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This movie makes NO sense! | Episode 10: Mom’s Got A Date with A Vampire
43 Plays10 months ago
Welcome to Once Upon A DCOM Podcast where we rave (and sometimes roast) classic DCOMs! We're rewatching every single Disney Channel Original Movie.
In this episode, we rewatched Mom’s Got A Date with A Vampire.
Let's discuss:
– Has dating changed since the 90s?
– This movie could have been so much more.
– Did Twilight do vampires better?
All that and more in this episode!
🔔 Follow us for future episodes
Find us on Instagram and TikTok 👇
@onceuponadcom.podcast
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Transcript
Introduction and Social Media Engagement
00:00:00
Speaker
ah Hey Gabby, is this a cold open? No, it's more of a warm open. I'm going to start the cold opens next week. Oh, okay. Well, while we're here, let me just say to all our listeners out there, you and I have an Instagram and a TikTok that everybody should be following us on. We make some hilarious videos, all edited together by Gabby, who puts in hours of her work. So you need to go and see them and love them and comment and like them and all of the things.
00:00:25
Speaker
And one of the best ways that you can support this podcast is by leaving a rating and review. So if you're on Spotify, Amazon Music, or Apple Podcasts, leave a review telling others what you like about the show. Also, I just want to shout out my friends on YouTube because I personally love the YouTube channel. And while we don't have a video component yet, we may one day. So make sure you're subscribed and also like our videos if you like them. If you don't, leave a comment about why you don't because ah that'll still help us out. Thanks.
00:00:51
Speaker
Yeah. The day we have a video component is a day a part of my soul will die because I'll have to put on makeup and real clothes every single time we record. Yeah. That's a big reason why we don't now. Yep. I'm currently in my PJs in my bedroom. Same. I'm not wearing a bra. All right, everybody. Let's jump into this episode.
Introduction to 'Once Upon a Decom'
00:01:14
Speaker
Welcome, fellow Disney Channel babes, whether you're from the nostalgic nineties or the awkward odds 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 Decom.
00:01:33
Speaker
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Once Upon a Decom. I'm Gabriella, and I'm here with my always delightful co-host Natalie. How are you? I'm so good. How are you? I'm great.
October 'Spooky Season' Lineup Discussion
00:01:45
Speaker
So we are two 90s babies on a mission to rewatch every single Disney Channel original movie, and we're bringing you all along for the ride.
00:01:53
Speaker
We are currently in spooky season and so we're watching all of the Halloween themed D coms for the month of October. So far we have watched under wraps the first ever D com and zombies because apparently that's a Halloween movie even though it has nothing to do with Halloween. I don't know. It's on the it's on the Disney's list.
00:02:13
Speaker
Yeah, we trust the Disney list and it has monsters, so we'll give them that. Then we add an extra special week because we got to watch one of our absolute favorite childhood movies, Twitches. Yes. Yeah, that was the first one we had ever actually seen before, so that was nice. And then this week we dove back into mystery to watch a movie that neither of us had seen before.
Plot Summary of 'Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire'
00:02:33
Speaker
Mom's got a date with a vampire.
00:02:35
Speaker
So Natalie, initial thoughts on this one? um I don't want to spoil my thoughts quite yet. I'm going to keep this close to the chest. I'll let you know after the recap. Okay. Oh, I'm so excited now to hear what you're going to say. I will save mine as well then. I didn't know if you had like a one sentence overview, but ah we'll move on. I think I do, but I'm i'm ah i'm holding onto it. Okay. Okay. Well, let us get into the mindset first. I'll give you a few stats on this movie and then you can give us our recap.
00:03:03
Speaker
So Moms Got a Date with a Vampire is a very long title. It came out in the year 2000 right at the turn of the century. I was five years old. My gosh. ah It stars Matt O'Leary as Adam, the oldest son, Laura Vandervoort as Chelsea, his sister, Miles Jeffery as Taylor, their little brother, Caroline Ray as Lynette,
00:03:24
Speaker
the mom charles chagusa nasi or something like that as demetri and robert carradine as michael van helsling the vampire hunter who we have seen once before helsing van helsing okay let me try he's from dracula that's the character from dracula Ah, I did read that in the trivia. It's the famous vampire hunter. We are in the travel guide. Okay. We are in the travel guide. That's a throwback to Lizzie McGuire, maybe everyone.
00:03:56
Speaker
Okay, anyways, Michael Van Helsing, and we have seen Robert who plays him once before, but we'll get into that a little later. Okay, Natalie. Okay, wait, wait, i have just I have to say, he came on screen and I audibly gasped. I didn't get it at first, because as you know, well, I didn't see the original... Anyways, we'll get to that. I just i was like, dude, he looks familiar. No, I lost my mind.
00:04:21
Speaker
All right. Are you ready? I'm ready. Tell us what happens in this movie. All right. This movie centers around the Hansen family, which includes divorced single mother Lynette. More divorce. I know, honestly. there's Every movie but Camp Rock, I think. You know, it's probably I'm going to go with 50% of these movies have divorced parents because that's divorce rate in America. Especially the 90s ones.
00:04:45
Speaker
I know, anyways, good titty. So single mother Lynette, her three children, which includes Adam, a teenage boy who's obsessed with horror movies and vampires, Chelsea, his older sister, and their younger brother Taylor. So Adam and Chelsea both have plans for the weekend. He's going to this rock concert and um Chelsea has a date, but they both get grounded by their mom, effectively canceling their plans. Obviously they're not happy about that.
00:05:12
Speaker
They both become determined to defy their mom and go to their events anyway. And they figure the best way to do that is to get her out of the house that night. So they arrange a blind date for their mom via the newspaper and an email chat. ah Very two thousands of them newspaper. Oh, my gosh. the The ads in the newspaper for men looking for women are just anyway. Go watch the movie. If you haven't seen it, how dare you go see it. It makes you be happy about dating apps.
00:05:41
Speaker
I were going to talk about dating apps. We are going to talk about dating apps. All right, so upon their first meeting, Lynette is completely charmed by this mysterious and suave Dimitri. She agrees to a date with him and everything seems great until the youngest brother, Taylor, sees Dimitri turn into a bat when he thinks no one is looking, and he realizes Dimitri is a vampire. His brother and his sister don't believe him, but Taylor has no doubts in his mind. By the way, Taylor is eight years old, so he calls up a man named Malachi Van Helsing
00:06:17
Speaker
who is a vampire hunter, obviously, for help. And Lynette goes out on her date with Dimitri. The kids observe some strange behavior from Dimitri, like how a postie is to garlic, his reflection doesn't appear in a mirror, he's unnaturally strong, etc, etc. And finally, Adam and Chelsea believe it too. Dimitri is definitely a vampire and their mom is in danger.
Climactic Battle with Dimitri the Vampire
00:06:41
Speaker
There's a final showdown at the vampire's spooky mansion where the kids and the vampire hunter Van Helsing try to you outsmart Dimitri, but he's too powerful and his hold over their mom is so strong that she can't snap out of her zombie-like state. But earlier, Adam told his brother that sometimes people can be broken out of a vampire's trance by true love And it's Lynette's true love for her children that finally snaps her out of it. Lynette shoves Dimitri into the open coffin and Van Helsing nails it shut with, like, vampire-resistant nails or something like that. They're silver. ah it's Sure, sure. i don't I clearly don't know enough about vampires. This movie was confusing to me. Anywho, everything I know about vampires is from Twilight.
00:07:25
Speaker
After that wild ordeal, Lynette asks Van Helsing if he'd like to come over to their house for breakfast and he accepts. And as long as there are chocolate chips in them, he's happy. And surprise, that's her favorite too. so And yay, that's the whole movie.
00:07:41
Speaker
Wow. I was so disappointed by the ending. I would just like to start at the end. Nick and I both were like, that's it? Are you kidding me? Yeah. We sat through an hour and 23 minutes, which is not that long. This is one of the shortest ones, but I was like yeah for like nothing. Yeah. No, i I
Critique of the Movie's Ending
00:07:57
Speaker
am in agreement. I felt like there could have been, at least we could have seen breakfast maybe. I don't know.
00:08:04
Speaker
like you know something something a little bit more because he's so cute and I love that actor and he's just so like sweet and I really wanted to see the two of them like actually in a scene together.
00:08:15
Speaker
Breakfast would have been nice. And I do love that actor and I did want to see more of him. So yeah, the ending was disappointing. I will say the beginning got me. The opening tricked me this time. The first time it didn't with under wraps, but this one got me. Okay. Okay. This was the opposite for me. So listeners, if you didn't watch it again, what's wrong with you? Go watch it. It starts with like a movie in a movie. And I totally got it this time immediately. I was like, Oh, this is a movie in a movie, but you didn't. I'm so proud I beat you in one. I beat you.
00:08:46
Speaker
Congratulations. Thank you. Yeah, no, I was like, this is interesting, I guess. It's pretty cheesy, but I guess that's you know par for the course. and it It was enough realistic like a Disney movie that I was like, yeah, this is probably the movie. and Then it wasn't until it like jarred and you were suddenly in the family's living room that I was like, oh my gosh, they got me. They got me.
00:09:08
Speaker
And I appreciated that. And then to the point where I continued to think that that was coming back. like I was like making all of these theories in my head where I was like, okay, so the vampire hunter guy is like really old, but he looks young somehow and like this is from the past. like I thought it was like you know like national treasure when it opens in like and it's got Jackson from Hannah Montana and they're like in the carriage. I thought it was like that.
00:09:36
Speaker
He's like the great, great, great, great, great grandfather. I know what you're talking about. this No one has ever used that as a reference for his most famous career points. Well, guys, I don't know if you know, this is a Disney podcast, Disney panel specifically. So I will be bringing up Hannah Montana. So sorry. Occasionally. So anyways, I thought it was like that where it was going to be like the whole rest of the movie we're harkening back to this like earlier scene. And so my brain kind of forgot that it was a movie and a movie. And so I kept thinking like, Oh my gosh, this is the guy from the beginning and like, Oh, the true love thing is coming back. And like, it was a totally different direction because I just forgot. Yeah. Yeah. I think that maybe, um, this is a good segue into my thoughts on the film. I think that perhaps you were wishing it was deeper than
Comparison of Dating Methods: Then and Now
00:10:27
Speaker
it was. And I was kind of in the same camp.
00:10:31
Speaker
Yeah, I think that I just felt like it was like undercooked. I guess like it could have leaned more into the comedy and been funnier or leaned more into like horror and been scarier or like just leaned like more into like the Disney channel of it all and be a little bit more of both. But I don't know, it just felt like it was a really fun idea that was executed incorrectly, maybe, dare I say? I don't know. I can completely hear what you're saying. Yes.
00:11:01
Speaker
Yeah, and we talked about in a previous one, I think it was under wraps, how I was like, yay, I like that they didn't do too much. Because a lot of times I'm like, Disney do less. like In modern movies, I'm like, this is so much going. And then zombies was like an assault on the senses. And I was like, do less. Zombies was too much. This one, I was like, do more. like There's so little. It's such a short movie. Like I said, they could have added so much. You're totally right. I agree with you 100%. It was very like, oh what's the word? I like how you said under baked. It was just very like, there could be so much more flavor to this in so many different directions that they could have gone. And it's just unsatisfying at the end of the day. You're like, well,
00:11:39
Speaker
That was a movie. That was a very, very simple plot. Under baked, under cooked. I think that's the tagline for this movie. I really enjoyed the kids acting though. I thought all the kids were great. Did you? I did actually. Wait, I have to disagree. What?
00:11:57
Speaker
Okay. Very, very much. I disagree. Really? I thought the kids were the worst actors I've ever seen. Oh, wait. Let me clarify. The main guy, Adam, I think, he was great. I would say the little brother was also pretty great. The sister made me want to pull my eyes out. I thought she was such a bad actress. All right. Well, that's fair, but the boys were good. They were good. His friend, however. Oh, no. His friend was a terrible actor. What was happening with that guy?
00:12:26
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. It's like the producer's son got hired on the film or something. I don't know if that's, I'm just, I shouldn't say that. I don't know if it was nepotism. He's probably a very, very wonderful guy and a great actor, but yeah, he left something to be desired. But the two boys, like Taylor and Adam, I think did really good. I actually like believed them and enjoyed them. I think Adam got there over time.
00:12:48
Speaker
Like the sister grew to be slightly tolerable. Adam grew to actually be quite enjoyable. Like I feel like at the beginning I thought he was pretty bad too. And then by the end I was like, no, actually he's really quite good. I think Taylor was the only consistently good one for me. The friend I was like,
00:13:05
Speaker
Bro, I don't know if you guys are trying to go. like It wasn't even clear to me if they were trying to make him dumb or if that was just how bad he was. I don't know, but he was definitely the worst. I think the bully was really bad. Any of their friends were bad. but Like I said, the sister was pretty bad, I think, until maybe the end.
00:13:24
Speaker
But but I'll give it to Taylor. He was solid the whole time and Adam definitely got there in my. Yeah. Yeah. I think mainly what I meant by them being good is just that like I thought both of them were just very real and like endearing.
00:13:39
Speaker
They are endearing, that's true. And actually, I looked up the trivia on IMDb, as I love to do, you guys know. And this was the kid, Adam, it was his first like film project ever. He had never been in a movie, a TV show, at least not on IMDb. This was his first thing ever. That's great. I love that for him. Yeah, so with that in mind, fantastic. OK, spoil it a little bit for later. Is he still acting? Not really. It's a bit unclear.
00:14:07
Speaker
He kind of fell off the face of the earth in 2019. Oh, okay, well we'll get to that. Do you want to talk about um dating apps? yes Yes, let's talk about dating apps. Yeah, i the way that they go about finding a date for their mom on in the newspaper, first of all, and then via email, a cold email to someone they know nothing about, haven't seen a picture of, and they're like, yeah, we'll just meet him at a grocery store. That's so wild. A grocery store. That's so wild to me. But also, I, disclosure to everyone, I met my husband on a dating app.
00:14:47
Speaker
And like I ah have to think about that's sort of kind of what I also did. I saw pictures and like chatted extensively before meeting.
00:14:58
Speaker
but That's pretty much what I did. It's the same concept. You're meeting a stranger. I mean, I felt like the whole newspaper thing harkened back to what we were talking about with Smart House. It really is a reflection of the times. You're just like, that would so never happen today. And yet you're kind of right. It is still happening just with technology. You kind of just adapted it to be even more scary. It's the same but different, the same but different for sure. It just cracked me up. That's honestly all I had to say about it. I just thought it was so funny.
00:15:25
Speaker
I thought it was actually very inventive, and I wish that they had talked about this more. This goes back to it being half-baked, that the vampire's like method for finding women is he's using an online dating service, or well, he's using the newspaper, which then leads them to his email. And I was just like, really? This is your method? like you can't just Because this was like before dating apps were big, and people did still meet like naturally in stores or at work or something. I'm like, there's no other way for you to meet women?
00:15:55
Speaker
like Is this working? Has this worked with anyone else? Apparently, it's working. I guess it must be. It seems like a lot more effort than just like attacking someone in an alleyway. i mean like I also don't think you should attack people in an alleyway, but we're talking about vampires here. you know That was another thing. They did not explain his motivation, but yeah i was like wait because at the end, he's like, oh you're a bit young to be my queen to the daughter and i'm like i'm sorry wait a second you are making her your queen i thought this whole time you've been saying you're hungry which then implies you're going to like eat her or suck enough of her blood that she will not be alive anymore but like this whole time you were just gonna make her a vampire
00:16:33
Speaker
and like have her be your queen, like why do you keep saying you're hungry? It's very confusing. but like why So I guess that explains why he's not just attacking women in alleyways because that would be if he was just going to like bite them or eat them or whatever. But in this case,
00:16:50
Speaker
It's like he actually wants to romance her, but then you're enchanting her anyways. This movie makes no sense. The more I talk about it with you, I'm like, wait a second, why would you go through all the effort of romancing her if you can just put a spell on her? like Why would you go through this awful night with all these elements to it when you're just gonna transfer into being a vampire anyways? This movie makes no sense. dare Dare I say, Stephanie Meyer and Twilight might make more of and vampire sense than this film.
00:17:19
Speaker
I think you're completely right. I think sparkly vampires makes more sense to me than a vampire with no motivation. At least they have some kind of like war going on with the werewolves. like There's like culture and history and intrigue. Granted, those are four giant books and this is a one hour, 23 minute movie for children. They could have done more. They just could have done so much more. They should have done more, probably.
00:17:48
Speaker
Whatever. I just need to know, did you call it at the beginning that they were going to do the old switcheroo on who was the vampire and who was the oh not vampire sketchy? Okay.
Humorous Dynamics: Taylor and Van Helsing
00:17:58
Speaker
I say for sure, but actually, now that I'm thinking about it, the moment I saw the actor for Van Helsing that like you were supposed to think he was the vampire, I gasped and I was so like befuddled over him being in this movie because I didn't know.
00:18:14
Speaker
that like I didn't get a chance to do that. But then once it happened, I was like, oh, yeah, obviously. So yes and no. Right. So as soon as we saw the guy in the trench coat hat thing, I was like, oh, they're setting us up. I'm pretty sure this guy is like the hunter, which of course, like I said before, I got gi confused. I was like, oh, he's the guy from the beginning. Thank you for bringing up the trench coat. I have words. Oh, go for it. OK, I'm going to start by saying my favorite character of this uh, movie was Taylor, the little kid. And I actually really liked Malachi Van Helsing. He's delightfully quirky and sincere. And obviously I love that actor. He's Lizzie McGuire's dad. Sorry if that's a spoiler. So like they're probably relationship between Taylor and Malachi was so weird.
00:19:05
Speaker
um It was creepy. I have to say why did the babysitter not freak out when Taylor brought a male stranger adult in a trench coat into the house? And then why did she let them leave with the stranger in a trench coat? Especially after he literally just said he was a vampire hunter and she's like, I'm sorry, you're a what now?
00:19:26
Speaker
Okay, technically, what the kid snuck out. The kid snuck out, she didn't let him go. So I'll give her that, but she is so neglectful. She was horrific. Worst character. She didn't even stand when this guy came in. He's like, oh, hey, it's the vampire hunter I called him. And she's like, cool, sounds good, vampire hunter. That's kind of funny. And you're like, there's an adult man in this trench coat. You just let him into your house.
00:19:53
Speaker
They took like ah relaxed, like idiot babysitter trope to such an extreme that it's like, I cannot suspend my disbelief. This is oh unnatural and not okay. Nobody wouldn't care. And also so they called her at like a moment's notice and she just shows up and like has the whole night to babysit. I was like, this is so weird, this plot line, like just have him sneak out after being put to bed. Why do you even need her? Right, right. And I, yeah.
00:20:22
Speaker
the The two of them like just driving around town together, be he's being like, where would you go dancing? He's like, well, I'm eight, so it was just a little weird.
00:20:35
Speaker
Sharing the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, like yeah I was starting to get like a physical reaction to how uncomfortable I was. Not because there was anything necessarily wrong with it morally. I just was like, this is so cringy and weird. This could have been cute and fun. It was just weird.
00:20:52
Speaker
I kind of wanted them to have like this sweet like father-son kind of bond like I wanted him to like take him under his wing and be like a team you know and especially since they're kind of at the end giving this illusion that maybe he'll date the mom and you're like oh if they already have this cute established a little relationship, that would be fun. But like, no, it's just weird. And the other kid, Adam, was the one who was obsessed with the vampire hunter in the first place. So then you'd think like, he should be the one going on the mission with the vampire hunter because it's like his dream. And yeah then it's just very odd. The whole thing is so odd.
00:21:27
Speaker
it was just It was weird. I'll say the one redeeming quality I think this movie had was showing like the sibling dynamics between the like three kids.
Sibling Relationships in the Movie
00:21:40
Speaker
how like you know They all have clearly very different personalities and different like agendas at the beginning of the movie, but they all come together over like a common goal, like saving their mom. And it just kind of makes you think about like, I don't know how your relationship with your siblings isn't like any other relationship in the world, you know? Like you might be so different, but you will always be from the same family. You'll always have the core of who you are be the same.
00:22:10
Speaker
I really like that you bring that up because honestly, that was refreshing for me that they didn't go with the trope of like older sister hates the boys, like in Zathura with Kristen Stewart. Hilarious. Twilight. Anyways, that was unintentional. Anyways. That movie, like that kind of idea of just like everything you do is stupid and I'll never believe you no matter what. I liked that the sister, I forget what her name was, Chrissy or something? Chelsea. Chrissy. Chelsea, thank you.
00:22:37
Speaker
Like that Chelsea just kind of went with it and she was like, you know, I will just blow off my date and like be here for you Adam Let's just figure it out together and she like sticks around the whole time and even when he kind of betrayed her with the whole date thing She's clearly upset as she should be um But she gets over it so fast and she's like, you know, this is more important. Like I liked that part So I'm glad you brought that up. Yeah, yeah I do think that was a something that made it really real and heartfelt. That's like the Disney Channel, like heart of the film, you know? And I did appreciate that, but I don't know if it redeemed everything else for me. Yeah, it definitely had that kids rule the world, young adventure kind of vibe that we were talking about from under wraps that got set up with the first DCOM. um That's kind of been a consistent thread ever since.
00:23:26
Speaker
Yeah, it's one of those movies where I'm like, I don't really think I liked it that much. I liked it. It was cute. It was quirky. It was fine. But I wouldn't say like, Oh yeah, I really like that movie. But I do want more of it. Like it's not one where I'm like, I don't like it. And it was horrible. And I don't want to see anything else. I'm like, I wish they would remake this and add more to it. It could have been really, really good. I could have loved it.
00:23:51
Speaker
that's and That's what I was saying earlier. like I feel like it's a good idea. It's funny. It's like the title alone gives you everything you need to know and it's just great, but it was just executed in a way that you were like, what and why and no. Yeah, it's a little too simplistic.
00:24:08
Speaker
And it's got that same like fun adventure vibe as Under Raps, like the kids on bikes just figuring out the world, ah but it didn't have the same level of like intelligence as Under Raps. Or humor. Under Raps was so funny. It was so funny. Oh my gosh. If for some reason you skip that episode, please go back and watch that movie and listen to our episode about it. Under Raps was great. It was great. It was so great. Do you want to hear what the rest of the world thought? Yeah, I do.
00:24:37
Speaker
I'm really curious about this one. I know, too um and I I'm a little surprised actually. um so As everyone knows, we go to Rotten Tomatoes for all our reviews. um There is no tomato meter as is common for these older DCOMs, not enough ah critics actually reviewed them. There's one though, um and it's from 2020, so a more recent one, but it just says, dated comedy horror TV movie that has some scares, but just lacks bite, which I thought was quite humorous because vampires and all that jazz. The puns are my favorite part of Rotten Tomatoes reviews. Honestly, um we should get into writing these reviews for each film that we watch.
00:25:20
Speaker
We should, and we should do it under our Once Upon a Decom title. That's a pretty good idea. I don't know. Let us know what you think, listeners. That might be a really good idea. Okay, and then the audience reading is 51%, which is higher than I thought it would be. That's in the same range as a lot of the other ones we've seen, and I don't think this movie was as good as most of the other ones we've seen,
Audience Reception and Reviews
00:25:44
Speaker
so that's interesting. It's higher than the Lizzie McGuire movie.
00:25:47
Speaker
Well, that's a sin, and we all need to go fix it. Everyone's overview, Lizzie McGuire. It's just weird, right? like More people like it than don't like it. Anyway, it's whatever. But I'll read some of the audience reviews here. um For the most part, the negative reviews didn't have like actual words attached. They just had star ratings, which is a cop-out. If you're going to rate something badly, tell me why.
00:26:13
Speaker
um So here's some positive ones. Pretty good cast on a typical Disney plotting. um A nostalgic way to spend an evening that's slightly spooky but won't give your children nightmares. And then ah nothing more than what you imagine it to be, a Disney Channel Halloween movie.
00:26:30
Speaker
Okay. And then ah my favorite one here is, I watched this movie with my sister on Halloween night. Sometimes it was so bad, it was funny. Other times it was way too boring and hard to get through. The plot is also really weird question mark, but to be expected when you look at the title. I was like, yeah, homie, you get it. You get it. That's like exactly what we've, she just concisely said in two sentences what we've been saying for 20 minutes.
00:26:54
Speaker
Yeah, nailed it. She knows what's up. Wow, okay. I mean, I pretty much expected that. that's That's actually better than I think I expected. Yeah, same. All right, where are they now, Gabby? Yeah, so this one's
Cast Member Updates
00:27:08
Speaker
interesting. I'm just going to preface by saying,
00:27:10
Speaker
Most of these people have been in some stuff or a lot of stuff that I don't know. so Some of you may be screaming at me like, they're my favorite person from this. I'm sorry if I don't mention it because also the adults especially have been in like over 100 movies each.
00:27:27
Speaker
And so it's a lot to like name what you may or may not know them from. But I'm going to get some notable things that you may recognize them from, and then a couple of them where they are now. So I'll just start with the kids. Matt O'Leary, who played Adam, this was his first movie, as we said. um His other notable things you may know him from, he was Gary Giggles in Spy Kids 2 and 3.
00:27:52
Speaker
He is? so Again, Hannah Montana, Emily Osment, who plays Lily on Hannah Montana. She's in those movies. It's her brother. She's the one with the spinning pigtails. Yeah. Gary giggles. That's him. Oh my gosh. I had no idea. That's so funny. Yeah. Actually, Nick recognized him immediately. like He's less than a second on screen and Nick's like, that's the kid from Spy Kids.
00:28:13
Speaker
I need to rewatch Spy Kids. Jeez, it's been a while. Those are good. If we ever do the whole like not a Disney movie, but it feels like one thing, we should do Spy Kids. Add it to the list. Anyways, he most recently was PAX in the Marvel show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. He was in it a bit, and that was his most recent work. It was in 2019, so I assume perhaps the pandemic?
00:28:37
Speaker
I don't know, and did whatever he was doing, or maybe he's just taking a break. I looked him up, I did some research, and I can find nothing else on him, so there you have it. He's done a lot more that I just didn't know. Well, good for you, sir. And then Laura Van Der Voot.
00:28:55
Speaker
Anyways, she played Chelsea. She is she's most known for playing Kara Kent, AKA Supergirl, in the show Smallville. Apparently, people loved her character. I freaking know. Yes. Oh, do you? OK. Yes. I've seen every single episode of Smallville more than once.
00:29:13
Speaker
Oh, I have had it suggested to me so many times. Should I watch? Okay, listen, the first two seasons are hard to get through. Once you pass them, every single episode is pretty much the same. But if you like it, oh, it's so freaking good. Okay, so you knew her from that.
00:29:29
Speaker
Yes. Oh, she showed up and I was like, she looks real familiar. And I looked it up and I was like, oh, there we go. Yeah. So she got written out, but apparently she's trying to make her way into the DC universe somehow. So who knows? Maybe she'll be somewhere in the DC comic universe, cinematic universe. I don't know. Do they have a cinematic universe? I know there's the MCU. I mean, they keep precasting Batman, but I mean, who's to say what's right and what's wrong? Well, there's a multiverse. So, you know, anything can happen.
00:29:58
Speaker
So that's her. There's not much else going on there. um Couldn't find anything for the little boy Taylor. I think he pretty much just acted as a child. Did some stuff through his teen years and then he was done. But he was the best actor. I know. He wasn't one other D-Com. Actually, I'm not sure if this is a D-Com. I don't think it is. Stepsister from Planet Weird. Is that a D-Com? I don't think so.
00:30:24
Speaker
Okay. I've heard about it before. I've never seen it. He's in that he's Trevor Larson. I don't know if that's the lead. I don't know if that's somebody I went to high school to Trevor Larson. That's really funny. Hilarious. Well, that's this character's name that he played in step sister from planet weird also in 2000. So he was doing a lot more work in like 1998 through 2002. Um, but yeah, well not much for him. So we're going to move our IP. We miss you, Taylor.
00:30:49
Speaker
Now getting into our adults who have done a lot. Obviously, as we've already said, we know Robert Carradine as Malachi Van Helsing, and he's the dad in Lizzie McGuire. So that's where you probably know him from. Love, love, love, love, love, love.
00:31:04
Speaker
Yeah, he's fun. He's continued acting. I didn't know anything else he's done. So moving on to Dimitri, who was played by, I'm telling you, I didn't know half the, I was like, good for you guys. You're doing the thing. I don't know any of this. Charles Shagohusani, I'm making that up. I don't know how to say his name. He played Dimitri. Yeah, but he's a very famous actor.
00:31:24
Speaker
Wait, really? Yes. Oh, what's done? He was on Days of Our Lives for like a long time. um He was in the nanny. He has an Emmy for something, I'm pretty sure. ah He's also like British royalty almost. and He's like a why a Duke or a Baron or something. like yeah No, he's a... It's pretty famous actor you should know that I didn't research him enough I looked up his IMDB and I was like man nothing I know moving on I looked him up in the news I was like man nothing important moving on that Wow sorry guys thank God Natalie's here I mean like I don't think he's currently doing a lot but like the man's he's done his time in Hollywood that's what I'll say
00:32:07
Speaker
Thanks, Natalie. Oh, you're welcome. That's where he is. And then I have one other thing for him, but I'm going to wait because I've been building up. So Caroline Rhee, I think it's pronounced Rhee. My girl. I'm going to say it that way. She played Lynette, the mom. So obviously her big thing that everyone knows her for, and I think this is why you're so excited, is she was Hilda Spellman on Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Yes, and she's so freaking good in that show.
00:32:33
Speaker
I'm not going to lie, I don't remember much of that show, but I i know I loved it, so I'm sure I loved her. You know, that is something I haven't seen a long time, and that's what we should rewatch next. After we finish all the D-coms, we're going to watch s Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Don't make promises. We don't know. I'm making a promise. I am making a solemn blood oath to our listeners. Sabrina the Teenage Witch is our next series.
00:32:56
Speaker
Natalie's really into a Halloween season making Blood Hoops. We do have Halloween. All right, well, maybe we will do that, or apparently we will. She was also Linda Flynn Fletcher on Phineas and Ferb. Oh, their mom, right? She's been in like over 100 episodes, like almost all the episodes. Any episode with their mom, she was in. I had no idea.
00:33:19
Speaker
So that's her voice. She was in Christmas with the cranks. And then also in s Sabrina the Teenage Witch, there was like a two episode run where she was actually dating Robert. What's not Robert, and the other guy, Charles, Charles, that I don't know that you said is really famous. Shaughnessy. Yep.
00:33:38
Speaker
They were in like two episodes together and they were dating in s Sabrina the Teenage Witch. So that's kind of fun. They got to work together romantically again. I don't i don't remember that at all, but good for them. Yeah. Although I must say his version of romance in this movie was like very much ah threatening and terrifying. And I kind of wanted her to run away. He was so annoyed with her the whole time. I'm like, you're not even good at dating, right? Like if this, your whole existence is to pick up chicks so you can eat them or unalive them, why are you being bad at dating?
00:34:12
Speaker
I know a lot of them. Yeah, let's just put a pin in that he's a vampire. He just sucks as a dude. He is so unaccepting of everything she loves and it's clearly a bad date. I don't know why she continues giving him chances before she spelled, like before she's curse spelled, whatever. She continues to try to date him. And I'm like, what is going on? He clearly doesn't want to be here. He's terrible to you. And he's not even like, even at the beginning, right? I'd say he peaks at the grocery store Everything after the grocery store, I was like, you're kind of gross and mean and weird and creepy, and like I wish that she hadn't even gone out with you in the first place or like left at dinner. you know He reminds me of my ex-boyfriend, super charming up front, but then the more you get to know him, you're like, walking red flags. Do you watch Alex Meyer's on YouTube? No.
00:35:04
Speaker
He does this little cartoon animation ah thing where he's got like a parade that's like big red flag. and it's like that da da and That's how I felt about this guy.
00:35:15
Speaker
uh i agree completely agree the last really fun thing about her is that she became a comedian apparently 35 years ago she started doing like stand-up comedy and she recently like within the last year or two started a show called i identify as a witch it's like a comedy show with her sabrina co-star melissa jone heart and so that show is still running yeah i don't think it's like a huge huge thing but it's a thing it's pretty cool oh my gosh i i would love that i i have to see that She is so funny. It's for all Sabrina fans, so you should totally. I should. I will say I am making my sound like a bigger Sabrina fan than I am. I really do like that show. I think it's hilarious. I don't remember every episode. I haven't seen it in probably a decade, but I do really love that show. Maybe you rewatch all of them, then go see the show and you'll appreciate it because I think they do a lot of comedy about their time on the show is kind of what I picked up from reading about it. Well, that sounds delightful. Big fan.
00:36:14
Speaker
Yeah, so she's doing well, and that's where they are now. Yeah. I have no idea where that horrible bully or the best friend kid are. I didn't even look. Probably not acting. Sorry, that was rude. That was rude.
00:36:26
Speaker
All right, so yeah, that was our perfect little decom for spooky season.
Looking Forward to 'Halloween Town'
00:36:32
Speaker
Perfect might be a stretch. That was a decom for spooky season. It was a movie. It was a movie. Yeah. It is on Disney Plus, so it's one point ahead of under wraps in that sense. Honestly, I wonder if they still play this on Disney Channel or if it's like one of those like archived ones that younger kids don't see anymore.
00:36:50
Speaker
I kind of hope they don't. They might invite strange men in trench coats into their house. Yeah, no, respectfully play zombies, or better yet, descendants, because if zombies is a Halloween movie, descendants is a Halloween movie. Not according to Disney Channel. I will die on this hill. All right.
00:37:07
Speaker
Before we go, it's time to select which Dcom we are watching next. Yay. Final week. Every single week, we randomly select a new Disney Channel original movie to watch and all of October, as Gabby has said, we've been focusing on Halloween and on spooky season. So next week is the final week of October. So it'll be our final spooky episode for perhaps a while. Coming in right in time for Halloween. Two days later. So exciting.
00:37:33
Speaker
Okay, so the options we have left are Halloweentown, Girl versus Monster, Phantom at the Megaplex, and Don't Look Under the Bed. No repeats, no sequels, yet. But I may watch Zombies 2 and 3 before next year, because I don't think I can hold out that long. Oh, well, I don't think we have to wait until next year to watch more Halloween. o don' ah Don't tempt me. I would love to do more Halloween movies.
00:37:58
Speaker
Yeah. I'm kind of really hoping it's Halloween town. Yeah. like It was so much fun doing twitches and I don't know any of the other ones. I feel like to me, it's not Halloween season until you watch Halloween town, you know, like that was and continues to be like a staple in my house. And like, I don't know. I kind of want to, I hope that's it. We had 25% chance. You like those odds? Yeah, I do. Okay. Spin the wheel. All right. I'm spinning the wheel. Look at it spin.
00:38:28
Speaker
It's spinning. do do do e I can tell from your breathing. Yeah. Good news. Halloween Town. Halloween Town. We're doing it. Joy. I'm so freaking excited. What a great way to end the season. The Halloween season, yes. I know, right? Yeah. I think that's the perfect way to end the season. I'm very, very freaking excited. I do love Halloween Town so much. Me too. I don't remember it greatly, but I know I love it.
00:38:58
Speaker
Oh, I watch it every single year, probably multiple times a year. I love that movie. I have watched it since I was a kid for sure. I just don't think I have watched it very recently. I think the last time I saw it was three years ago, so it's been a hot minute. Okay.
00:39:13
Speaker
I think you're going to love it is just as much as you always have. I think so too. All right everybody, go watch Halloween Town this week and join us back here wherever you get your favorite podcasts where we can talk about it and obsess over how much we love Halloween Town and we all wish that we could go there in real life.
00:39:31
Speaker
Ah, I wish. Also, if you're watching this on YouTube, listening on YouTube, comment below about what your Halloween costume is going to be this year. Or if you're listening to this at not Halloween season, what is your favorite Halloween costume that you've ever done?
00:39:45
Speaker
It's a good question. I like that. Yeah, it could be fun. All right, everybody. We'll see you next week. 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. Also, follow us on Instagram and TikTok at onceuponadcom.podcast and share this podcast with your Disney loving friends. A big thanks to Gabby for editing this whole podcast together. Thanks, Fran.
00:40:08
Speaker
And don't forget to subscribe because there's always a new episode on the way. This is Gabriella. And Natalie. Signing off with a sprinkle of Pixie Dust. And a whole lot of nostalgia.