:36Well, that, you know, it is interesting when I do talk about it, it doesn't seem natural or right. And so when I did go back to like, look at the house, I was like, did I make any of this stuff up and nope I did not everything is still aggressively there this is wild I love this I love the excavation of your childhood is it is what drives the show we have at least two more books coming I did as you said it I forgot about us mushing okay so sorry for that detour I apologize No, in all sincerity, it was so much better than the movie. Truly. The fact that we now know you are a frequent dry musher as a child is huge information.

39:27Big information. The fact that I know the term dry mushing. Yeah. Now we all do. I thought that there was something sexual when Miss Mavilda called Mel Fastfingers. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. She really does hang out with a bunch of degenerates. Yes. Which I like. I do too. Oh, yeah. Again, that was a choice that I really loved about the movie, which was that she was a gambling addict. And also that like her choice of she wasn't hobnobbing with the rich and famous. You know, she was with the dregs of society. And she also didn't aspirationally have hopes. She wasn't trying to buy her way into society or get her or buy her way out of the orphanage into a this or that.

40:11Like she just wants, I think, to party and gamble. And fund her habit. That's why I think that she was losing the money on purpose because she wasn't like she just wants to shut everybody down because she doesn't even invite the girl, the mom, to play cards. Like it's not even like. You know what, Paul? I'm sort of coming around to your point of view because they do say that about gambling addicts that they don't actually want to win. Oh, really? Yes, that the desire is to try and there's something in the risk of it, but it's not about actually winning. Oh, okay. Oh, wow. So you might be onto something there.

40:54I did appreciate, you know, it's definitely the animation of the time, but I did appreciate. It isn't. I just want to be clear. It's not the animated. This is like, there was better animation. the other animated movies that are out in 1991. There's toy stories that exist. No, I mean, this is like, okay, a time of like Rover Dangerfield, Rock-a-Doodle, American Tail. I thought this was like Little Mermaid time. American Tail, yeah, okay. I mean, you know. But I loved that, at least in the 90s, all the women who were villains had purple eyeshadow. That seemed to be very, very important. And I also loved.

41:33You like those pink lips? That when Judy went driving and she was on the road and told by that police officer, like, you're not going to get through, better turn around. She sped off like a bat out of hell. Did anyone notice how fast she drove? I did not clock it. She threw that car around into a turn and sped away. Wow. It was hilarious. I'm just going to say that Beauty and the Beast comes out in 1991. Okay, there we go. American Tail comes out in 1991. Fievel goes west, of course. Of course. Rockadoodle comes out in 1991. These are movies that look very different from this movie. Well, I mean, there is something about it where it feels like these cells might have been purchased on a black market.

42:20You would even say maybe a quail market, you know, bespoke. Oh, boy. And you would get this, like, because there is something about it where this all feels left over. And look, I know these kids are supposed to look sweet and kind, but they all look like kids who are having terrible allergy attacks. Like their eyes are just big enough and watery enough to look like they're just like, oh, they're like their sneeze is like living right in their head space. They don't look well. They're kids all facing out. They all stand in the exact same direction at all times. They have to. I mean, they only had one.

42:55Well, they're using the same cells. Yeah, they're using the same cells over and over again. And it's clear because none of the, you know, they just have written a script to cells that they had, I think, to scenes that they had, because I don't think like none of this makes none of this adds up as a movie. Well, I mean, I also don't understand how the whole town gets involved at the end of the movie. The entire town is around the tree. It seemed that this is a very small issue. Mavilda is going to cut down a tree and then everyone shows up. But yet again, I just want to call it back, which is it is a weird moment because a child is missing, reportedly falling off a cliff in the woods.

43:38And a town is much more concerned about a tree that no one has any connection to, because at this point, the tree is not a national landmark. And it seems like that is crying. The bully is crying. And he says, she fell down. I lost her. He's like beside himself. And then it's like, start up that chainsaw. We're killing this tree. And everybody's like, fuck the little girl. We have to save the tree, which is bizarre. I mean, is it an ecological story? I don't know. I mean, that. I don't know. I mean, I do think the way he tells that with the way he shares the news about Lily, like it does seem so definitive.

44:15Like she's gone. She's dead. She's she's dead. So there is something I can't believe I'm on their side. But there's something I do understand. Like, they radically have to accept that news. Can I ask a question? Please. Is the little blonde boy's name Pappy? Yes. Yeah. Or Happy. Pappy. Pappy. Pappy. Pappy. Now, why is he named Pappy? Isn't Pappy like an old man, like a grandfather's nickname? Like, you know. My Pappy. Like, yeah. Pappy is not like, it's not a nickname. it's not a it's not a nickname for like a like patrick or something i couldn't wrap my head around the fact that this little boy's name is pappy lily pappy uh pappy kindle you should call my full name pappy kindle which makes me also wonder the kindle family is this amazon product i mean this is like war the world's level stuff you know let's have the kindles come in and you know what she can read to them any story access anything they want magazines uh audiobooks now in color um yeah did anyone else wonder like what happened to the kindles in their previous town yes they're running from yes and when they show up the mayor is basically like i'm gonna put you in this thing of this job over here like it seems like he's just getting placed not based on his skillset.

45:38None of it. He's just being told to work at a lumber mill. That's communism. I'm going to be honest. That's communism. Whatever your trade is, it doesn't matter. You do this now. Your family belongs to the town. They're not yours anymore. Your family belongs to the town. They are community property. This is communism. I believe this is a story about communism. Here's the other part of it. The mayor is coming with the bags of money. and the way he gives the bags of money is by seeing that the orphans are in nice clothes right but these orphans never leave so she is doing a bad job because i imagine part of being an of somebody running an orphanage is like you want to get some out the door it's like running a car dealership you wouldn't get more money in a car dealership you're not i don't know moving products i think she's getting money a lot of report though every year like i you know there there were maybe there weren't any placements but like this many people came to see the orphans as potential adoptees like because she must have to she must have to account for something there doesn't seem to be i'll be honest any oversight there's no cps there's no seems his arrival with the bags of money this town seems to be the mayor and mrs mavilda i mean it is it is a an orphanage that is run, I mean, like literally with the least oversight.

47:05It's an orphanage of fear that is run with the least oversight because all he needs to do is see that they are in a pretty dress. And then he, by the way, this is disturbing to me. You look, I've seen a lot of weird stuff, but seeing kids get naked, like ripping clothes off a kid and having them in their underwear. I'm like, I don't need to see little kids in this like this ragtag generic peanuts gang. And I don't need to see, I don't ever want to see Lucy in her underwear. I don't want to see Linus. I don't even want you saying what you're saying. Yeah, I don't want it available as audio. I don't want it.

47:38Those words are putting images into my brain that I didn't ask for, you know? I don't want it. Especially about Linus. I mean, the other thing is, what world is this money? I mean, we are also in a world where, like, why is the money in bags? Why is the money? I'm just thinking about that. Oh, money's always in bags. Money's always in bags. You know, if this is run, if he's sort of running this as a communist utopia, then I do think that I understand. In Alaska. I do understand Mrs. Mavilda's gambling addiction a little bit more. Right. I understand the need for, like, you know, excess and stepping out.

48:22Like, that does, even if it doesn't lead anywhere. Well, it also it does. That also feels to me like the idea that this takes place in a frontier town, basically, where it is people are working in the mine or the mill or whatever. That's how they make their living. But really what it is, it's just lowlifes who are doing gambling and scheming. And it's Mrs. Mavilda and her poker friends. You know what we don't see is a ton of like townspeople who are like good people. We just see villains. And the only good person really is the mayor, I think. And Mrs. Hopewell, the tree. And Judy. Sure, sure, sure.

49:03And Licorice. I don't trust Licorice. I don't trust Licorice either. Licorice, I feel like left Lily. Licorice should have gone after Lily. I will say no. Justice for Licorice because I think Licorice did do a good job fighting the bear. Okay, you're right. Yes. switch um but should have been killed i think should have been killed was that bear the same bear from the jungle book it did look like they may have stolen it's definitely baloo uh there was but there's this one moment where the mayor does say like there's weird editing of course like i think you're right jason like there's points where they're like they have too much time and they're rushing then there's points where they don't have enough time and they're cutting so you're this weird thing where like the end of the movie is like and then it's all good and she's great and and we don't even see any images of her it's just a wide shot saying that everything worked out great it's like it's like the way that i get when i'm trying to tell my kids something i'm like yeah it's fine it's fine they worked out everything yeah yeah don't worry about it they're fine they're good um but there's this one moment where the mayor goes i've got enough money here to get the children new clothes and still some left for their christmas like it's like there's It's a long beat.

50:08I've got enough money here to get the children new clothes. And still some left for their Christmas presents. I was like, what happened? Did he have a mini stroke? There's a lot of that kind of stuff where it feels like it's just because they have more footage of the mayor talking. So they're going to fill it up and make it last. It almost feels like it's that's what I mean. It feels like when you watch an old TV show and you're like, why is this scene seven minutes long? The plot points were over minutes ago. So why is Magnum still hanging out at the King Kamehameha Club just to watch somebody fall down in the sand?

50:48By the way, I mean, I would imagine that there that Mavilda would also get put in jail. It seems like a very lax system that would be like, you know what? Well, and that's Judy's fatal flaw. And that's where Judy is, you know, her underreaction, her willingness to turn a blind eye, her, her, you know, need to like rescue Mrs. Mavilda and not restore justice to this town is really deeply troubling. It's a, you know, there is no, Mrs. Mavilda shows no remorse. She really doesn't have a, she doesn't have a real turn in a way that you're like. Just since she got caught. Do you feel like the lightning strike, like, kind of shocked it out of her, like electroshock therapy?

51:36Like, it just, like. I would have loved if they showed that. If she was, like, after the lightning strike, she was, like, wonderful and loving and lovely. You'd be like, okay, she's changed. Santa changed her with lightning. Or, like, it was a stroke or something, you know. Because what we don't hear at the end is that Mrs. Mavilda stopped gambling. No, she's just good. Well, now she maybe just gambles smaller amounts. Yeah. By the way, again, you said justice for Judy. June, I just wrote this line down. There's a moment where Judy tells the kids that they won't be getting the new clothes. And then the kids are upset.

52:11And she says, please, children, don't make it more difficult for me. Yeah. I know. No, listen, I'm so back and forth with her. I just admired her carpentry. What can I say? Here's the thing. Judy is up against insurmountable odds. So she cannot help but fail over and over again because it's simply too much. That being said, she could do better. She could do better. Judy, do better. Yeah. Judy, just do better. But also orphans do better. Like these orphans are just standing around. they are not doing a goddamn thing and orphans by the way do better and turn to each other yes builds community like people always say that if you feel unhappy in your life and depressed and like are constantly making yourself the victim like turn around and put some energy into what is yes into the people around you into the spaces around you you know invest in the opportunities of your the person to your right the person to your left don't don't try and tell me that you can't make yourself a better life unless that tree is your best friend.

53:18So I guess if I'm going to take away all the things we've been saying about this movie and just judge it in a way that's like, what was the intention here? What is the Christmas moral of this story? Such a good question. I don't think there is one. Believing? No. Nope. It's not about believing. It's not about the Christmas spirit. It's not about love for each other instead of craving gifts and so forth. It's not about the spirit of Christmas. They do say wish harder at one point. It's about, oh, you know what they do do is the kids all want things. And then the kids are like, I shouldn't want things.

53:58I should wish instead for Mrs. Hopewell, the tree to be saved. Right, but also of all the people who don't want things, the kids should get some things. The kids have not gotten anything. They don't have clothes. They don't have toys. They don't know what Christmas is. They have such shitty attitudes. I mean, they really do. The kids are sleepy. I mean, the kids seem like they are starving. The kids seem like, I'll be honest, the kids seem like Mrs. Mavilda's giving them a Benadryl every morning. I do think they might be on drugs. Because the fun thing about orphan movies, and I know this is wrong, but when you're watching them as a kid and you're watching Annie, As horrible as the Miss Hannigans of the world are, there's something so appealing about kids being together.

54:47Even Oliver sleeping in the same quarters, one of the little one being way more of a rascal and taking risks, and the other one's having... There's something so compelling story-wise watching these stories as a kid. Yeah. I am this. I am that one, yeah. I'm a voice in the animated movie The Twits, which is one of the Roald Dahl books, which has very fun, up-to-stuff orphans. The orphans are driving the story because they have the ability to go out into the world and stir shit up, and so they do. And it's a blast because the orphans have agency. They're not just sitting around waiting for some Judy to come make it fucking better.

55:31But Jason, this is the thing that you have refused to talk about. you also play a mayor in the Twits. And you are not talking about, like you have been in this position. I mean, what is the mayor doing right? What is the mayor doing wrong? It's so true. It's so true because the mayor does not support the orphanage in any way. Like he doesn't show up. My character, the mayor, doesn't show up with bags of money. He is so much more focused on his reelection campaign. Okay. So does your character address Roald Dahl's anti-Semitism at all? He does not. But I will say his butt explodes. Okay. Hey, that's fair.

56:09You know, look, you can't win them all. His butt swells and swells and swells and swells until it explodes. Not a fart. His butt explodes. Well, that is upsetting. So do you feel like it was an asshole that exploded or it was like a butt cheek explosion? I'll be honest. The director, the wonderful director, Phil Johnston, I asked him so many times, what has happened here? What is the injury? because you then later see him in the hospital in traction and it looks like they've done some cheek surgery. Right. You know what I mean? What was this? I need to know so I understand how to play it. Well, of course.

56:46So I understand how to inform my vocal performance. Right. You don't want to be like this guy who becomes Jimmy Stewart at the end of the movie and in the beginning of the movie sounds perfectly normal. Holy shit. This is truly one of, wow. I mean, one of like, again, we keep on saying this recently, like these are movies that are blowing our minds because I'm like, I did not know this existed. And in 45 minutes, I have more questions than I ever have had. But here's the thing. I am so looking forward to the time when in I'm going to say 45 minutes from now when I have forgotten this movie. It's already.

57:29I'm so looking forward to that time. I like I still am. I'm thrilled, by the way, to still be thinking about and laughing about and talking about my boyfriend's back. Oh, yeah. But this I hope to never revisit. This is this. I want wiped clean from my memory as soon as possible. This is to answer the question you're leading us towards, Paul. I do not recommend. Really? This is, I found this to be, to what we were saying earlier, so weirdly long, even though it's short. The scenes are so boring and so drag on with just either exposition or unnecessary information. I couldn't make heads or tails out of it.

58:11Well, and I will say, I kind of feel the same. And we did keep our nine-year-old up last night, a little bit later than usual. To 10 p.m. You can watch the movie with us. Oh, God. And he wanted to go to sleep. I can't wait until your sons write books that are revealing the way Paul's book is revealing, but all of the stories are about all of the movies they were exposed to. They have seen, and by the way, we get excited when it's a kid's movie. We're like, oh, finally, you can watch it with us. Like the fart movie with Rupert Grimm. Oh, yes. You know, like they, and that one I think went over better.

58:44I'll tell you this much. I will read you one or two of these second opinions, but I don't trust them. But here we go. it's now time for second opinions the movie was a piece of shit yet this person recommends it tell me what is the message maybe that art is subjective i need a second opinion So it was very hard to find second opinions for this. So we had to go to Letterboxd. It's not a real movie. It's not a real movie. Yeah. So we had to go to Letterboxd, even though it went straight to DVD. So it should be able to be reviewed on Amazon. Pisswater Dead Girl. Okay. On Letterboxd. Okay. This is so wonderful.

59:39The real children voice acting adds such a beautiful, homey vibe to the whole thing. Their eyes are so somber. It's enchanting. I like this a lot. five stars. That does seem earnest. It does seem earnest, and I will say one of the things that they mentioned that we did not mention, I don't think, is that, yes, all of the orphan children's voices are little kids' voices, and the kids are struggling. Well, I will tell you this much. The actress who played Lily, seven years old, is the real-life daughter of the actress who played Judy, and the actor who played Pappy, who is ten, is the real-life son of the actor who played Bob.

1:00:15Okay. And all of the actors in this have won credit. Most of the cast is made up mainly of friends and family of the animation crew members. I'm not surprised. They save some money here. No union. No union fees here. And of course, there's a little boy in this movie named Pappy. So we follow Pappy. I mean, like, just talking about Pappy. I can't wrap my head around a little boy named Pappy. I will say that 47 Ronan writes, A tragedy. Miss Mavilda is what Lily will become in a few decades. Surrounded by simpering plastic children, a life unfulfilled with shattered dreams. Already she's numbing the pain of her pathetic existence as evidenced by her drooping eyelids that indicate that she is on substances.

1:01:00No matter the bitterness that will morph into hatred, she too becomes just like her employer, exploiting and abusing those gremlins until years have passed. They will call upon that entity Santa Claus to smite her rotten, blackened heart. Another will take her place and the vicious cycle begins anew. Five stars. What? I mean, I think that what they're saying is, you know, you are destined. Destined. Now, this is another one that feels, again, these are, you know, these are different reviews. But this one, Darth Raider on IMDb. We went to go everywhere. Molly went everywhere this week to find these.

1:01:36Thank you, Molly. Eight out of 10 stars on IMDb, and the subject line is cute Christmas flick for toddlers. Nope. Saw this when it was on the USA Network years ago, and now my kid watches the DVD and loves dancing around to the music. It's a cute little show that young kids can enjoy. Adults and older kids might prefer the standard peanut specials. Since this one is comparatively a bit rougher and over-narrated, the story is non-traditional, but it's a nice change from those same old archaic stories of reindeer with light-up noses and talking blobs of snow that our grandparents grew up with. Apparently, there were some former artists from Hanna-Barbera and Disney working on it, and it's played all over the world in multiple languages since its release decades ago.

1:02:21So, while it hasn't become a classic locally, there must be a following out there somewhere. I believe this was written by someone who worked on the movie. Yeah. It feels like it. It makes no sense otherwise. This isn't that. What we saw is not that. By the way, this is the first time ever in the history of the show that there are only two reviews on Amazon. Two. Oh. So we didn't even pull them because out of two reviews, 68 % are five star. This was the time. Okay. So this is the kind of movie that. I don't even understand that math. as I was watching it, you know, I don't know, an hour before we recorded, I got, I don't know, 20 minutes into it and panicked because I was like, this can't be what we're actually doing.

1:03:10And I texted the chain to be like, are we, is this what we're doing? Like just to confirm, because I was so nervous. I was watching the wrong thing also because it was 47 minutes long and none of it. I was like, am I waste? And then I was like, oh no, for sure. This is what we're doing. And it was, it was very upsetting. I truly, I truly was disturbed by this movie. It takes a lot to, to shake me to my core. That's why I think I want people to see it. I know that YouTube don't, you want to, you want to gatekeep this movie, but I believe that, I believe that children, everyone needs to see it and, and then respect the Rankin Bass, the Peanuts a little bit more, a little bit more.

1:03:52What are the, what are the, do you guys have holiday movies now in your family that you watch in the holiday season? Oh yeah, big time. Well, my main one is Mixed Nuts. Well, that's June. Of course. The Nora Ephron movie. I think that Jason was asking. A movie that I really was poo-pooing and now I enjoy it. The family ones. Home Alone, big hit. Home Alone 2, maybe even a bigger hit than Home Alone 1. is that the is that Manhattan is that New York yes that's New York yeah great then we're talking about Elf Christmas Vacation is a big one those what about like Muppet Christmas Carol no no to see it at the New Beverly not into it they don't like the Muppets oh okay they love June's movie 8-bit Christmas sure of course as well as my Christmas movie Family Switch which is a little more of a body switch movie even though it does take place at Christmas but yeah those are kind of like the ones that we really by the way solid list but do you guys watch like the Rankin Bass do you watch the TV specials do you watch a Charlie Brown Christmas like any of the ones that we watched a Charlie Brown Christmas we'll have on but we won't it's not really like something we'll sit down for it's not like these are the ones we watched as kids now will you now have like the modern movies that you all watch together yes i think that's and we and we like that and our kids taste is getting it's it's evolving they have a lot more you know like this is a big it's a big year we might even you know show them lethal weapon uh well i was hoping that would be the christmas movie of my choice or you know diehard has been very close to being oh no yeah yeah die diehard i mean lethal weapon and of course kiss kiss bang Lethal Weapon's pretty brutal.

1:05:44Die Hard's a lot easier. Yeah, Lethal Weapon goes down a little tougher. Yeah, no, I think so. But yeah. It's fun, though. I like it. Maybe we'll try a Rankin-Bass. Family Stone? Were you guys on Family Stone? You know what? I would love to try that out. I honestly had forgotten about it. You know what I haven't watched? Because I like the Family Stone. People hate it. But you know what I haven't watched in ages that I'm going to revisit this year is Home for the Holidays. I love Home for the Holidays. And that's a Thanksgiving movie, in my opinion. Yes, it is. With like planes, trains, and automobiles.

1:06:18One of the very few. Yes. One of the very few. Well, also, did we talk about Christmas Vacation? You said that, Paul. Yeah, Christmas Vacation is big. Okay, yeah. Christmas Vacation to me is a very important, it was a very important piece of my child. Or I just, it felt like a formative Christmas movie. I will tell you, the movie that I have gone off of, I used to love A Christmas Story. Love it. Now, if I put it on, it irks me in a way, it bothers me in a way that I don't like at all. I prefer to watch, and I know I'm in it, but I do prefer to watch 8-Bit Christmas. There you go. I mean, I also, I think The Holdovers is going to make a showing now.

1:06:58I think I will watch that. I like The Holdovers. That's a good one. I like that. In a planes, trains, and automobiles way. Yeah, that's a nice one. And I think we were enjoying, you know, we're going to watch them all. We get into it. Like, I feel like the kids might like Jingle all the way. Oh, yeah. That's good. You know. Oh, yeah. I mean, I don't know. I'm so excited to stop talking about this movie and watch all of those movies. Oh, my God. Wow. So excited. I'm so glad to tell you guys I'm already forgetting this movie. But please don't forget me mushing dogs on dry land. Jason. None of us will ever forget you dry mushing and also your gray market quail hunting.

1:07:41and you're de-feathering. Here's the thing. We are going to continue talking about Christmas, the three of us, in person with Jessica St. Clair on December 10th. We are going live and worldwide with our annual holiday tradition. How did this get made a holiday for your ears and your eyes? Because we are doing it via video. We'll be in the same room. It'll be a lot of fun. There might even be some fun treats. We'll be announcing the movie very shortly, but you can get tickets. I mean, you've been listening to this podcast for so many years. You have no idea what we look like. No idea. Why not tune in to the live stream?

1:08:19See us in real life. And so get your tickets at howdidthisgetmade.com or just go right to Veeps. Jessica St. Clair will be there in person, which means no tech issues, but will she get there on time? Question mark? It really is a question mark. Oh, there's no way she'll be on time. I'm willing to say that. Now, June, you are going to be doing a Christmas special a couple days before ours, right? That's right. Now, this is a different type of Christmas special, and I do hope Jessica can make it because she is, well, hosting it. Okay. You know, so I do hope she will be there. But this is our deep dive second annual Christmas Spectacular.

1:08:56Paul will be doing a tour of his Christmas village. Oh, yeah. So we'll be able to check in on what all the villagers are up to, what's happening to the town. That's really exciting. It's such a fun show. So we will be talking trees and we have a professor of holiday studies. Yeah. Stoff Shear. Yeah. Paul's cousin will be coming on to discuss Krampus. So we'll be learning. We'll be celebrating. Head to the deep dive academy.com for tickets and you can use code howdy for$5 off. Wow. All ticket prices. Making us look bad by not having a code. Howdy. Howdy. Why? Or howdy. I. E. Great question. H-O-W-D-I-E.

1:09:43Why pick such an odd password? Howdy. How does that tie into... Why don't you just dive? Divers. Well, because this code is just for how to skip maidless. Oh, got it, got it. Okay, got it, got it. Okay, so it's a tip of the hat to the howdy. I love it. Yeah. I still love that for our show, we use code bonkers for mental health. Yes. for a mental health advertiser. Hey, you want to get your brain in check? Use the code BONKERS. Hey, you know what? It'd be great for you to talk to a mental health professional. All you need to do is, for 15 % off, put in the password, I'm Cuckoo Bananas. Jason, Man on the Inside Season 2 is now on Netflix.

1:10:29Man on the Inside Season 2, get it while the getting's good. And Percy Jackson Season 2 is right around the corner. and then as always guys you know it's a great holiday watch when you've got downtime it's called Taskmaster season 19 is all on YouTube season 20 just finished fantastic season watch that as well why not? and if you are looking for a gift you can get my book now in paperback and hardcover and you know what if you get it in early I can even sign it for you alright well don't watch it or maybe watch it if you do watch it don't tell June that you did that's a wrap on the Christmas tree We hope you all sit down with your family after Thanksgiving and enjoy this wonderful film together.

1:11:10If you have anything that we might have missed, and you know what? There's a lot here. We didn't even talk about the fact that there are two characters that are just shadows. They weren't even colored in or even drawn, for that matter. So there's a lot to add to this conversation. You can give us a call at 619-P-A-U-L-A-S-K. That's 619-Paul-ask. Or write a comment on our Discord. Go to our Discord at discord.gg slash HDTGM. and we will respond to your messages and your comments on next week's last looks. Plus, Jason and I will sit down, talk about what we're watching. Also meet up with our old engineer, Devin Bryant.

1:11:46It will be a blast. And if you want to give a gift of how did this get made this holiday, well, guess what? We have brought back our first shirt. That's right. Ridiculous Cage is up. Take a look. The very first shirt that we took down because we were going to get sued and now we've put it back up. It's in our merch store. Just go to hdtgm.com. You can also get a How Did This Get Made hat that are very fashionable. And remember, if you listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please make sure you are subscribed to our feed and have automatic downloads turned on in the show settings. It helps us, and we appreciate it a lot.

1:12:17A big thank you to our entire team, our producer, Scott Sonny, Molly Reynolds, our audio engineer, Casey Holford, our social media manager, Zoe Applebaum, and of course, our intern, Quinn Jennings. We always want to just also give a shout out to Averill Halley and just put good wishes in the air for her. We are always thinking about her. And that's all we got for now. See you next week on Last Looks.