Old School Lane

In the first episode of Casual Chats of 2025, Patricia and Arun discuss about the 1999 TV movie Wakko's Wish based on the 1993 animated series Animaniacs. In a small town called Warnerstock, people were living in peace, happiness, and harmony. But then the kingdom of Ticktockia took over Warnerstock and the king is taxing the people to the point of living in disarray, despair, and poverty. Yakko, Wakko, and Dot are orphans who are struggling to survive in the cold weather in an abandoned orphanage. Dot is sick and needs an operation, so Wakko leaves for a year to make money for her needs. He comes back with a haypenny, but is taxed by the king's men and is left poor again. Wakko makes a wish on a star and is told by an angel that he needs to touch the star that fell hundreds of miles away to have his wish comes true. Now, everyone in the town knows about the star and rushes towards it to have their wish come true. When it was released direct to video, it received positive reviews from critics and fans praising the music, animation, voice acting, and story. It would be the final Animaniacs project released until the 2020 revival on Hulu. How well does Wakko's Wish hold up 25 years later?

In the last episode of Casual Chats for 2024, Arun and Patricia discuss about the 2024 stop motion animated film Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, the 2nd film of the Wallace and Gromit franchise by British animation company Aardman Animations. Taking place decades after the 1993 short Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers, Feathers McGraw, the evil penguin who tried to steal The Blue Diamond thanks to Wallace's invention, The Techno Trousers, is planning for revenge to break out of his prison at the zoo thanks to Wallace's new invention, The Norbot. The Norbot is a robot gnome programmed to do any job, no matter how small. Can Wallace and Gromit stop Feathers for a second time? When the film premiered, it received critical acclaim from critics and fans calling it a great return of the dynamic duo with great animation, a solid soundtrack, a stellar voice cast, and an interesting message on artificial intelligence and relying too much on technology. What did Arun and Patricia think of the film?

In this episode of Casual Chats, Arun and Patricia discuss about the 2024 Disney animated movie Moana 2, the sequel to the 2016 animated film Moana. Originally, Moana 2 was supposed to be a Disney+ series, but was released in theaters due to the poor box office performances of Strange World and Wish. Years set after the events of the first film, Moana is a Wayfinder traveling to search for other people in other islands. When she receives a vision from her ancestor that an island that connected all of their people is under the ocean thanks to a god named Nalo and that if she doesn't raise it before a certain time, their people would be extinct. Together with a crew consisting of an old farmer, a tinkerer, and a Maui fan, they have a journey to locate the island, rescue Maui from a bat god who is trapped on a clam, and raise the island before it's too late. When the film premiered in theaters, it made $700 million dollars out of a $150 million dollar budget receiving mixed reviews from critics and viewers calling in an inferior movie compared to the original with a lackluster story, unmemorable songs, and forgettable characters. What did Arun and Patricia think of the film?

In this episode of DreamMachine, Arun and Patricia discuss about the 2024 DreamWorks animated film The Wild Robot based on the 2016 book of the same name by Peter Brown. A robot named ROZZUM Unit 7134 or Roz for short is sent to an uninhabited island to help others in need. But she is surrounded by animals who see her as a threatening monster. One evening, Roz accidentally falls on a nest killing a goose and her eggs. She finds that there is one egg left and the gosling hatches thinking that Roz is his mother. Roz names the gosling Brightbill and together alongside a fox named Fink, they raise him as their own. While Roz is raising Brightbill, she wishes to return back to her homebase so she can fulfill her real purpose. As time passes, she realizes that she has everything she needs in the island: a home and a family. When the film premiered in theaters, it made $323 million dollars out of a $78 million dollar budget receiving critical acclaim from critics and viewers calling it a "masterpiece" and an instant classic with its story, characters, animation, and themes, especially with The Wild Robot being DreamWorks' final in-house film. What did Arun and Patricia think of the film?