Verbal Diorama

Even baby dinosaurs can have a huge impact on animation.
In 1988, three Hollywood titans, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Don Bluth, came together to create what would become one of the most emotionally devastating animated films ever made, and it is the second movie to celebrate this podcast's seventh birthday.
The Land Before Time wasn't just another dinosaur movie: it was an ambitious attempt to recapture the magic of Bambi for a new generation, complete with a mother's death scene that traumatized millions of kids and made it a cultural touchstone. Despite the cutting of over ten minutes of footage deemed too scary, the film still pulled no punches in its portrayal of loss, survival, and the harsh realities of a prehistoric world.
What makes The Land Before Time so enduring isn't just nostalgia, it's the film's willingness to treat young audiences with respect, addressing grief and fear head on.
Working with both Spielberg and Lucas wasn't exactly the dream scenario Bluth expected it to be, though, and the partnership between Amblin & Sullivan Bluth would, like the dinosaurs they depicted, quickly become extinct. Despite this, The Land Before Time remains a masterclass in emotional storytelling that still resonates nearly four decades later.
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About Verbal Diorama
Ear Worthy 2024 Best Movie Podcast Winner | Golden Lobes 2025 Earworm Award Nominee | Ear Worthy 2025 Best Movie Podcast Nominee
Verbal Diorama is hosted, produced, edited, researched, recorded and marketed by me, Em.
Theme Music: Verbal Diorama Theme Song
Music by Chloe Enticott - Compositions by Chloe
Lyrics by Chloe Enticott (and me!)
Production by Ellis Powell-Bevan of Ewenique Studio
Thank You to Our Patreon Supporters
Current Patrons: Simon, Laurel, Derek, Cat,...

Even a little Jewish mouse can have a huge impact on animation.
The 1986 Don Bluth animated classic An American Tail, a film that became the highest-grossing non-Disney animated feature of its time and helped reshape the animation industry, is the first movie to celebrate this podcast's seventh birthday.
The project began with a concept by David Kirschner that was first pitched to Jeffrey Katzenberg at Disney, but when it reached Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, the legendary director saw its potential as a feature film. Spielberg, making his first foray into animation, brought aboard Don Bluth, a former Disney animator whose 1982 film The Secret of NIMH had impressed him with its return to the lush, detailed style of classic Disney animation.
The film's story held deep personal significance for Steven Spielberg. Fievel was named after Spielberg's grandfather's Yiddish name, and the narrative of Jewish immigration and escape from persecution in 1885 Russia drew directly from stories Spielberg had heard about his own family history.
An American Tail doesn't shy away from the harsh realities of immigrant life in 1880s New York, either. The film portrays sweatshops, tenement poverty, political corruption, and exploitation, though it wraps these difficult themes in the accessible framework of a mouse family's journey to find each other in a new land.
Don Bluth's unique animation style revolutionized the industry, proving that animation is a powerful medium for all ages, and should not be pigeonholed as just movies for children. An American Tail tackles serious themes like immigration, anti-Semitism and child slavery, making it relevant for audiences of all ages.
An American Tail was a wake-up call for Disney, and the fact it beat (Basil) The Great Mouse Detective's box office takings, meant battle lines were drawn, and round one went to Bluth and Spielberg...
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In 2009, Disney released The Princess and the Frog, introducing Tiana as their first African-American Disney princess, paving the way for more diverse representation in animation.
The CGI animation boom and the disappointing box office returns of the early 2000s had left a scar at Disney, and behind the scenes, there was huge change in the animation department. By 2004, then-CEO Michael Eisner had closed Disney's traditional 2D animation department, convinced that hand-drawn animation was dead.
What followed was a corporate coup, with Roy E. Disney leading a campaign to oust Eisner, which worked spectacularly. When Pixar's John Lasseter took over Disney Animation in 2006, his first act was to bring back the very art form Eisner had killed.
Lasseter immediately re-hired legendary directors Ron Clements and John Musker, who had left Disney just months earlier after years with projects in development hell following Treasure Planet's failure.
Despite the numerous controversies around representing Disney's first Black princess—from changing her name from "Maddy" and her job to avoid slavery connotations, to criticism that she spends only 17 minutes of the film in human form, they ended up with Tiana, one of Disney's most accomplished, hard-working and important princesses, and what was being developed as The Frog Princess became The Princess and the Frog.
The film's stunning animation style, represents a heartfelt return to traditional hand-drawn techniques, combined with modern digital artistry to create a visually captivating experience, but as we all know, it didn't last, and The Princess and the Frog became both a creative triumph and a bittersweet swan song for an art form that defined Disney's legacy.
Mentioned in this episode: How Disney's Princess and the Frog Has A Problem With Black Males by JoJo Boy Wonder on YouTube
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From Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman's creation of mutated turtles wielding nunchucks, the history of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles starts with humble, and slightly dark origins, but they would evolve from comic book characters to beloved animated icons and become their own pop culture phenomenon.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie franchise in total has accumulated $1.15 billion across six movies from three studios since 1990, and so when Paramount were looking to reboot existing IP, it made total sense to go for the heroes in a half shell, and to get permanent teenager Seth Rogen aboard.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem blends 2D and 3D elements to create a fresh visual experience that sets it apart from previous Turtles adaptations, and for the first time uses actual teenagers to voice the Turtles, capturing their essence and making their teenage struggles relatable and authentic. It addresses themes of family and acceptance, resonating with audiences through the Turtles' journey to find their place in the world, as well as finding mutants just like themselves along the way.
While the visuals are iconic, the film's soundtrack might be even more so, which features classic East Coast hip hop tracks, and a bit of Vanilla Ice's iconic 'Ninja Rap' from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze. You had to be there.
Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go!
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⭐ Leave a 5-star review on your podcast app
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About Verbal Diorama
Ear Worthy 2024 Best Movie Podcast Winner | Golden Lobes 2025 Earworm Award Nominee | Ear Worthy 2025 Best Movie Podcast Nominee
Verbal Diorama is hosted, produced, edited, researched, recorded and marketed by me, Em.
Theme Music: Verbal Diorama Theme Song
Music by Chloe Enticott - Compositions by Chloe
Lyrics by Chloe Enticott (and me!)
Production by Ellis Powell-Bevan of...

Animation is often dismissed as children's entertainment, but Paprika proves it's a sophisticated art form, capable of exploring complex adult themes with stunning visuals. It represents the culmination of Satoshi Kon's obsession with the boundaries between reality and illusion.
Throughout his short career, Kon consistently explored how modern life makes it increasingly difficult to distinguish the real from the imagined. Paprika takes this to its logical extreme, literalizing the collapse of these boundaries through its dream-sharing technology.
Paprika, Kon's final film, asks profound questions about authenticity, whether our dream selves might be more genuine than our waking personas, and what happens when technology erodes the walls between inner and outer worlds. It's a dreamlike journey into the blurred line between reality and imagination, showcasing the power of animation, and its vivid and surreal imagery delves into deep themes of identity, sexuality, and the subconscious, making it a thought-provoking experience.
Its lasting influence on cinema and its place in Kon's legacy makes Paprika both a triumphant artistic achievement and a bittersweet farewell from one of animation's most remarkable and passionate talents.
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Loved this episode? Here's how you can help:
⭐ Leave a 5-star review on your podcast app
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Get In Touch
I would love to hear your thoughts on Paprika
Twitter: @verbaldiorama
Instagram: @verbaldiorama
Facebook: @verbaldiorama
Letterboxd: @verbaldiorama
Email: verbaldiorama [at] gmail [dot] com
Website: verbaldiorama.com

About Verbal Diorama
Ear Worthy 2024 Best Movie Podcast Winner | Golden Lobes 2025 Earworm Award Nominee | Ear Worthy 2025 Best Movie Podcast Nominee
Verbal Diorama is hosted, produced, edited, researched, recorded and marketed by me, Em.
Theme Music: Verbal Diorama Theme Song
Music by Chloe Enticott - Compositions by Chloe
Lyrics by Chloe Enticott (and me!)
Production by Ellis Powell-Bevan of Ewenique Studio
Thank You to Our Patreon Supporters
Current Patrons: Simon, Laurel, Derek, Cat, Andy, Mike, Luke, Michael, Scott, Brendan, Ian, Lisa, Sam,