We also share details about the films we watched and what we loved about them:

Listen to the episode on Spotify.

Ron: Welcome to another Detective Mode episode of Stereo Geeks.

Mon: I’m Mon.

Ron: And I’m Ron. Today we’re discussing why we turned to do animated films during the pandemic.

Mon: Due to a lot of production being halted because of the pandemic, we find ourselves stuck with a lot less new content than we’re used to. This was the best time to catch up with our long lists of stuff that we hadn't been able to watch before, but the weird thing was that we found ourselves gravitating towards animated films more than any other kind of genre. And I guess this podcast is kinda about why.

Ron: We’ve always preferred live-action films. I think as children we did watch a lot of cartoons, and by the time we grew up, we wanted nothing to do with them. So, the pandemic was kind of a strange time for us. We found ourselves just wanting to watch more animated films. In fact, we went, weeks without watching live-action which was very strange for us. And the weird thing is, we’re still doing it.

We decided to focus only on films for this podcast because if we started talking about the animated TV shows we're watching, this podcast will be four hours long.

So why were we watching animated films?

Mon: At the day job I work at, we occasionally have staff meetings. At one of these meetings we were asked, ‘What have you been watching?’ And I found myself talking about all these animated films and TV shows that I've been catching up on. And I mentioned just offhand that I wasn't sure why I was watching a lot of things.

The head of the company, kind of went, ‘well, you're probably watching animated stuff, because you want to be as far away from reality as possible’. And it really made sense.

Ron: Well, that statement from Mon’s boss made me think, there must be a reason why we gravitated towards these animated films so quickly and easily during the pandemic.

So, escapism is definitely a huge part of it. The world was actually on fire around us. We wanted nothing to do with it. While live-action can still give you that kind of escapism, it's nowhere near the level as animated films. You're literally looking at the things that don't look anything like you. They may be approximations of human beings, but they’re still animated—they’re 2D, 3D, they are not real. And that's pretty much what we needed at that time.

But another aspect of animated films that you can't really deny—it’s the creativity. Animated properties can be fantastical in a way that even high budget live-action can’t. Superhero films and fantasy films, they tend to have really high production values, but the creativity is still held back, somewhat, by the fact that human beings have to be involved on screen, and the level of computer generation.

Animated films, on the other hand, you can do whatever you want. You can defy gravity; anything is possible because you're not restrained by actual people.

Mon: And that creativity and escapism is also brought to life by the fact that this is quite literally moving art. And as people who love art in general, watching these illustrated pictures, is exactly what you need when you want to get away from the real world.

Ron: Especially since you can't really go to a real gallery anymore. Man, I miss galleries.

Of course, there’s no denying that stress relief is a huge factor in watching animated films. According to Dr. Laurel Steinberg, a New York-based psychotherapist, who spoke to Vice a few years ago, she said, “Kids’ cartoons can be a support treatment because they incorporate themes like community order, friendship, family, teamwork, that good always wins over evil, and that the sun will always come out tomorrow. They can help restore optimism and give someone a break from worrying or feeling sad, all of which can elevate [your] mood.”

And that is really what we needed especially during the early days of the pandemic. when two weeks turned into a month, a month turned into three months, and a year later, we’re still here. And because of the optimistic angle that most of these children’s films take, joy is a side effect of watching animated properties—especially because children's films are geared towards making audiences laugh. They may not be advertised as comedies, but they include a lot of funny moments.

And the great thing is that, because most of these films are being made by adults, they tend to include some adult moments of humor, which you don't understand when you're a child, but once you grow up, then you can understand them, and that makes the whole viewing experience that much more enjoyable.

And then, of course, there's nostalgia. Now, nostalgia is generally something that people think of as a feeling that's evoked when you re-watching something from your childhood or from a few years ago; something that has some kind of connection to you. But in this case, nostalgia isn't evoked because we’re re-watching something, but it's because we’re viewing a medium that we enjoyed as children. So, everything that came with being a child—safety, security, freedom—those emotions become attached to the properties that you're watching, even if you haven't seen them before.

So, according to my research, animated films are good to watch during stressful times like a global pandemic, and that's because of their escapism their creativity, their ability to relieve stress, the joy they bring, and of course, the nostalgic value.

So, what were the films that we watched and what do you think people will get out of them?

Mon: Well, we definitely found ourselves checking out the backlog of Studio Ghibli films. Thankfully they’re up on Netflix now, so we finally have access to them. With the Studio Ghibli movies, you can get a range of genres across their catalogue. If you want to feel happy, sad, wistful, nostalgic, just get lost in a whole new world, they've got something for everyone.

So, I was thinking we could start off with some of the more wistful ones. And the one that comes to my mind, first of all is Kiki's Delivery Service. It's about this witch who starts a home delivery service and all the people she meets in this new town that she's calling home. That’s all the plot there is to it, but it's kind of like a journey, and considering none of us can go on any, this one's a nice little ride on screen.

Could you think of any others that evoke the same kind of emotion?

Ron: Probably My Neighbor Totoro. As adults watching it for the first time, it felt like, ‘oh where’s the plot?’ But there's no need for plot with this film. It's just about these children and the fantasy world that comes alive around them. It's the kind of movie that you just experience.

I honestly felt that had we watched this film as children, we would have loved it to this.

Mon: Yeah, just the funny little creatures, and the fact that you have these secret worlds that you can find in the forest and a little bit of antagonism going on, it's just got so many different layers and elements, I can see why children will definitely love it. And I understand why so many adults love this film too.

Ron: eah, there's so much My Neighbor Totoro stuff out there. Honestly, I feel a little bit tempted to buy some, but we're not buying anything right now. Maybe in the future.

What I really liked about My Neighbor Totoro is that it's wistful but it's also not menacing. I think sometimes animated films, and children's films in general, they seem to be leaning towards scaring children and kind of showing them the bad stuff that happens in the world, a bit too much.

When we were kids and we were watching films, sometimes the oddest things used to bother us, and they stayed with us for years and years and years. I feel like with films like My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, you don't come away feeling like that. It's just something that makes you hopeful.

Mon: Yeah, and it also restores your faith in humanity, especially with Kiki's Delivery Service. She meets so many nice people, so many people who helped her grow, help her understand and they're so welcoming. So, I think anybody who's ever been to a new town or has moved to a whole new country, it kind of gives you a nice little warm feeling.

Ron: That's one of the things that I really enjoyed about Kiki's Delivery Service, because a story like that, set now, it would just be terrifying, but this film was about her meeting nice people. And considering the pandemic has shown us the worst side of people, we needed something like that.

Mon: But that's not to say that Studio Ghibli films aren't a little bit dark. Let's just talk about Spirited Away.

Ron: Spirited Away is probably one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen on a screen. What gorgeous art. I think you could honestly take any frame from that film, put it up on a wall and people wouldn't know that it comes from an animated film.

Mon: You can take any part of a frame in that film and it would be art. Just fantastic!

Ron: Phenomenal stuff. And the detail! There’s this room that the protagonist walks into at one point, which has these vases, they're not important to the plot, but the amount of detail on those vases. They could have been real.

Mon: I wish they were real!

Ron: That's the kind of work that goes into making these Studio Ghibli films, which are just mind-boggling. But Spirited Away is a bit dark. The protagonist is a little girl who gets lost. She sees her parents turn into monsters. She can't find a way out. She's pretty much stuck as an indentured servant. It's scary stuff.

Mon: And it's all very stream of consciousness so you really don't know what's gonna happen next. It's unpredictable and I think that's what adds to the scare factor, especially regarding our protagonist, who's such a young girl, and quite innocent and sheltered. She doesn't know what's happening, and we don't know what's happening either. So every moment can be terrifying.

Ron: I like the fact that even with Spirited Away, where you do see the characters in actual danger, it's not like something sinister is coming for them. You get the feeling that somehow they'll make it through. And I really liked that about these films. I think the only film where there's actual danger, and maybe a little bit of maliciousness, is Princess Mononoke.

Mon: Yeah, that one was really dark. It really doubled down on the effects of war, the losses of war. That one I would not recommend kids watch, not on their own.

Ron: Yeah, Princess Mononoke felt very much like a film for adults. The moment you set a story during war, you kind of just lose the younger audiences. Even the art in Princess Mononoke, we found a little bit disturbing, does set off the trypophobia a little bit. It's not very easy viewing. But despite that there are some really light and hopeful moments, and it felt like such a character study. In that sense, Princess Mononoke is definitely something for adults to enjoy. Younger audiences, this is one of the films that I wouldn't recommend.

Mon: Another story which blended the genres was Whisper of the Heart. Again, kind of stream of consciousness, very surreal, we can’t really tell what's real and what's not. The story is also kind of on the fence. Is it for kids? Is it for adults? I think young adults will find themselves most attracted to the storyline, because this is a coming of age story. She's finding love. She's also finding her ambition, her career. So, it's kind of wistful, but there’s also a lot of angst in there, which I guess YA audiences will definitely enjoy.

Ron: Yeah, Whisper of the Heart is also going to be the film that gets a particular song stuck in your head for days on end. In fact, I'm talking about it right now, and the song has popped into my head. It's one of those kind of surreal things about this film that just drags you in. You can't get out because the visuals are amazing, the story just makes sense, and that song gets stuck in your head.

Mon: Yeah, it's sort of fantastical but at the same time, the core emotions are so real. That's why it draws you in and keeps you there. But at the same time, it's so unpredictable because you just don't know if something is real, is something not? Who is this person? What are their motivations? I guess that's kind of the point of the Studio Ghibli movies. It makes you think.

Ron: But I also feel that a lot of these films, especially things like Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Whisper of the Heart, they’re told, almost exclusively, from the point of view of young children. At that age, you see the world differently, and things that appear fantastical to adults, just seem real to young people. We've all been there. And that's why I think these films really speak to people.

One of our favorites, and actually the first one that we watched, wasn't it, was Howl’s Moving Castle.

Mon: I love that film!

Ron: I love it too. It is such a good film. Of course, we were blown away by the amazing art. Like Spirited Away, the details are amazing. But Howl’s Moving Castle is probably the one with the most plot. There's a very clear structure to this film, and they have a mission which needs to be resolved by the end of the story. The protagonist is lovely but also very relatable. And the events that happen are just so out there but so much fun. I really saw myself in her.

Mon: Howl’s Moving Castle is probably one of the rare films that we've watched that had an older protagonist. Almost all the others on our list today have young children. But with Howl’s Moving Castle, because she's older, I guess she's a little bit more relatable to the adults, and to us, because she's striving to make the best of the situation as it is now, not as it was before, or as it will be. So, she's very much in the present.

And I guess the film sort of draws on classic movie genre tropes. There's action, there's romance, there's betrayal, everything's in there. And so, it's easy to understand why we love this one so much.

Ron: Yeah. Howl’s Moving Castle was an amazing viewing experience and because we enjoyed it so much, we really wanted to watch the other films. I think the other Studio Ghibli movies that we saw were extremely enjoyable, but they tended to be rather stream of consciousness which Howl’s Moving Castle didn't. So we found ourselves more easily connected to that film than the others.

A couple of the other Studio Ghibli films that I watched, which you never got around to, was Ponyo. From all the Studio Ghibli films that I've watched, Ponyo was probably the most out there. The protagonist is a little fish who turns into a girl. That’s all you need to know. But again, so beautiful.

The imagination that went into making the story of the scale—when I was watching this film, I was just like, ‘who thought of this, how did they come up with this?’ And I really loved that about it. Not all of it was for me, but it can't take away from the fact that it was unbelievably imaginative.

I think the only Studio Ghibli film that I just didn't gel with at all, was Porco Rosso. It felt quite dated, which is surprising. The other film didn't feel like that, no matter when they were set, they all felt like they embodied the sensibilities of right now. Porco Rosso was the only one that didn't feel like that. It had a male protagonist, which is quite different from the other Studio Ghibli films, and the war setting seemed to be more of a backdrop for some questionable ,reactions. It was still a very good film.

But, because we enjoyed the Studio Ghibli films so much, I ended up watching another Japanese anime film, A Whisker Away. This is a very beautiful looking film, but the story had me feeling cold.

Mon: Oh, so this is interesting, because A Whisker Away shows up when you look for Studio Ghibli on Netflix, and the art kind of makes you think that maybe you are watching a Studio Ghibli film. But if there's one thing we can definitely argue a Studio Ghibli film is not, and that is, it's not cold. So A Whisker Away, which looks like a Studio Ghibli film, is not and you can tell from the tone.

Ron: Yeah, and it seemed so mean. The characters really aren't very nice—they’re double-crossing each other, they're lying to each other, they're using sleight of hand to get ahead. And I feel like the text of the film was trying to make me feel something for these characters, but I kind of felt revolted by some of their actions. These are not the kind of people we want to hang out with.

Mon: Oh, that's a pity.

Ron: Yes, Kiki's Delivery Service, this is not.

Mon: Anything recommending this film?

Ron: There is a very very cute kitten in the movie. [Mon laughs] And the little kitten is there for a very long time in this film. She's so adorable. If you love kittens, you’ve got to watch this film. She's so cute.

But moving away from Studio Ghibli and related Japanese anime, we watch some animated films that that were definitely made for children, starting with Trolls and Trolls 2.

Mon: Not even ashamed.

Ron: You know what, Trolls was exactly the kind of movie I needed when the pandemic started, and I'm glad I watched it. it was cute. It was funny. It was about family, more than anything, it had an amazing soundtrack, we had so much fun singing, dancing to this movie, and it was just adorable.

The Trolls are tiny and cute and yes there is certain amount of menace because the villains are going to eat them—so that's quite scary. But for the most part, it's Queen Poppy trying to make her journey through this world, and that's really fun.

And also, I like the colors. So many colors, why don't adult movies have colors in them? It's so frustrating! There are so many colors in this film, I loved it.

Mon: Yeah, there was this happy, hopeful vibe. And in the end, it's not just about good versus evil, it's about overcoming your own biases, your prejudices. I felt like there was a message in this film without it being too preachy. And intermixed with all that were some great melodies, some awesome mixes, who can complain.

Ron: So, we were very excited to watch Trolls 2: The World Tour after that. Again, a very colorful film, lots of great music, definitely had us bopping our heads. This film was not as accomplished.

Mon: I think it was trying too hard. It fell into the worst kind of trap that any sequel can fall into—bigger is better. It isn't.

They expanded the Troll world, but they lost that heart, and they lost that connection with the characters that we already knew. So yeah, it kind of fell flat.

I also think that they tried a little too much with the music, trying too many different genres, and I don't think they did justice to most of them.

Ron: I think Trolls 2 just tried to do too much in too little time, and by spreading itself too thin, it really lost the audience—the audience being us.

But still, I'm glad we watched these two movies, they definitely fall into the escapist category.

Mon: My favorite animated fan of this entire pandemic, has got to be Big Hero 6. I'd heard so much about this film and it's been on my list forever. I'm glad we finally got around to watching it.

There’s just something to be said about Hiro, about Baymax, and about this gang of misfits that they call their friends and fellow superheroes. I found myself just enjoying this from start to finish.

And again, the art, San Fransokyo was beautiful to look at, and it's got this techno-punk vibe, which is exactly straight up my alley.

Ron: I really love the way this film looked. I like that you got to see it from the ground up. Our protagonist Hiro is just a regular boy and he ends up in an extraordinary situation. Because he's an average person, you get to see the city, and the world, from a regular person's point of view. And I feel like, sometimes, animated films can miss that. It’s difficult to show us the everyday moments that we can relate to, but which is slightly fantastical by dint of being in the film.

Big Hero 6 really does that well and I love that about it.

Mon: And I hear there's a three-season TV show, perhaps not exactly canon because now Disney+ is going to have a Baymax TV show. But you know what, if we can get our hands on those three seasons, I would love to watch it because this world is worth getting back into.

Ron: Yeah, and probably catch Baymax too. Though, I'm not sure when that's coming up, finally. But it will be good to watch that. Big Hero 6 is great, amazing plot, really riveting story and it had us at the edge of our seats.

Mon: But it’s really the characters isn't it? I mean, not just Hiro, but all the characters—his older brother, the villains—everyone there was just so fleshed out, you understood them, and they really tugged at your heartstrings.

Ron: I feel like sometimes the superhero genre works so well with animation. Live-action is good, but having seen stuff like Big Hero 6 animation just hits differently.

One of the rare new animated films we watched last year was Netflix’s Over the Moon. I think a lot of people were really excited about it because, for once, an animated film did not feature a white family. This was an Asian family, and the film felt very different because of that.

Can I say that I loved the food in it?

Mon: Yeah, [laughs] that's true.

Ron: I think when you move away from the stereotypical US or UK settings, you get to become a little bit richer in the way you show cultures. You get to see this festival, you get to see how the main family lives—the scene with everybody around the table, honestly, that's so relatable.

Mon: The art was, again, a different kind of very beautiful. And, of course, when they go into the more fantastical angle, gosh, there were costumes, there was music, there was light, shadow, good versus evil, letting go, wow! it does a lot. And there’s a really really cute bunny. He was adorable.

Ron: There was a lot of escapism in this film. And, interestingly, it was not just for us, but there’s escapism for the protagonist as well.

Mon: It was really grounded in real life, for the most part, and I think for a lot of young people watching this, it can help them process some of the emotions that they might be feeling about… anything really. But it's a good way to really work through all the things that maybe you can't even voice, and that probably extends to adults as well.

This is not only escapism but it is a moment to just sit back and have a good think about how you're feeling.

Ron: Now for a film that is definitely not for children—Apokolips War. We didn't really know about this film, we stumbled upon it.

We've dipped in and out of the animated DC Universe. The quality of the films and has been dwindling. I would say a few of the DC animated films that we watched in 2019, they just didn't work for us. We were a bit disappointed.

But, we found ourselves one evening, without anything to watch, and we thought might as well watch this one, everybody's talking about it.

Apokolips War is dark. There is so much death, destruction, sorrow, people being maimed. This is not for the faint of heart. But it was a really good story.

Mon: At first, you’re really wondering what you're watching, and also your protagonist is John Constantine, who is unreliable on the best of days. But, as you get involved in the story you try and hope for the best because these are characters that you've probably seen in other properties, or you've read in several comic books. So, you’re immersed in this world which is just horrifying, and you just want it all to end and to be better.

Story aside, the production values were super—so clean, it was so tightly edited, so tightly written. It felt really polished.

Ron: I think some of the problems that we've had with the other DC animated films was that they felt rushed.

Mon: Honestly, I think a lot of these films almost feel beholden to adding in every single element from the comics that they're adapting from, or that there is a lot of unnecessary fluff thrown in there just to pad up the runtime. With Apokolips War, it did not feel like that. Every moment, every dialogue, every conversation, it really seemed to be pushing the plot forward and also driving and motivating the characters to their end goal.

Ron: Because everything around us was on fire, watching our heroes having to struggle and fight adversity, it kind of gave us a little bit of hope. Yes, there are a lot of losses on the way, but these are still superheroes, so it does give you something to aspire to.

Mon: Yeah, I was really surprised by this one. I'm really glad we watched it.

Watch it on a bright, sunny day, because it's a little bit dark for sure.

Ron: But yeah, it's definitely unlike any of the other DC films that we watched.

Mon: Totally, but it's not edgy for the sake of being edgy.

Ron: Which is something that the DCEU really has struggled with. Apokolips War needed to be as dark as it did because of the subject matter. And you know what, it also gave us some time to hang out with characters that we don't usually get to see on screen that much. So, there are a lot of positives about this film.

Going back to something a little bit more fun, we watched the Scooby Doo movie last year.

Now Scooby Doo had fallen off our radar since we were children, but thanks to Supernatural, and it's ScoobyNatural episode, we found ourselves wanting to go back to that nostalgic moment.

The Scooby Doo film was supposed to be out in theaters and ended up obviously not being there because of the pandemic. So, we managed to watch it at home. We weren't watching it because we wanted to watch it we were literally like we have to watch something and we ended up enjoying it so much. I was so surprised by how much we enjoyed it.

Mon: I think it's because the film just wanted to be a fun little Scooby adventure. It didn't seem like the creators revered the original so much that they couldn't do anything new, nor did it seem like the story was condescending towards audiences, irrespective of what age they were. It was just a Scooby film updated for modern sensibilities. So it had a few little twists and turns here and there, but it was fun.

And again it was about family It is about friends, and these are the core emotional beats that really make animated film so much fun to watch. And it really worked in this one.

Ron: I was also really surprised at how it added in elements and characters from other cartoon properties that we used to watch as children. So, we were absolutely blown away and we were like, ‘Hang on a second, is this that character?’ We’re talking about characters we have not seen in over 20 years. It was astounding to see them, and we were really excited.

Mon: Yeah, there were like these little mini crossovers that we always wanted when we were kids. And finally, we have them now!

Ron: I really hope we get a sequel to this because there's plenty of potential to grow this Scooby Doo universe. And the story itself was lots of fun. The characters, I really liked how they came across. This seemed more fun and multi-dimensional, whereas, I think in the original Scooby Doo cartoons, at least, the ones that we grew up with, the characters were often very unidimensional.

Mon: Yeah, it was very much about the plot and the mystery and not really about them as people, or a dog.

Ron: One of the last animated films that we managed to catch up with was Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Now, I had read the first issue of the crossover comic, and I was really excited to read more, but unfortunately, I never got around to it. So, when this film was announced, I thought, ‘I really want to watch this’. I mean, it's Batman and TMNT. These are two properties that we grew up with and we loved. Of course, we wanted to see them together. But the other thing was that I did see some pretty positive comments on Twitter, so I was like, okay, we saw a Apokolips War and that was really good, and people are saying this one's really good, as well. So let's check it out! You didn't really want to watch this, did you?

Mon: I don't think so.

Ron: I kind of had to badger you about it, but you weren't really interested because the other DC animated films hadn’t been so good. But I managed to sit you down and get you to watch it, and we had a good time.

Mon: Oh, it was too much fun. Cowabunga, all the way!

Ron: I mean, of course, the story starts off with Batman and TMNT fighting each other, but then eventually, they have to team up. I thought the reason for them fighting made sense. It didn't feel crowbarred in, like certain films called Batman vs Superman. But the way that the characters came together, it was extremely enjoyable. Seeing Batman in TMNT’s world and the turtles in Batman’s world, so, so good, so good. I love crossovers.

Mon: And what I liked is that they really captured the essence of the four mutant turtles. Because it's hard when you do a crossover; it's easy to get somebody mixed up. But they really did a good job of understanding who they were. They’re not just four mutant turtles; they have personalities. And it went beyond Michelangelo wanting pizza, and Leonardo being the leader, so it was really good that way.

How they worked together with not only Batman but also Batman’s team and how much they're surprised by how awesome Gotham is, how much they learn from Gotham, it was amazing. Like, you know, Michelangelo was constantly pointing out things, ‘oh, is this that, no, it isn’t’, it was just so fun. You feel like a kid again when you're watching movies like this.

Ron: This film definitely evoked all the nostalgia and also helped us escape the current predicament of being stuck at home. So yeah, it was extremely enjoyable. I highly recommend it to anybody.

So there you have it, why we watched animated films during the pandemic, and which ones we enjoyed. Did you watch any animated films in the last year? Which ones did you enjoy, and what emotions do they evoke? We'd love to hear from you.

Ron: You can find us on Twitter @Stereo_Geeks. Or send us an email [email protected]. We hope you enjoyed this episode. And see you next week!

Mon: The Stereo Geeks logo was created using Canva. The music for our podcast comes courtesy Audionautix.

[Continuum by Audionautix plays]

Transcription by Otter.ai, Ron, and Mon.