Summary

00:00 Introductions and return from hiatus

01:35 What Clinically Ever After is and how it started

04:48 Behind the scenes of hosting at Disney

08:44 Logistics, costs, and figuring things out in real time

12:07 Personal Disney experiences and planning with familiarity

15:09 Designing a conference that feels fun and welcoming

19:36 Presentations, playfulness, and audience engagement

20:36 Attendee reactions and emotional impact

21:31 Creating a relaxed and open professional space

23:03 Pre-event community building and connection

23:58 Shared fandom as an entry point for relationships

26:13 Authenticity and showing up as yourself in professional settings

28:21 Group dynamics and navigating feelings of exclusion

31:37 Inclusivity across roles and disciplines

33:25 Burnout and the need for support in helping professions

34:52 Bonding through joy instead of stress

37:36 Creativity and play as ways to restore energy

42:26 What’s next: expanding the conference and new theme

47:20 Disney snacks and park culture differences

47:58 Closing thoughts and where to connect

Media/Characters Mentioned

• Disney / Walt Disney World
• Mickey Mouse
• EPCOT
• The Little Mermaid
• Bath & Body Works Disney Princess Collection
• Disneyland vs. Disney World

Topics/Themes Mentioned

• Burnout in clinicians and educators
• Community and belonging in professional spaces
• Authenticity in therapy and teaching
• Play and creativity as part of clinical work
• Neurodivergence and inclusive environments
• Designing engaging conferences
• Imposter syndrome and leadership
• Fandom as connection and identity
• Professional vulnerability
• Navigating large systems like Disney
• Sensory and environmental considerations
• Cross-disciplinary collaboration
• Rest, joy, and sustainable work

Links & Resources

Guest Links:

• Shaelene: @rebelmente/
• Clinically Ever After: https://clinicallyeverafter.com

Host & Show Links:

• Instagram: @HappiestPodGT
• Facebook: @HappiestPodGT
• Ariel on IG: @airyell3000

Geek Therapy Links:

• Website: www.geektherapy.org
• GT IG: @GeekTherapy
• GT Facebook: @GeekTherapy
• GT Facebook Group: @GeekTherapyCommunity
• GT YouTube: @GeekTherapy
• GT Discord: geektherapy.com/discord
• GT Forum: forum.geektherapy.com

Geek Therapy is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that advocates for the effective and meaningful use of popular media in therapeutic, educational, and community practice.

00:00 Hosts and guest intros
01:10 Inside Out 2, its massive marketing push, and what got left behind
04:00 Spoiler warning and movie synopsis
06:00 Anxiety’s debut and the anatomy of a panic attack
09:00 When Joy can’t reach Anxiety—symbolism of helplessness
11:00 Emotion combos, Internal Family Systems theory, and dynamic identity
14:00 The evolving sense of self and grounding techniques
17:00 Cultural misattunement during puberty (e.g., immigrant family dynamics)
20:00 Why Riley’s experience didn’t feel universal for everyone
22:00 Cultural TikToks reimagining emotions: Wu Ting, Honor, Filial Piety
24:00 Core belief shifts: “I’m not enough” and perfectionism
27:00 Visual art therapy and naming personal narratives
30:00 Complexity vs. affirmation-only approaches
32:00 Revisiting Joy, Sadness, and emotional integration
34:00 Classroom tools for building identity through the school year
37:00 Changing education systems and honoring the whole child
39:00 Perfectionism as a survival response in racialized and immigrant communities
42:00 Reflections on gamification, experiential learning, and emotional literacy
47:00 Symbolic meanings in control boards and character design
51:00 Are we all driven by one dominant emotion?
54:00 The fragility of identity and metaphor of the belief system design
56:00 Ice skating, burnout, and overachievement culture
58:00 Sports as metaphor for identity, connection, and drive
59:00 Where to find Yellow Chair Collective and final thoughts

Speaker 1 0:00
Shrink wrap radio, number 300 on the neuroscience of dreaming with Robert Haas.

Speaker 2 0:07
Shrink wrap radio, all the psychology you need to know, and just enough to make it dangerous. It’s all in your head. And now here’s your host, Dr Dave music.

Speaker 1 0:27
My return guest today, after a long absence, is Robert J Haas and we’ll be discussing recent developments in the neuroscience of dreaming. Robert Haas MS is author of the book Dream language. He’s also a director and past president of the International Association for the Study of dreams. He’s on the faculty at Hayden Institute for Dream leadership training and a former adjunct faculty for Dream studies at such institutions as Sonoma State University, Richland College and Scottsdale College, a former corporate executive scientist and researcher with training in Gestalt and humanistic psychology, he now devotes his skills to dream studies for which he has been a frequent guest on radio and TV and an internationally acclaimed lecturer and instructor for over 30 years. His unique, simple but powerful dream work approach is based on his training in Gestalt therapy and background in Jungian studies the neurobiology of dreaming, plus his pioneering research on the significance of color in dreams. Now here’s the interview. Bob Haas, welcome back to shrink wrap radio. Well, thank you. It’s great to be back. Yeah, it’s been five years since you were here, back on episode number 90, announcing the 2007 dreams conference and speaking about the language of dreams. Now this is going to be episode number 300 and you can help me celebrate, yeah, you can help me celebrate our 300th shrink wrap radio. And of course, after our interview, I’ll ask you to say a few words about the upcoming 29th annual iasd conference. That’s the International Association for the Study of dreams. But before we get into that, I understand you’ve been doing some work on recent developments in the neuroscience of dreaming.

Speaker 3 2:27
Yes, there’s a tremendous amount of interesting stuff going on now, particularly since over the last decade, certain researchers have been able to use brain scan equipment, PET scans, MRI, things of that sort, or fMRI, to understand what Saturn’s of the brain are active and inactive during the dreaming. Tremendous amount of research out there, and I basically just been kind of compiling it and reporting on it. Yeah,

Speaker 1 2:57
yeah. And you’ve done a terrific job. You sent me a couple of articles that that you’ve written, and very impressive. So what are some of the more exciting things that neurological research has discovered about the dreaming brain?

Speaker 3 3:10
Well, just just kind of going into past history, way back in 1952 the discovery of REM occurred, and at that point in time, we suddenly realized that we dream a great deal of our evening two hours, or roughly for adults, about 24% of our sleep time is spent in in dreaming, or in vivid dreaming. What is what typically happens in what’s known as the REM state, which is a rapid eye movement, but now what? What’s happened during through a lot of other testing and research has been done, as they found that we really dream throughout the entire night, even outside of REM state. However, the Dreaming is the dreaming that we think of as dreaming, which is the more vivid dreams and all still occur during this, this REM state. So there’s been a lot of focus with with brain scan type research on neuroscience, on the REM state as being more associated with the kind of vivid dreams that we typically think of. And what has occurred is that the researchers have found that during our this REM state or this more vivid dream state? A great deal of our brain is active. It’s actually awake. And there are other parts of the brain that are that the activity is diminished in or they’re relatively asleep, and they really create the sort of characteristics we see in a dream, for example, the parts of the brain that tend to be asleep, if I can use that simple term when we dream, are the parts of the frontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is our thinking brain, and the rational thinking part of our brain. If. And other areas like motion and parts of the brain responsible for waking consciousness remain pretty much inactive, and what that does is it tends to make our dreams the kind of bizarre characteristics that that we see in our dreams we because there’s no rational filtering going on or rational directing of the dream activities so dreams can hyper Connect.

Speaker 1 5:27
Yeah. Is that because that prefrontal part of the brain that you were talking about is asleep?

Speaker 3 5:34
Yeah, the dorsalatal prefrontal cortex is a part of the frontal cortex that really is responsible for our rational thought, and that tends to be inactive. But now that the a whole bunch of centers are active in our dreams, for instance, in particular, the emotional processing, the emotional brain, the emotional part of our brain, called the limbic system, is highly active, also parts of the frontal cortex, lower frontal cortex and the anterior cingulate, which deal with analytical problem solving, learning and problem solving, about those kinds of activities, are quite active. And the really interesting thing is that our visual our primary visual cortex, is not active, the part we see with which is interesting because we’re seeing our dreams. How...

Jinxi shares her journey from tattoo publishing to mental health, co-owning a tattoo shop, and running a private practice for those who color outside the lines. Together, they unpack stigma, nostalgia, and the healing power of self-expression—through Disney and beyond. Whether you’re tattooed, tattoo-curious, or just love a good Dole Whip, this one’s for you.

Summary
 
00:00 Hosts and guest introductions
02:00 Childhood Disney memories and first tattoos
04:00 Jinxi’s journey from tattoo publishing to psychology
08:00 Stigma, acceptance, and professional visibility
13:00 Tattoos in families and intergenerational storytelling
16:00 Favorite Disney tattoos—characters, quotes, and food!
20:00 Fandoms in ink: Star Wars, Marvel, and park icons
24:00 Flash tattoos and memory markers
28:00 Permanent makeup and cultural ties
32:00 Tattoos as affirmations and emotional touchstones
35:00 Therapeutic meaning behind body art
40:00 Building safe, expressive spaces in education and therapy
46:00 Final reflections and where to find Jinxi’s work 

Transcription
 
00:00:03:20 – 00:00:05:01
Hello, everyone. 
00:00:05:01 – 00:00:07:01
Welcome to the Happiest Pod on Earth. 
00:00:07:01 – 00:00:07:18
I’m Stef 
00:00:07:18 – 00:00:09:12
I’m an educator who uses passions 
00:00:09:12 – 00:00:10:09
and fandoms to help 
00:00:10:09 – 00:00:11:15
my students grow 
00:00:11:15 – 00:00:12:19
and learn about themselves 
00:00:12:19 – 00:00:14:07
and the world around them. 
00:00:14:07 – 00:00:16:01
And I’m Ariel, a licensed therapist 
00:00:16:01 – 00:00:17:20
who uses clients passions and fandoms 
00:00:17:20 – 00:00:18:15
to help them grow 
00:00:18:15 – 00:00:19:11
and heal from trauma 
00:00:19:11 – 00:00:21:19
and mental and wellness. 
00:00:21:19 – 00:00:23:14
And I am Jinxi 
00:00:23:14 – 00:00:25:19
and I’m a mental health therapist 
00:00:25:19 – 00:00:27:12
and a book publisher. 
00:00:27:12 – 00:00:29:10
And the tattoo shop owner, 
00:00:29:10 – 00:00:31:11
in Eugene, Oregon. 
00:00:31:11 – 00:00:33:01
I have a practice called Black 
00:00:33:01 – 00:00:33:20
Sleep Therapy, 
00:00:33:20 – 00:00:36:20
where, I like to help people who, 
00:00:36:22 – 00:00:39:02
like to color outside the lines. 
00:00:39:02 – 00:00:40:09
That might be black sheep 
00:00:40:09 – 00:00:43:05
or unicorns themselves. 
00:00:43:05 – 00:00:45:02
So I’m happy to be here. 
00:00:45:02 – 00:00:46:04
Wonderful. 
00:00:46:04 – 00:00:47:11
And here at Happiest Pod, 
00:00:47:11 – 00:00:48:19
we dissect Disney mediums 
00:00:48:19 – 00:00:50:05
So the critical lens. Why? 
00:00:50:05 – 00:00:51:15
Because we are more than just fans, 
00:00:51:15 – 00:00:53:06
and we expect more from the mediums 
00:00:53:06 – 00:00:54:07
we consume. 
00:00:54:07 – 00:00:56:15
So, what are we talking about today? 
00:00:57:21 – 00:00:59:09
Well, we have another very 
00:00:59:09 – 00:01:01:04
special guest on our podcast. 
00:01:01:04 – 00:01:03:04
Welcome, Dr. Jinxi Right? 
00:01:03:04 – 00:01:04:05
It is. 
00:01:04:05 – 00:01:05:17
Thank you so much. 
00:01:05:17 – 00:01:06:11
I appreciate it, 
00:01:06:11 – 00:01:08:09
but I’m so happy to be here. 
00:01:08:09 – 00:01:09:15
Yeah, absolutely. 
00:01:09:15 – 00:01:11:22
And we’re we have a really fun topic 
00:01:11:22 – 00:01:12:15
to talk about. 
00:01:12:15 – 00:01:13:18
And, 
00:01:13:18 – 00:01:16:11
we talk about Disney art on many levels, 
00:01:16:11 – 00:01:18:09
but I think this is a level of Disney 
00:01:18:09 – 00:01:20:21
art that we haven’t quite talked about, 
00:01:20:21 – 00:01:23:14
which is body art and tattoos. 
00:01:23:14 – 00:01:24:13
And, 
00:01:24:13 – 00:01:26:11
I think with the recent, 
00:01:26:11 – 00:01:28:14
I think resurgence of tattoos 
00:01:28:14 – 00:01:29:17
and the accessibility 
00:01:29:17 – 00:01:30:19
to getting tattoos 
00:01:30:19 – 00:01:33:15
has been widely seen and respected. 
00:01:33:15 – 00:01:35:17
And, we just love 
00:01:35:17 – 00:01:36:19
especially going to the parks 
00:01:36:19 – 00:01:37:15
and seeing different 
00:01:37:15 – 00:01:40:00
interpretations of Disney art. 
00:01:40:00 – 00:01:40:16
And also, 
00:01:40:16 – 00:01:40:21
you know, 
00:01:40:21 – 00:01:42:17
we were really curious for you, 
00:01:42:17 – 00:01:44:02
Dr. Jinxi 
00:01:44:02 – 00:01:47:02
you’re kind of journey into your 
00:01:47:02 – 00:01:49:17
amazing life, I think, as a therapist 
00:01:49:17 – 00:01:51:02
and as an artist. 
00:01:51:02 – 00:01:52:18
I think it’s a very unique, 
00:01:52:18 – 00:01:54:01
perspective 
00:01:54:01 – 00:01:55:10
that not many people know about. 
00:01:55:10 – 00:01:57:11
Yeah. Well, thank you so much. 
00:01:57:11 – 00:02:00:11
I, you know, it’s funny because 
00:02:00:17 – 00:02:03:14
as a child, my very first experience 
00:02:03:14 – 00:02:07:03
with a tattoo was at Disneyland, 
00:02:07:03 – 00:02:10:05
and I was behind a girl in line 
00:02:10:05 – 00:02:11:16
who had a Cheshire 
00:02:11:16 – 00:02:14:08
cat tattoo on her back. 
00:02:14:08 – 00:02:15:20
And I thought it was like, 
00:02:15:20 – 00:02:18:08
the dreamiest thing I had ever seen, 
00:02:18:08 – 00:02:19:01
and I. 
00:02:19:01 – 00:02:19:23
I can’t remember 
00:02:19:23 – 00:02:22:05
how old I was, but I just 
00:02:22:05 – 00:02:25:05
it was locked in and I just knew 
00:02:25:05 – 00:02:27:05
someday I wanted tattoos to, 
00:02:28:16 – 00:02:30:07
And, I 
00:02:30:07 – 00:02:31:16
actually didn’t get 
00:02:31:16 – 00:02:34:01
my first tattoo until, 
00:02:34:01 – 00:02:34:08
like, 
00:02:34:08 – 00:02:35:13
my mid to late 
00:02:35:13 – 00:02:36:22
20s, after 
00:02:36:22 – 00:02:38:17
I had had all of my kids 
00:02:38:17 – 00:02:43:23
and, I was working as a, an editor 
00:02:43:23 – 00:02:44:17
and a writer 
00:02:44:17 – 00:02:45:18
for several, 
00:02:45:18 – 00:02:48:18
tattoo magazines at the time. 
00:02:48:21 – 00:02:51:04
And so that just opened 
00:02:51:04 – 00:02:51:19
my world 
00:02:51:19 – 00:02:54:04
into all of these incredible artists. 
00:02:54:04 – 00:02:55:09
And, 
00:02:55:09 – 00:02:56:18
my very first tattoo 
00:02:56:18 – 00:02:59:18
was a tiny little cherry on my ankle. 
00:03:00:00 – 00:03:01:00
And, 
00:03:01:00 – 00:03:04:03
and that has since grown into pretty much 
00:03:04:03 – 00:03:05:06
I have my whole head 
00:03:05:06 – 00:03:08:05
tattooed, down, down to my toes. 
00:03:08:05 – 00:03:09:08
Most of it’s covered. 
00:03:09:08 – 00:03:10:21
I have a couple little spo...

Jodie, author of Queer Cheer, shares how travel and diverse narratives helped her discover her own queerness. Shalom, a young activist and indie musician, reflects on the power of subtext in media like Luca and Frozen, and how art has been central to their self-exploration. Together, this group celebrates Pride, critiques tokenism, and envisions a future where queer stories aren’t subplots—they’re the main event.

Summary of HPOE 45:

• 00:00 Hosts and Guests Introduction
• 00:50 Pride Month focus and framing queer media through Disney
• 02:00 Progress or performative? Disney’s track record on LGBTQ+ representation
• 06:00 Nostalgic queer awakenings: crushes, princesses, and games
• 10:00 Queer coding in villains: Ursula, Jafar, and beyond
• 13:30 Explaining the Hays Code and its legacy in queer subtext
• 15:00 Highlights from Disney’s official Pride Night
• 18:00 Emotional weight of safe spaces at theme parks
• 20:00 Critiques of Disney’s capitalist allyship
• 22:00 Centering joy: queer characters beyond coming-out stories
• 24:30 Luca and fan interpretations as liberation
• 28:30 Elsa, headcanons, and intersectional readings
• 31:00 The power of dynamic identities in evolving characters
• 33:00 Queering Spider-Man and self-discovery through metaphor
• 36:00 Labels, fluidity, and growing into new identities
• 38:00 Demisexuality and the importance of representation
• 40:00 Jodie on travel, storytelling, and affirming queer youth
• 43:00 Affirmations that actually work
• 46:00 Shalom on community building and queer history
• 50:00 Spotlighting queer media: Punks, Watermelon Woman, indie music
• 54:00 Real allyship: more than rainbows—listen, uplift, include
• 59:00 Final thoughts and where to find Queer Cheer and Boy Venus’s music

00:00:00:00 – 00:00:08:18

00:00:08:18 – 00:00:35:00

Unknown

Hello, everyone. Welcome to the happiest pot on Earth. I’m Steph. I’m an educator who uses passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them. And I’m Ariel, a licensed therapist who uses clients passions and fandom to help them grow and heal from trauma and mental and wellness. Hey everyone, I’m Jodi Anders, I am a Jewish bisexual creator and I focus on creating diversity and promoting youth empowerment.

00:00:35:02 – 00:01:01:01

Unknown

I currently serve as the publicity and communications director for a youth nonprofit in California, and I’ve spent over two decades mentoring teens in confidence and leadership skills. I’m the coauthor author of Queer Cheer Activities Advice and Affirmations for LGBTQ Plus Teens, and I also produce a podcast. Let’s talk about leadership, service, and Sisterhood, which is a podcast for teens by teens.

00:01:01:01 – 00:01:25:12

Unknown

Hi. My name is Shalom. As a student, I’ve been involved in many campaigns and community organizing organizations, working with youth organizers in the San Fernando Valley to fight for the rights of Filipino migrant workers, justice and visibility for displaced ethnic communities abroad, and have worked to create, support and educate members of the Residents of Color community through the creation of my ever growing coalition.

00:01:25:14 – 00:01:51:16

Unknown

California State University, Northridge is Queer Students of Color Club. I’m also a queer indie musician, producing music under the name Boy Venus. Check me out on SoundCloud if you’re interested. Specifically working within the electronic genre to make music reminiscent of games like Pokemon Legends of Zelda, Undertale, while also using techniques from artists like Rebecca Sugar, Ivy Tran and Stephen Filemon.

00:01:52:00 – 00:02:08:14

Unknown

beautiful. And here at Happiest Pod, we dissect Disney Medium. So the critical lens. Why? Because we are more than just fans and we expect more from the mediums we consume. So, what are we talking about today? As you both heard these wonderful introductions from our exceptional guests today we have Jodi and Shalom.

00:02:08:15 – 00:02:38:08

Unknown

Welcome to the happiest Pod on Earth. We are so thrilled that you are here to talk about all things LGBTQ representation. In honor of Pride Month and we’re really excited to really dive in, and, see the world and see the Disney World from Euro Isles lens. So yeah, welcome to the podcast. So to be here, I’m curious, you know, we have heard about representation in general in the media.

00:02:38:08 – 00:02:59:20

Unknown

And when it comes to Disney, do you feel or believe that they’re increasing LGBTQ plus representation, and if so, when do you think they’ve done it? And are there opportunities they missed or were they just like completely missed the mark? I feel like it’s kind of like an ebb and flow situation. I mean, it’s definitely had some more, you know, representation.

00:02:59:20 – 00:03:24:23

Unknown

And actually this discussion can get so nuanced, right? Because are we talking about like, original animation? Are we talking about like the entire Disney, universe, you know, within Marvel and Star Wars? So, at this point, apparently Hulu’s in there too. So if there’s some horror movies, or other anime animation you want to include that counts.

00:03:25:01 – 00:04:11:02

Unknown

Yeah, I think like in the more like traditional sense of Disney Pixar. It’s it’s slowly increasing, like strictly within like movies and TV. Like in movies, I feel like we’re still not other than maybe like Strange World getting those main characters. That would be great. But, it’s really nice to see at least, you know, some nuances through the community, like having a non-binary character in elementals or, just, you know, at least some representation.

00:04:11:02 – 00:04:57:15

Unknown

Which is better than that. But, there’s also just questionable things that they’ve done in the sense of like pulling from different markets or, you know, like, I know, so, like when they did Lightyear, I, I loved that they had a Lisa like, that his sidekick was such a big representation. And then it was so incredibly heartbreaking to have this, reaction to what was not even a minute of their relationship, the lesbian relationship she had, which was this beautiful little heartwarming family and, seeing at the time, like them, like pulling it from market to things like that.

00:04:57:17 – 00:05:01:20

Unknown

But at the same time, like, if we kind of pull back the lens a little bit,

00:05:01:20 – 00:05:25:22

Unknown

at the same time, there’s like getting the, the monthly emails, not even just the LGBTQ, pieces. They will highli...

Summary of HPOE 44:

• 00:00 Introduction: Meet Ariel, Stef, and Chance Calloway, and learn about their unique approaches to therapy, education, and creative arts.
• 01:33 Juneteenth Significance: An in-depth look at Juneteenth, its history, and its recent recognition as a federal holiday. The hosts discuss its unique place among American holidays and its traditions.
• 07:07 Media Representation: The importance of diverse representation in media, particularly in children’s films. The discussion includes the federal recognition of Juneteenth and calls for authentic portrayals of characters of color in Disney movies.
• 10:18 Brandy Cinderella Movie: An exploration of the impact of the Brandy Cinderella movie on media representation and its continued relevance in promoting diversity.
• 21:11 Black Panther: Reflecting on the success of Black Panther and its significance in showcasing Black excellence and representation both in front of and behind the camera.
• 32:34 Princess Tiana: Critiquing Disney’s portrayal of Princess Tiana in The Princess and the Frog, and advocating for more genuine representations of protagonists of color.
• 37:55 Black Coding in Disney Films: Discussing the concept of Black coding in Disney movies, the challenges in marketing diverse content, and the importance of amplifying diverse voices in future projects.
• 43:36 Conclusion: Summarizing the episode’s key points on Juneteenth, media representation, and the portrayal of Black characters in Disney films. The hosts encourage listeners to engage with these critical topics.

00:00:09,094 –> 00:00:11,894
Ariel Landrum: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the happiest pod on Earth.

00:00:11,894 –> 00:00:18,530
I’m Ariel, a licensed therapist who uses clients’ passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma and mental development.

00:00:18,690 –> 00:00:24,690
Stefanie Bautista: And I’m Stef. I’m an educator who uses her passions and fandoms to educate the kids that I work with.

00:00:24,690 –> 00:00:33,345
Chance Calloway: I’m Chance Calloway. I’m a producer, filmmaker, musician, writer, all around multi hyphenate. Creativity is my passion.

00:00:33,450 –> 00:00:36,410
Stefanie Bautista: And happiest pod is where we dissect Disney mediums with a

00:00:36,410 –> 00:00:41,710
Ariel Landrum: critical lens. Why? Because we are more than just Stef, and we expect more from the mediums we consume.

00:00:42,005 –> 00:00:44,825
So, see, so I have a guest today. Chance, what are we talking about?

00:00:45,204 –> 00:00:48,425
Chance Calloway: Today we’re talking about Juneteenth, and we’re talking about representation.

00:00:48,805 –> 00:00:56,720
Stefanie Bautista: Yeah. Yeah. Chance, as you all know, if you’ve been following us on our podcast and also have seen us at Comic Con or WonderCon,

00:00:56,860 –> 00:01:02,465
Chance is 1 of our very good friends, 1 of our most talented friends, like you said, multi hyphenate.

00:01:02,925 –> 00:01:10,500
And, you know, I feel even when this podcast was coming to its conception, we would organically have a lot of really good

00:01:10,500 –> 00:01:18,425
discussions about the way we consume media and the different things that we expect from it and also want to see from it in the future.

00:01:18,425 –> 00:01:26,080
So I hope that today’s discussion is gonna be very enlightening for those of you aren’t familiar with Juneteenth. So, Chance, would you be

00:01:26,080 –> 00:01:28,420
Ariel Landrum: able to explain what exactly is Juneteenth?

00:01:28,640 –> 00:01:33,845
It became recently a federal holiday, but just because it wasn’t a federal holiday, doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a holiday.

00:01:34,165 –> 00:01:40,825
Chance Calloway: Correct. Yes. Juneteenth, basically, is the embodiment of the term, we’re not free until we’re all free.

00:01:41,180 –> 00:01:47,680
So when, the Emancipation Proclamation was passed, some, black Americans were still enslaved.

00:01:48,060 –> 00:01:51,585
Some black Americans did not know that freedom had arrived.

00:01:51,884 –> 00:02:00,350
And on June 19th, that was the day that they did basically the final, like, enforcement, and made sure that the enslaved people were made free.

00:02:00,430 –> 00:02:05,170
And that’s when a lot of, people in the black community started celebrating it as a holiday.

00:02:05,390 –> 00:02:11,705
Ariel Landrum: I think it’s important to note because it’s hard for people to fathom not getting information immediately.

00:02:12,245 –> 00:02:12,724
Chance Calloway: Sure.

00:02:12,724 –> 00:02:16,620
Ariel Landrum: There’s an acknowledgment that we get media so quickly.

00:02:16,760 –> 00:02:25,885
We get news so quickly, especially, like, breaking news, reactions to it, that there isn’t this time to, like, digest and

00:02:25,885 –> 00:02:28,465
understand before you’ve moved on to the next thing.

00:02:28,605 –> 00:02:37,650
And I think that the fact that it became a holiday amongst the black community just shows, like, how important and informative it was.

00:02:38,189 –> 00:02:45,695
Chance Calloway: Absolutely. Suleens. Yeah. And I think, for a lot of people, there’s a a hitch that comes with thinking of American holidays,

00:02:46,050 –> 00:02:47,810
you know, and the American flag, things like that.

00:02:47,810 –> 00:02:51,569
We’ve seen you know, it’s been the media a lot because of the cover of Beyonce’s new album.

00:02:51,569 –> 00:02:56,465
A lot of, black Americans kind of don’t respect, like, holidays like the 4th July.

00:02:56,685 –> 00:03:01,905
So then when something like Juneteenth came along, that I can respect. That feels like a celebration.

00:03:02,045 –> 00:03:02,569
Ariel Landrum: And I think

00:03:02,569 –> 00:03:08,510
Stefanie Bautista: when it comes to holidays, there are diff there’s different layers of celebrating and even the word celebrating a holiday.

00:03:08,650 –> 00:03:14,975
Because, essentially, this is 1 of those holidays where it was a realization of something that hadn’t been realized, fully.

00:03:15,115 –> 00:03:22,799
When you’re talking about people celebrating the 4th July, they normally talk about barbecues and doing fun stuff and not,

00:03:22,799 –> 00:03:26,180
you know, the actual reason for the holiday.

00:03:26,400 –> 00:03:34,595
This is 1 of those holidays that kind of wakes us up to the different ways we celebrate and the different ways we honor certain

00:03:34,595 –> 00:03:38,694
peop...

Register for the “Play Therapy: Disney Bound” taking place at Disneyland and the Disneyland Hotel from March 10th-15th, 2025 here:

https://www.anewhopetc.org/playatdisneyland

Register for the “The Supportive Innovations for Therapeutic Heroes Conference (S.I.T.H.)” taking place at Las Cruces Convention Center, New Mexico from September 26th-28th, 2024 here:

https://www.anewhopetc.org/sith

Summary of HPOE 43:

• Introduction and Terminology (0:00): Ariel, Stef, and Maria introduce Episode 43 and define the key terms of ableism, DEIB, and dynamic disabilities to prepare listeners for the discussion.
• Meet the Hosts & Guest (1:26): Ariel, Stef, and Maria introduce themselves and discuss their professional backgrounds.
• Maria’s Inspiration and Conference Challenges (2:53): Maria shares her inspiration for choosing Disneyland as the venue for her play therapy conference. She discusses the unique challenges and rewards of planning an event in a magical setting.
• Ask Culture vs. Guess Culture (10:01)” The conversation shifts to the importance of asking questions in personal and professional contexts. The trio explores the concepts of ask culture and guess culture and their impacts on event planning.
• Dynamic Disabilities and Accommodations (16:58): Maria explains the concept of dynamic disabilities and their fluctuating nature. The group discusses the importance of accommodations and the evolving policies of Disney’s Disability Access Service (DAS).
• Disney’s DAS Program and Challenges (21:21): The discussion delves into recent changes to Disney’s DAS program, including the new pre-registration process and the impact of these changes on visitors with disabilities.
• Play-Based Interventions (41:03): The hosts discuss play-based interventions for individuals with disabilities, highlighting the importance of creating inclusive play environments catering to children and adults.
• Hosting at Disneyland: Tips and Reflections (47:49): Maria shares practical advice on hosting events at Disneyland, emphasizing early planning and clear communication. She reflects on the success of her play therapy conference and announces details for the next event.
• Closing Thoughts and Future Plans (51:59): The episode concludes with reflections on the discussed topics, the importance of continuing advocacy for disability rights, and excitement for future events and conferences.

00:00 – 00:02
Is episode 43 of happiest pot on earth.

00:02 – 00:09
On this episode, we are going to be using some, very specific terminology that we would like to define for you ahead of time

00:09 – 00:13
so when you listen you can feel more prepared. The first term is ableism.

00:13 – 00:22
Ableism is the discrimination of and social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior.

00:23 – 00:29
At its heart, ableism is rooted in the assumption that disabled people require fixing and defines people by their disability.

00:30 – 00:38
The second term is diversity. Diversity simply means the differences between people, and equity is about securing everyone’s

00:38 – 00:40
access to the same opportunities and resources.

00:41 – 00:47
Inclusion, which is another term that we use, creates a welcoming and respectful environment, and belonging is the feeling

00:47 – 00:50
of being accepted and part of a community.

00:50 – 00:58
Another term is dynamic disability. A dynamic disability is a condition or impairment that can change in severity and impact over time.

00:59 – 01:05
This can include periods of remission or exasperation or symptoms that fluctuate throughout the day.

01:05 – 01:12
People with dynamic disabilities may experience good days, bad days that are unpredictable, which can make it difficult to

01:12 – 01:14
manage their symptoms and plan for the future.

01:26 – 01:29
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the happiest pod on Earth. I’m Steph.

01:29 – 01:35
I’m an educator who uses passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them.

01:35 – 01:42
And I’m Ariel, a licensed therapist who uses clients’ passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma and mental illness.

01:42 – 01:49
I’m Maria. I’m a marriage and family therapist and a registered play therapist who pulls from pop culture to normalized mental health and therapy.

01:49 – 01:53
And here at Happiest Pod, we dissect Disney mediums with a critical lens. Why?

01:53 – 01:56
Because we are more than just fans and we expect more from the mediums we consume.

01:57 – 01:58
So everybody, what are we talking about today?

01:59 – 02:08
Well, we have a very special guest on our podcast today, an old friend, I guess you can say, because we have had her on our podcast before.

02:08 – 02:15
We have Maria who is, a wonderful person, human being, and very talented in what she does.

02:15 – 02:22
I am in awe of everything, that she has accomplished, and, I had so much fun the last time I saw her because the last time

02:22 – 02:26
I we saw her was at the parks. So Yeah. Yeah.

02:26 – 02:33
Yeah. Thank you guys so much for having me back, and thanks for coming and playing with me at Disney.

02:33 – 02:35
I mean, there’s no there’s no better work day than

02:35 – 02:36
a day at Disney.

02:36 – 02:39
You really have to pull our hair to, like, go there.

02:39 – 02:44
We’re just like, I don’t know about this one. That’s such a big ask. Oh, good. Ask.

02:44 – 02:46
I had to leave work. Oh my goodness.

02:46 – 02:53
So, Maria, I’m curious. What inspired you to choose Disneyland as the venue of your play therapy conference?

02:53 – 03:00
And were there any unique challenges and rewards that you encountered in having the magical place be the location

03:00 – 03:11
of your conference? Sure. I mean, when we think about play, and the 3 of us being, Disney adults, fan adults, I mean, there’s

03:11 – 03:15
really not a better place than the parks to go and play. Right?

03:16 – 03:24
And so really the the idea behind the conference was how do I integrate play back into the learning? I’m old.

03:24 – 03:30
I used to attend conference...

Summary
 
Summary 

• 00:00 Introducing Happiest Pod and Guests: Meet the hosts of Happiest Pod and their special guests, Eric and Julia Lewald, creators of the original X-Men series, as they discuss their passion for dissecting Disney mediums with a critical lens.
• 01:02 Rediscovering X-Men’s Impact: Explore Eric and Julia’s surreal experience of rediscovering the massive fanbase and impact of X-Men years after the original series ended, leading to a resurgence of interest in the show.
• 03:13 Family Support and Generational Connection: Discover how Eric and Julia’s family, including their children and grandchildren, have played a supportive role in their journey, bridging generational gaps and connecting with the show’s legacy.
• 04:20 Working Together as a Married Couple: Delve into Eric and Julia’s unique dynamic as a married couple working in the same industry, exploring how their shared experiences and collaboration have strengthened their relationship and creative process.
• 06:52 Empathy and Creativity in Collaboration: Uncover the deep empathy and understanding from working closely with a partner in the same field and how shared challenges and experiences can enhance creativity and collaboration.
• 08:58 X-Men’s Legacy and Social Commentary: Explore the profound impact of X-Men in shaping representation, social justice themes, and fostering discussions on complex topics, reflecting on the show’s legacy and relevance in today’s society.
• 09:42 Creative Freedom and Storytelling: Learn about Eric and Julia’s creative freedom in developing the X-Men series, balancing staying true to the original material and crafting engaging and impactful storytelling.
• 16:23 Consulting and Continuation with X-Men 97: Discover Eric and Julia’s experience as consulting producers for X-Men 97, reflecting on the evolution of the industry and the challenges and joys of contributing to the continuation of the beloved series.
• 25:11 Evolution of Animation Industry: Explore the changes in the animation industry over the years, from production timelines to technological advancements and the impact of social media on creative processes and audience engagement.
• 28:28 The Art of Releasing Episodes: Exploring the impact of releasing episodes weekly versus all at once, reminiscent of the original X-Men series and the value of discussing episodes with friends and fans.
• 31:27 Challenges of Accessing Content: Reflecting on the challenges of accessing the content in the past, such as delayed episodes on military bases and the impact of missing out on shared cultural experiences.
• 32:01 Evolution of Show Intro: Discussing changes in show intros over time, comparing the consistency of the original X-Men series intro with the dynamic intros of X-Men 97.
• 33:04 Budget Constraints and Creative Change: Exploring the impact of budget cuts on the final season of the original X-Men series, leading to changes in animation quality and music, highlighting the practical challenges in the industry.
• 36:11 X-Men’s Enduring Theme: Delving into the enduring themes of X-Men, including social commentary, personal struggles, and the evolving nature of human society, emphasizing the importance of appreciating differences and striving for a better world.
• 42:00 Time Travel and Multiverse Possibilities: Exploring the potential for time travel and multiverse concepts in X-Men 97, hinting at exciting narrative possibilities and connections to broader storytelling universes.
• 43:45 Narrative Impact and Character Development: Discussing the impact of character narratives and sacrifices in storytelling, highlighting the emotional depth and realism that resonates with audiences, showcasing the importance of character development and impactful storytelling.
• 47:00 Aspiring Writers’ Advice: Offering valuable advice for aspiring writers and creators, emphasizing consistency, networking, preparedness, flexibility, and the collaborative nature of the industry, encouraging aspiring creatives to hone their craft and embrace the profession’s challenges.
• 57:00 Closing Remarks and Future Engagements: Expressing gratitude for the impact of X-Men and the joy of creative work, sharing insights on upcoming events like LA con and the uncanny experience, and inviting listeners to engage with the guests on social media.

Media/Characters Mentioned
 

• X-Men: The Animated Series
• X-Men 97
• Marvel Universe
• Charles Xavier
• Cyclops (Scott Summers)
• Jean Grey
• Wolverine
• Storm
• Beast
• Gambit
• Rogue
• Professor X

Topics/Themes Mentioned
 

• Legacy of X-Men: The Animated Series
• Cultural and social impact of the series
• Resurgence and revival with X-Men 97
• Creative process and challenges in animation
• Working dynamics as a married couple in the industry
• Representation and diversity in media
• Educational applications of X-Men themes
• Consulting on new series and maintaining original tone
• Evolution of the animation industry
• Fan interactions and convention experiences

| Website: happy.geektherapy.com |
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| Stef on Twitter: @stefa_kneee | Ariel on Instagram: @airyell3000 |
| Eric and Julia on Twitter: @xmentas | Eric and Julia on Instagram: @xmentas|
| Eric and Julia on Facebook: @xmentas | | Website: https://xmentas.com/ |
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Geek Therapy is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that advocates for the effective and meaningful use of popular media in therapeutic, educational, and community practice.
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The post

Disney/Pixar Turning Red: Mei’s Little Box of Big Feelings Storybooks

Free Downloadable Turning Red Activity Sheets Developed and Provided by Disney/PixarDownload

Summary
 
Summary of HPOE41 

• 00:00 Introduction: Introduction to the episode with Ariel and Stef welcoming guests Soo Jin and Linda, setting up the discussion about Pixar’s Turning Red as it relates to AANHPI Heritage Month, Mental Health Awareness Month, and Pixar Fest.
• 01:02 Turning Red Discussion Kickoff: Discussion on the significance of Turning Red, how it relates to the personal experiences of the hosts and guests, especially during Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian Heritage Month.
• 02:35 Watch Party Experience: Guests share their unique experiences of watching Turning Red through a virtual watch party, emphasizing community and shared experiences in appreciating the film.
• 07:01 Cultural and Emotional Impact: Delving into how Turning Red reflects personal and cultural narratives, exploring themes of adolescence, identity, and the Asian diaspora experience.
• 19:34 Deep Dive into Themes: Analysis of the major themes in Turning Red such as identity, family pressure, and the intersection of culture and personal growth, including the challenges faced by second-generation immigrants.
• 34:18 Professional Insights and Book Discussion: Guests discuss how the film’s themes are relevant in their professional practice as mental health professionals and talk about their book, Where I Belong: Healing Trauma and Embracing Asian American Identity, offering insights into therapy and cultural humility.
• 40:45 Engagement and Representation: Strategies discussed for engaging communities and readers through the themes of the movie, and the importance of representation in media.
• 47:30 Conclusion and Further Resources: Conclusion of the discussion, reflections on the impact of Turning Red, and information on where listeners can find related resources or engage further with the themes discussed

Transcription
 
Ariel Landrum (00:00)
Hello everyone, welcome to Happiest Pod on Earth. I’m Ariel, a licensed therapist who uses clients’ passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma and mental unwellness. 
Stefanie Bautista (00:10)
And I’m Stef. I’m an educator who uses my passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them. 
Soo Jin Lee (00:16)
Hello everyone, my name is Soo Jin Lee. I’m a licensed therapist passionate about supporting Asian Americans address mental health challenges surrounding identity and intergenerational healing. 
Linda (00:26)
Hi, my name is Linda Yoon. I’m a licensed psychotherapist, social worker who is passionate about helping people heal from trauma and recovery. 
Ariel Landrum (00:35)
And here at Happiest Pod, we dissect Disney mediums with a critical lens. Why? Because we are more than just fans and we expect more from the mediums we consume. 
Stefanie Bautista (00:34)
Mm-hmm. 
That’s right. And so on this episode, everybody, what are we going to discuss 
Ariel Landrum (00:47)
Yeah, so everyone heard we have some very special, awesome guests, Soo Jin and Linda, and we thought this would be the most opportune time to talk about a film that came out essentially during the pandemic that we have revisited a few times, but never got to have on the show. And that is the iconic Pixar movie, Turning Red. And right now it’s Pixar Fest, so I’m hoping that at Disneyland we will be able to see Mei Mei and her mom. 
Stefanie Bautista (01:10)
Yes, and not only is it Pixar Fest, it is also AAPI Heritage Month, which is Asian American, Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian Heritage Month. So we would love to celebrate this amazing movie that spoke so dearly to my heart and to a lot of people who I know’s hearts, because growing up as an Asian American was a very unique experience. And it is so amazing to see that on the big screen. 
Unfortunately, the little screen at first, because like as Ariel mentioned, it did come out during COVID. And I’m actually curious to know how did you all watch it? Did you watch it right when it came out? Did you watch it a little later? I know when you have the ability to just watch things on your own, not everybody flocks to the theater. So I’m curious to know how did you all watch it the first time? 
Linda (01:53)
Actually our staff, Soo Jin and I, who run a group practice, we have around that time we had about 20 staff, mostly Asian American therapists, and we were very excited about this film coming out. And we used to do, since everybody’s working in the remote right, we used to do Happy Hour Friday. We didn’t really drink, we just watched movie together and had boba. That’s what we did. 
Ariel Landrum (02:09)
Mm-hmm. 
No, beautiful, beautiful. 
Soo Jin Lee (02:17)
That’s the drink, the boba. 
Linda (02:19)
The boba. And there used to be a lot of platforms that you can share screen and watch movies together during this time, right? So we actually watched like about seven of us gathered together. And that was my first time watching Turning Red. 
Stefanie Bautista (02:19)
Yes. 
Ariel Landrum (02:24)
Mm-hmm. 
Soo Jin Lee (02:30)
Me too, yeah. So essentially we had a watch party at our work, which was really amazing. And this was, Turning Red was the one that everyone wanted to watch and we were so excited to watch it together. And so we definitely watched it on the mini screen for me because I had a laptop at the time. But even so, you know, in the mini screen of my laptop, I was just so zoned into the movie. 
Ariel Landrum (02:34)
Mm-hmm. 
Hahaha! 
Stefanie Bautista (02:45)
Right, yeah, yeah. 
Ariel Landrum (02:52)
Yeah, yeah, so I did watch it at home. My TV is 78 inches, so I don’t think it feels many to me. And I watched it with at the time my roommate because my partner was working at the ski resort and it was nice having a conversation with my roommate because they are 
a non-binary white person, and they got to ask questions about my experience and if I understood like some of the themes happening in the movie. And I was presenting the themes that like stuck out to me. And it was really interesting how they had noted a part of the movie that I hadn’t considered because I was so engrossed in how it like solidified my experience as diaspora, which was the part of the movie where there was like a potential hint towards like a period. 
Soo Jin Lee (03:34)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. 
Ariel Landrum (03:34)
that never gets discussed anywhere. And I had so bypassed that. And they had highlighted how that was really so pivotal for them to see and how sad it was that we weren’t seeing it in theaters because o...

Summary of HPOE40:

• 00:00 Introduction: Uniting Passions with Therapy and Education: Ariel and Stefanie introduce themselves, outlining how they use fandoms in their therapy and education practices.
• 01:33 Star Wars Nite: Hits and Misses: Ariel recounts her recent experience at Disneyland’s Star Wars Nite, discussing the event’s organization and where it fell short.
• 07:07 Main Street Magic: A Star Wars Immersive Experience: Insights into the immersive experiences at Disneyland during Star Wars Nite, focusing on themed meals and interactions.
• 32:34 Season of the Force: A Special Journey on Space Mountain: Details on the special Star Wars-themed version of the Space Mountain ride, incorporating effects and music from the franchise.
• 10:18 Engaging with the Galaxy: Star Wars Events and Their Impact: Discussion on various Star Wars-themed events, their impact on fans, and the use of Star Wars in therapy and education settings.
• 21:11 May the 4th: Celebrating Star Wars Community and Culture: Reflections on the significance of May the 4th, celebrating community and culture through Star Wars, including thematic food and character interactions.
• 32:58 Star Wars Across the City: Celebrating in Los Angeles: Discussion on Star Wars events in Los Angeles, including museum exhibitions and sporting events, showcasing how the franchise is celebrated beyond Disneyland.
• 37:55 Educational Adventures: Star Wars in the Classroom: Discussion on how Star Wars themes are utilized in educational settings to engage and educate students on values and ethics.
• 43:36 Conclusion: The Enduring Legacy of Star Wars: Summarizing the episode’s discussion, reflecting on the enduring impact of Star Wars on popular culture, therapy, and education.

Ariel Landrum (00:00)
Hello everyone, welcome to Happiest Pod on Earth. I’m Ariel, a licensed therapist who uses clients’ passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma and mental illness.

Stefanie (00:09)
And I’m Stef I’m an educator who uses passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them. Here at Happiest Pod, we dissect Disney mediums with a critical lens.

Ariel Landrum (00:19)
Why? Because we are more than just fans and we expect more from the mediums we consume. So, Stef, what are we talking about today?

Stefanie (00:26)
Well, actually, this is a very big topic. we are heading into May. And one of the biggest things that us Disney fans celebrate in May is the season of the force. So we’re going to be talking about Star Wars today.

Ariel Landrum (00:37)
We have a celebration today. This is another story. Dun dun

Stefanie (00:42)
every time I think Star Wars, I think the Imperial March. So I’m always like, it’s just so much more iconic to me. It is not positive, but it’s a banger, as the kids say. So yes, it is season of the Force. So we’re talking about all things Star Wars. I know that there are very big Star Wars events happening.

Ariel Landrum (00:45)
Dun dun dun!

Hehe

Yeah.

Stefanie (01:01)
around the city and also maybe even across the country. Many people celebrate Star Wars in different ways and we will be talking about not only those events but also how we use Star Wars in our practices as well. Because I know that Star Wars being such an iconic staple in pop culture, it parallels a lot of different mythologies and different types of storytelling that both of us use to connect with our clients and our students.

Ariel Landrum (01:05)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Stefanie (01:25)
Ariel, I know that you just recently, like very recently, celebrated Star Wars in a big way. Can you tell us what you, experienced?

Ariel Landrum (01:33)
Absolutely. So we had Season of the Force at Disneyland and one of the events they had was one of their nighttime events and it was the Star Wars at Nite And I did that literally yesterday, last night. Didn’t get home until after midnight. The way the night events go is they go from 9 to 1 and you do get to go to the park at 6, so like two hours earlier than the event.

There were some things I definitely learned from this that I think we can apply to other night events. And then there were some misses, I think on the part of Disneyland. So.

Stefanie (02:01)
Mm-hmm.

I see. I am very curious. This is one After Dark event that you and I did not go to together. I didn’t get to go to Star Wars Nite I love the After Dark events, but as I am a mother, it is very hard for me to pry myself away from my little ones. I cannot wait until they get older so that I can experience these things with them, but I’m very curious to know your experience. I know the last time we talked about an After Dark event was Disney Channel Nite.

Ariel Landrum (02:11)
Mm-mm.

Mm-hmm.

I cannot wait until they get older.

Stefanie (02:28)
and we had a blast. It was so much fun and so dynamic that I’m kind of still riding on that high, if you will, of Disney Channel Nite because we’ve done other nights like Marriest Nites, Princess Nites, they have had their hits and misses. But yeah, I know you can listen to those other episodes to kind of get a run through of how everything goes, but

Ariel Landrum (02:29)
Mm-hmm.

It was so much fun and so dynamic that I’m kind of still riding on that high if you read of Disney Channel Night. Because we’ve had other nights, like Marius’ nights, and the movie nights, and we have had their hits and misses. But yeah, I know you can…

Stefanie (02:53)
I feel like Star Wars Nite is very equivalent to Oogie Boogie Bash to where it already has a following and people anticipate for these tickets to come out. So was it really hard for you to find tickets to this particular event?

Ariel Landrum (02:57)
It already has a follow-up. Yes. And people can participate. Yes.

So that was the crazy thing is they were still selling tickets, I think even until like last week. And the tickets that sold out the fastest were the ones closest to May 4th. And then the first day of the event. And that was it. After that, like I think my roommate was still looking to see if like tickets were available and they were.

Stefanie (03:24)
Yeah, and I think that maybe has to do with like the actual day. Oogie Boogie Bash tends to sell out first closer to Halloween. So maybe this is one of the things where they really wanted to be on May the 4th. But I mean, it is it is a weekday, so that could have contributed to it. But yeah, so li...

Summary
 
Summary of HPOE39 

• 00:00 Introduction: Introduction to the episode, greeting, and a brief overview of what will be discussed, including Dan Conner’s work and the focus on “The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Battle for Pumpkin King.”
• 03:24 Dan Conner’s Background and Achievements: Introduction of Dan Conner, discussing his career, notable works, and his role in creating “The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Battle for Pumpkin King.”
• 07:15 Origins of ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’: Discussion on the inception and cultural impact of “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” setting the stage for the deeper exploration of the graphic novel.
• 12:20 Deep Dive into ‘The Battle for Pumpkin King’: Detailed exploration of the graphic novel, character development of Jack and Oogie, and the themes of rivalry and friendship.
• 19:34 Creative Process and Challenges: Insight into the creative process of adapting the story into a graphic novel, challenges faced, and the collaboration between artists and writers.
• 27:50 Storytelling Techniques: Comics vs. Manga: Comparison of storytelling techniques in American comics and manga, as seen in the graphic novel.
• 34:18 Educational and Therapeutic Applications: Discussion on how the themes and characters of the graphic novel can be used in educational and therapeutic settings.
• 40:45 Engaging Fans and New Readers: Strategies for engaging long-time fans of “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and attracting new readers to the graphic novel.
• 47:30 Conclusion and Where to Find the Book: Closing thoughts, where listeners can find “The Battle for Pumpkin King,” and upcoming appearances by Dan Conner.

Transcription
 
Ariel Landrum (00:00)
Hello everyone, welcome to the Happiest Pod on Earth. I’m Ariel, a licensed therapist who uses clients’ passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma and mental unwellness. 
Stefanie (00:09)
And I’m Stef I’m an educator who uses passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them. 
Dan Conner (00:15)
And I’m Dan, I’m a cartoonist. I wrote the Nightmare Before Christmas, The Battle for Pumpkin King, and I work on a lot of comics. 
Ariel Landrum (00:24)
Beautiful, beautiful. And here at Happiest Pod we dissect mediums with a critical lens. Why? Because we are more than fans and we expect more from the mediums we consume. 
Stefanie (00:33)
That’s right. And everybody, as we have a special guest here on our podcast, what are we discussing today? 
Ariel Landrum (00:39)
Exactly that Nightmare Before Christmas, which this is the opportune time simply because we are halfway to Halloween. So Dan, can you tell us a bit about your comic? 
Stefanie (00:46)
That’s right. 
Dan Conner (00:50)
Yes, it’s a prequel to the Nightmare Before Christmas movie. And the premise is that it starts off when Jack and Oogie Boogie are friends. And there it’s not really much of a spoiler. There was a former Pumpkin King named Edgar who is coming to the end of his tenure. And so Jack and Oogie have to compete against each other to see who will be the new Pumpkin King. Of course, if you’ve seen the movie, it’s not a spoiler that you might not. 
You might know who that is, but this gives the background information to how that happens and how the rivalry between Jack and Oogie begins. 
Ariel Landrum (01:24)
And did you write and do the artwork for this comic or graphic novel? 
Dan Conner (01:29)
No, I just wrote it. It was originally five comics that were collected in one graphic novel. 
Ariel Landrum (01:37)
Hey, beautiful, beautiful. 
Stefanie (01:38)
Yeah, that’s awesome. I mean, I remember Ariel emailed it to me and then I saw the PDF. I was at work. And then I realized that I did not go back to my task for like 30 minutes because I just kept reading it. And I’m like, this is so fantastic. I love, I love me a good prequel story. And I love seeing characters when they’re younger because I think it’s so fascinating. I’m surrounded by kids all day and. 
Dan Conner (01:53)
I’m sorry. 
Yeah. 
Stefanie (02:05)
when you have a character as beloved as Jack and as Oogie Boogie, seeing them in their child form, I think is so playful and fun and it just gives another dimension to the character. So I was immediately hooked. 
Dan Conner (02:17)
Very cool, yeah, that’s really fun about it. I love the different character designs that you see, Sally with the pigtails, Jack with kind of like the schoolboy uniform, so yeah, that’s really fun. 
Ariel Landrum (02:30)
and even Lock, Shock, and Barrel as babies. That was adorable. 
Dan Conner (02:34)
Yeah, yeah, I’m glad you think so. 
Stefanie (02:35)
So cute. Yeah, everybody loves a baby version of a character. I think that kind of ties to like when we saw Grogu and seeing him as a baby first, that’s why everybody went baby Yoda at first, just because we were like, oh, obviously that’s just a child version of Yoda. And then we started doing like that calculation meme. We were like, wait, is that really him? But yeah, I think seeing kids or seeing characters in like… 
Dan Conner (02:56)
Yeah. 
Stefanie (03:00)
all stages of their life is so interesting, especially with a character development so rich as what we were given in the Nightmare Before Christmas. It was so interesting to me to see how playful he was even when he was younger and even how playful Oogie Boogie was, even though it was a different type of playfulness that we saw when he was singing and when he was doing his vile things. This was a different type of playfulness and I think… 
that that was really interesting to see how they interacted with each other because all we knew was just the struggle between the two during the movie. So how did it feel for you to create a story with a new story with such beloved characters? Was it difficult? Was it hard? I mean, was it something that you’ve already thought about? 
Dan Conner (03:49)
That’s a good question. Yeah, it felt really good. I mean, Nightmare Before Christmas is my favorite Disney movie for sure. And getting to be involved with the series is amazing. Getting to write one of the comic series graphic novels was just unbelievable. So when I was able to work on it, the outline was already done. And so… 
That was of course by DJ Milky and Sean McLaughlin and they weren’t able to write out the whole thing and script it out. And there were some changes made to that one as well. So it was brought to me and then my task was to write the book. That went really well. I was able to try a few different things, try a lot of different things that ultimately just about everything worked out. 
Ariel Landrum (04:44)
I’m curious, were you ever attempted to create new characters in the Nightmare Before Christmas sort of like world or universe? Was that even on the table for discussion? 
Dan Conner (04:54)
So the former Pumpkin King Edgar, he was a character that we c...

Download free some hand-dany worksheets on social and emotional learning and healing that are X-Men themed:

Summary of HPOE38:

1. Introduction: Ariel and Stef introduce the episode by discussing the critical lens they apply to Disney mediums and their expectations from the content they consume.

Summary of HPOE37

1. Introduction (0:11): Stef and Ariel set the stage for a delicious discussion on Disney food, touching on its cultural and social impact.
2. Disney’s Food and Wine Festival (2:03): They dive into the Food and Wine Festival at California Adventure, expressing surprise over the lack of avocado-themed dishes despite the event’s theme.
3. Favorite Festival Foods (6:04): The hosts share their top picks and experiences from the festival, including standout dishes.
4. Merchandise and Marketing (43:46): Discussion shifts to Disney’s strategic merchandising of food-themed products, highlighting the new “Disney Eats” monthly release strategy.
5. Educational and Therapeutic Use of Food (32:13): They explore how food can be integrated into educational settings and therapy to foster learning, healing, and a deeper understanding of cultural identity.
6. Closing Thoughts (45:49): The episode wraps up with details on an upcoming panel discussion at WonderCon and an invitation for listeners to share their favorite Disney foods and food fandoms.

00:11 – 00:17
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Happiest Pod On Earth. I’m Stef. I’m an educator who uses passions and fandoms to help my

00:17 – 00:20
students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them.

00:20 – 00:27
And I’m Ariel, a licensed therapist who uses clients’ passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma and mental illness.

00:27 – 00:31
Here at Happiest Pod, we dissect Disney mediums with a critical lens.

00:31 – 00:37
Why? Because we’re more than just Stefanie, and we expect more from the mediums we consume. Speaking of consuming, what are

00:37 – 00:38
we discussing today, Steph?

00:38 – 00:46
What a perfect word to describe what we are talking about today. We are talking about food, specifically Disney food, obviously.

00:46 – 00:52
But I feel like this is a long time coming. We have not touched upon this. Despite the fact that we’ve done multiple panels

00:52 – 01:02
at Comic Con about food and its impact culturally, socially, mentally, physically, I mean, everything. Food is life. Right?

01:02 – 01:03
That’s the saying. Yes.

01:03 – 01:10
And then we did a presentation at Geek Therapy’s tags on using food in the classroom and using food in the therapy and talking

01:10 – 01:18
about ways to address individuals who might have various forms of eating disorders or individuals who want to embrace the

01:18 – 01:19
culture of their food, but they don’t know how.

01:19 – 01:27
Mhmm. Food itself has many different dimensions. I mean, people love it. They make livings around it. We love to consume it.

01:27 – 01:35
It brings people together. I mean, as you said, I talked about how food in the classroom and food when it comes to translating

01:35 – 01:41
what it means for kids is so important as they grow and develop, and their relationship with food too. So I think it is fitting

01:41 – 01:47
as we are coming into the spring season now here in California, and specifically

01:54 – 02:03
in in as, like, something to drive people to get to the parks, which has definitely worked on me. Yes. Okay. So starting with

02:03 – 02:10
the park specifically, right now we are during the middle or just starting food and wine festival, which I don’t think we’ve

02:10 – 02:12
talked about on the show before. Correct?

02:12 – 02:19
No. We haven’t. We’ve done many different events that are very similar to Food and Wine, but correct me if I’m wrong, everyone

02:19 – 02:26
out there, and, you know, my to my cohost as well. I feel like food and wine festival was kind of like the genesis of people

02:26 – 02:33
coming to the park specifically to have specialty foods, specialty wine and beverage, especially since California Adventure

02:33 – 02:40
in itself. I think going with the theme of California and how we are, what, the largest in the United States of America, and

02:40 – 02:46
that we have such a large culinary scene. We have many celebrity chefs who live out here and make a living out here. They

02:46 – 02:52
really wanted to capitalize that with the California theme. So, you know, you see there’s a winery in the middle of the park.

02:52 – 03:00
You can drink alcohol in the park. There’s specialty restaurants like the Trattoria, which is Italian inspired. You have different

03:00 – 03:05
areas of the park where you can get different sorts of regional foods that you wouldn’t otherwise find at Disneyland.

03:05 – 03:14
And this year’s theme is it’s avocado time, avocado shaped like clock. Interestingly, though, there are not many avocado items

03:14 – 03:21
or that that’s not the main ingredient in most of the dishes, at least what we saw on the menu and what we tried. I don’t

03:21 – 03:27
remember, like, avocado being so featured, and yet that is the theme and that is the merchandise. Which yeah.

03:27 – 03:32
I think this is the first time they had a hard theme for Food and Wine Festival. Normally, it’s just, here, come try regional

03:32 – 03:37
foods. It’s happening. And for all of you who don’t know about the Food food and wine festival, basically, every single year,

03:37 – 03:44
they line the main veranda, the main street of California Adventure Park. They line them up with these little booths that

03:44 – 03:50
you can purchase small kind of tapas like items, very small. You can share them if you want. But, yeah, the food and wine

03:50 – 03:57
festival gets you certain dishes that you can use the little tabs to redeem. It does exclude alcohol, and it does exclude

03:58 – 04:04
some other dishes that you would have to go to the restaurant to get. So it’s not just the little booths that have themed

04:04 – 04:11
items, but also the restaurants that already serve things like in San Fransokyo or the plaza in the back, the garden plaza,

04:11 – 04:16
I think, but not necessarily with the little sip and saver pests. A lot of rules.

04:16 – 04:33
Yeah. Which I think is a a little the marketing, is I feel like this year, it’s expanded even more in more tiny booths. I

04:33 – 04:39
think last year, I don’t remember as many booths. You can correct me if I’m wrong, but I just feel like it it’s grown in the

04:39 – 04:46
amount of options. It’s that you don’t have to go up to the booth to order your, like, each individual item. You can just

04:46 – 04:52
find 1 booth, order them all there, take your tickets, and go retrieve them, which is such a time saver. Because when I f...

Learn more about the military charity Stack Up: https://www.stackup.org/

Summary of HPOE36:

• Introduction (0:10): Stefanie and Ariel introduce the episode from Stack Up Studios, highlighting the integration of passions in education and therapy.
• About Stack Up (1:01): Discussion on Stack Up’s support for veterans through gaming and community events.
• Recording Together (2:55): Sharing the novelty of recording in person for the first time, enhancing their discussion dynamics.
• Diving into Gaming (3:27): Transition into discussing video games, especially those not typically associated with the “gamer” stereotype.
• Disney and Gaming (4:57): Exploration of Disney’s history with video games, with a special focus on the Kingdom Hearts series.
• Personal Gaming Histories (6:07): Stefanie and Ariel share their personal journeys with video games, from childhood favorites to adult choices.
• Disney’s Gaming Evolution (15:27): Discussing Disney’s new ventures into gaming, including a partnership with Epic Games for a metaverse project.
• Cultural Impact of Gaming (31:18): Reflecting on how gaming influences family traditions and social interactions.
• Safety in Gaming (43:11): Concerns and hopes for safety measures in Disney’s future gaming projects.
• Engagement and Community (45:46): Encouragement for listeners to share their gaming experiences and engage with the community.

Ariel Landrum 0:10
Hello, everyone, welcome to the Happiest Pod on Earth. I’m Stef. I’m an educator who uses passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them.

And I’m Ariel, a licensed therapist who uses clients passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma and mental unwellness.

Stefanie Bautista 0:28
Here at Happiest Pod, we dissect Disney mediums with a critical lens.

Ariel Landrum 0:32
Why? Because we’re more than just fans, we expect more from the mediums we consume. So Stef, what are we going to be discussing today?

Stefanie Bautista 0:39
Well, we are actually recording in a very special place. We are recording at Stack Up Studios here in Los Angeles…

Ariel Landrum 0:47
At their Phalanx House.

Stefanie Bautista 0:48
At their Phalanx House, right. But this place is very special, because it is very video game centric. And that’s what we are going to be talking about today. So Ariel, can you give us a little bit of background about what Stack Up does here?

Ariel Landrum 1:01
Absolutely. So stack up is a military charity supporting active and veterans service members in the US and abroad. They also support anybody who is connected, who has like government connections that would also be deployed to like DoD members. And they do things like air drops, where they drop gaming equipment, and geek culture events at this spot. Specifically, they do peer to peer mental health support for veterans. And they do volunteer teams that engage with veteran outreach and community betterment. And here at the Phalanx House. They have a variety of different events, especially around the holidays for service members who may not have family in the area. They have like a D&D night, they have Year’s Eve and Christmas parties or Thanksgiving, they’ll be having a Super Bowl party here. And so it’s really wonderful nonprofit, and they embrace gaming and geek culture. So obviously a really good partner with a Geek Therapy. And we are in their one of their podcasting rooms, recording today.

Stefanie Bautista 1:01
Yeah, I mean, I wish I could kind of take a snapshot of all of this stuff, because there’s a lot of amazing things here that a gamer would only dream of having just accessible to them. I think that this is a great way for veterans to kind of connect with the things that they love. Kind of like how what we talked about here at Happiest Pod on Earth, I think the things that make us happy, and the things that make us whole and human and all those good things. You need to connect those to yourself every so often, depending on, you know, even if you’re a veteran, even if you’re an educator, even as a therapist, you got to connect to the things that you love. And I think getting back to those roots, especially for people who have been in very traumatic situations such as veterans, it’s really important to rehabilitate yourself, especially after your duty is done. Special thanks to Stephen and his crew for letting us use this space and setting us up today. Because this is amazing. And we’re very happy to be here.

Ariel Landrum 2:55
And for those of you who might not be aware of oftentimes, when Stef and I are recording the podcast, we are not in the same room, we are actually seeing each other through zoom. And so this is the first time that we actually have gotten to record in person.

Stefanie Bautista 3:07
Yeah, like in, in face to face with each other. Which is awesome, because we have very many, many conversations with each other in the car or when we’re hanging out. But whenever we’re recording, we actually are not in the same room together. So this is actually going to be very exciting because we can actually have a real conversation.

Ariel Landrum 3:27
Yes, yes. And so today because we are here at stack up and we are part of Geek Therapy, there is one a geeking genre that we have not stepped into or talked about and that is video games.

Stefanie Bautista 3:39
That’s right. I would not claim myself as an avid avid gamer. However, I still play video games, whether it’s on my phone, whether it’s on my switch that like I let die and then revive again every week. I still video game and I know Ariel you game too, right?

Ariel Landrum 3:56
Absolutely. And I think that goes to there’s actually no official definition of what a gamer is, except for it’s a person who plays games, whether for fun or professionally. But in the you know, in the media socially, in our zeitgeist, we tend to think of gamers, really people who do parse first person shooters often male, like that’s the image we have in our mind. And video games. There are a variety of video games, there’s cosy gaming, there’s sandbox play, there’s a lot of ways to do video games that isn’t just first person shooters. And when it comes to the Disney genre that does sort of help meet the middle for individuals who may not be excited to do first person shooters, but they want to do maybe puzzles, they want more world building, they want expansion even with the I would say some of their older school games that were very difficult. It really captivated like a...

Register for the “Play Therapy: To Infinity and Beyond Conference” taking place at Disneyland and the Dinseyland Hotel from March 5-10th, 2024 here: https://www.anewhopetc.org/playatdisneyland

Summary of HPOE35: Unlocking The Healing Powers of Play

1. Introduction (0:03): Ariel, Stefanie, and special guest Maria introduce the episode’s theme, focusing on integrating play in therapy and education.
2. What is Play Therapy? (0:52): Maria explains the concept and application of play therapy, emphasizing its role in expressing and processing experiences beyond words.
3. Play vs. Traditional Learning (2:34): Stefanie discusses the importance of play in education, challenging the conventional separation between play and learning.
4. Play Therapy for Adults (3:17): Maria highlights the effectiveness of play therapy not just for children but for adults as well, particularly in couples counseling.
5. Villains in Therapy (4:08): Maria shares her niche in using Disney villains as therapeutic tools, fostering empathy and understanding rather than pathologizing.
6. Integrating Play in Therapy (5:15): Discussion on the diverse methods of incorporating play in therapy, including video games and expressive arts.
7. Career Path to Play Therapy (6:58): Maria recounts her journey from aspiring to be a math teacher to becoming a play therapist.
8. The Power of Play (13:03): The hosts and Maria discuss the universal and transformative power of play across different settings and ages.
9. Disney’s Role in Therapy (16:56): The conversation turns to how Disney media can be utilized in therapeutic settings to facilitate discussion and healing.
10. To Infinity and Beyond Conference (30:24): Maria talks about her upcoming conference at Disneyland, blending play therapy with the joy of Disney parks.
11. Reflections on Play (36:29): The group reflects on the importance of play for both therapists and clients, encouraging listeners to find their own ways to play.

Ariel Landrum 0:03
Hello, everyone, welcome to the Happiest Pod On Earth. I’m Ariel, I’m licensed therapist who uses clients’ passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma and mental unwellness.

Stefanie Bautista 0:13
And I’m Stef, I’m an educator who uses passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn more about themselves and the world around them.

Maria Laquerre-Diego 0:20
And I’m Maria, I’m a licensed marriage and family therapist and registered play therapist who tries to find Disney and pop cultural references in everything for therapy.

Stefanie Bautista 0:29
And here at Happiest Pod, we dissect Disney mediums with a critical lens.

Ariel Landrum 0:33
Why? Because we’re more than just fans, we expect more from the mediums that you consume. So what Disney experience are we talking about today, everybody?

Stefanie Bautista 0:41
Well, we do have a special guest the welcome Maria, thank you so much for being on the podcast with us today. Maria, do you want to share a little bit about what you do as a play therapist? If no one knows what a play therapist is?

Maria Laquerre-Diego 0:52
Sure, sure. So as a registered play therapist with the Association for Play, which is based on in California, I incorporate the powers of play. And often what it comes down to is those moments that we don’t have the words to articulate what we’ve gone through, regardless of age. Play allows us to process and share those experiences with someone who’s trained to interpret play as communication.

Ariel Landrum 1:20
That’s really interesting, because I know, and I’m curious for you, I’m an art therapist, and we have very specific way in which we view art that’s different than using art therapeutically. So how do you use play as a play therapist versus a therapist who plays with their client?

Maria Laquerre-Diego 1:35
A great question, because we don’t just play with our clients. So play therapy is a model that goes on top of and includes your theory of change. So play therapy is a large umbrella, someone might be a narrative play therapist really focusing on storytelling and the powers of story, doing narrative work, but inner weaving their use of play techniques. Or they could be a solution focused play therapist or ecosystemic play therapist, right. So your theory of change will remain in play therapy is just a model that helps make the interventions more fun. And it removes the requirement to be in our brain and in our vocal space. So often, it can be really hard to talk about the hard things. And so having someone trained on the other side of the couch for you, who doesn’t need you to say the words but can give you alternate ways to express those things. That is that’s play therapy.

Stefanie Bautista 2:34
I love that in education play is a big part. But as teachers, it’s always like, “You have to stop playing now. Because we have to learn.” And it’s just like, the kids perspective is always like, “When are we allowed to play when are we going to play?” And I think this way, it’s kind of flipping the narrative a little bit and saying that, you know, we are learning through our play, but not necessarily saying you know, play as like a reward or whatever. Like it’s a way to express yourself in a way to communicate through play, because everybody talks about how body language is so important. That’s very important when it comes to play to because you are then using how you react to certain situations, how you’re interacting with other people, and how you’re doing decision making, as you know, a kid through play. It’s it’s really cool. I really love that.

Maria Laquerre-Diego 3:17
Yeah, great. Yeah. And yeah, play is learning, right? We are learning through play we have from the very I mean, when we think about infants, what what do we do we play peekaboo, right? We talk and sing songy voices that doesn’t need to go away. And so I’m, I’m excited also to talk about like using play with adults because it’s, it’s very much geared and marketed that play therapy is for children. But I use it with adults, I do it in couples counseling. It’s really helpful anytime. You don’t have the words necessarily or it’s too hard to vocalize.

Ariel Landrum 3:50
Well and for any of our listeners who have been listening to our episodes for a while episode 24 When we talked about Disney Villains we actually mentioned Maria and her talking and training on how to use villains and therapy as something that’s affirming as opposed to pathologizing.

Maria Laquerre-Diego 4:08
Love. Thank you so much. Was that from the TAGGS? That has really ...

Read the blog post for this episode for additional references and resources.

Become a member of Geek Therapy on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/geektherapy

HPOE34

1. Introduction (0:10): Stefanie and Ariel introduce the episode, focusing on their experience at the Disney Animation Concert at the Hollywood Bowl for Disney’s 100th anniversary.
2. Personal Experiences (2:07): The hosts share their personal stories from the concert, including the effects of the SAG-AFTRA strikes and making it a special girls’ night out.
3. Disneybounding (3:07): Discussion about dressing up in Disney-themed outfits for the event.
4. Concert Atmosphere (6:08): The hosts talk about the magical ambiance at the Hollywood Bowl, including the attendees’ Disney-themed attire.
5. Transportation and Accessibility (7:02): Tips and experiences regarding transportation to the Hollywood Bowl, emphasizing convenience and accessibility.
6. Picnic at the Bowl (8:06): Insights on the unique picnic experience at the concert venue.
7. Concert Highlights (14:30): Impressions of the LA Philharmonic’s performance, featuring songs from Disney movies.
8. Sensitivity and Inclusion (18:04): Reflections on the cultural sensitivity of the music presentation, avoiding problematic scenes.
9. Emotional Moments (20:34): Discussion on the performances that were particularly moving and emotional.
10. Community Engagement (24:10): Observations on audience behavior and the importance of inclusivity for all attendees.
11. Accessibility and Accommodations (29:31): The significance of utilizing available accommodations for an enhanced experience.
12. Managing Stimuli at Public Events (34:25): Insights into attending large events with children and managing various stimuli.
13. Audience Behavior (39:13): Thoughts on concertgoers’ expectations and creating an inclusive environment.
14. Educational Value (45:10): Stefanie’s perspective as an educator on the educational benefits of such events.
15. Closing Thoughts (50:21): Final remarks on the concert experience and an invitation for audience interaction.

Stefanie Bautista 0:10
Hello, everyone, welcome to the Happiest Pod On Earth. I’m Stef . I’m an educator who uses passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them.

Ariel Landrum 0:19
And I’m Ariel, I’m a licensed therapist who uses clients passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma and mental unwellness.

Stefanie Bautista 0:27
Here at happiest pod, we dissect Disney mediums with a critical lens. Why?

Ariel Landrum 0:31
Because we are more than just fans, we expect more from the mediums we consume. So what Disney experience are we dissect interface Stef?

Stefanie Bautista 0:39
So it’s definitely an experience and it’s a experience that’s kind of very specific. If you live in Los Angeles. I had the pleasure of actually being Ariel’s date to the Walt Disney Animation Concert at the Hollywood Bowl. It’s called Walt Disney Animation Studios, The Concert. I thought that this was just, you know, one off Disney event. But of course, why did I forget that it was Disney’s 100th anniversary. So they’ve been celebrating all year since last September or August. And of course, this is one of those promo events. Part of course, you know, they have concert series and everything like that, but this was very Disney 100-forward, which was great. Just to give you a little bit of background. The LA Philharmonic is the resident at the Hollywood Bowl for the summertime. They hold lots of different concerts, classical music concerts, pop music, concerts, reggae concert, hip hop concerts, but the LA Philharmonic they do, they’re scheduled there. And during the winter, they go to the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Even though they’re at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. They don’t specifically do Disney things. It just happens to be that way. But I thought that it was really interesting that we went to a Disney Concert, not at the Disney Hall, but at the Hollywood Bowl? You know? Fun times! It covered a wide range of just Disney animation movies. So we didn’t see any live action movies. We didn’t go into Star Wars. We didn’t go into Marvel. This was strictly old school animation. And a lot of people were really excited for that, right?

Ariel Landrum 2:07
Yes, yes, I was definitely excited. Originally, I had bought the tickets as a package deal with my partner and another couple as way to go on a couple of date, given the SAG-AFTRA strikes going on right now, my partner is not working because he works in transportation. And he’s a 399. So they aren’t striking, but they aren’t crossing any picket lines in solidarity. And he found a job and he had to take the job in order to you know, make any money.

Stefanie Bautista 2:37
Make a living.

Ariel Landrum 2:38
Make a living. And the job doesn’t again cross the picket line. But it did involve him going all the way to Texas and being gone for like a whole month. And as a result, I needed to find a new date. So of course, I asked Stef…

Stefanie Bautista 2:52
Thank you!

Ariel Landrum 2:52
And then her friend Liz, and her husband, Benji, he was like, “Well, if you know her partner isn’t going and you have a friend coming out of town. Her name’s Dawn, how about you make it a Girl’s Day?” So we all four of us went and saw Disney Animation and even dressed up?

Stefanie Bautista 3:07
Yes, we did. We all tried. Well, me I tried to Disneybound they had their wonderful Disneybound outfits planned out, because Ariel had bought these tickets months in advance. So Ariel if you want to go first because mine was very last minute.

Ariel Landrum 3:23
So I had bought a dress that had a purple scallop top, and a very green, light green bottom. So you know, Ariel The Mermaid, and long dress covered my feet. And halter tops so no straps. And the scalp shaped did look very much like the seashells and that’s that’s what I were. Yeah.

Stefanie Bautista 3:46
Yeah, it was beautiful. I love that. And it was such a steal. Right? You didn’t even spend a lot of money on it.

Ariel Landrum 3:52
No, it was like, you know, talk about fast fashion. It was about six or seven bucks. So I figured even if it’s not like that cute, maybe I could like put pins on it. Or I could put like a cardigan like maybe I could make it look better than $7 but it did not look like dollars.

Stefanie Bautista ...

Read the blog post for this episode for additional references and resources.

Become a member of Geek Therapy on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/geektherapy

HPOE33

• Introduction (0:11): Ariel and Stefanie introduce the topic of Disney sidekicks, examining their roles and categorizing them based on their functions and relationships with main characters.
• Sidekick Definitions (1:47): The hosts discuss definitions of pets, working animals, and assistance animals, exploring how these relate to Disney sidekicks and mental wellness.
• Analyzing Disney Sidekicks (10:38 – 21:18): Various Disney sidekicks like Meeko, Sven, Hay Hay, and Pascal are analyzed. Their roles range from pets to emotional support or service animals, considering their relationships with main characters and contributions to the story.
• Zazu in The Lion King (29:58 – 35:24): Discussion on Zazu’s dual role as an advisor and pet-like figure, examining his loyalty and integration into the community.
• Cinderella’s Mice and Other Disney Animals (35:47 – 41:14): Exploration of Gus Gus and Jaq in “Cinderella” as examples of service animals, and discussion of other animal characters in Disney movies.
• Flounder and Sebastian in The Little Mermaid (40:48 – 44:54): Analysis of their roles as companions and advisors, aiding Ariel in her journey.
• Mushu in Mulan (45:45 – 48:36): Discussion of Mushu as a potential emotional support animal for Mulan, reflecting on his role in her journey and personal growth.
• Personal Experiences with Pets (48:36 – 53:04): Stefanie shares her personal experience with her dog Chance, discussing the emotional support and companionship provided by pets.
• Conclusion (53:04 – 53:42): The hosts invite listeners to share their animal companions, as well as their thoughts on Disney sidekicks.

Ariel Landrum 0:11
Hello, everyone, welcome to The Happiest Pod On Earth, I’m Ariel, a licensed therapist who uses clients passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma and mental unwellness.

Stefanie Bautista 0:21
And I’m Stef, I’m an educator who uses passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them.

Ariel Landrum 0:28
And here at Happiest Pod, we dissect Disney mediums with a critical lens.

Stefanie Bautista 0:33
Why do we do that? Well, because we’re more than just fans, we expect more from the mediums that we consume. So what Disney experience or Disney topic are we discussing today, Ariel?

Ariel Landrum 0:44
We’re going to talk about the famous Disney sidekick animals

Stefanie Bautista 0:49
Sidekick animals!

Ariel Landrum 0:50
Usually, we see them accompanied with princesses. But now we’re just seeing them more and more in general, with a variety of characters.

Stefanie Bautista 0:59
And we all know we have our favorites, right? If you go off the top your head my the will obviously the first one that comes to mind is Flounder just because he’s cute. He was like, you know, the best friend that always got your back always was just like your number one fan. And you know, we identify a lot of these sidekicks so readily with whatever princess or whatever main character that they themselves have become main characters in their own right. Much like we love our pets, me and Ariel are big animal lovers, and we do have pets of our own. We wanted to talk about the relationship between the sidekicks, these animal sidekicks and their main character, their friend, or whoever, and categorize them in a way that’s a little bit more suited to the real world with Ariel’s help.

Ariel Landrum 1:47
Absolutely. So we’re gonna do some definitions first. And for some of you who may not know, part of one of the things that I do as a mental health clinician, is I can provide assessments to see if someone qualifies for an emotional support animal. That qualification needs to meet very specific criteria. And the first one being that the individual must have a mental health disability. The disability has to match the definition for a federal ADA, including that there are functional impairments. And it significantly limits at least one or more life functions. So I have to assess for all of those things. The other thing I have to assess is, if the emotional support animal has what’s called a Nexus that’s a legal term or a relationship, where their relationship with their owner mitigates or lowers the symptoms of that disability. So it’s a lot of assessing.

Stefanie Bautista 2:46
it really is something that I feel people have embraced a lot more in, you know, the past decade or so. And knowing through the pandemic, through all of these hard times that we’ve gone through, they really do make a difference in how we live our everyday lives, how we treat ourselves how we treat the world. Me as a mother, I know that having a pet around teaches my kids responsibility. And it also teaches them to care for, you know, animals and the things around them. So let’s get into it. We want to identify exactly what categories we’re working with, right?

Ariel Landrum 3:22
Absolutely. So we all know they’re sidekicks. But Stef and I were talking and it seemed like some of them serve more functions and purposes than the other. So with these definitions, keep these in mind as we’re we’re essentially rating and grading. The first one is a pet or companion animal. So this is an animal that provides leisurely companionship to its owner. They’re kept primarily for a person’s company, often an extroverted display, amusement or entertainment. They’re usually domesticated or have a domestic breed. And they have close daily relationships with humans, they are not considered an assisted animal. So in assisted animals an umbrella category. An assistant animals and animal that works, provides assistance or performs tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability. So an assistant animal is not a pet. Very big distinction.

Stefanie Bautista 4:19
Yes.

Ariel Landrum 4:19
Is not there for just leisurely enjoyment. An assistant animal is technically a working animal. And the difference would be that some working animals or livestock, so if you think of an animal that is agricultural, for labor, it will produce like eggs or milk or a wool. An assistant animal is sort of doing like a job so they could technically be a working animal.

Stefanie Bautista 4:43
Okay, that would include like a sheep dog, right that like herd sheep and things like that.

Ariel Landrum 4:47
Yep. But an assisted animal specifically, its work involves an owner or a certain relationship arou...

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#32: Join cohosts Ariel and Stefanie on their journey for Dapper Day outfits. Immerse yourself in the world of Dapper Day at Disneyland as they explore everything from dressing tips and theme ideas to personal experiences and the pursuit of the perfect outfit pieces. Dive into discussions on vintage fashion, body acceptance, and privilege as they talk about stepping out in style.

Read the blog post for this episode for additional references and resources.

Become a member of Geek Therapy on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/geektherapy

HPOE32
Summary

• What is Dapper Day? 0:10
  • Dapper Day at Disneyland.
  • Step out in style.
  • Disneyland Dapper Day Expo

• Dressing for Dapper Day 5:23
  • Disney Bounding is when they use color blocking.
  • Choosing a theme.
  • The value of being complimented on Dapper Day.
  • Different elements of a Dapper Day outfit.
  • Think good and hard about footwear.

• Ariel and Stef’s Dapper Days of the Past 8:42
  • Ariel bought socks to wear with her heels due to the pain of walking all day.
  • Different park preparation from 20-year-old years to 30-year-old years.
  • Flamingo-themed dress, floral-themed dress, tiki-themed dress, and Moana-themed dress.
  • Tips for where to take pictures in the park.
  • A short girl solution to short girl problems.
  • The many theme ideas for Dapper Day.

• Ideas for Dapper Day 14:46
  • The Disney Dress Shop in Downtown Disneyland.
  • The difference between making costumes and curating an outfit.
  • Flexibility and intentionality are needed when deciding to go vintage or retro.
  • Embracing culture.
  • Filipino formal wear of The Barong Tagalog, The Terno, and The Maria Clara.

• On A Mission for Dapper Day Outfit Pieces 22:26
  • Searching Amazon for Dapper Day themed outfit ideas.
  • On a mission for the perfect pair of white boots.
  • Trying to attain that perfect look, even when it hurts.
• Ariel Does a Star Wars Disneybound for Spring Dapper Day 2023 30:09
  • The fine line between replica and upgraded outfit.
  • Wait, are they getting married?
• Dress To Your Comfort Level 34:58
  • Acknowledging the element of privilege in participating in Dapper Day.
Accepting the changes to your body.
  • Stepping out or staying in your comfort zone.
  • Attending the Expo instead of the Park to enjoy Dapper Day.
  • Catch Stef and Ariel at San Diego Comic-Con for three different panels.


Ariel Landrum 0:10
Hello, everyone, welcome to the Happiest Pod on Earth. I’m Ariel. I’m a licensed therapist who uses my clients passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma.

Stefanie Bautista 0:20
And I’m Stef, I’m an educator who uses passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them.

Ariel Landrum 0:26
And Happiest Pod is where we dissect Disney mediums with a critical lens.

Stefanie Bautista 0:32
Why do we do this? Because we’re more than just fans, we expect more from the mediums that we consume, especially from Disney. So Ariel, what Disney experience are we discussing today?

Ariel Landrum 0:42
We’re gonna talk about Dapper Day.

Stefanie Bautista 0:47
It has been a minute since we’ve talked about anything. And right before we started recording this, I was 100% shocked that we haven’t talked about tougher day before, because it’s one of our annual traditions, I guess biannual because it happens twice a year, right? Yeah. And it’s one of the things that me and Ariel love doing at the parks. It’s one of the things that brought us together as best friends. And so I’m just like, “Why haven’t we talked about this befire?”

Ariel Landrum 1:14
Exactly! Stef, what is Dapper Day?

Stefanie Bautista 1:17
So Dapper Day. And this is open to interpretation, right? Everybody who’s listening, I know you guys have probably heard seen, or maybe even had friends who participated in Dapper Day, it’s a chance for everybody to come dressed at the park in their best outfits. So as you all know, Disneyland opened in 1955. And in 1955, the fashion was completely different. Everybody was in dresses, men wearing in suits. Even little kids didn’t wear athletic wear. They basically wore really cute things to the park, it was as if they were going out to a special event.

Ariel Landrum 1:51
And the park was more like a park, right? The rides were not as extreme as they are now.

Stefanie Bautista 1:58
It was more like going to a park that had amusement rides, much like a carousel at Griffith Park or pony ride or something like that. So basically, Dapper Day is a way for retro enthusiast, fashion enthusiast, and Disney fashion enthusiast to come together. It dressed up and their best in the park and basically takes a million pictures. Because you when you’re dressed up to the nines like th...

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#31: In this episode of Happiest Pod, join Ariel and Stef as they recount their magical evening at Disneyland’s After Dark event, Princess Nite. Held for the first time at Disneyland Park on March 7th and 9th from 9 PM to 1 AM, this special event transported guests into a world of princesses and fairy tales. And don’t worry if you missed it, as Ariel and Stef provide an in-depth look at the experience so you’ll know what to expect if you decide to attend next time!

Read the blog post for this episode for additional references and resources.

Become a member of Geek Therapy on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/geektherapy

HPOE31
Summary

• Intro 0:10
  • Welcome to the happiest pod on earth.

  • Today’s episode is all about Princess Nite.

  • How Princess Nite compares to Merriest Nite.
  • How to plan a Disney event.

• Dressing Up for Princess Nite 8:14
  • Dressing up for a Disney event.
  • Dressed up for the gram.

• Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Rail Way 12:06
  • Rise of the Resistance and Mickey’s Runaway Railway.

  • The El Capitan in Los Angeles.

  • The lack of female representation in Disney movies.

  • How Disney has had to adapt to change.
• Where are the Princesses? 18:20
  • Where to find the Princesses in Fantasyland.

  • The end of the line sign.

  • No signs saying where the Princesses are.

• Soaring Melodies Under The Starrs 28:06
  • No projections.
  • A live Disney performance with singing and dancing.
  • Pyrotechnics.
• The Broken Reservation System 30:27
  • High Tea menu at Cafe Orleans.

  • Special event Cinderella Popcorn bucket.

  • The app kept shutting down and didn’t say anything about the special menu.

• Dinner During Princess Nite 36:09
  • Dinner at Tomorrowland was Princess themed.

  • All food was sweet and sugary, even the spicy tenders.

  • Magic Keyholders can pick up a special gift at The Landing Bay.

  • Pop Princess Dance Party.

• Suggestions for Improvement 39:48
  • There could have been more interactive experiences.

  • Examples of different Princess interactions.
  • Confusion over the choice of a mirror for the lanyard gift.
• Final Thoughts on Princess Nite 43:48
  • Disney Princess culture is a thing.
  • Disney Princess Nite had missed opportunities.
  • The DJ was the highlight of the evening.

Stefanie Bautista 0:10
Hello, everyone, welcome to the Happiest Pod on Earth. I’m Stef an educator who uses passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them.

Ariel Landrum 0:21
And I’m Ariel, I’m a licensed therapist who uses clients passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma and achieve mental wellness.

Stefanie Bautista 0:30
And Happiest Pod is where we dissect Disney mediums with a critical lens.

Ariel Landrum 0:34
Why? Because we are more than just fans and we expect more from the mediums we consume. So Stef, what Disney experience are we discussing today?

Stefanie Bautista 0:42
Well, it has been a while since we’ve talked about any sort of experience because we’ve been busy busy people lately. But somehow we both carved out time to attend Princess Nite, which is in the realm of after dark events that Disneyland hosts. Other events include Oogie Boogie bash, Sweethearts Nite, I know they did like a Throwback Nite a couple of years ago. So Princess Nite falls into that category. And basically, it’s all Princess themed. This is the first of its kind. And I know in a previous episode, I talked about attending Marriest Nites.

Ariel Landrum 1:17
Yes.

Stefanie Bautista 1:17
Which did not get renewed this year. But in place of that me and Ariel decided, “Hey, let’s attend Princess Nite and see what it’s all about.” So today’s episode is gonna be all about that and what we think of this particular event and all the other night events.

Ariel Landrum 1:32
And I think this is a good time to talk about it not only because we love princesses, but also because it’s Women’s History Month.

Stefanie Bautista 1:39
Yes, it is.

Ariel Landrum 1:40
And so celebrating the heroic women of Disney.

Stefanie Bautista 1:45
And many of you guys know or maybe some of you don’t know that we have done a whole presentation on Disney Princesses and we have done a deep dive on what they mean to us what they mean to women everywhere and how we always want to challenge people to think about what princesses and you know what the role of women play in media, especially Disney movies, media, and you know, I guess music even.

Ariel Landrum 2:10
Absolutely. So in talking about Princess Nite, because you’ve gone to an after dark event, and this was my first one. How does it compare to Marriest Nites? Which is more holiday themed and so you have a different variety than a very targeted type of IP.

Stefanie Bautista 2:28
Yeah, I think the preparation for this one compared to Marriest Nites was a little bit different. There’s a couple stories that I’ve heard about Princess Nite not being popular when it first came out because I think it was released at the same time as Sweethearts Nite when they released the tickets. And Sweethearts Nite is the Valentine’s Day event that happens in February and that one sold out really quickly whereas Princess Nite did not. They kept advertising it on my Instagram ads. And so I was thinking, you know, maybe they didn’t sell out as fast as normal Disney events do. And normally you have to like be on your computer, getting the tickets like ASAP or else it’s you’re SOL basically. But that didn’t happen this time. And I know it. It was pretty open for a while and Marriest Nites was kind of the same thing. But I think going into Marriest Nites, because it is wholly Hollywood. It is holida...

Read the blog post for this episode for additional references and resources.

Become a member of Geek Therapy on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/geektherapy

Stefanie Bautista 0:10
Hello, everyone, welcome to the Happiest Pod on Earth. I’m Stef and educator who uses her passions and fandoms to help her students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them.

Ariel Landrum 0:21
And I’m Ariel, I’m a licensed marriage and family therapist who uses clients passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma and mental unwellness.

Stefanie Bautista 0:29
And here at Happiest Pod, we dissect Disney mediums with a critical lens.

Ariel Landrum 0:33
Why? Because we are more than just fans, we expect more from the mediums we consume. So Stef, what Disney Experience are we discussing today?

Stefanie Bautista 0:40
So it’s been a while since we’ve, you know, recorded and we’ve gotten back into the game. I know, as we always say, in our practices, mental health is number one. So we decided to take a little break for ourselves pay attention to what we need, the things that we need to do on our lives. But we went back into it full force with conventions. So it’s not necessarily a specific Disney experience. I think this is more of it encompasses everything that has to do with all geekiness all nerdiness anything fandom, definitely Disney is a big driving force in a lot of these things, because of all of its franchise acquirements. But conventions is our topic today. And we have done a lot of conventioning, haven’t we?

Ariel Landrum 1:27
Yes, yes. We have gone to a lot of conventions, I think maybe more you than me. Because I went to WonderCon and Comic-Con.

Stefanie Bautista 1:36
Yes. And I went to Anime Expo, which is one more than you.

Ariel Landrum 1:39
Yeah. And then we didn’t do Midsummer Scream because that’s always right after Comic-Con and I need like a break. And we are I know that both of us are going to try D23.

Stefanie Bautista 1:51
Yes, we are going to try with all of our minds and all of our Disney magic to do that. Because as you all have probably been seeing a lot of these in person conventions are coming back for the first time in 2022. So many people are eager, they’re willing to come back to the convention space to be with their communities, and also be with their tribes basically. And so what we’re finding is that a lot of these conventions are selling out. I know for myself, when I was preparing for Anime Expo this year, I did not realize that I was going to see many posts on Instagram saying they were sold out which is beyond anything that I’ve ever experienced before. I mean, for all of you con convention goers you all know that these things never sell out.

Ariel Landrum 2:35
I mean, with the exception of San Diego Comic-Con

Stefanie Bautista 2:37
With the exception of the big one. These almost never sell out. They’re usually still very niche communities that come together cosplay. But I think over the pandemic with the releases of so many platforms and so much accessibility to content. We’re just getting fans from everywhere. And it’s not a niche community anymore. As they say it’s cool to be a nerd now, right?

Ariel Landrum 3:02
It’s cool to be part of the geeky community.

Stefanie Bautista 3:05
It is it is so yeah, we attended quite a bit of conventions. We went into it. I know, both me and Ariel had been a little hesitant to be in the public space, especially since you know we are still in the middle of a pandemic. But we have been given some great opportunities, right?

Ariel Landrum 3:20
Absolutely. So So previously, before the pandemic, we would go to conventions every year, and on a different platform that’s been archived we actually went as press. And then even before that we were attendees. And even before that, I worked as a booth babe, which is somebody who passes out free things and stuff.

Stefanie Bautista 3:37
Ohh! Booth babe! Booth babe! I did not do that. I was always an attendee.

Ariel Landrum 3:43
So we have had many types of experiences of the convention. I think, the only experience that we haven’t had is being an exhibitor. I haven’t.

Stefanie Bautista 3:51
Yes.

Ariel Landrum 3:52
You?

Stefanie Bautista 3:53
But accidentally you were going to be an exhibitor this year at Comic-Con, right?

Ariel Landrum 3:56
Yes. And the other new experience that we had at WonderCon. And Comic-Con was we were panelists.

Stefanie Bautista 4:03
Yes. And I feel for us, it was just like a dream come true. I never thought that we would be at the level at this stage of I guess, in our geekiness that we would be presenting topics that people really wanted to hear about connecting with people who think just like us and share the same passions and fandoms as us and having some really meaty and meaningful conversations that lasts beyond the 45 minutes that they allow us to have.

Ariel Landrum 4:32
Yes. Being a volunteer or working at a booth working it’s essentially a W2 two or 1099 job you have to apply. When it comes to being a volunteer you also have to apply but usually volunteers. If you particularly San Diego Comic-Con because it’s so big. If you apply early and get approved, then you get passes for the whole shebang. So you end up not having to pay but you have to be prepared to work you have to be Be prepared to answer a lot of questions about the convention floor where things are about the panel’s. Really good volunteers who get chosen again next year are ones that create that connection and do the deep dive to learn about the convention and its size and where to walk around. But when it comes to doing something like press, being a professional, doing a panel, that’s it’s a whole other bar, where you have to, like, fill out paperwork, do a proposal. And when we had done it for press, you had to prove that you had a following you had people reading your content, or if you’re a podcaster, are listening to your podcast, or, you know, watching your YouTube channel, if you were saying that you were public, like a publication of some sort, you have to prove that. So for anybody who wants to have a press pass, if you don’t already work at a…

Stefanie Bautista 4:35
Like an established publication…

Ariel Landrum 4:48
You have to be willing to put in the work to make your own which means consistency, because that’s usually what garners the most attention.

Stefanie Bautista 6:02
Yes, definitely. And with those different levels, it’s kind of like, as an attendee, yes, you want to have fun a little bit. But when you have a purpose there, it’s all of a sudden, a different game, you have to make sure that you’re working having trying to have fun at the same time. But also, knowing that you have a responsibility there and knowing that you have to have a game plan coming in. Because when you’re making that jump from attendee to either volunteer or attendee to even press, you have to make sure that you’re getting what you need to get done. Because as you all know, who do attend convention...

Read the blog post for this episode for additional references and resources.

Become a member of Geek Therapy on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/geektherapy

Ariel Landrum 0:11
Hello, everyone, welcome to the Happiest Pod on Earth. I’m Ariel, I’m a licensed therapist who uses clients passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma and mental unwellness.

Stefanie Bautista 0:21
And I’m Stef, and I’m an educator who uses passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them.

Jessica Lady Tremaine 0:28
And I’m Jessica, also known as TramaineTok, I am a TikToker, Instagrammer and former Disney performer for several years.

Ariel Landrum 0:39
And at Happiest Pod, it’s a place where we dissect Disney mediums with a critical lens.

Stefanie Bautista 0:44
Why do we do that? Because just like we’re more than just fans, we expect more from the mediums we consume.

Ariel Landrum 0:50
So everybody, what are we discussing today?

Stefanie Bautista 0:53
Well, we have a special guest!

Ariel Landrum 0:56
She’s so special.

Stefanie Bautista 0:57
Thank you, Jessica, for joining us today. What an honor it is to have you and thank you for taking the time. And we are so excited to hopefully pick your brain a little bit about your experiences and you know, just another side of Disney that we personally do not have any idea about so.

Ariel Landrum 1:18
Yes, yes. Okay, so for our audience members, as Jessica mentioned, she is a TokToker. She is also a former face character at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. She’s also an actress and dancer for Universal Orlando Resort, and was a character performer even at SeaWorld in Orlando. So she’s going to share with us what it’s like to be a character at the parks and some of the do’s and don’ts in regards to character interaction.

Jessica Lady Tremaine 1:49
Awesome.

Ariel Landrum 1:50
So starting off the character you played with Lady Tremaine, who, for some of our audience members, in our villains episode, we talked about Lady Tremaine’s a very scary villain because she’s a realistic villain. Like I could see me walking up and actually interacting with somebody who has a very similar tendencies. Did you mean to be a Disney villain and specifically her? How does that sort of process go?

Jessica Lady Tremaine 2:14
No, essentially, the audition process is very generic. It’s what us in the entertainment industry would call a cattle call. So you go, there’s hundreds and if not 1000s of people at one audition, and they’re looking for kind of everything, or they’re not specific about what they’re looking for. And Disney is very good about being very ambiguous with what they’re asking for. So So I went to a general audition. So I was not setting out to be a villain. I didn’t even know that like, I kind of fit that type.

Stefanie Bautista 2:49
I guess that’s something you don’t really think about, like, which one? Do my features represent? I would. Now it got me thinking.

Ariel Landrum 2:58
Well, and even like that word, like type, like, how did they present to you like, “Hey, we think this is who you fit the best, or what you should be doing.”

Jessica Lady Tremaine 3:06
Well, I found out over the course of not only my audition process, but my callback process with which is what they call a face fitting. Essentially, I am you haven’t seen me in person, but I’m five foot 10. So I’m, I’m pretty tall. Um, they had me measured a little bit shorter. So I could do more fur characters, which we can talk about later. But so I’m very tall. I have a very long face with a lot of angles. So I have very strong jawline, very narrow cheeks. And I also have just like very long features. They were very particular about my eyes, my eyes are very large in relation to the rest of my features. And they really noticed me in the audition based on my facial expressions, I very extreme facial expressions, just naturally talking not even when I’m really turning it on. So that was kind of what I found out later was what they were looking at.

Stefanie Bautista 4:09
Interesting.

Ariel Landrum 4:10
I I’m like I’m hearing you describe your facial features and how detailed it is. And I’m I don’t even think I could describe myself in such detail, does it? I mean, I guess that’s part of being an actress. Like you have to kind of be able to really describe yourself and be able to understand what you might fit.

Jessica Lady Tremaine 4:31
Yeah, absolutely. And I will say that a lot of it comes from I mean, you’re therapist, it comes from a place of being criticized. So one of the most criticized industries is the entertainment industry. You know, I wasn’t just an actress, I was also a dancer. So I spent my entire life being told you’re too tall or you’re not thin enough or your proportions aren’t right. You know, all those said in polite ways are not really great to hear, but it resonates with you when you’ve heard it for so many years, so it’s easy for you to point it out.

Ariel Landrum 5:08
Okay. Okay. I think that’s really interesting to note that you have to sort of pivot your mind around what criticism is going to be because you’re stepping into a profession where it is part of the profession. There’s no real like, gentle way to say things. And I can see that being a level of self awareness, but also so like, do you feel like you have to have like a tough skin to be able to enter entertainment?

Jessica Lady Tremaine 5:35
Yeah. And actually, it it actually is helped with now being on social media. But when you especially are a villain, you are heckled from the moment you walk out onto set until the moment you walk back/

Stefanie Bautista 5:48
For sure.

Jessica Lady Tremaine 5:49
And it would happen to my face. Like I’ve told this story on my Tik Tok, where a dad told me, I was a size four at the time. And I’m 5’10”. So it’s pretty tiny. So I am, I was a size four, and a dad told me that I was fat and ugly, to my face in front of his wife and children, and a hashtag came out of it on a video that trended for a while, called “Cinderella is Savage,” Because my friend was Cinderella, my friend was Cinderella for at the time, and I told her, and she went over and said something to him. And I don’t know what she said to him. But he came over and apologized to me. So I don’t know what she said.

Stefanie Bautista 6:33
She said something.

Jessica Lady Tremaine 6:34
Yeah. So so. So so in order to cope, you have to either disassociate or something like almost have like an out of body experience? Because if you don’t, you’ll you’ll go crazy.

Stefanie Bautista 6:49
I mean, it seems like you use that as a strength for you. I mean, and that carries in your social media, because I mean, a lot of your followers do say, you know, you’re really brave for speaking up and speaking out on behalf of cast members. And I think that’s the most I mean, you can say that for any profession, but especially in a profession where you’re being scrutinized from every single angle, to be honest like that. I mean, I really appreciate it. I know all your followers do. And I mean, did that d...

Episode 26 is part one of this two-part Encanto deep dive, where we discuss our reaction to, and highlight themes from the movie.

Read the blog post for this episode for additional references and resources.

Resources for this episode:

1. Kulture Karaoke
2. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
3. The Art of Disney’s Encanto by Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster Jones
4. How To Do The Work by Dr. Nicole LePera

Become a member of Geek Therapy on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/geektherapy

Stefanie Bautista 0:11
Hello, everyone, welcome to the Happiest Pod on Earth. I’m Stef.

Ariel Landrum 0:16
I’m Ariel.

Josué Cardona 0:17
And I’m Josué.

Stefanie Bautista 0:18
And I’m an educator who uses passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them.

Ariel Landrum 0:24
And I’m a therapist who uses a client’s passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma.

Josué Cardona 0:29
And I’m a former educator and former therapist who teaches other educators and therapists to use their passions and fandoms in their work.

Ariel Landrum 0:35
And Happiest Pod is a place where we dissect Disney mediums with a critical lens.

Stefanie Bautista 0:40
Why do we do that? Because just like we are more than just fans, we expect more from the mediums we consume.

Josué Cardona 0:46
So team, what is the experience are we discussing today?

Ariel Landrum 0:49
This is the We DO talk About Bruno Reprise. We’re bringing Encanto back.

Josué Cardona 0:54
A sequal?

Stefanie Bautista 0:55
Oh, dang!

Josué Cardona 0:55
Para te dos?

Stefanie Bautista 0:56
Before we even knew we were gonna get one.

Josué Cardona 0:59
What?

Stefanie Bautista 1:01
Lucky, lucky you all. You got your sequal before the sequal.

Josué Cardona 1:07
Encan-dos!

Ariel Landrum 1:07
Encan-dos!

Stefanie Bautista 1:08
I like it! I like it!

Josué Cardona 1:14
Don’t use. Cut it out.

Ariel Landrum 1:15
No I’m keeping it.

Stefanie Bautista 1:18
Too late. I don’t know about you all but it has been everywhere it has not left is in and around. I hear it every day at school. We don’t talk about Bru-No, no, no, every single day Monday through Friday. The kids love it. And I mean, I think it’s the gift that keeps on giving. Like we mentioned before.

Ariel Landrum 1:39
I was walking my dog with my roommate the other day and some kids were playing musical chairs with the we don’t talk about Bruno song. And literally I heard I would say six tiny little voices go “Isabela, your boyfriend is here!” All sounds even the music stopped and it was like, “A chair!”

Josué Cardona 2:02
I don’t think we talked about last time. I’m like that song was charting, right? Like it was it was on the chart on the Billboard charts like it was on the radio.

Stefanie Bautista 2:10
I have a fast fact about that.

Ariel Landrum 2:12
Yeah.

Stefanie Bautista 2:12
So currently, we don’t talk about Bruno has 100 million streams. And that’s Apple, Spotify. SoundCloud. What have you? Disney Radio! So 100 million. I’m pretty sure. That’s probably changed by right now as I’m talking, but…

Josué Cardona 2:32
I appreciate the shout out to Disney Radio. Yeah, it keeps on giving. I had a huge epiphany about it today. I had therapy earlier today, and I brought up the stuff and then I was listening to the soundtrack in preparation for this conversation. And I Oh, it was like, You gotta be kidding, there’s still stuff in like, I didn’t see or I didn’t realize before.

Ariel Landrum 2:56
Like what? Share!

Josué Cardona 2:57
You know, what we talked about all the different abilities and, and, you know, I’m, I’m sticking to my version, that each of them are used to to uphold this illusion, right? That Abuela that I what I wants to protect everybody by any means. So every every ability to make that more possible. And one that I really didn’t think about was Julieta’s power. Like, and I kind of like I feel like we just like talked over it. But then it’s in the first song in the Family Madrigal, where Maribel just says real quick, like, “Oh, like she makes everything better with food.” I was like oh, that’s it, you avoid talking about stuff, right? You just you just you just cook something up, you just make a meal, you just sit down. And we don’t talk about it at the Eat this and you’re and you know, forget about it. What? And then so this morning, when I was meeting with my therapist, I was talking about basically I developed a eating disorder that I was diagnosed with. And I attribute it I’ve always attributed it to the fact that when I was a kid and my parents were getting divorced, I was six years old and my mom my grandmother just would feed me just constantly just to make me feel better. And like I gained so much weight and like I still have stretch marks from when I was that that small. And and it’s been something that I’ve struggled with always and but it’s that it’s, Oh, I’ll make it better. Don’t worry, I’ll cook you something. Let me make you something right we don’t need to talk about it. I’m not gonna tell you the truth. We’re not gonna fix it. We’re not gonna address it. But eat this.” I was like, “Damnit. It was right there!” Like I didn’t think about how obvious that version of who you know what, who yet does roll there is but it’s still it’s it’s another version of we don’t talk about anything.

Stefanie Bautista 4:51
We tamp it down.

Josué Cardona 4:52
And the version in the in the movie is is so is so harmful because it literally fixes things.

Ariel Landrum 5:00
Yes. Yeah. Yes.

Josué Cardona 5:01
Right. But superficial and physical things, you know?

Stefanie Bautista 5:04
It causesyou to not confront it. Yeah. Yeah. I mean.

Josué Cardona 5:08
“How did you get hurt? Don’t worry about it, eat this. It’s fixed.”

Ariel Landrum 5:10
The best way to shut up piehole is to put a pie in.

Stefanie Bautista 5:15
I feel like that’s a running joke in Filipino culture where, if you, if you argue or you get in trouble with any of your elders, they don’t apologize to you, they just their way of apologizing is, have you eaten yet? And that’s all you’re gonna get. Because they’re choosing to keep you alive by feeding you. That’s all the sorry, you’re gonna get ...

Read the blog post for this episode for additional references and resources.

Resources for this episode:

1. Ultimate Rice Battle Ft Uncle Roger – SortedFood (reference can be found at the 11:43 time mark of this episode)

Become a member of Geek Therapy on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/geektherapy

Stefanie Bautista 0:11
Hello, everyone, welcome to the Happiest Pod on Earth. I’m Stef.

Ariel Landrum 0:15
And I’m Ariel. And we’re Disney fans. But really, we’re so much more.

Stefanie Bautista 0:18
I’m an educator who uses passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them.

Ariel Landrum 0:24
I’m a licensed therapist who uses clients passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma and mental and wellness. And Happiness Pod, well, it’s a place where we dissect Disney mediums with what a critical lens.

Stefanie Bautista 0:35
Why do we do that? Because just like we are more than just fans, we expect more from the mediums we consume.

Ariel Landrum 0:41
So Stef, what Disney experience are we dissecting today?

Stefanie Bautista 0:45
Well, we are coming up on the end of January, which means February is just around the corner. And for many of us, especially in the AAPI community, we are celebrating Lunar New Year, which is like New Year part two.

Ariel Landrum 1:00
Okay, okay. Yes. And so for our audience members who may not be fully aware, Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year is a festival that celebrates the beginning of the new year on the traditional lunar solar Chinese calendar. And of course, contrary to popular belief, it is not just a festival that’s celebrated in China Lunar New Year’s actually, festival that is celebrated in a lot of East and South East Asian countries. This year, starting February 1 is when the when the new year is, is the year of the tiger.

Stefanie Bautista 1:35
Yep. The new Lunar New Year is something that many AAPI community members we celebrate, especially if you are from China, or Vietnam or Korea, or have, you know, descent in any of those countries. And Disney decides to celebrate that at the parks, which is really awesome. In the past couple of years at the Disney California Adventure Park, they turn the walkway from the main park all the way up to Pixar pier into a beautiful Lunar New Year festival where they have food, much like the night markets and markets in Asia. And also they bring out Mulan and many of the characters that identify as Asian American or Pacific Islander. And they decided to highlight them in such an awesome way.

Ariel Landrum 2:19
Yes. And for my understanding, you did go to the festival?

Stefanie Bautista 2:24
I did. This is my second year going. I just went and they really they really upped the amplification on AAPI representation. It was awesome.

Ariel Landrum 2:36
So because you went, this is your second time you’re able to compare the first the last but when you went the first time was that also the first time they did it?

Stefanie Bautista 2:45
From my understanding, yes, I may be wrong. This is the first me and my friend who I would go to the parks with, whenever there was a food festival. That was the first time we ever went it was the first time I knew about it. They might have done it maybe in Epcot or other Disney parks, especially in Shanghai or Hong Kong. But I know that they introduced the Lunar New Year festival as a food festival of sorts because the Food and Wine Festival had been so popular and so successful.

Ariel Landrum 3:17
Okay.

Stefanie Bautista 3:17
And then you got the holiday, the festival holidays where they have that same market type of fast eats. And yeah, I think this time because they knew that they could incorporate so many Disney characters, and the addition of such characters as Raya as Moana. I mean, even Lilo and Stitch in some ways, and also pulling from a lot of the Shanghai parks and the Hong Kong parks where Mickey and Minnie would have a special costume that they would wear. They would have performers, just many elements of Disney that they already had. I feel like being transferred that over to the New York Lunar New Year festival.

Ariel Landrum 3:56
Okay. Okay. So in looking at last year, and this year, what were some of the big changes, you did mention more representation in general, but even in the fact that it started off as more of just a food festival as it now feel like more like really a Lunar New Year festival?

Stefanie Bautista 4:17
Absolutely, I think especially before so the last time they had this is obviously pre COVID. So there were a lot less restrictions that we had to abide by. But because it was more of a food base focused festival, you had the kiosks and stalls along the walkway in front of the Little Mermaid ride and all the way up to the back where they have the restaurant and kind of where they have a plaza where they have a stage and some performances. I remember that they had they had a little area where you could write on a piece of paper and you can make your Lunar New Year wish for you and your family and you can hang it up. Much like how they do in Asia and then next to it, you could take pictures with Minnie and Mickey and their lunar new year. And then they also had many performances of Chinese dancers, ribbon dancers, dancers that had tambourines of some acrobatics here and there. But that was basically it. This time around, they have Mulan’s Lunar New Year procession. Oh, they don’t call it a parade because they don’t want people gathering like that. Um, parades are still kind of not okay at the park right now. But they have a really cute little procession. It’s the Year of the Tiger.

Ariel Landrum 5:31
Yes.

Stefanie Bautista 5:31
So they had Tigger leading the procession.

Ariel Landrum 5:34
Oh my god!

Stefanie Bautista 5:36
And he was in such cute as like a cute outfit. Everywhere is decked out in red like, right when you get like, through the main part of California Adventure. There’s like a huge artist Lunar New Year. But the procession happens. I think once every hour, from nine to nine. I think. I could be wrong. But I know, I think as the sun goes down it, they do their last show, but they have dragon dancers. They have Mulan and Mushu on a float with Chinese drummers. And…

Ariel Landrum 6:09
Okay wait, is Mushu a puppet or a character?

Stefanie Bautista 6:13
Full-bodied character. He is a person just dancing along next to Milan, they have two sets of dancers in the back and then they have I think that’s it actually. So it literally is a very small, small small parade because they do not want people gathering waiting, just hanging out like masks off eating. So they try to meet in the middle of by having a procession and calling it that. And while they are doing the procession, there’s a voiceover that talks abou...

Read the blog post for this episode for additional references and resources.

Become a member of Geek Therapy on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/geektherapy

Stefanie Bautista 0:11
Hello, everyone, welcome to the Happiest Pod on Earth. I’m Stef.

Ariel Landrum 0:15
And I’m Ariel.

Josué Cardona 0:16
And I’m Josué.

Ariel Landrum 0:17
And we’re all Disney fans! But really so much more.

Stefanie Bautista 0:20
Yes, I’m an educator who uses her passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them.

Ariel Landrum 0:26
And I’m a licensed therapist who uses clients passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma and mental and wellness.

Josué Cardona 0:32
And I used to host this podcast and now I’m back.

Ariel Landrum 0:36
And Happiest Pod is a place where we dissect Disney mediums with the critical lens.

Stefanie Bautista 0:39
Why do we do that? Because just like we are more than just fans, we expect more from the mediums we consume.

Ariel Landrum 0:45
So Josué. what are we talking about today?

Josué Cardona 0:48
So um, you know, last time I was here, we wrapped up by saying what we’re most looking forward to regarding Disney. And I said Encanto was the thing that I was most looking forward to.

Stefanie Bautista 0:59
Yes.

Josué Cardona 1:00
Yeah. And it delivered.

Stefanie Bautista 1:05
It sure did.

Ariel Landrum 1:06
So what specifically is in Encanto that word or term? How are we interpreting it? And then how are we interpreting it in the form of this movie?

Josué Cardona 1:14
Good question. I’m curious I’m curious what but both of you think. I have I’ve done I have like five layers the more I watch the movie.

Ariel Landrum 1:22
We watch these I don’t know if they were called like shorts or like it’s short interviews with Lin Manuel and some of the cast members and they were describing encanto as like your joy, your magic. The the reason you lived almost like not so much purpose. But the the value that you see in your life in your world, in that you can almost ascribe it to anything you can describe it to a location like this place is in cncanto. Or you can ascribe it to a feeling.

Josué Cardona 1:51
Yeah, yeah, it’s funny in Spanish. When you say like, “I’m pleased to meet you,” or like “It’s a it’s a pleasure to meet you.” I guess it’s it would most translate to in English like, “Oh, I’m Charmed.” Right? But but But you say like, oh, you know, and un encanto like to meet you, it’s like, oh, it’s a pleasure. And it can also in Spanish, at least I do. And in Puerto Rico, they use the word to, like in English when we say “I really like something” or like, “I love something.” So in Spanish who would say you know, megusta would be like I like but me encanta would be like, like, I love that thing. And it’s almost like again, like you’re maybe you’re enchanted by it, right? Like it. There’s something I never think about it in that way. And so so when I first heard about the movie to me, it was like, oh, like, oh, there’s this enchantment. Right. And in very much the, the magical fantasy fairy tale way. And I had no idea what the movie was, was going to be, but that’s cool. It’s like it’s gonna be a, like a, like a Latin American fairy tale. But I have a completely different way of thinking of the word now after watching the movie.

Stefanie Bautista 3:03
Yeah, definitely.

Ariel Landrum 3:04
Okay, how did it change?

Josué Cardona 3:06
But I see it as an enchantment in the sense of an illusion, like something that’s not real, almost like a lie.

Oh.

Ariel Landrum 3:15
Yeah.

Stefanie Bautista 3:16
Foreshadowing.

Ariel Landrum 3:18
Trickery!

Josué Cardona 3:21
It can definitely I feel like it can definitely be that. Ya know.

Stefanie Bautista 3:25
I mean, for me, I speak Tagalog. And obviously Tagalog has a lot of Spanish background, and it pulls a lot from you know, Spanish. And when I heard encanto the, the word itself, I pulled canta means to sing. And so I’m not sure about the evolution or the history of that. But when I watched it, I was like, “Oh, this makes sense. They’re singing a ton.” I mean, I knew that it meant something like enchantment, and something like that. Because, you know, all the interviews and all the things that all the trailers that were leading up to it, you know, there’s magic, everybody has powers, and you know, even the houses alive, like, I knew it was going to be some sort of magical thing, but I just kept thinking sing in my head.

Josué Cardona 4:11
Yeah.

Stefanie Bautista 4:12
And even before knowing Lin Manual Miranda was involved in this. I was like this is gonna be a musical for sure. Yeah, yeah. And yeah, it’s an your worm…

Ariel Landrum 4:22
Yes.

Stefanie Bautista 4:22
For everyone and everything. It’s everywhere.

Josué Cardona 4:25
Because it’s funny the language aspect of it. And I’m sure I’ll bring this up, like 100 times during this conversation, but I went, I watched it in Spanish. And of course, there’s a lot of Spanish words in it. I even watched part of it in French afterwards, just to see how they treated the Spanish in it. And it’s really respectful and I like that. One time I was watching it in English, I had the subtitles on the closed captions. And they miss translated one of the one of the words in it. And it’s so funny because it just like you said, like Encanto like, oh, and Encanto has gone to like the word singing in the word. So there’s a part I’m in the Dos Oruguitas scene where they sing in Spanish it says “Con sentimiento,” which is with feeling the subtitle it says, with consent, because consentimiento is the word for consent, but it’s actually two words in the song with feeling, but they translated as as as consent. I love language anyway, I think that’s gonna play I think that plays a big part of in the movie, like, because the words that we use to describe things aren’t necessarily the best ones or, or we’re not all in agreement.

Ariel Landrum 5:41
That Google Translate, though.

Stefanie Bautista 5:44
It’s not always reliable. And I feel as Disney reaches out and does more ethnic content. I mean, you really have to think about the way it’s being translated into English. I mean, there’s so many times I know Josué you know, when we’re watching anime, and you know, certain words mean something in, in Japanese, but then when you read the English subtitles, you’re like, “That’s not what they mean. That’s not exactly what they’re trying to say. But I mean, I guess, good job?” But it doesn’t necessarily convey exactly what the feeling is. So I’m curious to see that, you know, how they’re gonna take it from now on.

Josué Cardona 6:20
I mean, so when I, when I lived in Puerto Rico, whenever there was a Disney movie, it would always appear in theaters in Spanish. And I feelings about that. And as a kid, like, that’s a whole other podcast. But I think, you know, they’ve, and you can tell on Disney+, like, whenever you go into any, any new movie, it’s just in so many languages. And, yo...

Read the blog post for this episode for additional references and resources.

Become a member of Geek Therapy on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/geektherapy

Ariel Landrum 0:03
Hello everyone, welcome to The Happiest Pod On Earth. I am Ariel.

Stefanie Bautista 0:08
And I’m Stef, and we are Disney fans. But we are really so much more than that.

Ariel Landrum 0:12
Like I’m a licensed therapist who uses clients passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma and mental and wellness.

Stefanie Bautista 0:18
And I’m an educator who uses passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them. Here at Happiest Pod, it’s a place where we dissect Disney mediums with a critical lens.

Ariel Landrum 0:29
Why? Because just like we are more than just fans, we expect more from the mediums we consume. So what Disney medium or experience are we dissecting today’s Stef?

Stefanie Bautista 0:38
Well, it’s been a while. So we are going to dissect my experience at Marriest Nites’ Queue Jingle Bells.

Ariel Landrum 0:48
ding ding ding

Stefanie Bautista 0:49
Last time we spoke to you all it was spooky season and now it is holiday season. I feel like and I don’t know about you, Ariel, but the holiday season has come at us in full force.

Ariel Landrum 1:00
Yes.

Stefanie Bautista 1:01
I’ll be earlier than previous years because I think people are really excited to just celebrate merriness and being together as much as possible. I don’t know. What do you think?

Ariel Landrum 1:13
Yes, I, I vividly remember Christmas last year for me because I spent it locked in my room because my roommate had COVID. And I was helping care for them. And of course, if I was potentially exposed, I didn’t want to obviously give it to any of my family members and usually spend Christmas with my grandmother who would be individual who’d be highly susceptible. And if everyone remembers the vaccine did not exist then. So these symptoms were bad for my roommate and the isolation was, was pretty, pretty difficult.

Stefanie Bautista 1:46
Yeah.

Ariel Landrum 1:47
I didn’t even decorate. It did not feel like the holidays. I don’t I didn’t watch Christmas movies that whole month. I don’t remember doing any holiday traditions like even driving around and looking at lights. Like it, it was his full force pandemic. And I would say that was one of the bigger peaks. And so it was just a lot of isolating.

Stefanie Bautista 2:06
Yeah, I mean, for me, it was a lot of Christmas dinners were outside. And there were only two. The one at my house and the one at my in law’s house. And aside from that, I mean, there was no dressing up, there was no taking pictures, there was really not a lot of even gift giving. A lot of the gifts that we received were virtual gifts, or were just delivered via Amazon package. And so I mean, because the whole year we were getting packages, it didn’t seem any special. No special gift wrapping through Amazon, none of that. It just literally was like another delivery, more baby things. But yeah, I totally agree that this holiday season is just everybody’s getting like their holiday wiggles out. That’s very elementary school of me to say, but we’ve been holding it in for so long. And no matter if you celebrate, you know, Christmas or Kwanzaa, or Hanukkah, or any other holiday that you may celebrate during this time. Everybody’s just really excited to be out. And, you know, I’ll be it, we are in a sticky situation right now with the new variant. People are just really trying to make the most of it.

Ariel Landrum 3:15
Even in thinking about the holiday differences from last year to this year. We all know in general that Christmas has been trying to take over since July like right like if it wasn’t for Halloween, which holds the line the Goths hold the line.

Stefanie Bautista 3:30
They really do.

Ariel Landrum 3:31
Christmas would be way, way, way sooner.

Stefanie Bautista 3:34
Yeah.

Ariel Landrum 3:35
I remember being irritated by that. I think this year I was I just I needed it. I really wanted it back I had this this sense of like, I I’m really looking forward to feeling like I’ve celebrated the entire year. Like I’ve done my like the whole circle around completion feeling and wanting to wanting to do a resolution want, you know, wanting and hoping and feeling that sense of wonderment again.

Stefanie Bautista 4:02
Yeah, we put up our Christmas lights so fast. Like I think we had half of our inflatables up the night of Thanksgiving which was wild. And I mean also like the kids like they at my school they were talking about you know holiday plans and like you know finally getting to see the grandparents and things like that so I think it wasn’t just you know, they wanted to you know, do those things like Christmas last Christmas traditions they were just really excited to connect again. And in by connecting you know, give gifts to their fellow classmates give gifts to their teachers. I have not seen my coworkers walk away with so many gifts in my life which thank you to everybody who you know you’re appreciating your educators because they are still working around the clock.

Ariel Landrum 4:51
Hmm hmm.

Stefanie Bautista 4:52
They are trying to accommodate and you know, catch up from the last year but it was like they were all their own mini Santos walking out of the building. Huge like bags on bags and like coffee mugs galore. Because ya’ll like to give educators coffee mugs. I got two. And they are living now in my office because I know better than to bring them home with me. Yeah, it does just the spirit all around. But in that we are going to talk about Merriest Nites, which is the Disneyland equivalent to Oogie Boogie Bash, which happens during Halloween. We went early. We went during December 11.

And by we will clarify this stuff. Yes. I have never been to Merriest Nites. I don’t even know what it is.

It’s new this year.

Ariel Landrum 5:36
Okay.

Stefanie Bautista 5:36
Yeah, this is the first time they’re doing it.

Ariel Landrum 5:38
I have gone to Disneyland with STef in the winter around Christmas time. We do have some really bomb photos. I consider them bomb in front of the castle when it’s lit up. Snowy, pretty. But I myself have never gone to any sort of Disney holiday event. I haven’t done the Oogie Boogie bash. I haven’t done any of those things have done the food events. But that’s over at California Adventure.

Stefanie Bautista 6:02
Yes. And there’s a reason why you haven’t been to this one because it is new this year. And because I have never been to Ogee Boogie bash myself because I can never remember to get tickets, or I just missed the window or something. When I heard about Merriest Nites, I’m like, I need to get on this now. I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but I’m gonna get my frickin ticket right now. Because I love me some Christmas. I love me some holiday. So when...

Read the blog post for this episode for additional references and resources.

Become a member of Geek Therapy on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/geektherapy

Ariel Landrum 0:10
Hello, everyone, welcome to the happiest pot on Earth. I’m Ariel.

Stefanie Bautista 0:14
And I’m Stef.

Chance Calloway 0:15
And I’m Chance.

Ariel Landrum 0:16
And we’re Disney fans. But we’re really so much more than that.

Stefanie Bautista 0:18
Like I’m an educator who uses her passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them.

Ariel Landrum 0:24
And I’m a mental health therapist who uses clients’ passions and fandoms to help them heal and achieve from mental wellness.

Chance Calloway 0:30
And I’m a writer and filmmaker enamored with fantasy and the power of imagination, who is the accidental member of several fandoms.

Ariel Landrum 0:37
And Happiest Pod is a place where we dissect Disney mediums with a the critical lens.

Stefanie Bautista 0:41
And why do we do this? Because just like we are more than just fans we expect a lot more from the mediums we consume.

Ariel Landrum 0:47
So everybody would Disney medium are we dissecting today?

Stefanie Bautista 0:51
Well as seeing that last time, we talked about Spooky Season, we’re gonna dive a little bit deeper and talk about villains and what makes them fantastic and great. And

Ariel Landrum 1:02
Bumm bumm bumm

Stefanie Bautista 1:05
Yes, dun dun dun. Not purr purr purr, because it’s more like dun dun dun. And joining us is our good good friend extended family and welcome guests Chance.

Ariel Landrum 1:19
Yay.

Stefanie Bautista 1:19
Yay. Now we can go purr purr purr

Chance Calloway 1:23
Thanks for having me you guys. I’m really excited.

Stefanie Bautista 1:25
Yes. I feel like it’s a long time coming. We’ve been talking about having you on here. But it never came into fruition until now. So I’m super excited.

Chance Calloway 1:33
Yeah.

Ariel Landrum 1:33
Yes.

Stefanie Bautista 1:34
Yeah. Do you want to talk a little bit more about what you do Chance to give our listeners a little intro into the world of Chance?

Chance Calloway 1:42
Sure. I mean, it’s kind of more like what don’t I do? But…

Ariel Landrum 1:46
Touché.

Chance Calloway 1:47
For the sake of an intro? Yeah, I’m a filmmaker. I’m a storyteller. I’ve, I’m probably best known for my digital series Pretty Dudes, which I have now turned into a book, and an EP and all kinds of stuff like that. I love to write books. I write music. Yeah, I just I really love being able to build and create worlds, which I think probably stems from all the Disney movies I watch.

Stefanie Bautista 2:14
And he’s a fantastic singer.

Ariel Landrum 2:16
Yes. Yes. And dancer.

Stefanie Bautista 2:18
Yes. And dancer. And all around performer and creative. We love it.

Ariel Landrum 2:24
Yes, yes.

Chance Calloway 2:27
Thanks. I don’t dance that not much unless I’m dancing with you guys.

Ariel Landrum 2:31
So in talking about villains, I’m curious. Why do you all think that people like villains because I will say that there is a villains, takeover. Surgence? Fandom. There’s a whole community of people who that’s their jam. So I’m curious why you think that is? Because historically, villains have been the villain. The bad guy.

Stefanie Bautista 2:54
I mean, you’re wearing a villain shirt. Ariel from what I can see. So you’re definitely repping the set right now.

Ariel Landrum 3:01
Dress to impress.

Stefanie Bautista 3:03
Yeah, dress… Which is funny cause you’re wearing the Hocus Pocus shirt. And we talked about Hocus Pocus, last pod. Well whatever. But…

Ariel Landrum 3:10
It’s a callback.

Stefanie Bautista 3:11
It was a callback. It’s a callback, I like that we’re really creating our own worlds within this podcast. I love villains because without villains, there’s no story. I mean, they are flawed individuals, just like all of us. They’re super relatable once you get to think about why they are the way they are. And a really good villain serves as the perfect foil. It’s the perfect person to highlight the goodness of the protagonist. Also, it kind of you know, is a balance to the story. I think, whenever I’m, you know, talking about literature, especially in my classroom, and we’re talking about protagonists and antagonists, you need to find that balance in order to understand all aspects of the story at the most basic level. So I think focusing on the villain giving them as much attention as you are the protagonist is equally important to understand a story and where it’s going.

Ariel Landrum 4:01
Okay, how about you Chance?

Chance Calloway 4:02
Yeah, I, I was kind of mulling this over earlier and I think that what happens is, villains are almost like a blank canvas. You can make villains as interesting, as vibrant, as, as weird and unique as you want, because they’re going to be grounded by whoever your protagonist is.

Ariel Landrum 4:23
Okay.

Chance Calloway 4:23
And I think depending on the skills or the intent of whoever’s telling the story, sometimes that turns into the villains becoming the most interesting character. For many different reasons sometimes it’s because there’s a backstory that you can fill in you know yourself or sometimes just, you know, they have the best song or the best outfit.

Ariel Landrum 4:45
Very true.

Chance Calloway 4:46
Like I think you know, even just looking at superheroes as well as as well as you know, fairy tales. You know, you just have so many great villain characters, and you’re excited when they show up as this this villain has this guy kind of attitude. And I think that’s really easy to kind of latch on to as a viewer a fan.

Stefanie Bautista 5:05
Yeah.

Ariel Landrum 5:05
Yeah. So I had attended a panel over a virtual online panel over the summer because we’re in a pandemic, at TAGGS, which is the Therapeutic Geek and Gaming Summit, Therapeutic Alliance Geek and Gaming Summit. We just kept saying TAGGS. It was a lot easier. And the therapist who was one of the first presenters had ‘Welcome to the Dark Side Exploring Villains and Their Use in Therapy.’ Therapist’s name is, I’m a butcher this up but I’m gonna try Maria LaquerreDiego. We’re gonna go with that. But Maria, she did a great job explaining why people like villains. And it’s the same thing that you all are saying. They’re flawed. They’re necessary in order to be able to have a hero. And they we can give them quirks, we can adapt them, we can change them, they get to be more vibrant, and fun, they’re more exciting. They’re almost larger than life. They have unlimited amount of resources. They live with a purpose and drive and they get their needs met without apology. And ...

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Stefanie Bautista 0:10
Hello, everyone, welcome to the Happiest Place on Earth. I’m Stefanie.

Ariel Landrum 0:14
And I’m Ariel.

Travis Hayward 0:15
And I’m Travis.

Ariel Landrum 0:16
And we’re Disney fans. But we’re really so much more than that.

Stefanie Bautista 0:18
Like I’m an educator who uses passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them.

Ariel Landrum 0:24
And I’m a mental health therapist who uses clients passions and fandoms to help them heal and achieve mental wellness.

Travis Hayward 0:30
And I’m an actor, writer podcaster that explores various passions and fandoms to help inspire fellow artists.

Stefanie Bautista 0:35
Here at Happiest Pod. It’s a place where we dissect Disney mediums with a critical lens.

Ariel Landrum 0:39
Why? Because just like we are more than just Disney fans, we expect more from the mediums we consume.

Stefanie Bautista 0:45
Yes, certainly. And today we are going to delve into a very fun topic because tis the season. So what Disney media or experience are we going to dissect today?

Ariel Landrum 0:57
We’re going to be dissecting Spooky Season and some of the fun things that I have done and that Travis and I have done. Travis is our friend who is a huge pop culture nerd just like us. He has an affinity for Broadway theater and very specifically voice acting. In our group chat that we have with Billy, Travis regularly leaves audio clips impersonating various cartoon characters. And I will say he does the best Sebastian impersonation. And he’s also abilities fellow podcaster on The Movie Grader and Friends. Travis, why don’t you share a little bit more about yourself and then we can dive into some spooky goodness.

Travis Hayward 1:33
Yeah, totally. First of all, thanks for having me. You guys I’m a huge fan of the show. I listen to every episode.

Ariel Landrum 1:41
Yay!

Stefanie Bautista 1:41
Thank you.

Travis Hayward 1:42
I mean I already know you guys but I’m a fan of the show. Yeah so, it’s weah, it’s great. Yeah, but yeah, I I’ve lived here in the LA area for about seven years now. I originally grew up in West Virginia. I’ve performed on stage in various productions. I’ve also gotten to act on screen as well in Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. Shout out to Kevin Smith. On that note, I’m a massive fanboy for all things Kevin Smith, Marvel, DC, Star Wars, and of course Disney. Prior to the pandemic I was a staff writer for That’s My Entertainment which is an entertainment based website that covers everything in pop culture from movies and TV to various Comic Cons throughout the country. More recently, I joined Billy’s The Movie Grader and Friends podcast. So The Movie Grader and Friends, I’m one of the “and friends.”

Stefanie Bautista 2:32
You are the and friend that what you’re saying ’cause I believe it!

Travis Hayward 2:36
Yes I am. I’m the and friends Yeah. Melissa and I are the and friends. But yes it… Yeah, it’s it’s been a lot of fun and I’m really excited to be here today to talk about spooky season and Hocus Pocus.

Stefanie Bautista 2:54
Awesome and we are so happy to have you Travis I know we always talk offline about plenty of things that have been coming out. I know you and I have been like constantly talking about Star Wars which we’re super excited about. And you and Ariel hung out and did the whole Hocus Pocus thing. And for those listeners out there here in the LA area Freeform the the channel had a really cool pop up right Ariel that you guys got to go to as well but then you also got to watch Hocus Pocus in theaters.

Ariel Landrum 3:26
Oh, so we saw Hocus Pocus in theaters.

Stefanie Bautista 3:28
Yeah.

Ariel Landrum 3:28
And then I went to Freeform without Travis haha.

Stefanie Bautista 3:33
Boo. Just kidding.

Travis Hayward 3:33
Boo indeed. I agree. Nah I’m just kidding.

Ariel Landrum 3:40
But yeah, we did go to the theaters and saw Hocus Pocus in theaters despite it being a movie that’s been out since 1993. There is a seasonal yearly annual event at El Capitan, which we talked about in a previous episode. The theater that’s owned by Disney and they regularly play Hocus Pocus and Nightmare Before Christmas. But before we get started on that Stef had something special she wanted us to do on the podcast today something different

Stefanie Bautista 4:13
Yes, definitely. It’s something that I’ve heard on a podcast that I’ve been listening to lately, and I thought it’d be a fun thing to do because the podcast I listened to is about best friends. And because I am on a podcast with my best friend and also friends that are best in my life. I decided that we could do a cool character quiz one of those, “Who Are You Quizzes?” And I know that they have really cool ones on BuzzFeed. But they do also have ones on OhMyDisney.com which is more targeted towards fans and so we are going to together but separately do a, “Which Hocus Pocus Character Are You?” quiz! ding ding ding. So what’s going to happen is that we are going to go through this quiz and we’re going to see who we get personality wise. I’m going to read off the questions and they’re all going to take a couple seconds to answer. So what I can do is, are you guys queued up to the quiz on your screen?

Ariel Landrum 5:14
Yes I am.

Travis Hayward 5:15
Yes.

Stefanie Bautista 5:17
And I can go ahead and describe the little description that they have on here. And it says, “What is it about Hocus Pocus that has cemented it as an icon of Halloween time pop culture for all of these years? Is it the wardrobe, excellent soundtrack hoppin script clever. It’s all that and so much more friends. Now the Hocus Pocus is available on digital blu ray and movies anywhere and a special 25th anniversary edition…” I don’t know when this was published, but I’m sure it’s still available. “It’s time for you to pause that marathon to discover which character truly represents you. Find out if you’re more of a Sanderson, sr, immortal cat or slightly goofy, but cute, high school student.”

Ariel Landrum 5:57
I hope I’m a cat.

Stefanie Bautista 6:00
I, I I’m probably gonna be a high school student, but we’ll see.

Travis Hayward 6:04
I’m gonna be the Sanderson sister babys.

Stefanie Bautista 6:07
We’ll see. We’ll see. All right, so there’s 10 questions. Let’s start. Number one. “I believe in Salem’s legend of the Sanderson sisters. True or false?” music notes

Ariel Landrum 6:20
If we did the Jeopardy theme song is that proprietary?

Stefanie Bautista 6:25
Yeah, I think so. All right. Next question. “This Halloween, I’m going to be 80s Madonna, Dracula, a witch or a zombie?” Enter your answer.<...

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Ariel Landrum 0:10
Hello, everyone, welcome to the Happiest Pod On Earth. I’m Ariel.

Stefanie Bautista 0:14
And I’m Stef. And we’re both Disney fans. But we’re really so much more than that.

Ariel Landrum 0:18
I’m a licensed marriage and family therapist who uses my clients passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma.

Stefanie Bautista 0:24
And I’m an educator who uses my passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them. Here at Happiest Pod, it’s a place where we dissect Disney mediums with a critical lens.

Ariel Landrum 0:36
Why? Because just like we are more than just fans, we expect more from the mediums we consume. So what Disney the media are we dissecting today?

Stefanie Bautista 0:44
Today we are talking about something we were both super excited about. And it is the movie Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings!

Ariel Landrum 0:54
What what what!

Stefanie Bautista 0:57
The song that came in my head is ‘Like a G6’, because I just heard it the other day. And it took me back to like 2010 when Far East movement was like the only Asian representation we had in mainstream media. And it was like, it was like all of my cousins who liked racing and DJing. They like made a big and I was like, “Is this the beginning? Like, this is so weird, but this tracks such a banger like what’s going on? It’s not cheesy.”

Ariel Landrum 1:30
A little fun fact, I had to perform that song at Stef’s wedding. So I can do that. I have a dance move and a breakdown and the rap. Good to go.

Stefanie Bautista 1:41
Who would have thought for you. What’s what a cultural significance it had. And fast forward to 2021 we have a Marvel superhero in a movie that represents Asian culture. Like that’s wild.

Ariel Landrum 1:55
Yes, it’s absolutely crazy. And the fact that this movie came out during a pandemic, and it is it is making box office hits.

Stefanie Bautista 2:04
Yeah, it’s nonstop right now. It is so far the box most the biggest box office success story of the pandemic. And as of yesterday, Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings has grossed $152.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $112 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $264.6 million. That’s major.

Ariel Landrum 2:30
Oh my goodness.

Stefanie Bautista 2:30
That’s major.

Ariel Landrum 2:31
That’s absolutely major. And then if you think about it, because we’re not including Disney+ subscription streams or premieres, because it’s not premiering on Disney+, you can only see it in theaters. At the time, Luca and Soul were the only ones that skipped theaters entirely. And then Disney had released like five movies in theaters and Disney+, with Free Guy actually being the first one that is just theatrical only. But so this is the first Marvel theatrical least set- release only since the pandemic.

Stefanie Bautista 3:06
And there was a whole controversy about how I don’t know if it was Disney or some executive tweeted that it was like an experiment and Simu Liu came out on Twitter and was like, “We are not an experiment.” Like, “Don’t talk that way about something that’s so culturally significant to us.” And although they might have been talking about the release as an experiment, I think that totally downplayed what Shang-Chi means to us in the AAPI community and, you know, I, I thought that it was right for him to kind of speak up against that because we were we don’t want people to focus on the way it’s being released. But we want people to focus on the content and the storytelling itself.

Ariel Landrum 3:47
Yes. Yes. The really, really interesting thing about this movie is it does make me also think of the live action Milan in the style that the story is portrayed and the filmmaking it’s very reminiscent of Wushu. Close to ‘woo-saw’.

Stefanie Bautista 4:09
Some people say ‘woo-shoo’.

Ariel Landrum 4:10
Yeah.

Stefanie Bautista 4:10
Some people say, ‘woo-shoo’ or ‘woo-saw’.

Ariel Landrum 4:12
And that is a traditional form of specifically popular Chinese fiction that contains like a very specific formula. The elements include usually honorable warriors, powerful swordsman or swordswomen, powerful swords, and a lot of magical and mythical beasts. And before the movie had come out, of course, you know people do somewhat spoilery spoilers which we will also say you have not seen this movie do not listen to this podcast. Do not listen to it. Yup.

Stefanie Bautista 4:42
Pause right now listen to our good friend Billy and his podcast spoiler free on The Movie Grader, or I’m sure there’s other GT podcasts that you can listen to that might be spoiler free, but we are not it so please pause. Because there are going to be many spoilers ahead.

Ariel Landrum 5:00
Yes, so my spoiler was actually a spoiler but it kinda was like I knew there would be mythical creatures, but there were a lot of pictures online being shared with the creatures and they’re like very close representation to Pokemon.

Stefanie Bautista 5:14
Oh yeah, I did not see those spoilers but the way I like screamed and gasp because my favorite Pokemon, fun fact is Vulpix. And of course Vulpix evolves into Nine-Tails.

Ariel Landrum 5:19
Yes.

Stefanie Bautista 5:27
However knowing that I’ve watched many anime and other like, of course Wushu films and I’m like a little bit educated in Asian history and mythological history. We know that the Nine-Tails is a mythological creature that goes way way way back before Pokemon.

Ariel Landrum 5:43
Yeah.

Stefanie Bautista 5:43
I just think the way that they did it look so much like a Nine-Tails…

Ariel Landrum 5:47
Yeah!

Stefanie Bautista 5:47
That you couldn’t not think, “Oh my gosh, are we getting the crossover I never needed right now is like somebody’s gonna pull out poke ball?” No. And then you saw and then you saw the lion. And you’re like, “Okay, this is where tradition. This is what I was expecting.”

Ariel Landrum 6:02
And and specifically the ‘Aloha.’

Stefanie Bautista 6:04
Oh yeah.

Ariel Landrum 6:05
Yeah, that that Nine-Tails.

Stefanie Bautista 6:07
Yeah, yeah, the Alola Nine-Tails for sure.

Ariel Landrum 6:09
Yeah, yeah. Aloha? Alola!

Stefanie Bautista 6:12
ding ding ding We have one everybody!

Ariel Landrum 6:15
Ah, I tried so hard.

Stefanie Bautista 6:19
I get it. But yeah, you’re right. I think now that you mentioned Mulan, although I did like, I didn’t hate the film. But I didn’t love it for those that for that specific reason. It didn’t remind me of Wushu film. It didn’t remind me of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon didn’t remind me of Ip Man. It didn’t remind me of the level of martial arts I’m used to seeing in these Asian films. I feel like it fell short. The scenery was beautiful. I think the location was absolutely breathtaking. But Shang-Chi the way they did it and the flo...

Read the blog post for this episode for additional references and resources.

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Ariel Landrum 0:03
Hello, everyone, welcome to The Happiest Pod on Earth. I’m Ariel.

Stefanie Bautista 0:07
And I’m Stef, and we are Disney fans. But we are really so much more than that.

Ariel Landrum 0:10
Like I’m a licensed therapist who uses clients passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma and mental unwellness.

Stefanie Bautista 0:16
And I’m an educator who uses passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them. Here at Happiest Pod, it’s a place where we dissect Disney mediums with a critical lens.

Ariel Landrum 0:27
Why? Because just like we are more than just fans, we expect more from the mediums we consume. So Stef what Disney media experience are we dissecting and sharing today?

Stefanie Bautista 0:36
It is definitely an experience. And it’s one that we’ve heard before and many of you might have been going through. But we are going to be talking about my first trip back to Disneyland with a baby. It’s been a while. First time with a baby of my own. I was thinking about this, and there have been many times that I’ve gone with my nieces, my nephews, other kids, friends of you know, friends of mine to have kids, but going yourself with the baby, your own baby is kind of a whole different ballgame.

Ariel Landrum 1:09
Did going with those other babies give you at least some idea of how to prep or what you needed to to like consider or because they had other caregivers, maybe you only focused on like small certain parts?

Stefanie Bautista 1:21
Oh, absolutely. I think I always kind of watched like, how many bags did they take? Are they overpacking? Did they have enough food for them? Are their kids picky? I always take those things in consideration just because for me, it’s like going on a field trip with other kids. So whenever I’m on a field trip with my students, I have to make sure that you know I have their emergency stuff like I have kids medicines, I do a head count, which I always did when we traveled with a big group of kids at Disneyland. We always made sure like “1-2-3-4-5. Okay, we have everybody, we’re good.” Thankfully, I was just responsible for my one child who is mobile, but still can be in a stroller. When I go with my nieces and nephews, many of them are walking now they are you know elementary school age. So for them, it’s more of you know, what rides are they scared of? What rides do they like? What experiences and characters do they identify with, as opposed to bringing a baby, which is really what is safe? And what won’t upset them throughout the day, because you want to have a good day to.

Ariel Landrum 2:28
You’re talking about, you know, a baby that’s non nonverbal. So, it really and because this is, you know, your son’s very first time very, very first time, everything is a is a reaction. None of his like recall memory or response to like, “Oh, this is something I’ve seen before and it’s familiar and comforting.” It is brand new, like sensory information for him.

Stefanie Bautista 2:51
Mm hmm. And even during the pandemic, I know we mentioned in another episode that we had visited Downtown Disney before when he was much, much younger, maybe a couple months old. And we were able to do a Taste of Disney, which was the food event at California Adventure. So many of these sites might be the same, but because his eye development wasn’t there yet. So he might not even have remembered that he was watching Cars Land or he might not even remember that there was a big ferris wheel that was in front of him.

Ariel Landrum 3:22
Because the visual perception is up close, right? And even color recognition.

Stefanie Bautista 3:27
Yeah. And on top of that, there’s no real like character interaction. So there wasn’t anybody getting into face, or I wasn’t bringing him into anything that was in front of him that he might have recognized. So really, it was a new experience for him overall, aside from the fact that he was maybe used to the noise. I think that was the only thing that was familiar to him.

Ariel Landrum 3:48
And this is slightly different experience. I think that you’ve had but probably similar because you’re a military wife, one of the experiences that I have had with other military wives who’ve had infants and you know, their partners returning is that theirs “stranger shock,” even though this is their parent, because they don’t recognize that face and and even if they met them as an infant, even into two or three now because they have the ability to recognize faces. This one doesn’t look familiar. It’s scary.

Stefanie Bautista 4:19
Yes.

Ariel Landrum 4:20
I mentioned that because the reunification process with families is like really informing the service member that that this is a likely thing to happen and it has nothing to do with a rejection to you. It has everything to do with the baby doesn’t know you doesn’t know your face.

Stefanie Bautista 4:37
It’s just not familiar. And those are the things that he was experiencing during COVID because his dad was on mission and he was traveling to different parts of California. So there were stretches of time, weeks, months that he didn’t see him and then when we were reunited together, he was really only going by his sense of smell, I think. And it took maybe like a couple minutes, maybe sometimes an hour. Sometimes a couple hours for him to really get used to the fact that this is not a stranger. This is somebody who I can trust. And somebody who kind of smells like me, but not really. Especially since he’s had been, you know, my husband had been living in a hotel for a lot of these months out of the year. So he kind of have that hotel smell? For a while. And um, you know, it wasn’t necessarily that skin to skin smell that they probably that my son was used to right after birth. But yeah, that’s a real thing. And this, this could have been a very different situation had, we had not set up the correct parameters. And I think just to set up for our listeners context, my son is 14 months old. So he’s a little over a year. He’s beginning to say some words, not a lot, he knows some sign language when it comes to food. So he knows when to ask for more. He knows when he’s done, we know his nonverbal cues when he’s finished eating, when he’s cranky. We’ve we’ve kind of gone through these routines with him, not just at home, but when we eat at restaurants outside. So really, that was a lot of context that I was bringing into coming into Disneyland. And thankfully, kind of thankfully, that we had been traveling so much during the pandemic, visiting his dad over at his hotels, I was used to putting him in the car, those things don’t bother him anymore, because he had been conditioned to know that that’s a normal thing. So that in itself was easy for me to transition to because he had had those experiences.

Ariel Landrum 6:37
Yeah, I think that’s a really good thing to note. Because sometimes, and particularly new parents, or parents that haven’t been around a lot of children but just their own, forget the aware...

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Ariel Landrum 0:11
Hello everyone! Welcome to the Happiest Pod On Earth!

Stefanie Bautista 0:14
I’m Stefanie.

Ariel Landrum 0:15
And I’m Ariel.

Billy Madden 0:16
And I’m Billy.

Ariel Landrum 0:18
And we’re all just me fans, but we’re really so much more than that.

Stefanie Bautista 0:22
I’m an educator who uses passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them.

Ariel Landrum 0:27
And I’m a licensed therapist who uses clients passions and fandoms to help them heal from trauma and mental unwellness

Billy Madden 0:33
And I am a content creator who shares my passion for film by reviewing movies.

Ariel Landrum 0:37
Happiest Pod is a place where we dissect Disney mediums with a critical lens. Why? Because just like we are more than just fans we expect more from the mediums we consume. So what Disney experience are we dissecting today everyone?

Stefanie Bautista 0:48
Well today is a fun episode because not only are we going to discuss something that is of recent events when it comes to the Disney Parks but we’re also going to be joined by a very special guest today. We will be talking about the virtual queue process. I know many of us have been seeing and following the news whether or not you have been to the parks, about the new virtual cube process and how all that works. But more importantly we are going to be talking about the new ride, Webslingers Ride at Avengers Campus. And our very good friend who will be sharing this experience with us today is Billy Madden. Welcome to the show Billy!

Billy Madden 1:24
Thank you guys so much for having me. It’s an honor.

Ariel Landrum 1:27
Yeah! So Billy or better known as the movie greeter that it is a friend who has grown up his whole life in the industry. He knows the ins and outs of movies and he has a podcast of his own called The Movie Grader and it comes out…

Billy Madden 1:41
The Movie Grader and Friends.

Ariel Landrum 1:43
And friends. He has guests I shouldn’t…

Stefanie Bautista 1:46
This Movie Grader has friends guys. Don’t forget that.

Ariel Landrum 1:49
And it comes out with spoiler free reviews of new movies and he actually does them fairly regularly almost like next day.

Billy Madden 1:56
Yeah, I mean I try to be as timely as possible but you know now that I do have a job…

Ariel Landrum 2:02
That J-O-B.

Billy Madden 2:04
The schedule is kind of hairy… So like you know like as Ariel said I am Billy I am the Movie Grader. And in a nutshell I’m just an avid movie goer and I enjoy I enjoy reviewing movies on my podcast and occasionally on the website. Which is you know, getting less and less love because of time in life. But um the whole Movie Grader idea was actually born from an idea that a friend of mine, Adam Goldberg had. He used to go see a movie and on Facebook simply give it a letter grade without any other any other explanation. I figured heck I mean my mom’s is a teacher and I at the time was actually considering considering going into the education field, you’re welcome kids that I didn’t…

Stefanie Bautista 2:48
They say “Thank you!” Just kidding Billy.

Billy Madden 2:51
So I thought like hey, you know what, I can add a little more to it you know, and just just start writing reviews. So I started writing reviews for you know, People of Con, which we have… Had, had I hope.

Stefanie Bautista 3:02
Have.

Ariel Landrum 3:04
It’s achrived.

Stefanie Bautista 3:05
Archived.

Billy Madden 3:05
Archieved. So I started being a writing for people con and then I thought you know what, I kind of want to do this on my own. So I created my website and then I after the website, I started up the podcast because I love podcasts and it’s been a lot of fun and I have friends and come on and do the show with me… And it’s not nearly the level of production that you guys do on this show. But I’m a total amateur amateur but um you know I just have fun with it it’s it’s it’s been a lot of fun I mean it’s been going on for… Jesus over over a year now I think actually so yeah, it’s it’s it’s simply that I mean I just I just grade movies and we talk about it discuss and you know, spoiler free zone. And yeah, that’s that’s pretty much it. I’m you know, I’m not a hero, like you guys are who actually change the world. A therapists and educators. Much respect.

Ariel Landrum 4:01
However you do bring the humor. I will say this to anyone who is listening to the podcast or just like follows Billy on Twitter. He’s just hilarious. He puts a smile on your face. He’s a really great friend to have.

Billy Madden 4:16
Oh I love you guys.

Stefanie Bautista 4:17
Yeah.

Ariel Landrum 4:17
So I think like you’re the you’re the type of people I tell my clients to make friends with.

Stefanie Bautista 4:23
Absolutely. And on top of that, Billy, you know, you and the podcast were really instrumental of catching me up on movies that I did not see when all the movies were coming out.

Billy Madden 4:33
Right. right.

Stefanie Bautista 4:34
And I it gave me like an insight because as you know, coming out of the pandemic as a new mom, I just wasn’t readily available to go back to the movies right away. And it was great to always get those updates from The Movie Grader And Friends because I knew should I waste my time and money on this or not. You guys are just honest opinions and I love it. So thank you for that.

Billy Madden 4:56
There’s no problem. There’s that you know, that’s it slogan you know, “We watch it so you don’t have to.”

Stefanie Bautista 5:04
Thank you for your service.

Billy Madden 5:08
Oh please yeah you’re very treacherous going to the theater. I’ve sank many hours into movies that I’ve liked and yeah so it’s it’s it’s been fun I mean I just do it for for fun I mean. I don’t make a dime off of it it’s it’s it’s really just for my own entertainment and I guess it’s it does serve a use a purpose to people who like to go to the movies but are you know I guess a bit more timid to go see a movie. Like I don’t care I’ll go see anything really so…

Ariel Landrum 5:44
No prejudice. “It’s a movie I’m watching it.”

Stefanie Bautista 5:46
Yeah.

Billy Madden 5:46
Yeah, it’s fine.

Ariel Landrum 5:47
The really funny thing is we brought Billy on here to not talk about movies.

Stefanie Bautista 5:53
But low and behold The Movie Grader’s gonna movie grade.

Billy Madden 5:56
Yeah I went on assignment.

Stefanie Bautista 6:01
Yeah, I love how we did that we kind of we threw a curveball at you. We’re gonna take you a little bit out of your element but at the same time talk about something that you had a I guess a good experience with I guess we’ll find out the next couple minutes.

Billy Madd...

Resources for this episode:

1. GoNoodle
2. Buy Nothing Project

Become a member of Geek Therapy on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/geektherapy

Stefanie Bautista 0:11
Hello, everyone, welcome to the happiest place on earth. I’m Stefanie.

Ariel Landrum 0:14
And I’m Ariel. And we’re Disney fans. But we’re really so much more than that. Like, I’m a licensed marriage and family therapist who uses clients’ passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma and mental wellness.

Stefanie Bautista 0:26
And I’m an educator who uses my passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them.

Ariel Landrum 0:32
And Happiest Pod is a place where we dissect is the mediums of the critical lens. Why? Because just like we are more than fans, we expect more from the mediums we consume.

Stefanie Bautista 0:40
So today, what does the media or experience are we dissecting and learning about and sharing with our listeners?

Ariel Landrum 0:47
Don’t believe the memes there is such a thing as Disney Karaoke.

Stefanie Bautista 0:51
Dj horn soundeffect

Ariel Landrum 0:51
Dj horn soundeffect

Stefanie Bautista 0:54
Yeah I don’t know where that meme came from that mean really pissed me off. Let me just say like, I woke up and chose violence when I saw that meme because I was like… It was a meme that said, “Why isn’t there a thing called Disney Karaoke?” And it confused me… Because it is part of my DNA.

Ariel Landrum 1:14
There is.

Stefanie Bautista 1:15
I don’t…

Ariel Landrum 1:15
We will share this meme.

Stefanie Bautista 1:17
Yeah

Ariel Landrum 1:17
Some memes are funny. This meme was not funny. Like, what are you questioning right now? I don’t I don’t understand.

Stefanie Bautista 1:25
I don’t understand.

Ariel Landrum 1:25
I do not compute.

Stefanie Bautista 1:27
I was like, so you’re telling me when you start karaoke. none of those songs are Disney songs?

Ariel Landrum 1:34
None? None on the docket?

Stefanie Bautista 1:36
Not even one?

Ariel Landrum 1:36
Not on the playlist?

Stefanie Bautista 1:37
Not even A Whole New…? Like None? I don’t know. I don’t understand. Which is why we decided to do this episode and talk to you all and share with you the wonderful therapeutic educational practice of karaoke. I know many of you guys don’t think about it that way. But we sure do.

Ariel Landrum 1:59
We do. It’s so ingrained in us I think, I would say more accurate meme as you remember the theme to emes where it was like “Showering is easy.” And there was like step one is this and this. And then like, “Showering as a Filipino is easy step one step in the shower. So to turn on the water. Step three and get out karaoke mic.”

Stefanie Bautista 2:16
Yup. Pretty much. Yep. See those memes I can get on board with not only and we have mentioned before that we are Asian American, we are Filipino descent. So karaoke really is ingrained in us.

Ariel Landrum 2:30
Yes.

Stefanie Bautista 2:31
We love karaoke. I’ve grown up with it. I think. Just being in and around my Aunts. Having a karaoke machine just readily available in… And people a Magic Mic to me did not mean half naked men on stage. A Magic Mic to me, man, a mic that you had a keypad on, and it came with a large book and you browse through that book, put in the number and sing your song. And it rates you. I don’t know how it rates you. It was such an archaic system back then. Like…

Ariel Landrum 3:04
Yeah?

Stefanie Bautista 3:05
Is it just reading your participation? Or is it actually rating your your level of talent when it comes to singing? I don’t think it was the latter…

Ariel Landrum 3:13
Accuracy of words?

Stefanie Bautista 3:14
I don’t think it was the was the former because like if you’ve ever done karaoke at somebody’s an Auntie or Uncle’s house, like you know, that thing is not accurate.

Ariel Landrum 3:25
No, and especially when you put that reverb on there. That echo.

Stefanie Bautista 3:30
That everybody loves so much because it makes them sound like Whitney.

Ariel Landrum 3:33
Yes, yes. Essentially, the pre-autotune.

Stefanie Bautista 3:38
Yeah, yep, it was the pre It was like a filter for your voice.

Ariel Landrum 3:41
Yes.

Stefanie Bautista 3:41
That made you sound super professional. And I know that even when you go to the Philippines, sometimes in the local bars, they’ll have the reverb all the way up. And you’re like,”Yyou need to tone it down a little bit.” But karaoke and its origins is not Filipino, as much as many of you might think. It is Japanese, hence the ‘ka-ra-o-kay’. Umm, karaoke, which is the way we say it is an English form of entertainment from Japan, where an amateur singer sings along with instrumental versions of their favorite songs. Karaoke is derived from two Japanese words, ‘kara’ from the word ‘karappo’, meaning empty and ‘oke’ means, ‘okesutura’ or ‘or-kes-tra’. ‘Or-kes-tra’ is a Roman, or it’s a Japanese way of saying a Romanized word, which is why it’s phonetic in how you say it. So it’s really literally you in front of instrumentals.

Ariel Landrum 4:36
Yes, yes. Empty, empty room of orchestra.

Stefanie Bautista 4:40
Yes. And I have had the privilege of going to Japan and singing karaoke there. And it is a whole experience.

Ariel Landrum 4:47
It’s a whole new world?

Stefanie Bautista 4:48
It’s a whole new world they, it’s not just you and your Auntie’s backyard, with like a bunch of drunk people around you. You originally and Ariel will explain noraebang in Korea, but in Japan, it’s very, very similar. Where do you rent a box of essentially a room with your friends, you have a system in front of you with a TV, you put in your songs queue up. You sing on 1 or 2 mics and you gather around, eat and drink and have like the best time. And you rent it by the hour or if they have a package, they have all of those details there. So I know it’s very similar in Korea, which I have also had the pleasure of doing noraebang but it’s a little bit different there.

Ariel Landrum 5:31
Yeah, so um, Stef has visited Korea. I have lived in Korea. In Korea, you might hear the word karaoke because there’s an understanding that the this is interchangeable. But really, it’s a noraebang. So ‘no-rae’ meaning singing and ‘bang’ means room. And though ‘bang’ could refer to any room when it’s used as a suffix, it signifies that the room has a significant entertainment function. That it’s meant to entertain you in a specific way. The bang culture in South Korea, it’s in cities, it’s in villages. There it’s really a variety of private rooms that are curated to meet entertainment needs of the community. These rooms can be found really anywhere in South Kor...

Resources for this episode:

1. Fever
2. Orchid Quartet
3. Candlelight Concerts
4. The Healing Power of Music: How Music Therapy Improves Mental Health
5. The Healing Power of Music
6. Behavioral Effects of Auditory stimulation on Kenneled Dogs

Become a member of Geek Therapy on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/geektherapy

Ariel Landrum 0:10
Hello, everyone, welcome to the Happiest Pod on Earth. I’m Ariel.

Stefanie Bautista 0:14
And I’m Stefanie. And we’re Disney fans but really so much more than that. Ariel here is a licensed therapist who uses clients passions and fandoms to help them grow and heal from trauma and mental unwellness.

Ariel Landrum 0:24
And Stef is an educator who uses passions and fandoms to help her students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them.

Stefanie Bautista 0:31
Here at Happiest Pod. It’s a place where we dissect Disney mediums with a critical lens. Why don’t we do that? Because just like we are more than just fans, we expect more from the mediums we consume. But also we go to a lot of cool Disney events when we can.

Ariel Landrum 0:44
Yes, we do. So what Disney experience are we dissecting and sharing today?

Stefanie Bautista 0:50
Today we had the privilege of going to I guess you could say an unofficial Disney event, which was the Candlelight Concerts with Orchid Quartet on the beach. We have the privilege since we are living in Southern California to have experiences like these open air concerts outside different venues that offer like small settings. I know we’re still in a pandemic, but…

Ariel Landrum 1:14
Yes.

Stefanie Bautista 1:15
We do want to support the musicians when we can because they’ve been out of work for so long. So there is this service called fever and Fever has different events around Los Angeles and one of them was the Open Air Candlelight Concerts, which is what Ariel here got us tickets to…

Ariel Landrum 1:33
Yeah.

Stefanie Bautista 1:33
Because she’s awesome.

Ariel Landrum 1:34
Yeah!

Stefanie Bautista 1:34
And it was a really cool intimate setting outside literally next to the beach in Huntington Beach right next to where people are like rollerblading, biking, and skating. It’s like a little …

Ariel Landrum 1:47
Would you call that boardwalk our boardwalk or would you just call that a sidwalk.

Stefanie Bautista 1:51
I would just call it like a side? It’s funny because like the beaches here stretch for so long that the boardwalks are really just the pier right? That juts into the ocean. We don’t really have boardwalks like I’ve seen on the East Coast, like let’s say Coney Island, or other beaches on the East Coast where they actually have a walk. That’s a boardwalk along, that’s running parallel to the water and the beach. Here we have sidewalks that like I said, people can bike they can rollerblade. Walk along, exercise, run; all those things. So it’s kind of like a restaurant right next to the beach. And it has its own little parking area. It’s normally I think a concert venue for very small concerts, but they do have food service, I believe during like regular hours. So…

Ariel Landrum 2:36
Yeah, yeah.

Stefanie Bautista 2:37
They have a stage set up outside and then they had chairs like lounge chairs around fire pits, because up and down Huntington Beach. They have fire pits for people to hang out at. And this one was just an enclosed space ticketed of course because Ariel had to get tickets pretty early. I think right?

Ariel Landrum 2:56
Yes, yes. I bought these tickets 2 months ago I think.

Stefanie Bautista 3:00
Yeah, 2 months ago. And the umm..

Ariel Landrum 3:01
This was the their final event at this venue? Sea Legs?

Stefanie Bautista 3:07
Yeah.

Ariel Landrum 3:07
That’s that’s the name of the restaurant venue, Sea Legs.

Stefanie Bautista 3:09
Yeah, I Sea Legs at The Beach. Yeah, if you look it up, it’s called Sea Legs at the beach. And yeah, I mean, it was awesome.

Ariel Landrum 3:16
For anyone who’s wanting to check out any Fever events, you can go to FeverUp.com. And select your your city, your location, and really an app. The they’re more of an app that you would download on Google Play or Apple Store. And the they do have events that are around major cities. So I’ve seen some blank for Chicago. I think I’ve seen some for New York, San Francisco. So it isn’t just an LA based app. It’s less likely to be effective in small places, like shout out to Salina, Kansas. I don’t think you’re going to have this app working for you. But if you’re gonna visit a major city, it’s worth it to download this app to see what small intimate events and gatherings. They do a lot of pop ups and they advertise a lot of pop ups. Some of the ones that I’m seeing that are that I have seen in the past was a Alice in Wonderland themed pop up that all the potions you drink were a bunch of like alcohol concoctions.

Stefanie Bautista 4:24
Yes.

Ariel Landrum 4:25
So yeah, so they aren’t just Disney events.

Stefanie Bautista 4:29
Yeah.

Ariel Landrum 4:29
They definitely have outdoor music, they have movies, outdoor movies, and that’s just what’s going on for the summer. Things obviously changed a little bit in the winter, but fun, fun little thing to kind of find some some unique experiences out there.

Stefanie Bautista 4:44
Yeah, definitely. And I think before we get into the content, what we did, how we did it, and also a little bit of background on live music and how it can help us in our practices. I know that being a Disney fan. Sometimes we have no choice but to limit ourselves into, you know what Disney things can I do. And like, of course, the first thing you think of is going to the parks going to Disney. Watching a movie. But unfortunately, those things aren’t always accessible to everybody…

Ariel Landrum 5:12
No.

Stefanie Bautista 5:12
Especially when the price points of the parks are so high…

Ariel Landrum 5:15
Yes.

Stefanie Bautista 5:15
You can’t really like stay at a hotel. It’s not like staying at a regular hotel, you got to dish out like, at least $300 per night, make it a whole vacation thing. And also, we don’t have Disney movies just out and about every single month. You know? I know Jungle Cruise is out, we will be talking about that in another episode. But during this time, especially, you know, thinking about pre pandemic, and now, we always ask ou...