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“A String of Chaotic Vibes” | Episode 31: The Luck of the Irish
45 Plays4 months ago
Happy (late) St. Patrick’s Day! ☘️ Make sure you’ve got your lucky gold coins, because there are leprechauns afoot! It’s time for another classic DCOM—The Luck of the Irish!
Let's discuss:
– The completely wacky plot 🙈
– Is it an appropriation of Irish culture? 😬
– Which cast member still LOVES this movie? 😍
All that and more in this episode!
The Luck of the Irish is a 2001 movie starring Ryan Merriman, Henry Gibson, Alexis Lopez, Glenndon Chatman, Marita Geraghty and Timothy Omundson. It’s played every St. Patrick’s Day on Disney Channel and can be found year-round on Disney+!
Welcome to Once Upon A DCOM Podcast where we rave (and sometimes roast) classic DCOMs! We're rewatching every single Disney Channel Original Movie.
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Transcript
Introduction & Podcast Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey Gabby, can you give me your best and or worst Irish accent? No, I can't. Thank you for asking. can't? Oh. Have a good day. no. No, just say top of the morning.
00:00:13
Speaker
i am the worst at accents. That's why you have to And just want to publicly embarrass myself. Please publicly embarrass yourself. I really don't want to. Top of the morning to ya.
00:00:24
Speaker
That was really bad. I was going to say, after that, maybe I'll do one more.
00:00:33
Speaker
Welcome fellow Disney Channel babes, whether you're from the nostalgic 90s, or the awkward aughts, or you're giving Gen Z. We're glad that you're here. I'm Gabriela. And I'm Natalie. And this is the podcast where we rave and sometimes roast classic Disney Channel original movies. You're listening to Once Upon a DCOM.
00:00:53
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Once Upon a DCOM, the podcast where we rewatch all of your favorite Disney Channel original movies. My name is Natalie and this is my co-host Gabby. Hello! This week, Gabby and I celebrated St. Patrick's Day a little bit late, and we watched The Luck of the Irish. In case you missed last week's episode, we're going to fill you in on a little secret here.
00:01:15
Speaker
um Gabby and I have been saying for months that we are going to watch this movie for St. Patrick's Day, and then March came, and we completely forgot, like a bunch of idiots. Just totally didn't even know the holiday was coming up.
00:01:28
Speaker
And then it passed. And we were like, oh, my gosh. and And that's on us. That is on us. So this week we are making up for it approximately a month late by the time this is posted. So sorry, everyone.
St. Patrick's Day & 'The Luck of the Irish' Movie Introduction
00:01:40
Speaker
We hope you got to celebrate a little extra this year because of us. Yeah, I would love to lie to you and say we're both wearing green and really vibing with it. We're not. We're not. Not even kind of close. Not even. i'm Nothing is green.
00:01:53
Speaker
Before we dive into our recap on this movie, um I'm going to give you some background info. So here we go. The Luck of the Irish is a 2001 movie that was specifically conceived as a movie for St. Patrick's Day season.
00:02:06
Speaker
And it plays every single year on Disney Channel on St. Patrick's Day. Really? so It does it every year. Yep, still. I think that's so cute, right? The movie stars Ryan Merriman, Alexis Lopez, Timothy Odmanson.
00:02:22
Speaker
Odmanson? Oh, no, it's Luke G all over again. And Henry Gibson. um Gabby, will you please take us through a delightful recap of this delightful movie?
00:02:33
Speaker
Oh, oh, yeah. wow Wow. Everyone get your little top hats and your belt buckle shoes. Let's go. And probably some beer for some kind of drinking game because this is a wild plot line. Here we go. drink every time you're confused.
00:02:51
Speaker
That's a good one. Yeah, let's do that. All right. Kyle Johnson is a popular and athletic high school student known for his incredible luck. Whether it's winning basketball games, finding money on the ground, or acing tests he didn't study for,
00:03:06
Speaker
Everything seems to go his way. But Kyle's luck begins to change when one of his classmates, Bonnie, approaches him to participate in the school's upcoming Heritage Festival. Kyle realizes he knows nothing about his heritage, and whenever he asks his parents, his mother, Kate, dodges the question and insists they are simply Americans, and his dad is very proud of the fact that he is from Cleveland.
Kyle's Leprechaun Heritage Discovery
00:03:29
Speaker
One day, Kyle and his best friend, Russell, visit an Irish festival. While they're there Kyle sees a symbol on a gift shop pendant that matches the one on his mysterious gold coin, a family heirloom that he always carries on a necklace.
00:03:43
Speaker
He has a strange encounter with an old man who makes his own shoes, and then he watches some step dancing by Seamus McTiernan. It's a great time. Already, you're like, what? If you haven't seen this movie before, you're like, wait, why is this important?
00:03:58
Speaker
It is. Somehow it is. It's all relevant. The next morning, Kyle wakes up to find that things are drastically changing. He's suddenly shorter, his hair is turning red, and his ears are becoming pointed.
00:04:11
Speaker
Not only that, but he has the unluckiest day of his entire life, and his mom is acting a little weird. And by a little weird, you mean that she has developed a bit of an Irish slang and is making traditional Irish breakfast.
00:04:29
Speaker
Right, right. And like eventually wearing traditional Irish attire and using like fire to cook sausages. Yeah, it's fine. Very normal stuff. yeah Typical American house mom.
00:04:43
Speaker
That week in science, Kyle's class is learning about magnets, and he discovers that his gold coin isn't really gold at all because it's attracted to the magnet, which gold doesn't do. Kyle infers from this that his true gold coin must have been stolen and swapped with the fake one at the Irish festival, and his luck was stolen with it.
00:05:03
Speaker
Yes, Natalie? I'm sorry. i just had to say thank you for the science lesson. you're welcome in case you didn't know golden magnets don't not compatible yes also weirdly relevant to the plot well it is though because that's how he finds out otherwise he'd just go on forever being like why am i so unlucky know well i guess his mom's about to tell him but anyways don't know That day after school, Kyle's mother reveals the shocking truth that she's actually a leprechaun.
00:05:34
Speaker
And this is quite obvious because she's about six inches tall when she tells him this. So you can infer from that what you will, Kyle. But yeah. ah Their family apparently diss descends from a long line of Irish leprechauns, and the gold coin that Kyle had stolen from him was a magical charm that suppresses their leprechaun traits and gives the clan their luck.
00:05:55
Speaker
So they're able to like look and act like humans when they want to, but only because of the coin which they gave to Kyle as like a baby. Yeah, which a child for some reason.
00:06:05
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, and they even address this in the movie. He's like, why'd you give it to a child? And they're like, that's the tradition. It always goes to the youngest clan
Kyle's Quest to Retrieve the Coin
00:06:14
Speaker
member. And I'm like, that's a dumb tradition. But you didn't tell him he was part of the you didn't know.
00:06:21
Speaker
You didn't tell him it was important. Like you've never seen a teenager lose something before. Yeah. Have you seen this boy's room? And you know there's actively an evil leprechaun out there stealing gold coins and like you're just letting this happen. Okay, well we're getting there. Sorry, i'm getting ahead of ourselves.
00:06:41
Speaker
So now that the coin is missing, Kyle is transforming into his true form, but because he's only half leprechaun, he's still like moderately tall. So Kyle's search for the missing coin initially leads him to his grandfather, who he thinks he's never met, but ironically is actually the old man that we mentioned from earlier.
00:07:00
Speaker
This is Riley O'Reilly, the owner of a famous potato chip company. Kyle's mother leads him to believe that her father stole the coin to keep the luck for himself and to spite her for marrying a non-leprechaun.
00:07:12
Speaker
But it turns out that Riley O'Reilly did not steal the coin. He helps Kyle realize that Seamus McTiernan, the Irish step dancer from the festival, must have been the one to steal his coin.
00:07:23
Speaker
Because he's no good. Oh yeah, no. Seamus is a devious and sinister leprechaun who steals good fortune from others hoping to rule all of the leprechauns. this is This is his goal.
00:07:35
Speaker
ah Seamus took Kyle's coin to increase his own power. And unless Kyle retrieves it, he and his mother will remain full leprechauns forever. And his grandfather. They're all just going to be leprechauns forever.
00:07:46
Speaker
So with the help of Riley O'Reilly, his parents and his friends, Kyle learns more about his heritage and how to use his wits to reclaim what's his. He learns that, you know, you don't need luck. You can make your own luck in life.
00:07:58
Speaker
And after tracking down Seamus, Kyle challenges him to a series of sporting events, wagering that if he wins, he gets to keep his family's coin. Seamus agrees, countering that if Kyle loses, he will become Seamus's slave forever.
00:08:13
Speaker
But Seamus is a trickster, and the sports he brings Kyle to are all traditional Irish games that Kyle's never played before. Or even heard of. Like, toss this log and... And dance. Throw this wheel. Yeah.
00:08:26
Speaker
And he's like, I yeah i meant like baseball. Right. Exactly. Yeah. But with his best friend Russell's help, Kyle is narrowly able to tie with Sheamus. To determine a final winner, Kyle makes one final bet because Sheamus loves betting that Kyle can beat Sheamus at basketball.
00:08:45
Speaker
And if he does, Seamus will be banished to Eyrie, the land of Kyle's family, forever. So by embracing his Irish heritage and using teamwork, Kyle manages to win the basketball game.
00:08:58
Speaker
However, Seamus refuses to accept defeat and remarks that it doesn't matter if he has to go back to Ireland, he will still rule over the remaining leprechauns there. Kyle clarifies that he was not mispronouncing Eerie, the Irish word for Ireland, but really saying Lake Erie in cle Cleveland, where his father is from.
00:09:18
Speaker
And Seamus is banished to the shores of Lake Erie in America forever. Hooray! with the gold coin restored, Kyle and his family regain their human appearances, and Kyle now has a new appreciation for his Irish roots.
Reflecting on the Movie's Plot & Themes
00:09:32
Speaker
At the school's Heritage Day, he proudly performs an Irish step dance and he sings with his friend Bonnie, this land is your land. The end. Yay.
00:09:44
Speaker
Wow. What a fun time. Okay, so for discussion, I have some very surface level funny things to talk about and then I got some deep stuff to talk about. Where would you like to start? Okay, I think we should start where we normally do. Like, how do you think it holds up from the past? Like, what'd you think of it then? What do you think of it now?
00:10:02
Speaker
I absolutely love this movie. I watch this pretty frequently. i probably watch it about once a year around St. Patrick's Day or every other year, I guess. um I definitely watched it as a kid, thought it was hilarious and love it as an adult.
00:10:15
Speaker
I had a great time. This plot is ridiculous and makes no sense. And I had so much fun. How about you? It is ridiculous. I loved it as a kid. When we said we were going to watch it, I could not wait. I was like, this is the best.
00:10:28
Speaker
And honestly, all I truly remembered was the potato factory, which is only like five minutes of the whole movie. Right. But I was like, this is the one with the field trip to the potato factory. anyway So random.
00:10:42
Speaker
So I was pumped. Not going to lie, though, this time around watching it, and I haven't seen it since I was a kid. I was like, first act, super strong, had high hopes. Second act, kind of okay, let me down a bit.
00:10:54
Speaker
Third act, weird, like didn't love. but So it got like progressively worse. Overall, I'd give it like a C. Like it's got nostalgia. It's fun. It's not a bad movie. It just is so weird.
00:11:07
Speaker
And I feel like they could have gone a lot of better directions with it. Can I tell you exactly why you don't like it? Sure. okay Because this story makes no sense. It's just a string of chaotic vibes.
00:11:24
Speaker
Yes, that's probably why. That's kind of how I felt about Halloween Town, too. Yeah, the plot starts at, like, the school heritage fair. And you're like, okay, we're going vibe with this. He's going to find out who he is.
00:11:36
Speaker
Turns into about leprechaun transformation. You're like, oh, no, he's turning into a leprechaun. That's what the movie's about. And then it becomes a battle for a gold coin. with a Gaelic sports tournament so fast and then suddenly he's fighting an evil leprechaun for his family's hair. You're like, okay, wait, there's too many plot points.
00:11:55
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, and like magic is thrown around, but it's never actually touched. Yes! And you're like, wait, what? Like, what are the rules of this leprechaun universe? literally have a bullet point on this. The rules are not explained.
00:12:09
Speaker
Like, why is Ryan's family? Why do they start transforming? Like, we know it's because they stole the gold coin. How does that work? Is it all just does anytime you take the coin off because he doesn't sleep with it on till they start turning to leprechauns in their sleep?
00:12:21
Speaker
ah why And she why can Seamus challenge him to Leprechaun Olympics? Why does he have the power to do that and like transform them into places and the other leprechauns can't? Is it because he has all the leprechaun coins?
00:12:31
Speaker
Who made all these rules? My main concern has to do with the final basketball game because it's actually the finale basketball game in his high school tournament. And Sheamus and his like lackeys are all playing as the supposed teenagers on the other team, but they're actually themselves. And only the Irish people can see them for what they really are, but like the ref is seeing them as. And I'm like, what happened to the actual kids on that team?
00:12:58
Speaker
Right? where And then are they going to remember this? Are they going to think that they played the game? Did they possess the bodies of the children? Yeah. It leans ah so hard into the just go with it Disney logic. like Which normally is very fun. No sense.
00:13:16
Speaker
I think the first 45 minutes I could just go with it. But yeah, you're right. At a point I was like, huh? Okay. Anyways, I'm going to move on. Here's what bothered me the most.
00:13:28
Speaker
There is so much about like working hard to make your own luck. This is like a big theme. And the mom never lets you forget how mad she is about how things were 100 years ago when the Irish came over on the boats, which like fair.
00:13:42
Speaker
because And she actually lived through it. And the grandfather too, but they're all about like, we're going to make our own life and our own luck here. And Bonnie is like very heavy handed with the like, you don't need luck and luck is stupid.
00:13:54
Speaker
But in the end, what did Kyle actually learn? He gets his lucky coin back. Yep. So is he still just relying on luck? Like, did he learn anything other than that? He's Irish. Nope.
00:14:05
Speaker
Nope, he just learned that he's Irish and to respect Irish culture, which is great. and The movie didn't do that. Nothing about luck. Yeah. The movie did not respect Irish culture. No, it did not. And I would also love to talk about that.
00:14:19
Speaker
Go for it. Yeah, I feel like it's very, um like I don't really have a proper word for it, but like watered down or maybe overdone.
00:14:31
Speaker
sanitized look at like culture Irish culture because it's all like step dancing and shamrocks without like any of the deeper dive stuff of Irish history and like talking about immigration or assimilation and and yeah they touch on like the Irish people were treated horribly when they came to America which is definitely true but I feel like they still went really hard into the green potatoes and you know the the Yeah.
00:15:01
Speaker
yeah yeah it's almost like they were making fun of the festival for being like neon green and gold but that's like their hair outlook on their culture anyway yeah and you're like i feel like there's a little bit more there was definitely opportunity to dig a little deeper there i think because the movie was leaning so heavily into leprechaun culture specific that they skipped over like irish as a nation as a culture as a heritage like they were just like yeah leprechaun's magic I think it's also really interesting that this movie kind of deals with like the melting pot versus like celebrating your heritage type of stuff.
00:15:40
Speaker
So like it's trying to say something really meaningful, right? But it's complicated because it doesn't do it exactly in the way that I think it could have been done. So like Ryan starts off by saying like, we're from America as if like that's the end of the conversation.
00:15:56
Speaker
um And like the film critiques that mindset of like, you know, saying if you deny your roots or where you're from, it can leave you feeling disconnected, which is totally true.
00:16:07
Speaker
But i I don't know if you've heard this phrase before, so I'm going to introduce you to this. But there's the phrase melting pot, right? And then there's the phrase salad bowl. Have you heard this?
00:16:18
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, I have. But go ahead, explain. For sure. um So the melting pot metaphor is like used to describe how immigrants who come to America ultimately become like assimilated into American culture and thus like creating multiple cultures that are all blended into one, like uniquely American thing.
00:16:40
Speaker
But then there's this metaphor that was introduced in the last couple of years, maybe the last couple of decades, um which is called the salad bowl metaphor, which is a different view of the same thing where immigrants come to America and they combine their cultures with others, but they still retain their own cultural identity.
00:16:58
Speaker
Basically saying like America is one big integration of various unique, distinct cultures. And i I like that this movie... like addresses the whole idea that individual heritage should be celebrated and not erased.
00:17:17
Speaker
But I feel like it makes this very interesting and difficult commentary about what that looks like. what Can you just tell me like what's the commentary you think it's making?
00:17:31
Speaker
Well, I feel like this movie is struggling, like straddling the line of be really proud to be an American and be really proud that we're all this one thing.
00:17:43
Speaker
Like so many times during the movie, they're like, we're all American. I'm American. I'm proud to be American, which is fantastic. But also like saying that they're this thing. Like you need to know where you're from. Yeah. And it's so important.
00:17:57
Speaker
And I feel like i don't. felt tension too. It was like, which one's right and which one's wrong. It felt like it was saying both are right and both are wrong. Correct. And I like I really struggled like to understand exactly what at the end of the movie was the point. Like, we're all special and individual, but we're all American. And you're like, but I thought that you just spent the whole movie saying you're not just American.
00:18:21
Speaker
You're Irish. The movie didn't know what its main
Potential for a Modern Remake
00:18:25
Speaker
goal was. Was it like be entertaining and silly and goofy and funny about magic leprechauns?
00:18:31
Speaker
Or is it like share this incredibly deep, incredibly nuanced theme that about racial and cultural diversity and immigration do yeah and you just can't do both right at the same time in a d-com in my opinion like that is not the platform for that right i think they could have dug way deeper if they had removed the leprechaun element but then would it have been a fun little d-com No, it would not. That's what I'm saying. It wouldn't be a decom anymore. Maybe if they had removed Seamus as a character and instead have like, maybe it's like Kyle's luck and his clan's luck is draining because he's not aware of who he is.
00:19:12
Speaker
Like, you know how in the Wizarding World, if they suppress their magic, they form an Obscurus? Like something like that, where like the magic starts to fail because no one has shared with him like who he is. So he has to go on a journey of self-discovery to figure that out, to bring the magic and the luck back.
00:19:28
Speaker
Yeah, I think that. would make that made for stronger movie. For sure. i like that a lot, actually. Thanks. So that leads me to one of my other points. so Would this benefit from a modern remake? Ooh.
00:19:39
Speaker
Yes, and i I have an idea. So I think that this could be really impactful if Russell, his best friend, who is African-American, was the main character.
00:19:56
Speaker
Because, like, I feel like he he is a great character, has some great lines and everything, but his character is so underutilized. And he's, like, you know, a supportive, smart, funny, talented character, but he gets that, like, best friend treatment with no real backstory and no real arc.
00:20:16
Speaker
But his line where he said, i didn't write it down, but something like – At least your ancestors got paid. Yeah, that i was he said something like oh they came they came to America by choice or something that.
00:20:29
Speaker
I was like, um hello. The film never follows up. That is a huge missed opportunity. i would like to see him and his ancestry and culture being like the lead of this film instead of Irish. I'm Irish. I should point out, like, I love the Irish culture.
00:20:45
Speaker
I think this could have been so interesting with Russell, though. I think it would be cool if it was a ah buddy film where they're both sharing the lead role. Ooh, yeah. I think that could be really fun because I don't want to erase the luck of the Irish part of it if we did a remake because I think that's like the core of what makes it like DCOM funny and not like really hits you in the feels kind of like so cinematic movie.
00:21:09
Speaker
um yeah But I agree with you on the Russell point and I'm glad you brought up that line because I was going to if you didn't. I think it's that they were talking about how The Irish came over and they were treated so terribly and they got lower wages than everyone else. And he's like, at least yours got paid, you know? And I was like, yeah oh my gosh, we're just gonna not talk about that?
00:21:27
Speaker
And then they move on. And I appreciate the line is in there. And i he says a few like that, but huge missed opportunity to really talk about that stuff.
00:21:39
Speaker
Agreed. So I think we agree. A remake is in order. This movie is going to be an onion. This remake is going to be so This movie is already such a strange onion.
00:21:49
Speaker
And every layer like, ha, this layer tastes gross. This layer is very introspective. This layer is kind of weird. This layer has uncomfortable CGI. Yeah, but this version is like a funky onion. I'm saying our new version will be like a really good onion. Like the kind that they eat at the top of God's thumb in holes.
00:22:07
Speaker
That'll be the remake of Luck of the Irish. Yes. Written by us. Final episode title. This movie is a perfect onion.
00:22:18
Speaker
On that note, will you please share with us what the rest of the world thought of this wonderful little movie? Yeah, well, they didn't think it was wonderful, Natalie. I'm not going to lie to you.
00:22:30
Speaker
Yeah, so the public opinion. Every week, we head over to Rotten Tomatoes to see what the critics thought. That's our tomato meter. And what the audience thought, which is our popcorn meter. For the tomato meter, you need at least five critic reviews. And unfortunately, this one only had three. So we don't have an official tomato meter.
00:22:47
Speaker
But I will read you two reviews later. I'm sorry to report that all three of them were negative. So I just chose two. I guess that doesn't actually surprise me, though. Yeah.
00:22:58
Speaker
A lot of people, audience and critics mentioned um the cultural insensitivity and the stereotypes. I think that had like a heavy effect on people. Yeah, yeah. I get that.
00:23:09
Speaker
Yeah. So first we have Davis Cook who said, a movie very much of its time. There's no doubting the luck of the Irish's good intentions. It's just the way these positive themes are executed that's the problem.
00:23:21
Speaker
Thank you for summing up the entire last 25 minutes of our podcast. Yeah. And then we have Julianna Ress who said, i wouldn't call luck of the Irish's racial commentary deep or particularly good, but it is surprising in the context of a silly comedy about a kid slowly turning into a leprechaun.
00:23:40
Speaker
Thank you also for summarizing our entire podcast, Juliana. And then we have our popcorn meter, which is a very sad and stinky 53%. Honestly, higher than I thought it would be.
00:23:53
Speaker
Okay. Sure. I was thinking it was going to be in the thirty s so I can respect that. No, there's too much nostalgia for that. So one of the reviews simply said, why is Tim Omenson in this?
00:24:06
Speaker
And I have to agree. What? This is his crap. He put, okay, listen, he posts on social media about this every St. Patrick's Day. So he is proud of this movie.
00:24:18
Speaker
Does he really? That makes me happy. He literally, I actually, i have to read it for you. Hold on. This year his caption said, happy saint of the step day to all who observe. I can't believe it's been 25 years since I first started terrorizing Gen Z and their millennial counterparts every St. Patrick's Day on Disney Channel by step dancing my way to stealing their lucky coins.
00:24:42
Speaker
I am so happy that he loves this movie so much. He sure does. This is the picture he posted. my gosh. Everybody go to his, is that Instagram?
00:24:53
Speaker
Oh, yeah. This is his Instagram. Everyone needs to check it out. Everybody go there right now. Brilliant. Okay. Anyways, Kevin r said, very underrated Disney Channel original movie. One of the best DCOMs.
00:25:06
Speaker
Ryan Meerman is great in it. It's a fun and lighthearted family movie with a lot of charm. Shows how important and interesting it is to learn about your own ancestry. It's campy and funny, too, but also teaches you that luck isn't everything and that you have to work hard to win and to make achievements in life.
00:25:22
Speaker
Yeah. Then we have KO who says, actually one of the most offensive movies to Irish people I've ever seen. Terrible movie, not funny. Oh. Yeah. All right.
00:25:32
Speaker
People are all over the place because then Anonymous says, this movie makes me glad I'm half Irish. Well, yeah. I mean, I'm Irish and i I can acknowledge that is a very shallow stereotypical view of Irish culture and still like it.
00:25:48
Speaker
And finally, we have Ryan Meerman is way better in Smart House. Now, Smart House, there's a movie.
Comparing DCOM Movies & Cast Updates
00:25:55
Speaker
And I have I still think he was good in this movie. Like... I thought he was too, but I prefer him in Smart House.
00:26:02
Speaker
That's because Smart House hits different. Smart House is like what we were talking about where it's like not even a DCOM because it's so emotional and yet it is because somehow they did it right. They did the funny, silly, goofy mixed with the deep.
00:26:17
Speaker
Everybody take notes. Yeah. Which speaking of which, if you guys have not listened to our Smart House episode, it was one of the very first ones we did and it's a it's a doozy. You should go listen. It's episode five and my second favorite after um two weeks ago with Mr. Cheesy Pop. That one's my favorite. High School Musical 2 and then Smart House.
00:26:37
Speaker
Yeah. Do you want to know where these friends are now? I really do. I was super curious. And I was also like, I wonder which one she's going to pick to talk about. I know, because there's kind of a lot characters, right? Yeah.
00:26:49
Speaker
um I'll be honest with you. I did not do every everyone, but that's because a lot of them didn't have information. I still listed the important ones who didn't have information. I don't know. just I should stop preambling and just do it, shouldn't I? Okay, here we Yeah, I'm real excited.
00:27:04
Speaker
Ryan Merriman, who played Kyle Johnson, familiar face, of course, he starred in Smart House just two years before this, which I would first like to hold up and say only two years between those and he looks like a different child.
00:27:17
Speaker
Honestly, kind of didn't recognize him. I mean, I knew it was him, but like he grew up in two years. I forgot until I read the review that I just read to you guys. I was like, oh my gosh, that's right. Yeah.
00:27:29
Speaker
Sweet little baby Ryan. All right. So he has continued acting in a very few select projects, most notably being a recurring character on Pretty Little Liars. But in general, he kind of just keeps a low profile these days. He got married in 2014. He had a daughter in 2018.
00:27:47
Speaker
Only other info that I have on Ryan is that he's an avid golfer and dog lover. And that's from his Instagram bio. And he does not post on Instagram. So that's all I got for you. Wow. How fun.
00:27:58
Speaker
Okay, cool, Ryan. Next up is Alexis Lopez, who played Bonnie. She has a grand total of five credits on her IMDb page, the last one being an episode of That's So Raven in 2003.
00:28:11
Speaker
So she has also kept a low profile since then, um not doing a whole lot that I was able to find. but I did see that she is on the board of directors for a nonprofit called the Compass Empowerment Society, which hosts several events a year aiming to help busy working moms and their children get involved in giving back.
00:28:31
Speaker
Her self-proclaimed personal motto is sometimes people just need a smile or a hug, so don't be stingy with your love. Okay, love her. know, isn't that so cool? What a sweet woman.
00:28:43
Speaker
All right, then we have Henry Gibson, who played Kyle's granddad Riley O'Reilly, which is... My favorite. Perhaps the most offensive of the Irish stereotypes in here. Yes, but he was my favorite character in the whole thing. He is a delight.
00:28:57
Speaker
He is a delight for sure. I am sad to say he passed away in 2009 at the age of 73 after a battle with cancer. I don't think you can be too surprised. He was very old in this movie and this was over 25 years ago.
00:29:09
Speaker
He had a prolific career in film and television. He was best known for his roles in Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, Nashville. And he was also the voice of Wilbur in Charlotte's Web, which I did not know.
00:29:22
Speaker
Aww. Isn't that sweet? I know. i love that. And that's another element of my childhood. I loved that little cartoon. Yeah. Then we have Marita Gergertie.
00:29:33
Speaker
Gergety. Gergety. beauty I don't know. Who played ah mom, Kate? She is best known for her roles in 1993's Groundhog Day with Bill Murray and Sleeping with the Enemy in 1991 with Julia Roberts. So she's done some big stuff. Oh, awesome.
00:29:52
Speaker
Yes. She stopped acting in 2009 and... nine and yet again, take a shot every time you hear this, has kept a low profile since then. um But in February of 2024, she participated in a reunion event with the rest of the cast of Groundhog Day, which is so cool.
00:30:09
Speaker
Wow. Amazing. And then lastly, again, I omitted some people who I could find absolutely no information on. So lastly here, we just want to talk about Timothy Odminson.
00:30:21
Speaker
Odminson, you know him, who played the bad guy Seamus McTiernan. um You probably know him as Detective Carlton Lasseter in Psych, all 57 seasons of Psych.
00:30:34
Speaker
um But he also has a giant list of projects that he has been on over the years. He also sings and tap dances and does stuff in theater. You know him. I'm sure you know him. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah.
00:30:45
Speaker
In April 2017, he suffered a severe stroke and while he did survive, he is still alive, he took a major step back from acting while he recovered and he takes significantly fewer roles now, he still does some stuff.
00:31:00
Speaker
But he's very, very active on social media and has been super open with his recovery journey there. He also posts about this movie all the time on social media, every St. Patrick's Day. He's super proud of it. and he loves that people think that he's a major part of their childhood. And they think of him when they think of St. Patrick's Day.
00:31:20
Speaker
So we love you, Timothy. That's so sweet. And that's everybody I got. Amazing. So there was nothing on the Russell kid? He did some things and then now he doesn't act.
00:31:31
Speaker
That's all I got for you. All right. That's cool. That's cool. Yeah. Well, I mean, that was fun. I still enjoyed hearing where they are now. And even if they're keeping a low profile, like good to know, you know, that they're living their best lives.
00:31:43
Speaker
Yeah. You know, they are. It really seems like everyone's doing okay. That's good to hear. So shall we talk about what we're going to watch next week?
Next Episode Tease & Closing Thoughts
00:31:50
Speaker
Oh, heck yeah. All right. So I feel like it's been a while since we haven't had like a gimmick for this because we had Max choose and then it was like we forgot Look at the Irish. Oh my gosh.
00:31:59
Speaker
So now we're back to using our random number generator to select what movie we're going to watch next week. We have a list of 117 decomps. That's how many they've made. We're going to watch all of them at some point.
00:32:10
Speaker
And on this list, we are only omitting sequels to movies that we haven't yet seen and Halloween films. So let's find out what we're watching next week. Natalie, while I get a number, can you give me any guesses on where you think it's going to land?
00:32:23
Speaker
and ah like Literally no. Literally no guesses. I do want to I was thinking about it today. And so there's 117 that were made before they like kind of discontinued the Disney Channel original movie brand. Now they're just Disney Plus movies or whatever.
00:32:39
Speaker
um sure but we this is the one that we have seen So like were we're getting to the one-fifth mark of of all of the DCOMs. Oh, that's true. I was thinking this is episode 31, but we had the four mini-sodes.
00:32:54
Speaker
Yeah. So this is the twenty seventh movie. so So exciting. Well, I have it pulled up. You want to know? Yes, I do. All right. It's 28th movie. we are We are jumping forward quite a bit to the year 2020. Not too long ago.
00:33:09
Speaker
A movie called Upside Down Magic. Okay. Never heard of it. i know nothing about this movie, but according to the Wikipedia, it's about two girls that find out they have magical powers.
00:33:23
Speaker
The cast is beautiful, first off. Yeah, it says, here's the description on IMDb. Best friends Eleanor Nori Boxwood Horace, that's a very long name, and Rena Carvajal, maybe, discover they have magical powers. Nori can transform into animals and Rena can control fire.
00:33:42
Speaker
And then there's more, but I don't want to get into spoilers. So the imagery looks very cool. I don't know the cast, but... But I think it'll be a lot of fun. They look pretty young.
00:33:54
Speaker
Well, I'm all here for it. I'm all here for a new movie. It's been a while since we've done a new movie. I think it'll be exciting. Upside down magic, everybody. All right, friends. So you have two weeks to watch upside down magic and understand what the heck this plot is for next time.
00:34:08
Speaker
Woo. Quick question. If you could have any magical superpower, what would it be? Three, two, one. Flying? I didn't need a countdown. Flying. You totally did not need the countdown. Yeah. I have thought about this every day in my life.
00:34:21
Speaker
Whenever I have a lucid dream where you figure out that you're dreaming and can like control it, I make myself fly. I just, i I want to fly so badly. I think it's like because I loved Peter Pan growing up or something.
00:34:32
Speaker
I love that for you. I want to stop time so that I could take an extra nap every day and not lose any time. My favorite part of that is your reasoning more than the power itself.
00:34:43
Speaker
All right, everybody. We'll see you in two weeks. Bye. Thank you all so much for listening to this episode of Once Upon a Decom. Like what you just heard? Leave us a rating and review. We'd love to hear your thoughts.
00:34:53
Speaker
Also follow us on Instagram and TikTok at onceuponadecom.podcast and share this podcast with your Disney-loving friends. A big thanks to Gabby for editing this whole podcast together. Thanks, Fran. Plus, shout out to Kaori for sweetening the audio on this track.
00:35:07
Speaker
And don't forget to subscribe because there's always a new episode on the way. This is Gabriela. And Natalie. Signing off with a sprinkle of pixie dust. And a whole lot of nostalgia.