Episode 6. Into the Wardrobe with The Secret of NIMH (1982; dir. Don Bluth): Dark Animated Wonder and the Motherhood of the Muddy Cinderblocks
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEp6IntoTheWardrobeSecretOfNIMH/SandF–Ep6–Into_the_Wardrobe–Secret_of_NIMH.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSIn this episode of Into the Wardrobe, Shaun Duke and Jen Zink talk about the dark and somewhat terrifying — but also whimsical and often hilarious — first major production of Don Bluth films, The Secret of NIMH, released in 1982 and based on Robert C. O’Brien’s book, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. Our intrepid duo discuss the film’s garage-style production, the history of Don Bluth Productions and his love of classical animation, the film’s tone and artistic style, the role of motherhood in the narrative, and so much more. Plus, they tackle the standards: their personal relationship to the film (childhood, y’all) and what impact the film might have on audiences today! They seriously couldn’t shut up about this movie because it is just that good. We hope you enjoy the episode!
COMICS REVIEW – Empowered and Sistah Spooky’s High School Hell
Welcome to the latest installment of my comics review column here at Skiffy & Fanty! Every month, I use this space to shine a spotlight on SF&F comics (print comics, graphic novels, and webcomics) that I believe deserve more attention from SF&F readers. This month, a graphic novel that I was very much looking forward too is out, and I have thoughts. Because it’s a fave, but it might also be a problematic fave. So yeah, you better believe that I have thoughts. (This review contains spoilers!)
Beautiful Dystopias: ‘The Belles’ and ‘Uglies’
Since the launch of The Belles earlier this year, Dhonielle Clayton has been very open about taking inspiration from Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. The two books form an interesting dialogue, with The Belles building on the foundation formed by Uglies while bringing a somewhat more nuanced and feminine perspective. The two books share a focus on beauty, with each building a different culture around it. The Belles takes a fantasy angle: the people of Orleans are cursed by the gods to look ugly—with grey skin, red eyes and hair like rotten straw. They rely on the Belles to magically change their appearance into something beautiful. Exactly what that looks like changes from season to season, and these treatments eventually wear off, needing to be renewed. Camellia Beauregard hopes to be chosen as the Favourite of the Queen of Orleans and serve as the foremost Belle in the kingdom. However, she soon finds the reality of the dream is not quite what she expected.
Book review: The Blood of Four Gods and Other Stories, by Jamie Lackey
The adjectives that come to mind when I start describing the stories in Jamie Lackey’s latest collection — “graceful”, “elegant”, “accomplished”, “economical”, “beautiful” — all trouble me a bit, because they all come straight out of the 19th century’s idealization of Womanhood, but I just can’t help it. They all apply, and to every one of these tales.
Book Review: Daughters of Forgotten Light by Sean Grigsby
Sean Grigsby’s Daughters of Forgotten Light uses a ’70s movie sensibility for the story of a women’s prison in SPAAACE and the story of their struggle to survive and escape their fate. On a distant planet reached by a wormhole, a colony has been turned into one for unsocial women. Unsocial men are easy to handle—put them into the army and have them fight for the dwindling resources and living space on a world that has tipped decisively into a rapid onset Ice Age. But unsocial women? Well, they aren’t suitable for the army, or so the United Continent of North America thinks, and so to reduce the excess population of such undesirables, they are sent off to the colony. Every so often, food ships send food to the colony.
Book Review: Gift of Griffins by V.M. Escalada
Kerida Nast, bound to the Griffin Weimerk, and desperately trying to save her kingdom from invasion, returns in Gift of Griffins, sequel to Halls of Law. Gift of Griffins introduces a new major character even as the plight of Kerida and her allies and friends deepens under the boot of overseas invasion. When last we left Kerida Nast, unwilling magic user, Talent, she had gained some semblance of a fragile alliance with a new Luqs, ruler of her country, with the exiled inhabitants of the tunnels beneath the mountain range that keeps the invading forces from overrunning the rest of the land, and forged a connection to the griffin Weimerk. In Gift of Griffins, V. M. Escalada continues that story as Kerida seeks to fulfill the entirety of the Prophecy and unite her country behind Jerek to try and drive the invaders out.
