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Episode 055 - Starcruisin for a Bruisin
32 Plays12 days ago
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Thank you to our good friend Chris Hall for the amazing cover artwork! I'm sorry that I keep butchering it with my silly edits.
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Transcript
Introduction and Personal Updates
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey there, I'm Sean, and you're listening to episode number 55 of Just Schilling. I messed up the order, and now I don't know how to transition to Andy. I'm Sean Hoffman, how's it going? And I'm your other host, Andy Bell. but but so like this hot And this is gonna i like this is gonna work, I'm gonna mix it up, and it's like, shit, I don't know how to hand it over to him. No! How are you, buddy? Long time no speak.
00:00:29
Speaker
Oh man, i'm i'm i'm doing I'm doing all right. we're We're still over here on the East Coast. ah We're flying back in just a couple days, but things have been good. Things have been good. The weather's been holding out. Been able to catch up on some shows, catch up on some podcasts, catch up on some news.
00:00:47
Speaker
um and so And mostly it's been Madison and I kind of acting like Neo from The Matrix, like dodging all of the sicknesses that are going around right now. um It is insane. Just, I mean, obviously you know the stuff that would kind of events that we've been to over the last couple of weeks and it's just,
00:01:11
Speaker
if it's not norovirus it's the flu or it's walking pneumonia or it's this other stuff it's like yeah yeah yeah yeah just dodge dodge and bullets left and right in terms of it's like not wanting to get and and it's knocking people down for the count so uh not a fan but we've been doing well we've fingers crossed we we haven't gotten sick uh and got away with it so far I mean, maybe a little bit of crud here and there, but nothing nothing too bad. But yeah, knock on wood. ah we're We're doing all right. I am currently, I am i am broadcasting from a bed in a spare bedroom. So I'm gonna try not to rustle ruffle around too much since I don't have a desk. So if anybody hears that, I apologize. But yeah, dude, we're good. Excellent, excellent.
Entertainment Catch-up and Guest Appearances
00:01:57
Speaker
So um yeah, and ah my my my last couple of weeks has been, um
00:02:02
Speaker
the same old, same old for the last couple of months. So going through some treatment, and which has given me an opportunity to catch up on a heck of a lot of stuff, which I'm really, really, really, really looking forward to talking you through. What have we been up to the last couple of weeks? So outside of the treatment side of things, I watched, let's improve for what must be, what must be there. Oh, good God.
00:02:33
Speaker
shape the sixth time now, but the finale in particular, because I wanted to, if you remember that i my daughter, Abby, my the youngest, went back to work before we were able to to finish up yeah our ah our our ah watching. and So um she said, Dad, I'm not going to watch it without you, which was cool.
00:02:59
Speaker
And so we I watched this finale for the last two episodes for, it's got to be sixth time, which I thoroughly enjoyed as you as you'd expect. And um yeah, that was so, so, so my, my experience, my skeleton crew, I can finally say I can close that and close the book that is my skeleton crew experience. And it's been a, it's been a fun old time, um especially, especially enjoying it.
00:03:28
Speaker
with Abby as well. And, um, as a result of that, I did, I did do a little bit of spending. Um, and I, I ended up with a few things like, um, like a Funko meal and, um, a few other things, just a reminder of the, um, of the experience. So i said good, good, good fun. Good fun. Good fun. Um, this week, uh, also over the last week as well, I was kindly invited to, um,
00:03:56
Speaker
join the Star Wars spell to help guys to review the season off to let me crew again.
00:04:05
Speaker
The resident expert. I promise you a book is closed. I promise you, I'm not going to mention it again. Um, so I joined those guys. I was able to, it didn't coincide with any appointment that I had or anything like that. So I was happy to, uh, uh, the, the, the, the, but the stars aligned and I was able to join those clients.
00:04:26
Speaker
Uh, and we talked about the, um, we reviewed, you know, our general thoughts of, um, skeleton crew. So I, um, implore everyone to, um, check that out on star Wars spells out. That was the last episode that they, um, the Josh, um, the Josh, uh, uh, released. And then this week, uh, sorry, no, this, this week, no, last Friday, um, I joined Catherine Nain of, of that geek pod.
00:04:56
Speaker
to discuss Episode 7 of Andor. She's doing a ah recap of Andor by chunk or by arc. And she's got a very unique way of seeing the seeing the chunks of the of the order of of the of of the season, which I find quite interesting because it does actually make sense, rather than three, three, three, three.
00:05:26
Speaker
she kind of treats it a very very different way in that she'll use the bridging a bridging episode like episode seven which was called the announcement um and she used that as a bridging episode to to basically cover uh two separate three episode arcs which i found thought I actually quite like the theory behind it. Anyway, she's doing a really extensive job um covering the, covering Andal as a precursor to season two, which of course is coming out in
Star Wars Discussion and Industry Speculation
00:06:05
Speaker
77, I think, 76 days, something like that now. So, um and she's got various people joining ah who in that journey.
00:06:15
Speaker
And I was very fortunate enough to to join her for episode seven. I have to say, I've never, I didn't realize that we could keep talking for an hour and 45 on one single episode, but we did. I don't know why that surprises you. we i get Well, it it I mean, I mean like i i guess and A, it's me. And B, I didn't, i didn't and and you know, I like to talk.
00:06:41
Speaker
Um, but, um, B it's Catherine. Gosh, she's done a, she did her homework. She went into some extremely extensive detail. She's a proper podcaster there. Oh man, man, man. I mean, she puts us to shame. She's really, really good. Um, so I recommend anyone, anyone that can, uh, listen to an hour and 45 of us talking up episode seven. Um, again, please, please check it out on that people.
00:07:11
Speaker
And then lastly, I've been buying, I've been spending money. i ah please spend I've been in and out of hospital with tests and everything. So I've just been buying a lot more unofficial Star Wars clothing over the last couple of weeks or so. is that there's ah There's a company that I've found online on that do an awful lot of unofficial unofficial Star Wars merch, which kind of
00:07:40
Speaker
it they're parody. It's kind of like parody, parody prints, they're parody prints. And and and they're just, but they've done quite tastefully. And I've, I've kind of, I kind of like their stuff. So what started out being, oh, I'll buy, I'll, I'll buy a few shirts as turned into a frenzy.
00:07:59
Speaker
when I'm buying hoodies now and I'm buying everything else from them as well to kind of service my my my journey in and out of hospital. So yeah, so I've been spending a bit of money there as well. And really that's been that's been the last couple of weeks, mate. It's been... I saw a picture that you sent of something that you received. Are you saving that for a future section or does that go here?
00:08:23
Speaker
so I think something you received from somebody, something that somebody maybe made, I think it was, I could be losing my mind. Hold on. Oh goodness me. Oh goodness me. No, no, no, no. You're absolutely right. I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. that that I forgot all about that. And Chloe, if you're listening, I love you with all my art and I'm so, so sorry for forgetting. My daughter, my daughter who is already an avid,
00:08:51
Speaker
um cross stitcher and knit and knitting guru. ah It's her way of but it' it's her thing. It's her way of relaxing. yeah um She ah knitted me a jumper, a jumper, ah jumper which um i I will send you actually so that we can stick it into we can we can stick it on the website. But she she's very, very good. And Yeah, she needed a jumper for me, a Star Wars themed of course, um featuring our two favourite droids on each arm, so our two and three PR on each arm, and a squadron of X-men fighting it across the breast.
00:09:33
Speaker
Um, but she's, um, yeah, she, she, it's sick. It's spits really cool. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. i'm I'm, I'm really happy with it and it's oversized as well. So it's good for me because I like an oversized baggy gnarly jumper. So, um, yeah, no, it's, it's really, really cool. Um, and I can be, I mean,
00:09:54
Speaker
hey my my daughters have been amazing and um it's just it's just another reason to love them even more so um yeah that was uh something that uh miss me i forgot oh it's gonna kill me you're saving it for the next the consuming i was saving that i was saving that that's for sure that's for sure But yeah, hello if that's been us been the last couple of weeks. It's it's been um a fun old time. It's been a fun old time. So Moads, buddy, being that I've kind of spent a lot of time, a lot of time, um should we say, in ah in a horizontal position in the last week or so, um
00:10:43
Speaker
I've been able to do, I picked up a few things in the news that I found quite interesting. But before I go, what about yourself, Matt? But I think the one that's like when I when I consume news It's like it's it always seems like whatever is the most recent thing that's on my mind is the only thing I can think about No, never did just it's like there's my stack size has won there and so I've been dude I've been hung up on the the Fantastic Four trailer like I Haven't watched I know they're doing like a media blitz right now because I keep seeing it everywhere So I'm watching it that stuff, but I did watch the teaser and then kind of the little
00:11:24
Speaker
Teaser 2.0, whatever, first look stuff. And I have been just, I'm ready i'm ready for it. I love the look. I love the feel. i I don't know. I like the people that are in it. I think they're cool. I'm excited to see some of the other characters, the other people that they cast as the other characters. I don't know, dude. I'm ready for some like, I think because I've been keeping up with the Marvel stuff and like recent, like a couple weeks ago, we talked about how it's catching up on some shows that I hadn't watched. I'm like, dude, I'm ready. I'm ready for it to like come back and for this stuff to kind of get back into swing again. It looks tight. It looks really, really inside.
00:12:04
Speaker
i um I mean, we talk about you know we talk about that kind of futuristic past, or I'd certainly talk about that futuristic past yeah in na um being an aesthetic that I really, really like. And it looks it looks crazy good. Really, really good. I mean, it's it's straight out of the page. Yeah.
00:12:27
Speaker
But when I think it's only gonna look better too, cause I know like yeah there was parts of those like trailers, those kind of teasers, whatever you wanna call them, that every time one comes around, you can tell that it's like not finished, fully finished. And that's like, you start to be able to pick up on some of the pieces. It's like, oh, it's not done. And I bet this is gonna just like, you can see the parts that are gonna get better polish and stuff. And I i think it's gonna be,
00:12:53
Speaker
Phenomenal I love the style. I love the the way they're doing the camera work ah kind of emulating that that 60s kind of vibe the The bakelite kind of look yeah, I'm just dude. It's gonna be it's gonna be awesome I like that they did the thing like the comic book style. Yes, like are they? ah de full So yes. and Yes. ah Yes, and I I i will I
00:13:20
Speaker
I don't want to talk about the negative stuff, but I have seen some negative stuff about the way the aesthetics of the thing. And that says to me that they folk haven't those kind of folk haven't actually seen the comic, because yeah was he was he, I would say of all of all three films, or four films, if you do the sequel to the to the to the first um to the first one. um He looks more like Ben grit. Sorry, he looks more like the thing that than any other. I guess one of the things that um is throwing people a little bit is he's wearing the full body suit. But I've got no I've got no, I've got no worries with that. And I'm sure at some point he'll go
00:14:09
Speaker
He'll end up in the spandex pants and look and and looked like the that the thing that the the thing that we know. Yeah, it's only the teaser trailer. yeah it All of it's going to be different. yeah Yeah, exactly. I think it's on point. I really do. I'm looking forward to it.
00:14:26
Speaker
Other than that, I mean, I know there's some news items that you kind of mentioned, but I'll let you save those. What else? I think there's something that I don't remember. I'll remember it like I always do because I didn't take notes like I should have. I don't think I did. Well, the only thing I picked up on, I mean, so there are a few things I picked up on. First being Buffy the Vampire.
00:14:49
Speaker
The sequel series starring Sarah Michelle Geller is in the works, which is really, really interesting. I think that a lot of people, a lot of people we know that will be stoked for that. Very, very stoked for that. Interestingly, um, Joss Whedon isn't involved, which I think is a good call. A good call. Exactly. I was going to say is the right thing, but getting that team back together,
00:15:19
Speaker
um Awesome, man. Absolutely awesome. You know, sprint it with a little bit of nostalgia, but something that's fresh for this day and age. Yeah, I'm down for a little bit of Buffy. The next one is- That was part of my formative here, so let me tell you what. Boo! Yeah, I'm sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Damn it, eat Christmas. Yeah, I'm sure, dude. I'm sure.
00:15:44
Speaker
ah
00:15:47
Speaker
I thought I'm going to say, it's just like, whoo, I'll see that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The next one is, um, is interesting. And I was, i' I'm just, I'm just interesting to know your thoughts on this Oscar. I've Oscar Isaac concern confirmed this week for, um, Star Wars celebrations, Japan. Um, what's your take?
00:16:13
Speaker
I mean, the low hanging fruit is, that's not that's not the main point, but it's like, yeah, they're going to keep sprinkling in celebrities as they go along. This is normal. we are We're all used to this. The stuff that the meat on that bone is, you don't they don't just Oscar Isaac is not, he is big enough that he doesn't need to be there just to get autographs and stuff. Yeah. and so ah Yeah, I think it says, it goes without saying. I think he's, i my prediction is he's gonna be there and be on stage to talk about something. You think he's there? So he's advanced very mentally.
00:16:52
Speaker
Yeah, i think I think, and I don't think you bring somebody of his star power that he has, current like he is he's still pretty hot. You don't bring him on stage to talk about, oh, when the Force Awakens came out 10 years ago and yada, yada, yada, look back, like no, this is,
00:17:13
Speaker
I could be wrong, I am frequently. um But i think I think they're bringing him to to be part of an announcement or to something bigger for sure. I'd agree with that. I'd agree with that. In fact, in my notes, I've kind of got it that as he signed on for the Ray Meeble, I mean, um mean supposedly Rogue Squadron is still somewhere in the ether. I doubt it very much, but it's um It's somewhere. um But um i i suspect you and I suspect the guy who signed on for the Rey movie. What's the Rogue Squadron movie? Was that a confirmed for a specific time period? that was I don't think it was. Or was it just going to be... We're going to do a movie a Rogue Squadron movie. It could be New Republic, it could be Mando-verse, it could be... It could have even been X-Wings, like Red 5 and all them. like ah
00:18:08
Speaker
i don't I don't think it was, and I think that it was just literally coined as Top Gun in Space. That was it. that's That's all we got. I mean, i'm i'm I know.
Streaming Wars: Disney Plus and Beyond
00:18:20
Speaker
I mean, would you have... I mean, he's got the star power to have his standalone to have a standalone movie. He's certainly got the the star power for that, but... Don't know, dude. Don't know. We should see.
00:18:35
Speaker
We should see. But it's interesting. and It's you're certainly now that you know yourre your your it seems to be that your itinerary is starting to get filled up now. I think this is the start of it to you. And we still got and we still got time. We still have time for some other names to get dropped. I think I do think there's gonna be some that they don't announce, like, personally, I don't think John Boyega will be announced if he's going. I think that will be a curtain reveal, like they have Daisy out there talking about something, and then, you know how they do it, they're like, hey, who do we got, who do we got coming out next? And then people are gonna just, like, lose their effing minds. Yeah. Because I think if you announce him, then it is obvious. It's like, well, why are they all coming back? They're not gonna come back for a 10-year round date.
00:19:25
Speaker
No, no it'll be much you It will be it will be ten years as well. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Oh You're bound to get a special a special um Yeah, you're you're you're you're gonna get a you're gonna get a special event for that an 11 by 17 poster hopefully but The next piece of news is not so great. Variety reported that Disney Plus have lost 700,000 subscribers over the last year. um That's a lot of subscribers that have left. um I guess when you count subscribers by the millions, it's not that huge, but it's it it it seems big to me.
00:20:12
Speaker
um Across what, is that across like globally? Across all of their- I think it's global. I think it's global, in which case it could well be a rounding error. um you know it's it's it's It's all I know is that, that that that that again, it's me skimming the surface of the of the the variety news, but um yeah, I lost 700,000 subscribers, which it's all about the content, man. And then when that's the thing, it's like, this isn't stuff, so.
00:20:43
Speaker
you know you know my like aversion to these kind of like the how far my eyes roll to the back of my head when people are starting to talk about like Nielsen ratings and stuff but but it's like stuff like this it's like Disney didn't find out from Variety. Like, we we all we you we know that. They're like, Variety doesn't release those numbers, and Disney goes, whoa, wait a minute. um So they've known, whatever these numbers are, they've known for a long time, for a whole quarter. um And this is stuff that they project and they and they they account for. So they've, we're getting this this news, in my opinion, probably three to six months late. Like, they knew this was happening.
Deep Dive into 'Severance'
00:21:24
Speaker
But also,
00:21:25
Speaker
I'm curious of what like you and I both know that it's it it only matters in relation to What's your like capex is and like what other people's numbers are like did Netflix get? 700,000 more members because I'll tell you now I've canceled in the last three months and I'm usually the person who's like all that stuff just right because I don't want to deal with canceling I've been canceled memberships left and right like it's just It's not necessarily because of the content. Like it is a little bit of the content, but it's like, you know, it's different times right now than like, yeah, I'll ramp it back up. And like, it's a different kind of model than before. Like I canceled my, just five days ago, I canceled my Amazon Prime membership and I think I've been a member since it started.
00:22:15
Speaker
yeah Like, I mean, my, my purchases go all the way back to like 2006. So I finally answered. So it's like, it's just a different time. And I think, I, I think they're, I hope they're still going to create content. Maybe though we won't get the, the, the, the huge acolyte level budgets or anything like that. But I mean, they have to keep creating content though. Oh, I'm retaining it. I mean, I was talking to, I was talking to,
00:22:44
Speaker
When I was on the Star Wars spelt out, you know, um podcasts, we were talking about, we were talking a little bit about subscribers and and the idea of kind of losing, of not only budgeting when it comes down to, um when it comes down to new content, but retaining our ah existing content,
00:23:11
Speaker
I mean, subscription services like Netflix, like Disney Plus, not only are they there to promote new content, they're also there as a library of of existing content. And and yeah um I'll never ever get over the way that they axed Willow so so so down quickly. um um method really I'll never really understand that.
00:23:38
Speaker
um residuals. Yeah, sure. But but we' you're not talking about, you know, with with with respect, you're not talking about AAA actors. They would have a particularly amazing um ah contract yeah out of it. um I guess the writing credits and um The creative may well have more equity in me in the series But but but it's ah it's a write-off if you write it off completely then you can write off the entire production ah for your taxes. Yeah um Yeah, yeah, it's it's it it's it's disappointing disappointing The the last bit of news I want to talk to you about independently later on because of your
00:24:31
Speaker
Because of your expertise, your experience around Disney parks, I wanted to use the last bit of news that I picked on. ah If you like, um because we have a quiet week, there's not a lot going on in Star Wars news. There's not a lot going in on a news in general. um But because we do have a quiet week this week, I was wondering if we could spend a little bit of time on the last bit of news a little bit later on. so i'm go to I'm going to put a pin in that and then just ah move over to um what you've been consuming, all of these things that now that things have somewhat settled down for you in the last week or so, what have you been catching up on?
00:25:16
Speaker
So the big the big thing that I caught up on that I committed to um was I caught up on Severance, but not just that. um It's being here at back home and stuff. it's It's hard to just watch stuff on the television if like my mom hasn't seen it. So I rewatched all of season one i with her and then like we got Madison on board and then we we blasted through the first three episodes of season two. And I'll be honest,
00:25:46
Speaker
I thought I was ready to just jump straight into season two. I'm really happy he that I rewatched season one. There was. I wish I had. There's so much I forgot. yeah I am so confused.
00:26:06
Speaker
i it was a good It was a good rewatch. So if you have the time, I would i would encourage it. It's not that long. There's only nine episodes. Right.
00:26:18
Speaker
And it's I think it's better. It's something I wish I would have watched a second time the first time I watched it. and But I think I was so pissed. I'm like, I'm ready for season two. What's happening? yeah There's so much more you pick up on. And like, you're not just overwhelmed by the some of the creepiness of it. Yeah.
00:26:37
Speaker
Mike, you can see more nuance and things. It's like, where you watch it. I mean, you watch Skeleton Truth nine times. So i think you have you you you I'm preaching to the choir here. ah Yeah. Yeah, I caught up on that, man. and How are you finding it? How are you finding it? Because i mean i love I love the whole, I love the weirdness that is reverence. I love it.
00:26:58
Speaker
um I love it. it's it's It reminds me of Lost, obviously, yeah where there's times where I'm like, is this is this even gonna matter? ah what's the smoke Where's the smoke monster? But no, i'm for season two, i'm I'm almost glad I waited until right now to do it because I think I would have been, I would have had a bad taste in my mouth very ever so slightly if I only would have seen like the first episode, the first season two episode one.
00:27:28
Speaker
sure Cause it was just so, like i i I never like it when they do like a season cliffhanger, something big's about to happen. And then like the very first episode, it feels like the whole thing was undone. yeah It's like, oh, none of it mattered. But then as you see, like, cause I'm impatient, ah like our most, like most of us iPad kids these days. I'm not an iPad kid, but, um Season episode two and seven three are like make it give you more context to like oh, it's not all undone. There's still ah Still stuff going on, but no dude. I'm digging it like it's It's such a well done show yeah And the actors the acting is just Unreal um How good they are? ah Patricia Arquette deserves a
00:28:17
Speaker
That's her name, right? I feel like I'm saying that name wrong. She deserves whatever a award would go to this kind of show, like, for best acting. Like, that is... It's so real, you almost feel like it's just who she is. Just rule. Yeah, for sure.
00:28:37
Speaker
And I love that it's not they don't fall into, like I'm kind of and purposely avoiding things in case people want to just hear a little bit about it without going too deep in. But I like that it doesn't seem to go down those tropes of like, I think what i what kind of grates me so much about like some of the Filoni stuff or some of the other shows that are coming out these days where it's like,
00:28:58
Speaker
it dive They dive too deep into every little thing having meaning and like like yeah they give you give you like an immediate return on your investment of like, oh, what does that mean? And here's the answer. And then here's the answer. It's like, no, they just let it flow and they let it be weird. And there's some stuff that like, yeah, you you're not going to get an answer on that yet because we're going
00:29:21
Speaker
I don't know. It's more of a natural flow of the story. I'm just um really liking it. I'm liking some of the new people that they've introduced in season two. ah Yeah, dude. what a like what are you i'm i'm ba I'm rambling. What are your i mean when you season two thoughts? Well, season two, Gwendolyn Christie introduced into episode three. that was without giving yeah without but We'll will we'll but try and be spawn of three for those that haven't seen it yet. but um Yeah, Gwendolyn Christie, she's introduced into episodes three and she plays a character that is slightly unhinged. And all of that, all of that, the purpose of her role and her colleagues role in the, in the organization, I have no idea what they're doing. I have absolutely zero idea what they're doing. I'm loving every second of it.
00:30:19
Speaker
um But um yeah, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm loving the show. I'm loving the show. it It's my kind of weird. Yeah, it's really my kind of weird, um which I really appreciate. ah The acting is phenomenal. The production values are phenomenal. The the emotional, um the emotional investment I have in the show is is high.
00:30:50
Speaker
um And I'm looking forward to the wreck to to to to finding out just what on earth is going on. I kind of understand the ah the the baseline parameters. I understand what the you know what the the ultimately What the goal is, is essentially, spoilers if you haven't seen season one, um is is is ah is our hero's wife alive or not. um I'm not giving a away for season two. That was but was very much season one if you haven't seen it by now, Ben. What are you doing? um you know But but they the main premise being main premise being that he's trying to find out if his if his wife is still alive.
00:31:37
Speaker
um um but see but this But everything that's driving that narrative, driving that story is so insane. yeah yeah and you don't And you don't know how does it serve the narrative. How does it serve the narrative? What's it got to do with the objective? I love that. I absolutely love that kind of weird.
00:32:01
Speaker
Well, it's a genius concept. like So for though if if if you're not familiar with severance, um the the the gist, what so to my point, the the the reason I think it's such a genius thing is like I love when stories can find like a storytelling trope or like a like some kind of new mechanic that you haven't seen before that makes some of the common sense stuff like puts a barrier between like comments and storytelling. yeah So it's like, okay, so yeah, when there's certain people who are called severed, ah when they go down, when they go to work, you go down the elevator in like, it's like two versions of you. ah a you're Your work version has no memories of who you are.
00:32:48
Speaker
ah you know You still know things. like You know that people work. You know how to walk, talk, do all that stuff. It's just like your identity, like your your your sense of self and you whatever. It's like you're a fundamentally different person. You don't know anything about family, whatever, whatever. And and then you go back up to the elevator and then you convert back to this. And so there's no there's no connected tissue between either one.
00:33:10
Speaker
But this person is, their only memories are being at work. It's a totally different person. And you're so like they go into the elevator at the end of the day and they come back door, the elevator door opens back up and they come back into work. They don't sleep. They don't anything like that. And so it's it's. And there's no way for them to like communicate up and down with their other person because they don't let that happen. You can't bring like letters into the elevator because there's detectors that like even if you consume like it's it's just very funny of like, oh, what would you do if you needed to communicate with the other version of you? And they like they have restrictions that don't let you do that, like how
00:33:50
Speaker
How would that work? ah It's there's just some really genius. Everything with Helly, I think is, like when that was revealed, season one, I'm like, ah, chef's kiss. one I love every minute of it. It make an all makes so much sense. ah If you're not watching it, god, please watch it. Binge it. Binge it like this weekend. and then come join us for next week. um there's There's something, well what was I gonna say about season two? Season two is very interesting because obviously you're picking up on what you were talking about a minute ago about like, is his wife alive? But they've also introduced, we're into spoilers. They're they like mark Mark is important.
00:34:38
Speaker
Like he, he is the, Mark S is critical yeah to something. And that's, you know, yeah everybody who listens knows my favorite thing to do is to a little cockadoody speculating. So it's like, ooh, ooh, what, what are they doing?
00:34:53
Speaker
What are they doing down there? Like, there is the the clear connotations of, if you have a severed workforce, you basically got free slave labor. Like, of doing whatever the hell you want. Like, you there's no workplace, anything. It's just, you can have to do whatever the hell you want.
00:35:13
Speaker
ah But then it's like, oh, but you always felt like there was something else going on and with his wife and with Mark and the things that they're doing. Oh, that's not the real work. There's something else going on there. And I'm curious if you have thoughts of what that might be. I have no idea. I have no idea. I know it has something to do with you. I mean, it's something to do with him because Patricia Raquette's character is hell bent on and finishing the work that she's doing.
00:35:44
Speaker
through Mark. So yeah so so it's it's <unk> I've got no idea. um I think it's I mean, bearing in mind, I mean, the task that they do, the job they do, I I i don't I don't really understand it if I'm perfectly honest with you. The scary numbers. Yeah, because they're collecting the numbers and and and putting them in a in a in a file and um He is, it that is his job, that is his work. um When they actually sit on their ass and then actually get some work done. Seems to spend a lot of time drinking coffee. But anyway. um You've worked at an office, you know. A complete office. There's no complete office for sure, that's for sure. Yeah, but um yeah, no, he is important. ah Whatever he's doing, he's close to it.
00:36:40
Speaker
and i He's close to achieving what she is looking for, and and I don't know what that means. It is proving a proving a theorem. I have no idea. No idea, but it's intriguing. But a but you're absolutely right.
00:37:01
Speaker
My cockatootie speculating is that it has some well, it's it has taken a weird almost borderline religious turn Yes, yeah even harder than it was previous like yes e with especially with the haircuts of some people it's like oh are we is this very ah stereotypically like ah religious cult kind of territory. yeah I think i think my my prediction is I wonder if it has something to do with like life extension or like life preservation ah for people like is how alive is his wife because ah Mrs. Cobell
00:37:42
Speaker
Patricia our cat like she always looks at that like breathing hose like she carries that thing with her with Name on it, but I don't think it's hers I don't think it's maybe it's from her when she was a kid or was it she had a kid and like I wonder if they're doing some kind of experimentation of like life extension and how that can Engage with people who are still alive um Like mark which will play which will play into the founders, right? I should point to that theory of the founders. um the The founder that never dies because they're always, yeah and they want to sever everybody because they're like, oh we they they they've said that in their their little chant meetings. They're like, we really want to get out there and have everybody be severed to almost be like an alternate reality and automated kind of stuff. It's wild. If you people are still listening and they've never watched a show, they're like, what the fuck are they talking about? Yeah. No, it's it's great. It really is great. He ended up, I said it, my car wins. And when there's some good stuff out there at the moment, but it's really it's relatively safe,
00:38:50
Speaker
um um i like I like a little bit of risk like this. It's it's it's good fun. Really good fun. Again, Apple apple TV, killing it. Absolutely killing it. They seem to figure out that advertising thing. That's crazy, isn't it?
00:39:07
Speaker
Absolutely crazy. What else, dude? We've been continuing with a little King of the Hill rewatches. Still still funnier than hell. I can't believe I haven't rewatched that show sooner.
00:39:22
Speaker
um What else? My access to my movies at home went down, more had been remote, and so I've been very distraught about that, but that'll hopefully get resolved this weekend. Outside of that, dude, it's been mostly, um i tried to get my fan I tried to get him to watch Blitz the other day. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And everybody looked at me with dead eyes, and they're just like, where's Heavy going?
00:39:51
Speaker
They're like, it's two hours long. I'm like, then what do you want to watch? And they're like, how about we look at antique depression glass videos on YouTube? It's like, whatever. All right, we can do that. Well, we can we can watch onieca videos in and in defense of your family. It is. It is heavy going, man. um It's it's a it's a hard watch because some of the. Some of the insight or some of the um Yeah, some of the insight that they give in the, shall we say, more shady or underground world of London during the Second World War is not is not pleasant.
00:40:28
Speaker
They wouldn't watch anyways. They would've just been on their iPads. They'd be playing in solitaire and stuff and be like, who's that person? What are they doing? it's like Pay attention. I've been catching up on pods and stuff, though, besides that. just ah clearly try Really trying to catch up on a lot of that stuff. um And I've got an exciting project coming up that I can't really talk about yet, but it should be it should be ready by next...
00:40:55
Speaker
next week though so hold on to that not too exciting like that's temporary expectations ah like I'm not steal I'm not in Star Wars so no well no yes scale that back yeah yeah yet yet give it time yet give it time sever me and put me in Star Wars please so um I ah done a bit of reading done a bit of reading um being been ah again spending money um there's a there's a there's a season of ah There's a series of Blade Runner graphic novels that I'm getting quite addicted with it follows a It follows a particular um Blade Runner female Blade Runner Over a
00:41:47
Speaker
over a ah several decades. And um I bought the latest three book, three book um box set of that. And I've, I've, um I'm getting through that, um as we speak, which is cool, because I'm, I'm very, very, very heavily getting back into my graphic novels.
00:42:14
Speaker
Um, playing a little bit of Mad Max and the whole books legacy, estee debt but I must admit I'm, I'm kind of, I'm kind of not, I'm not doing it with Ernest. I need to get back into it because um I really want to finish Mad Max, uh, knowing having played that game on the console. Um, I loved it. I absolutely loved it. And I need to kind of get my groove back and, um, and, uh, start playing it a little bit more still listening to, um,
00:42:44
Speaker
all my favorite pods from my favorite creators, and many, many ah many of which are our friends, um still in particular loving Going Rogue. I've nearly finished the lot now because um but um the I don't think she's launched, i so I don't think she's released any for quite a while now. So I've nearly finished that.
00:43:09
Speaker
Dude, I don't know if you listened to the latest Blue Harvest or maybe this too will go and on. I'm smashing through all of them. But like I think you deserve credit for the credit that I got through the Blue Harvest Patreon because I mentioned Going Rogue and then it's like it's like spreading like wildfire. But wow. I think it was Sam. Sam was like, oh man, Sean talked about it on the Patreon and that's incredible. Not well. and and Andy mentioned it and it's just spreading. It's a killer podcast.
00:43:38
Speaker
Excellent. Excellent. I wish you'd release some new content. It's not a lot there. It's not a lot there. and So that's kind of like listening, reading, and playing. um Watching, still watching Black Sales, Deb Woodin, and I need to catch up on June Prophecy. um i haven't so I haven't watched that one so for a while now. it's ah it's it's it's It's definitely on the list.
00:44:08
Speaker
as a priority, I need to catch up on that as as as soon as possible. However, I have been watching quite a few new things. um So I finished watching Shrinking, so Shrinking, again, Apple TV, finished season two, really, really good stuff. It actually, actually, actually, it kind of leaves it hanging as to whether it's going to be a season three or not. I i haven't checked.
00:44:36
Speaker
i'm I'm assuming there will be, but it's a very, very, very, very, very, very good finale. um Finish Rope Heroes, which was the, either told you last time, the yeah the story of the SAS, which isn't a particularly duty subject that I was particularly into knowing more about, but it's written by the same guys that did Beauty Blinders.
00:45:03
Speaker
So hence the reason why I got into that. Finish the game show The Traitors. Again, that's a game show in the UK, which is also available in the US as well, whereby it's kind of like basically a game show where think of Survivor, anything like that. It's another one of those. What else is there? Oh, and then I went on a rampage. I went on a rampage to to just kind of, I don't know, maybe ah just just a case of yeah know what's ah what's on the what's in the library at the moment of, of think I think I was messing around with Prime and I was messing around with ah with Netflix over and over a period of a week or so and just watching watching stuff that came to came to mind and catching up on a few
00:45:59
Speaker
um
00:46:02
Speaker
films I hadn't seen for quite a while. So I burned through the Neil Blonkamp films again. thats So but i went I did District 9, Elysium and Chappie. Burned through those, that was great.
00:46:17
Speaker
um Burned through um The Creator. um And the reason why is that that i I reminded myself the the last time that I'd spoken to Catherine on a podcast was New Year's Day, well, New Year's Eve, sorry, of last year ah where Chris and I spoke with her about, talked to her about our love of of the creator, which of course was directed by Gareth Edwards. And um it it got me in the mood for watching it. So I ended up watching that.
00:46:52
Speaker
um lucy had her fix during the week in that you know she likes a good monster movie so we ended up um going down the rabbit hole of pacific rim one and two nice which um they're very good but one in particular the yemo del toro um film is is it just it's just it's just so it's just so full of cheese it's fantastic Yeah, that was that so we saw that Film I'd never seen before two films. I've never seen before monster hunter. Yeah, you seem a monster hunter. I think I have I think it was like in the background when I was doing something though. Yeah a monster hunter. I think it's Miller lots of rich in it that Monster hunter is it's a
00:47:50
Speaker
w Is it her husband? I think it's her husband. Hang on a second. I'm sure it's I'm sure it's her husband, W.S. Anderson. What's his name?
00:48:04
Speaker
um Paul? Paul Anderson, that's it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So 2020 film, Paul W.S. Anderson. Of course, it's she's going to start because That's his missiles. And it's okay. It's okay. It's not, it's not, um it's not the dead but the the but the best film in the world. I mean, the best part of it is that our buddy, Ron Pullman, Ron Pullman makes a cameo about, I don't know, um as ah as the leader of um the people of another planet, um about
00:48:49
Speaker
fourth, fifth of the way through the movie. So almost towards the end, ah up comes Ron Perlman, playing classic Ron Perlman. So playing Ron Perlman. Exactly. Exactly. So that was good fun. um And then lastly, last night I watched I don't know if you've ever seen A Quiet Place. ah Yeah. One and two. So i um So I enlisted the, was it Emily Blunt and her husband? Um, husband is the, is the, is the creator of according to his name. Come on. John Krasinski. That's the one straight out of the office. That's the dude. Um, it's his, it's his baby and they were in one and two. Um, really, really, I liked those films. I liked those films. They're, they're kind of, you know, they're not, they're not big.
00:49:44
Speaker
big blockbuster sci-fi, but I like the um ah like the premise. It's very, very simple. Anyway, I call that place Day One, so it's a prequel, um is now available. I think it was on Netflix, I saw it. Either way, we'll be on Prime, one or the other. I saw that last night, and that was a really, really good film. Really, really good film. That's the one with the cat, right? Yeah, that's right. Have you seen it then?
00:50:10
Speaker
Yes, yeah, my i I always laugh, because i when whenever I think about that film, I'm like, dude, my cat's, i my movie would have been five minutes long. yeah And it's like, they won't shut up. And I'm like, I'm dead. Boop, boop, dead. Yeah. Yeah. So no, I enjoyed i enjoyed that. um And then today, um I have started watching on my wish list,
00:50:36
Speaker
Um, or on my, my list of things that I need to watch of which it's extensive and growing daily. In fact, every time I talk to you, I seem to add a new one arm. Um, there is, um, I've started watching three body, uh, a series called three body problem. Um, and the reason i why, this the the reason why I'm watching it is because Benedict, I like Benedict Wong for start and he's,
00:51:02
Speaker
who plays one of the protagonists in the um and the story, and I've made my way through the first couple of episodes, and so far it's a good... um i might I might have to catch up with you on that, because i that's on my list as well. and i need that it's quite It's quite intelligent. At the moment it seems to be quite intelligent, the way that it's... I like that about it it. It seems to be... It's on... Yeah, it's on Netflix.
00:51:29
Speaker
But it seems to be of the caliber of something that's unexpected on Apple TV. Does that make sense? Yeah, yeah it's it's quite smart.
00:51:40
Speaker
it's um And again, i I don't know where it's going at the moment, but certainly the first two episodes um have me intrigued. It's it's it's he's my curiosity. um So i ah I'm going to keep going with that at the moment. And yeah, tell me what you think, man. I mean, this watch the first what's the first couple to let me know? um Because maybe it's something we could talk about.
00:52:07
Speaker
but sure Yeah, because I know that's one of the – I know it's one that everybody was talking about for a while, and it seems to be one of those shows that that needs to have a lot of YouTube videos explaining it. So it's like, oh, I think that's that's kind of right up my alley of like maybe a little bit meatier than King of the Hill and other things. yeah yeah yeah so ah so Yeah, it's been a busy couple of weeks consuming. That's the place I'm finding myself in at the moment. So, hell, I might as well make it work for myself.
00:52:41
Speaker
I did forget, ah I have been playing a lot of Mario Kart on the Switch. kids um Because he's a lot of the the younger generation, like my my cousin and my brother's kids are all about that age where they're they're all playing Switch and stuff like that. And it's like, oh, can your uncle Sean play? And up and leaving them in the dust.
00:53:05
Speaker
I've been whooping, whooping on some kids. And I was like, oh, I haven't played Switch in a while. Let me kind of mind if I hop in and play some Mario Kart 8. You know, just let me play one winner. Just no, not holding back. It's like, let's do, let's, let's do higher CCs. Let's do... You're teaching them a valuable lesson.
00:53:30
Speaker
Yeah, and it's been been fun. I've been enjoying it. They don't ask me to play as much now. It's not fair. Uncle Sean doesn't let me win. You're cheating. You're cheating. Oh, you're just cheating. It's like, but I don't know how much problem is.
00:53:48
Speaker
That's it. We've been doing a lot of that. That's the first lesson in live disappointment. Thank you. good yeah yeah Excellent. So, excellent. So we have been busy. um What I wanted to talk to you about, and ah again, the reason why I wanted to talk to you about is that I know you have, um I know you'll be quite modest about this, but you have You kind of have more of an insight into how Disney Parks works than the the the most people I know in that you used to work there. It's no secret. We've talked about it before. ah One of the things I wanted to talk to you about, and it kind of ah kind of also
00:54:35
Speaker
aligns itself with conversations that you and I have have had in recent weeks and months about, you know, what does the future look like for Disney
Disney Parks and Imagineering
00:54:44
Speaker
Plus? What does the future look like for Disney Parks? What does the future look like for Star Wars? um And basically, as part of the news, we found out recently that the galactic star cruiser facilities are to be repurposed as offices. Ironically, I believe for the innovation team, who are responsible, who are actually responsible for but but kind of pulling all of that team. Is it called the innovation team or the... ah The Imagineers? The Imagineers team. I believe that and it's it's going to become their offices.
00:55:23
Speaker
I mean, cool officer. Don't get me wrong. I mean, I'd love to. I'd love to work there. You'd see me. You wouldn't see me for dust if I was offered a job there. But, um, yeah, uh, I just want to know your thoughts, man. I mean, cause I mean, we, we Disney part, how can I put it?
00:55:45
Speaker
How can I put it? Galaxy's edge launched and, uh, with, you know, with a lot of eyes on the towers, there's a lot of investment there. um It's still very, very busy. It's still very, very popular. um But what, in your mind, does the future look like for Disney parks and in particular, I mean, does it not seem crazy to you that a facility that costs millions and millions and millions to create is being repurposed this way? I mean, I just want to know your thoughts, man.
00:56:23
Speaker
So um first, i will just al'llbeit I'll do a disclaimer. If I'm not an expert on a lot of things, so there's did the Disney parks, from my opinion, are a very,
00:56:41
Speaker
interesting window into a much larger company and entertainment kind of and kind of thing. they If you look at the history of them, of Disney, as a company, even going back into the 80s, Michael Eisner period, things like that,
00:57:02
Speaker
and The parks have always been a very unique kind of magnifying glass into the the mentality and the future kind of ah horizon for the company and their investments and how they're doing. It's very interesting because the stuff that goes on in the parks is so, it takes so long to do to do anything that you you know about stuff way, way ahead of things. So you know when where the investments are going. You know, oh, disney'srk Disney's currently affording money or they're or theyre their spending. like It kind of goes in these kind of up and down swings of like, oh
00:57:48
Speaker
You know, 9-11 happens and we they they halt all projects and things and it goes into money hoarding mode. um And then years later, they they do a bunch of stuff right now but as like a higher level. I'll talk about that that building specifically in a second. To be clear, I'm not like a Disney adult. I'm actually... um actually kind of anti-Disney parks because because of the Disney adult stuff. I'll disclaimer that too. um But right now they are pumping a ton of money into the parks and parks development. um There's some negative sides of that though too with like the Disney Vacation Club and some kind of the premier things. But it's very,
00:58:32
Speaker
that This to me this this whole thing was an experiment from the beginning and The things that they do at the parks and the way the inner Imagineering stuff works with them where it's Imagineering is not just a way to make cool rides in the park. It's also like the volume. It's a way to for the company to make money, create patents, ah resell that stuff. And so I think this was probably one of the more expensive things that they've done.
00:59:03
Speaker
where it's it's an experiment into an alternative form of ah hotel stay, park experience ah for a premier level guest, things like that. wait I think they knew all along that it it's not something that's going to be in the for the long run because it doesn't have a lot of return value.
00:59:25
Speaker
um But I think what were what they don't talk about is I think there was a lot of R and&D development for for patents and things like that with the lightsaber training um and all the other kind of character-based. Can we do a live-in situation like a cruise where it's more immersive with characters, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera? I think there was... It's kind of the culmination of eight different departments coming together and being like, Hey, can we, you guys, if we kick in like all of our budgets a little bit, we could, we could spend a lot of money and it will benefit all of us. and so in So it's what I call a skunk work. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
01:00:08
Speaker
But they're not making the B2 bomber or the F-117. there they're therere it's that To me, it's more of a collaboration between a lot of different groups. It's like the R&D, the legal side things. And as such, you think that they were prepared to write it off at some point?
01:00:31
Speaker
I think they knew that there was going to be a that like there was a deadline on paper. she us that A part of the proposal, they're like, we do not think that that it'd be fantastic if it did. ah But there is a shelf life and then here is the cutoff date for When we're gonna stop pumping money into this for whether it's contracts through the actors and things like that And I think it was a ah pie in the sky skunkworks. I think that's why it didn't get a dedicated plot Like it's still within the parks um It's not like off as a hotel on its own it's not big and it's not a seven
01:01:11
Speaker
five thousand room a cruise ship or whatever it's small it's very very small very very tight um i think they got what they wanted out of it like i don't think the people there see it i'm sure there's some people to do i think the the people behind it don't see it as a failure because i'm sure there's a lot of stuff that came from that that is either that's been patented and they're reselling or they're repurposing into other places, like the cruise ships, ah other hotel experiences, other immersive experiences,
01:01:44
Speaker
um where it's kind of, I mean, you've worked in business stuff long enough where it's like, it's not as simple as what everybody assumes. It's like, hey, how do we get, like live in actors?
01:01:56
Speaker
to do improv, like how can we source these people? Can we source these people? Can we pay them? Can we like, how what do they cost? Like how long do people stay in those kinds of positions when they're doing this stuff day in and day out, putting this makeup on constantly? Like no one's really done a lot of this stuff before. So it's more of an experiment into how far can we take immersive living?
01:02:20
Speaker
Yeah, how how far can we take the show and blend it outside the the boundaries of the park and into the hotels, not just Star Wars, but just the characters or a lived in real story experience. And I think this was, like I said a minute ago, it's like, I think this was eight different departments and eight different p things coming together and being like,
01:02:42
Speaker
Yeah, this this solves all of our needs. It's gonna cost a ton of money, but in Disney money, it's nothing. like there's like and ah So the transition to an Imagineering building, which i that's probably the most interesting thing I think I've heard out of all of it.
01:02:59
Speaker
because it's, one, the fact that they made an announcement. That's that's weird. like that's that like though They make announcements about everything, but the fact that it got picked up by so much stuff, because they turn stuff into executive offices all the time. like That's just their way of like gutting it. they They sell the resources. ah They'll take them out to the boneyard, then they auction all of it off.
01:03:20
Speaker
et cetera, et cetera, but the fact that they have a plan to turn this into Imagineering offices on property in in a park so close to the Star Wars like land, that to me, this is cocky duty speculating. That signals to me that it's, oh, it's not an ah it's not offices as in they rip everything down in its much cubicles. It is a a staging,
01:03:47
Speaker
area maybe? Maybe we're saying it yeah way that they can a way that they can do stuff close to the park. Like an experience center or something. ah Or it's just a way, it's a building that Imagineering can use to be working on stuff that is going to be going directly in that park. And vi it do have a tire cycle instead of stuff that's off-property. um It's where you would stage new ah new experiences, but then then bring them out into the park. like do You could do that tighter iteration and tighter looping.
01:04:21
Speaker
for like, oh, we're going to try out a new character. We're going to try out some new digital experience, like those robots, like the little Huey Dewey and Louie bots. They need somewhere to do that. like that's And so you could set that up as an imaginary facility to to do maintenance and servicing, have your satellite crew there instead of putting them in a truck and doing it off-site or remotely. So that's what that screams to me. It's like, I love that, man.
01:04:48
Speaker
and I love that concept. because you because if they were bitter you completely chat You've completely me on this. except they were just turning it into like, like but one, Disney's not gonna make a bunch of executive level offices or like financial offices and put it there. like yeah that they have They have plenty of room for that elsewhere. That's not like the proximity. It's that's the thing. It's the proximity to, and the access to the parks where it's like, oh, this is gonna be, there there was at the Magic Kingdom, there's a place called Central Shops.
01:05:26
Speaker
In this is in Florida. This is where they do all of the The 3d printing all of the fiberglass casting all of the mechanical work all of the maintenance on actual rides like oh We're gonna redo the ride vehicles. Yeah, like there's a big boat. It's it's close to the parks, but it's not Super like it's just on the outside but like it's still kind of a pain to get in and get in there and having something this close and this tight with Imagineering actually in there, like if it's actually gonna be them or again, Imagineering offshoot or like related to them, like there's and to me, there's just no way that this is not gonna be related to bringing Imagineering closer because of new experiences or whatever they're gonna be doing in the park. That's my take on this.
01:06:19
Speaker
that that A, that's super positive, and i love I love positive. You know I love positive. It's what we're about. A, that's a lot more positive than the message that I perceive. So that's great. But B, it kind of also segues nicely into the question I had. How do you keep Galaxy's Edge vibrant? How do you keep it? How do you keep it? Because I have every intention to go one day. Yeah.
01:06:51
Speaker
every intention to go one day. I had not been. I am hoping that, you know, the next announcement, when you guys leave Tokyo, the announcement is that the next, the next, um the next celebrations in Anaheim, for example,
01:07:09
Speaker
um in which case I will, I will go down and back to to to to to make it. ah um The point being is that is that is that um yeah how do you keep it relevant when the they call it the the content not the content what is it called the a when the entertainment has changed significantly since the theme of Galaxy's Edge today?
01:07:43
Speaker
So Galang's Edge is very much focused on today, is very much focused on the sequel trilogy. How do you keep that vibrant and and keep that going when, if you like, the entertainment has kind of switched to other time periods, are ah other parts of of the universe? um and you know I mean, i'm i'm ah yeah know i'm still on this i'm like I'm still on this pirate shtick. It would be great to get to to to make more out of the Honda and Acura, and there I say, skeleton crew stuff in there, it seems to be primed for that kind of um um ah subject matter. But I'd love to know your thoughts as to how you think that, you know, I've never experienced, i I don't know how they keep, how do you keep a ah ride going for 20 years, for example? How do you keep an experience going for so long
01:08:42
Speaker
without without tweaking it to current. so they little power So you i'm I'm going to assume that you have you have worked for a large company at some point in time in your life. Yeah.
01:08:58
Speaker
and do you know that like something that normal people would say, oh like oh, why don't they just do this? That actually means that there's probably 500 people that are involved in that one but one seemingly innocuous thing. um So it's like so what's funny, is it' like I think there's a lot of people who assume Galaxy's Edge hasn't changed.
01:09:21
Speaker
like it is It's still the the same as when it opened or <unk> around that same time. And when it opened, it was hell-bent on being a like deeply immersive experience. The cast members like had to speak the goofy language. And it was like, we are dead set in the time period between, like in the sequel trilogy. like this is real. Like you would talk about the park, like you come to the tunnel, you talk about like, oh, we have reservations. And they look at you go like, reservations were off world or I don't understand what you're talking about. It's yeah like, you're it you're in a like a like one of those places where it's like, oh, they pretend to be old timey. And they're like, ah like a windfare kind of thing. Or it's like, oh, we don't know what no fancy computers kind of that kind of thing.
01:10:12
Speaker
And they've definitely eased up on that, and it's also introducing Boba Fett and those kind of people. And there have been massive changes. And I'm hoping somebody puts a book out about it one day. because i've I mean, I've read i've read stories from like insiders and stuff, but I really hope somebody documents it like the mike one of my favorite books, Disney War, which is for about the Michael Eisner period. And just like how the internal- Is that the period where the Will the shareholders rebel? so yes so the where the The board rebelled against the story? Yes, that's exactly it. It starts with the deaths in the beginning and then Michaelizer taking control. All the amazing stuff he did up to the over like kind of the overthrow by
01:11:01
Speaker
ah God, what's his name, Roy? ah Roy's son and all the shareholders and like the hostel takeover and all that stuff. It's an amazing book. If you're into that kind of thing and you're interested in the kind of Disney history of all that ah and Michael Eisner and just all of the weird stuff that comes with him, I'm hoping somebody does that with this because I already know that there's galaxy's edge was like a risk as it was and there was supposed to they wanted it to be more like they wanted there to be more rides and that's why when you do visit like this isn't a spoiler for anybody like there's areas that are like what like what is this like you just like if you stop and really look you're like why
01:11:44
Speaker
Why would you build this? But then like you go into the history and someone's like, oh, it was actually gonna be da da da da da da da, these other things. And so there has always been this kind of, because of budgetary reasons, et cetera, et cetera, financial outlooks, then there's always been this kind of mentality towards like, it is constant improvement, continuous improvement, ah continuous change, but it's like so trying to steer a ah ah container ship.
01:12:07
Speaker
Yeah, it's like it's like yeah, they've so they've already started putting the groundwork in for ah Like adapting The okay, so pause rewind like two seconds the rise of the resistance
01:12:24
Speaker
Ride the big the big one not the money that thing is Probably the source of a lot of the problems that people see with galaxies edge Like that's the reason why there hasn't been as much change yet Because that thing was an absolute money pit and continues to be one even though it's an amazing ride. It's just it was a lot of new technology a lot of stuff that didn't survive the like day-to-day use, like 30,000 people a day, ah similar for fun fun Disney fact, similar to the Everest ride in Animal Kingdom, which is a big mountain coaster that you go around and you go up and then you stop.
01:13:08
Speaker
you're facing up on a broken track and then you start like the track flips behind you and then you go back then you're going backwards yeah kind of back to the same thing but then you go through something else there's a giant yeti in there that opened originally and the thing is so damn big that they they couldn't like And it's an animatronic, so it's like trying to swipe at you. It is so big and so powerful. If they let it run at its full pack, at its normal operating thing, it's ripping the mountain apart. Like it's ripping the ride apart. So it's like, it's that kind of thing where it's like, they didn't know how strong this would be or whatever. Like the engineering was a little bit off, similar to this stuff, like the Star Wars rides where it's like,
01:13:51
Speaker
It's all great on paper until you realize that the giant guns that are shooting are like, oh, we can't have those moving all the time. It's causing it to break down. And so you're pumping money into that and it's delaying other projects. Right. But you see you see the trend. You see the trend that it's like, okay, we do need to make it more generic. Like the the shine has worn off a little bit that we don't need to be hellbent and committed to having Ray and Kylo fighting like it's,
01:14:21
Speaker
right now, like yeah yeah um you didn't get a time capsule. So they they are making those shifts. I know from what people say that some of the things they're working on are are more adaptation, trying to turn the Falcon ride into a more um dynamic experience instead of that same thing. And you we're starting to see that with the Mando stuff being introduced and kind of those, that variability of different storylines and things like that.
01:14:51
Speaker
while still getting massive numbers of people through. It'll be less experiential, is what you're saying. It's gonna be more... No, it's more experiential, but it's that same story. It's like, oh, we gotta go get the coaxium and do that same thing. It's like, how do we get more, kind of like Star Tours, where it's like, oh, this one, we're going to Tatooine. This one, we're going to Endor. Just change the logo. How do you make it dynamic with, okay, you have Hondo in the beginning who's kind of telling you what's going on. So like,
01:15:22
Speaker
can you split off of that or do you need to have it be by like day or by like a time period or like by groups and they're just kind of nailing down the the engineering of that. It's like, oh, maybe this month we do Mando stuff and they're all the same loop and they're Mando. I know the ideal goal is they would like it to be ah varied every time. But when you have pre-shows that are scripted of like,
01:15:44
Speaker
Hi, I'm hondo. This is my ship chewy's with you Uh, we need the coaxium and then you can't go in there and be like, hi, just kidding. We're on end or Fight me walks or something. Yeah because they Disney is like they do put like the quality of their entertainment experience above everything else. And so things do move is this It's the biggest it's the biggest business right? I mean it's it's a bigger business than than the than the entertainment itself. Have I got that but like the right or wrong? I'd have to look. it's it It didn't used to be. I know like movies movies and content licensing is frickin' massive. like i Not Disney Plus. like like Disney Plus, they all built these stupid streaming services knowing they're gonna be a money pit. yeah you like like Until the technology's there and it's all just basically free. But I think we're getting close to that.
01:16:41
Speaker
ah because they're all buying up all the cloud infrastructure. yeah yeah and all the and the process is a pretty like the but like the park of The parks are they are they are booming, especially at the moment where every like no matter how bad they say the economy and stuff is, everybody and their brothers tripping over themselves trying to go to these parks and do Just all these experiences that are that are like you look at the price tags I mean it's like it's insane like I'm I'm lucky enough like and I've always been lucky enough that like my dad was my dad served in the in the military and so we will always go with my mom like my mom will always go with us and she gets her military discounts and Yeah, and so because of some of the stuff that like people probably look at a picture I've done and be like well have the what are you talking about? It's like yeah, that was
01:17:31
Speaker
My mom was there and we got 40% off. So that's the only reason we got to do it. yeah But it's dadt's crazy. they they do make a They do to make a ton of money. And i given the the projects they have in motion, given the the multiple land expansions,
01:17:49
Speaker
like that i'm sure so they're doing massive expansions on a lot of parks they're doing revamp but expansions in the existing u.s parks they're doing like i think in japan they just tore down space mountain and they're building the new one next to it like they're doing insane amounts of money being dropped into these parks because i believe there is i believe there is a galaxy they just plan for japan right I get so confused about it because they announced it all close together. And I'm like, wait, what? I don't follow as tightly as I used to, but I can catch up. I'm not sure about Paris, but I thought I could be right. I could be right. It could be. I mean, it's easy for people to find that information, too. It's a rabbit hole, though, because they're constantly announcing their stuff at D23. But the point is, it's like, OK, all these projects are currently in motion, or they just started, or they're getting ready to be started.
01:18:42
Speaker
And that is years. of like work by thousands of people. And then now that's starting to clear up because once the project gets going, that's a different group of people. And so now you're seeing teams spin off, you're seeing contracts ah contract positions open up on the job sites of like spinning up for new projects, investigative things. It's like, I bet this is when we're gonna start seeing kind of the big phase two projects ramping up. If they're not already, I bet they're not Blue Sky,
01:19:12
Speaker
like Not the social network, but like ah green have a Greenfield. They're not Greenfield. um night there they're They're already in motion, but now you're going to see them start ramping up with people and really start pushing these projects forward. The projects that are currently in motion had to have taken forever and a ton of people to get moving, and now they're starting to open up. so that That's a very long-winded way of saying,
01:19:38
Speaker
i I know they will. It's just a matter of when and what size are they can continue to incremental or are they currently working on designing the the next big wave of of changes, filling it out, putting more characters, putting a parade through there, doing more interactive immersive experiences, doing that moving tile floor. How can they bring that thing in? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Doing all that kind of stuff.
01:20:04
Speaker
Yeah, I know that. I know that's slightly for quite a while now. Listen, man, I love talking to you about this kind of stuff. And I know that it's not, again, you know, I know you do not profess to be an expert at all, but you know, a stack more load more than I do about about this kind of stuff. And that that insight, I think is really, really interesting. And like I said, it's it's it's positive.
01:20:32
Speaker
a time when you know the you know world economy look like look like shit at the moment um and you've got ah big corporations talking about making losses and Letting people go and and certainly clawing back on the content um those kind of messages for me are a great or absolutely yeah great because um Yeah It Certainly when it comes down to Disney Parks, I my like i' ah i find the whole thing fascinating, absolutely fascinating. So that's cool man, thank you very much. And I love the Disney Parks, I love the people behind them, and this is why i've it's always been, it was always my dream as a kid to be an Imagineer. yeah And because it's like, no matter what the shareholders,
01:21:25
Speaker
share Shareholders want the line to go up. The executives are tasked with doing that. And that's where the news comes from. like The news is coming from that. that that's that That's the primary slant on what the news is going to announce. They're going to talk about.
01:21:41
Speaker
They're going to talk about the greed and the things that are happening right now. like what are What are the financials right this minute? but you have mean When I worked there, the Florida location employed over 60,000 people.
01:21:57
Speaker
Like just just for the parks, I'm not even like executive level stuff like that. Just like everybody involved that third shift, all that all crazy things. And it's like, there's a lot of people who want this to work and believe in kind of the the continued push for it. So it's like, if you if you zoom out and say,
01:22:16
Speaker
Yeah, the financials may be bad. they made people who get they're They're going to lay off contract positions. They're going to lay people off like, yeah, that stuff's and vo and unavoidable and it sucks. Not dismissing that, but there's still a lot of people who are there who want want to make cool stuff and make make magic if you if if you want to be cheesy about it, including content, including Stuff in the parks. It's like until like if they start saying they're gonna lay off 80% of the Disney workforce Okay, I think we have bigger bigger problems in the world going on if that's happening But it's like yeah I'm not dismissing the the plight of the individual But I do believe that there's a lot of good people and that's what's exciting. It's like it's positive because I
01:22:57
Speaker
If you, if you, if you step away from the news and kind of like look at some of the things that people are doing, it's like they want these projects to go through. They want to build cool, engaging experiences. So kids can live that dream. Yeah. and yeah yeah I mean, I, I mean, I see the, see the Imagineers in the same vein as the, as the folks at ILM, you know, I see, I see, I see, I see, I see these clever, innovative, forward looking,
01:23:26
Speaker
dynamic, exciting people, um thinking of ways to you know push the boundaries and and and i make i make things work. And and i would I hold them in the same vein or the same the same respect that I hold someone like Phil Tippett, for example.
01:23:44
Speaker
yeah and the but like Yeah, they're not making news about the things that Phil Tippett's doing. it's It's the bean counters. And that's where I want more people to see that. And it's like, you know yeah we don't we' got to focus on that. You can focus on like the fact that they built that cool men they but that cool razor crest and that camera rig because they wanted to. It's like, hell yeah, dude. More or stuff like that. Don't do it for $4 million dollars like to be realistic. like Keep doing it. That stuff's awesome. Yeah. Yeah.
01:24:15
Speaker
Yeah, on that note, where's my behind the scenes, or where's my Star Wars gallery show, Rascal and crew? Because Mr. Tippet and his crew were were were quite prominent, I understand, in the creature effects. Anyway, sorry, I'm going off on tangent. I bet you're getting it. I bet you will get it. I bet you will get it. What is it, February? I bet you could get it in March. You reckon and just hope just before celebration?
01:24:45
Speaker
That would be cool. That would be very, very cool and indeed. Mate, I'm glad we left this discussion to the end because, um like I said, ending on a high, ending with a little bit of positivity, ending on some insight that I never, ever, ever, but ever knew is great and really, really interesting. Anything else, buddy, that's them caught your attention this week or have we missed anything?
01:25:16
Speaker
not Not that I can think of if you're out there watch severance if you want to know more about the Disney parks Let me know I could tell you about the utilitors which are the under Underground corridors underneath the Magic Kingdom and I can also tell you what it's like to break into the old river country Waterpark when it was still closed and abandoned before they tore it down and build a bunch of condos. I can tell you about that. That's fun ah Yeah, it's a good old time
01:25:44
Speaker
Well, I should probably not.
Career Aspirations and YouTube Inspirations
01:25:45
Speaker
I should probably not talk about that stuff. My employee, my dream job is to be an Imagineer. By the way, you want to hear about breaking into places? Maybe I'll shoot for ILM Model Maker. Maybe I'll switch. On that point, I've been list watching an awful lot of Adam Savage. Adam Savage has been basically throwing out a whole bunch of content at the moment, pretty much on a daily basis. And I've been ah've been picking that up on um um i've I've been at YouTube. I've gone down the YouTube rabbit hole the last week or so as well. But that's not important.
Closing Remarks and Gratitude
01:26:22
Speaker
Buddy, thank you so much for recording again with me this week. Thank you to everyone for listening to us. um I hope you enjoyed us priding on as we as we normally do. It's very much our stick. Thank you for your friendship. Thank you for listening. ah Sure, my friend.
01:26:43
Speaker
Why don't you take us out? I can do that, and I'm not going to butcher it like I did the intro. yeah Once again, we really appreciate you spending your time with us. If you liked what you heard, make sure to subscribe and leave us a review. Don't forget to check out our website at justchillin.com for more awesome content and ways to connect.
01:27:06
Speaker
Yeah, you can get on our Instagram because Andy's going to send me that photo. I think I already have it. I think I can just grab it. Send me the photo of his sweater and I'm going to post that up there because it is awesome. I don't think we could do justice of how good that came out and I'm just going to keep talking about it because I'm incredibly impressed and I think it's really cool. Yeah, man. Thank you, Andy. Thanks for hopping on. Thanks, Royce.
01:27:30
Speaker
ah pushing me to do this, not that I don't want to, but I'm not good with scheduling. And and thanks to everybody for listening. I really appreciate it. I really do. And everybody who's reached out. And my pet this week is Willow, our good buddy Chris Hall's dog that likes to eat all the things he's supposed to. Excellent. Bye, guys. Look after of each other. Listen to your body. Stay safe. Stay happy. Stay beautiful. Bye. Bye. Bye.