Vicky, Nolan and Jill have watched a fair share of head-scratchers in their journey through the Disney canon. It's gotten to the point where, when watching a film from a certain era, our hosts of come to expect a few things. So when we popped on THE MOON-SPINNERS from 1964, there were certain expectations in place. There'd probably be some supernatural element, an extended gambling sequence, some slapstick hijinks, maybe some animal cruelty. What we got was a dark mystery that, at times, felt way more Hitchcock than Disney. Stolen treasure, subterfuge, daring windmill escapes, angry cats (big and small), fist fights on boats, drunken lunches - and at the centre of it all, our beloved Hayley Mills, wearing just the cutest pink and blue outfits. The only way our expectations were met was there were definitely some thrown cats and one likely drugged cheetah. It threw us all for loop, but we'll try to make sense of it for you as we always do on We Want The D.

We'll be honest, D-Lovers. Things get a little sidetracked during this week's episode. There's tangents and off-topic chatter abound. But you can't really blame our hosts, because at the end of the day how much is there to say about a movie, based on a true story, about a man who dreams of pitching in the major leagues if only he wasn't past his prime...only to discover that he's not at all and is in fact able to consistently throw very fast pitches so he ends up pitching in the major leagues. It's a schmaltzy tale, maybe even an interesting anecdote; but don't be surprised when we diverge into other topics like watching people puke in parking lots the day after St. Paddy's, the relative ages of Dennis Quaid and Brian Cox, and the rise and fall of Two and Half Men's Angus T. Jones.

One of the more bizarre things Disney is beloved for is making people really really upset. People fondly remember the childhood trauma they suffered when Bambi's mother is shot, the fear the felt when the Evil Queen transformed into the Old Hag, and the sorrow when Mufasa is trampled by wildebeests. This week on We Want The D; Vicky, Nolan and Jill are talking about OLD YELLER, a movie that has been traumatizing its audiences for years, and not just because the movie ends with a beloved, loyal pet and companion being shot in the face while growling like a hellbeast. No, in modern times Old Yeller is perhaps even more traumatizing thanks to that classic Disney tendency for cruelty to animals. From a dog vs hog fight that our hosts can't figure out how they'd fake to the most distressing noises you'll ever hear a bovine make, this movie is not one for the animal lovers. Add in the distressing behind-the-scenes story of Tommy Kirk's rise and fall (and happily rise again) at Disney and it's a wonder our hosts' usual tears of laughter weren't tears of sorrow by the end of this one. 

Disney's The Great Mouse Detective is something of an anomaly in the scope of movies we typically watch on We Want The D. On the one hand, it's made up almost entirely of conventional tropes - either from the animated Disney canon, the tales of Sherlock Holmes, or from the vast catalog of animated films about mice and other rodents. On the other hand, considering it came out in the 1980s, its also a breath of fresh air when compared to its other contemporaries from the House of Mouse. The animation is good (for the 80s), the story isn't too dark (for the 80s), the voice acting is above average (for the 80s) thanks in no small part to Vincent Price. The end result is a movie that is largely enjoyable, but still has a fair share of baffling choices and moments for our hosts to pick over.  

This week on We Want The D, our hosts make sure to follow their ABCs - Alway's Be Caging. Because you never know what you're going to get when you watch Nicholas Cage in a movie. Case and point: Disney's The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Very (very) loosely based on the Fantasia segment, proposed and championed by Cage himself, you'd think the result would be an intense Nicholas Cage running around in some outrageous costume, screaming spells in people's faces and giving one of his classic over-the-top performances. But you gotta remember to ALWAYS BE CAGING because in this week's movie, Cage opted for a more mellow, understated performance. Why, as the lead actor, should he take any of the spotlight? Nor should main antagonist Alfred Molina for that matter. Really, this movie should be all about Jay Baruchel, playing the awkward geek who happily finds out he has magic powers that will allow him to stalk his childhood crush save the world from a possessed Monica Bellucci who spends most of the film trapped in a Russian nesting doll. As you may have gathered by now, this movie is bonkers...but it's a kind of mellow bonkers that makes it all the more infuriating.