Welcome everyone to W.F.A.T.R's Directors Cut. Thank you so much for joining us. I am joined by my head of production and my partner in art, Seth Habhagger.
Seth, the mics are on. We are rolling. Let's dive into this one. Let's do a little bit different format here today everybody because we're going to be talking about a little show that both James and I are involved in and our third member of our group here, Beth Rohn Habhagger.
She will also be kind of a little round robin thing we're doing here because what we're going to be talking about is a show that's going to be happening next weekend, the 15th and 16th of November, 7 o'clock over at the Centralius Center at the Alois Canton Studio Theatre, a director showcase of a two person show called Hate Mail.
We're really excited to bring this to everybody. This is kind of the way I've explained it to everyone as we've been going along here. If you remember a play in the 70s called Love Letters, basically two people on stage reading Love Letters that they send to each other over a lifetime.
You can tell by the title Hate Mail that this is kind of the opposite. Anyway, that's where they started. It was written by two playwrights and they basically wrote each other letters. That's how they wrote this thing.
So they wanted to surprise each other and see what they're, you know, do some improv while they were writing this together. What they came up with was an absolutely hilarious script, but bananas, things that happen throughout this show. And it's so much fun. The first time I read it, I was like, oh man, we got to do this.
So we're really excited that both James and Beth were able to do with me because it's different in a way because you don't have to memorize the lines because it's like letters. You get to read the script. But in some ways, that can be more of a challenge to an actor.
And you know, because a lot of times when you're on stage, you know, you memorize the lines. You have everything set and ready. You know what you're going to do. This is a different kind of acting. If you ask me reading your stuff, but still having to, you can't hide behind it, though. You can't just, you know, blah, blah, blah, read the lines. You really got to put a different kind of acting. And you're going to be, it's a very simple stage.
You guys going to be just next to it, you know, sitting there for most of the show. So it'll be interesting to see how you do it. So for both of you, Beth, we'll start with you.
Okay.
What do you think about this? What is your, what is your game plan, game plan going into playing the role of, of what's her name again?
Adalia, thank you. Good director. I know all my character's names.
Well, she is very different than than I am. So it's, it's, it's kind of a unique and wonderful challenge to play somebody that's so not like who you are.
And try to get into that space. The other challenge is it's really like having to one man shows side by side paralleling each other.
Because there's very little, except for the very end where it's really like an interaction between the two.
So trying to figure out how to do this, where do you react to not react? And that's where you as the director are really crucial in saying, okay, this is what's going to make the most sense and how people are really going to understand it.
And to be able to do this opposite James is both daunting and joyful.
That's good. I could agree with you more working with you. But I actually had a question for you about that.
You kind of answered it a little bit because I'm coming from my background. I've worked a lot, but I haven't done much of this kind of thing.
I'm used to a script. I'm used to being told what to say, how to act, what to be and stuff. We have our own creative process.
We put into these characters, but so much of us already built into the character that we're kind of working around almost and working with.
It's a dance that we do with these characters to make them believe it will make it seem like these are our lines. These are our thoughts that we're having everything.
Then there is the other part of my background with improv where well, this is my job. I do this every day. We almost do it on the air every day.
We have an outline, but I don't have everybody's lines written out or anything. So we have to I don't know what Seth or Melissa or you or anybody we're working with are going to do or say and they darn sure don't know what I'm going to do.
So you have to be able to think on your feet. You have to be able to, but with this it takes that part out almost because no, you do have something you got to kind of say you do have an outline.
So I was explaining this to a lot of friends of mine that I know love a lot of TV and certain particular shows like Seinfeld or Kirby or enthusiasm rest of development, a lot of these types of shows.
That's what this is in some ways. They give you an outline, but those lines are oftentimes the actors coming up with those lines.
Absolutely. While we're not coming up with lines, we are doing a lot of interpretation with this very a lot. Yeah. So have you gotten to do a lot of this before Beth like where it's up to you to kind of do create so much of it?
Not really. I mean, except for, you know, when you're on stage and it's really the rehearsal process is about really finding that chemistry between the two actors and interacting.
This having to figure that out. How would this person on their own sit there and do this and not having anybody to really bounce off of because you get so much in your performance from the energy and the reactions of the other person.
There is no reaction. So you have nothing to really respond to. So it's a very different challenge with this role than I've ever done where I'm like, oh, I just have to figure this response out on my own.
It's really how would I, how would it hit if this were an actual letter that I was getting from someone? Do you all think that working in radio helps us a little with that? I think so.
Absolutely. It was one of the toughest things for me to get through was with, okay, I think this is pretty funny. I'm going to go ahead and start the show with this tomorrow.
And I do it. I have no idea if it was funny or not. Because I don't know if the audience is laughing or not. I don't know.
It's why it's part of why and I learned this through a lot of the people that have traveled through this radio station over the years, how important it is to lean onto your co-hosts and have good chemistry with them.
And quite bluntly, people you like to work with. Because if you can't make them laugh, you're darn probably aren't making the audience move. Then it makes it hard.
Yes. So it's such a barometer of, okay, well, this, you know, Seth Giggled at this, you know, hey, it was all right. That was okay. You know, maybe I can work on that. It's a building block.
That what we're built, what we're doing with this are rehearsal time or just, you know, having ideas off of each other. That really comes into play with this with what you're saying. That's an interesting part of this.
Well, and it's been interesting working with Seth because he's been able to do it with us individually because it is like this parallel one-man show.
But we're also having these opportunities to sit together to really figure out, okay, how would this work out? How are we going to make this look like it needs to look?
And through the fact that this is Seth's first time directing solo, this is a challenging piece to do. And so I give him a lot of credit to do that.
Honestly, I was, I'm like, I'm going to make you guys do all the work.
For a guy who isn't directed a lot, he's already got it. He's already got it.
Well, that's the reason I wanted you guys to do this. This is very specific because I know both of you, you know, you, and you've worked together before.
You guys did chapter two together and you had a couple of really fun scenes together. Well, I mean, they're pretty serious.
But, you know, they were fun, right? They were fun, yeah.
But that's why I wanted, because I knew you guys could get to the material and you guys could work on your own.
And that's, I think that's really important on stuff like this because what you were saying, Beth, was there is, until like at the very end, you do not react, you're not interacting with each other.
And even then, at the end, you have a barrier because it's a chat room kind of thing. You're looking at computer screens kind of thing.
So it's, it's very, that's why James, what you've been calling it a little bit the last couple of weeks, you know, like kind of a gorilla kind of thing.
It is. It is kind of that way because of the stripped down set, you know, and if you read the notes that they have before the play, they said, that's kind of what they wanted with this.
They said, in fact, you could just have two people standing there. If you wanted to just, you know, reading the script, you could do that if you want.
Making it that simple, I want a little bit more to do it, you know, have some fun with it, right? But for the most part, yeah, it's, it's you guys being able to create.
And in a way that, that that kind of really, however it speaks to you, how the script itself, do it, you can, you've, I'm looking for the fun stuff, the surprises and things, like when I, Beth and I went through it the other day, you know, her main part.
And she did some stuff just made me laugh, you know, it was just, it's just so good. And, and that's, that's what I'm looking for. I'm hoping that I'm sitting there doing the lights kind of thing and I'm laughing because you guys are doing stuff that I haven't seen.
And that sort of thing. So I'm really looking forward to that. And I think the audience, whoever, whoever decides to come and we do invite you limited seating. Of course, it's a small theater.
But I can guarantee it's going to be a fun experience, not just for the audience, not just for me, but for you guys too. I think you guys are going to have a lot of fun on stage together.
I'd like to have this question kind of lead into a little bit of a synopsis for the play. Sure. And you've touched on this already.
Right, right. But as far as like you mentioned, you read this right away, got a feeling of wanting to do it.
Yeah. With that, you can't have just that thought, though, your brain starts to percolate, starts to come up with things.
Yeah. I'm curious, was that like those percolations, those ideas, was that what got us to this point right here where we're actually doing it?
Yeah. I think so. It's one thing. I think a lot of us read scripts we like. We think are cool. But it's another thing to want to take the initiative.
It's not like you guys don't have a ton on your place to add this on to it. You have to really be passionate about it. You have to really want to do it.
It's honestly the fact that I didn't know the play that well. I'd heard of it. I certainly know Bill very well to the point where I'm calling him Bill.
I shouldn't do that. I shouldn't do that. But honestly, the look on your face when you brought it to me told me right away.
I got to do this. I got to be a part of this. So I could tell right away that you guys cared about. You wanted to do this.
But that's not enough. Like to make the time to do all those things. What got you to this point to with this? What is it about this play in particular that made you really want to do this?
Certainly, part of it has to be the ability to be able to do it. It's not a whole lot of pomp and circumstance like you said.
Well, first of all, I wanted to do a director showcase. You know, Beth and I had co-directed last earlier this year, I should say, in the beginning of the year, we did Glass-Manassary together.
It feels like it was two years ago.
And that was my first experience of directing. It's not a big show. Only four cast members kind of thing. But a full stage show doing all the extra stuff there.
So that was a great experience. I love doing that. But I was looking for something small to do just to do by myself. You know, and I was like, I just a small two, three person role kind of thing.
So I did. So what brought me to this specifically is I know one of the writers, his name is Bill Corbett.
And if you're a fan of the show, Mystery Science Theater 3000, he was the, he was a writer of the latter day part of the show. And he played Crotie Robot. He was one of the puppeteers and did the voice for him.
Now Bill has a background in, he's got a master of fine arts in, in play writing from Yale University. He's originally from New York, but yeah, he's a very smart man. He's got other plays that are out there.
He's a published, you know, he's written for the Guthrie theater in Minneapolis. He lives in Minnesota now. But this, but so I was looking at him specifically, because I know I like a sense of humor and all that stuff. And I came across this.
Now, if you read the story of it, Bill and, like you said, James, I touch on a little bit, you know, they kind of based it on love letters, but they wanted to do something different. So that's kind of where they started from, but they didn't want to do it like a one for one parody.
Then they just said, where is this going to go? So they decided to do, um, uh, Kuro Blinsky. She's the other writer. She writes, uh, for best character and, and Bill writes for Preston, his, his character.
So basically it starts off, Preston writes a letter. He lives in Minneapolis. He writes a letter to a gift shop in New York, where he bought a snow globe that breaks in his luggage on the way home.
He wants a refund. This is the whole reason why he writes the letter. And, uh, Dahlia is the one who receives it. And this is what starts off this really crazy relationship, which is literal change of events.
She's the unlucky employee. Yeah, she is the one who gets the letter and has to write back to Preston, which launches the whole show off. And like I said earlier, so these two playwrights, you know, very well, you know, established playwrights, they said, well, let's, let's kind of improv this.
Okay, as we write this, we're literally going to send each other letters and see what we can come off and work off of each other, which is why such a smart idea. It's a really cool idea. It really is.
And, and, and that's how it gets to this banana stage, because they both have really fun sense as a humor. And, and it just, it goes off the rails. I mean, they end up traveling all over the United States.
And, and so there's, I would say there's three main parts of it. So there's the beginning with the kind of formal letter writing between the two.
And, and you find out more about the characters and what's happening with them and who they are, kind of thing. That's the kind of the first part. The second part is them writing little notes to each other without giving too much away.
And then the final part is when they are, they meet incidentally in a chat room together. They, you know, and that kind of thing. So, high jinks ensue on all three of these levels.
And, and they, when I, so when I read it, like I said, I, it's like, wow, I knew this is it. This is the one I want to do. Small, just two people, you know, and it's not going to be.
The, the, the prep, I think, you know, is, is not going to be as intense because, you don't have to memorize you can actually read the script.
But I knew I needed two strong actors in order to pull this off because, like I said, at the beginning, it's a different kind of acting.
So I knew I needed people who are willing to do this work, who could work on their own, because that's kind of what I wanted is I want them to come up with their own stuff on this.
I, you know, I have input, but I think you, what, you know, small things, it's nothing big. But I love the idea of you guys doing this on your own and then coming together and seeing what comes together when you guys start doing it at the same time.
That's really exciting to me.
So you kind of touched it. You said you knew you needed two strong actors. How did you land on the two that you chose?
That's a good question. Good question.
Because you're two strong actors. I know.
Because I, I knew that you guys, well, to be honest, I knew you guys would be a support for me, because I guy, you guys are both, you know, this is something we all really enjoy.
We've had, we've both act, you know, we've all, we have an all acted together on one thing.
Beth and I, of course, have acted and James and I have acted and you guys have acted together. So I know we kind of know, you know, where we're at with this stuff.
So we, it's familiarity really is what it is, which makes it more, you know, it's easier to be more secure about that kind of thing.
So partially, that was, I think one of the main reasons why I decided you two specifically and I also thought that the roles you guys could do something really fun with the roles.
You could do something and this is really so when we did Glass-Managerie, I had an idea of how I wanted the actors to, you know, portray their characters kind of thing.
This one is much less than that. I'm like, surprise me. I want to see what you guys do and that's kind of the other reason why I knew I could trust you with that.
So that's why I have, I have not felt, you know, a lot, you could, when you're directing a show, you can feel a lot of anxiety. But again, you guys do in the work and that, that makes me excited.
I'm really excited to see what you do with it.
I asked the question in part out of curiosity, certainly, but also something next year I'm looking to direct.
And one of the things I did not expect about that was, oh God, what do I direct?
I didn't even think about that part of it.
There's plenty of shows that I love in everything, but there's, it's especially for an actor and maybe it's not as tough for you guys as for some, I know I run into this all the time.
Oh, this is a great script. I would love to direct this. At the same time, I want to be in it.
I want to act. I want to be in this and deciding what, you know, picking between that, it may not seem like a big deal, but it can be tough to find something like that.
But what I appreciate too about you choosing to do this one in particular, this is a show that for the audience, you're hearing this and we're talking about it.
And in your head, you might think at first, well, that it sounds like they're in one location the whole time. And while physically we are, we take you all over the country.
That's right. And it's a really, they do a masterful job of that. And I think you're doing a great job of that, giving it to the audience, getting that out there to them and everything.
That's a fun part of this show where we may be stationary, but we are not where we're traveling all the way.
Yeah, it's one of those things where it's almost like a radio play, but it's really not.
I mean, you could do it as a radio play, but I think the little touches that we put in it will make it just that much more fun.
And I think it will give you guys the ability to do more than just because for me, one of the things I want to, I'm really looking forward to is more like the facial expressions, what kind of thing, the kind of stuff you guys are going to come up with.
So that's, that's, yeah, that's going to be a lot of fun.
I think one of the big challenges is going to be not breaking character on stage.
That had occurred to me. That had occurred to me, but I think for the most part, you guys were pretty good with that, but yeah.
And to that point, you know, it's, it tends to be one of our, you know, outside of when actors kind of lean into it or whatever.
And there's not many that do that. One of our favorite things about like the Carol Burnett show was the breaking.
What was some of those things, right? And I only bring that up in any essence of what we're doing here, because this is a very intimate thing.
We're going up there. And while Beth and I are crazy, you know, as far as the way we approach this art, and, and wanted, you know, do the, the perfect job every time we're on stage and all that.
Part of the beauty of a show like this, and this one in particular is the imperfection of it, which only makes the characters that much more relatable and believable in our lives, yeah.
That none of, nothing is perfect about this show or what we're doing because life isn't perfect. People aren't perfect.
That's one of the things I fell in love with with this script. And I will, I will admit, I am not an MST3K fan.
She is very much not. And yet somehow they have made it work for all these years. One of my favorite couples still somehow makes it great.
You know, we love each other despite our flaws, right?
But the writing here and the fact that these two characters are so flawed and yet are able to still keep going.
That's one of the things I really appreciated about this script in particular.
I think it does something else too that this is a dark comedy. It's a comedy in general and all that.
And we certainly want the audience to know that, you know, there is some adult language in situations and some of that and everything.
But some that stood out to me right away that I had no idea that I would after our first read through that we did.
This is a great play about loneliness and about how often so many of us can be lonely and not even realize we are.
To the point where, you know, you get that telemarketer call and you keep them on the line for like 30 seconds longer than maybe you normally would or whatever.
Just because you want somebody to talk to. You just want to talk to somebody.
There's so much of that in this play where both characters are lonely in different ways and may not even know it.
That relatability right there is I think something that stood out. I wasn't even going into it thinking about that.
I was going into it thinking about, oh, where's the laughs? Where's the humor?
Right. And there's a lot of that.
But so much of it I think is too this relatability of especially in like a town like Rapids here and some of our community members and some of that.
There's a real note in that.
And I think we need to be conscious of saying that there is a trigger warning in here.
And we're not going to go into specifics about what that is.
But if you've experienced some trauma, there may be a trigger in here.
So just keep that aware of the good news is that they work through that.
But there could be a trigger in here for you.
Yeah, which is a good point I hadn't thought about.
So thank you for bringing that part up.
But so yeah, like I'm going to do real quick.
I wanted to go into a little bit about the set because like I said, it's a simple set.
Basically you guys will be sitting.
I meant you two not the audience. They'll be.
That's how it kind of weird. Anyway, you'll be at desks.
So they kind of represent where you are in life, especially at the beginning of the play.
And so we're one of the things that I that I think will be fun about it is that as the changes come along,
you know, you guys will make little subtle changes to your costume, basically.
You'll be maybe James will put a hat on or something to see that shows where he is at the moment, right?
And maybe Beth will have something over what she's wearing kind of thing.
So like I said, we're still working out some of the details.
We got a week.
But it'll be fine.
Everything will be fine.
It always comes together, especially with a group like this.
So I don't want people to think it's like stationary.
We do have some definite ideas about some little touches that we can put on there to make it more visually interesting,
other than just kind of static stage, which you could do.
But I think we have a little more fun with it than that.
One of the things I've appreciated is this has become very much a collaborative effort that you haven't said,
okay, this is exactly what's going to happen.
This is exactly how it's going to happen.
But you've been open to suggestions and ideas that have been coming to you.
And we've been working together to really come up with a shared vision for this show.
And that's for me.
That is what theater is.
It's a completely collaborative art.
Absolutely.
And I know for some directors, they work a different way.
It's very much, you know, their vision.
And they, you know, they want it this way in that way.
There's nothing wrong with that.
But for me, the tension of that collaboration, of not having, you know, maybe risking something, you know,
by not having an immediate thing, well, what do you think?
Or, you know, something like that.
To me, that is the essence of what we're doing with theater.
And I love James the idea of what you've kind of been presenting this as, as more.
This is not a set thing kind of thing.
This is more play around with it, which can be nerve-racking.
You know, this is something that not necessarily, some actors would really shy away from that.
But it's, there's a tension there that I think you can use.
And that kind of, you know, that nervous energy that we always talk about when you're on theater, any kind of theater,
that you can use to your advantage and hopefully use with the audience, you know, the dialogue.
Kind of a dialogue with the audience, of course, you know, because you had energy from them.
They had energy from you. It's a back and forth thing.
So that's kind of kind of where my general theory of directing theater is.
But specifically for this one, even more so, because of the kind of the gray areas, you know,
we'll see what happens, kind of things.
So in that, that's nerve-racking for a lot of people.
It's being on that tightrope.
It's the adrenaline and excitement of being held up suspended in the air and the weightlessness and the cool feeling of that
while also the panic of looking down and realizing, I'm on a tightrope.
Yeah, right. It's excitement, which is an energy, we talk about this a lot,
the three of us are just an acting in general.
Okay, you have that emotion. What are you going to do with it?
What are you going to do with it?
You're going to let it, you're going to let it keep you up, or you're going to put it into your character
and make that character that was already going to be pretty good.
Now he has actual genuine human emotions put into him that you are funneling in a different way.
It's going to be making these characters that much more fun to play.
Yeah, and it allows a depth to the character that you wouldn't get.
But it also relies on trust.
You have to trust the other person that's up there.
And that's where the chemistry and the, you know, we've been able to work together several times.
So we have an understanding of kind of where each other comes from and what maybe they might do
and an understanding of, okay, I need to be ready for this or that.
Well, and then to your question before about why us, which was a great question.
That's where one of those things, I'm sure you noted this during the plays when it was going on.
You saw it better than we did because we're on stage during it.
Yeah, right.
I know you mentioned this a little bit during our run of chapter two.
I know for me, there were at least that monologue in certain parts of the show for me that I don't know if another actor
I'd be able to pull off as well.
But you are a complement actor.
You are an actor that tries to bring out the best in your fellow actors.
Absolutely.
And you are a very supportive actor.
So I knew I had that and it's just you and I on those stage.
Yep.
So that monologue, I have no doubt in my mind.
I'm able to pull that off because of the person I'm working with.
You have a trust there that hey, I'm going to fall.
I know you're going to catch me.
Yeah, and I felt the same way with you on stage doing that to be able to,
because your reactions need to come from a genuine place of what the others giving you.
And the way that you're able to put all of that in there allows that reaction.
And we're not, I think they'll be able to be some reactions between the two of us without them really being an obvious reaction.
Yes, yes.
I'm really glad thankful for the read through.
So I can get some of my laughs.
So yeah, and that's going to be, to me, that's the best part.
That's the best part of all of this is to see a couple of people that I have so much respect for, especially for this,
that I know we're going to do such a great job.
But the little unknowns to me, that is the best part of any kind of performance, any theater performance.
You don't know.
It's hard to describe to people who have never done it before.
Okay, you've worked so hard, and I'm talking just like a regular play here.
Work so hard with people, and you got your character down, and you're like,
okay, I'm ready to go.
And then during the performance, something little happens.
And you're like, ooh, that was different.
How can I bounce off of that?
How can I do that?
And part of that is to keep it fun for the actors, because you've done it so many times.
But you get to the point where it's like, well, I want to play.
I want to have fun with this.
And those are the best moments on stage, especially when the audience responds to it.
And that is just, there's no feeling in the world than being able to get a response out of an audience.
It's part of it's amazing.
It's part of why we're so encouraging to people to try theater.
Yes.
Give it a chance to get out there, whether it's backstage or on stage.
What we're talking about is something you have to feel to really get.
And we encourage you to feel it, to feel in general.
Well, in the reality that there is no unflod performance.
There's always going to be something that doesn't go the way you planned it or wanted it to go.
There's always that little bit of unexpectedness to it.
And how do you utilize that?
Do you let that derail you?
Or do you figure out a way to incorporate that and make it better?
So the best shows are the ones that allow that flaw or that unexpected to make that show a perfect show.
There's something about that.
All that.
Add it on to that.
You get two shots.
You get two shots at this.
We're so used to at least getting seven of these.
I haven't had that since I was in California where you only get like two shows.
And hey, you've got to make it work on both of these.
That is exciting and also once you have to bring your A-game in every moment.
That's fun.
Yeah, I can't be daunting.
It can be.
But again, I have the confidence, man.
I think I think I couldn't have picked two better people because you guys can do it.
You guys are going to nail this man.
And you out there are going to love hate mail.
Yes.
I think everyone.
So just a quick reminder.
Come on the 15th and the 16th next weekend to the lowest Canton studio theater,
7 o'clock performances on Friday and Saturday.
You can get your tickets right now.
Go to wrc theater.org and you can go ahead and pick your seats.
I believe the capacity is 44 seats for each performance.
So let's get them now.
Yeah.
We are super excited to bring this to you everyone.
And we hope you come down and have a good time.
And once again, thank you both for doing this with me.
I know it was a little different.
The rehearsal schedule was really weird and stuff because basically because of everything else going on.
Yeah.
But thanks for sticking with it.
I do appreciate you both for doing that.
And I'm really excited to see what happens next weekend.
Find out more at wrctheater.org.
We will all meet you there looking forward to it.
Yes indeed.
And we'll be back here in just a minute on Directors Cut.
Welcome back to WFHR's Directors Cut.
Seth and James here with you.
And our special guest this week, a Beth Habhager.
And I appreciate you being here.
Beth, thanks so much for hanging out with us.
It's always so much fun, spending time with you guys.
It was a lot of fun to talk about hate mail.
And we'll kind of wrap up giving you the details,
wearing your tickets and the detailed dates of the shows and everything before wrap up.
But I knew we'd have a little time to kill here.
And since we got Beth with us, and Beth of course used to work
at a Walt Disney World Order, right?
I did.
I feel like I always mess it up and say like the wrong one.
Because there's Disney World and then there's Disney Land.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
But I couldn't help myself.
I've had this topic.
When did I get this?
October 19th, 2023.
Oh wow.
Over a year.
I've had this for a while.
But I've been waiting to have a good place for it.
And this is why I've had it because last year,
Disney celebrated their 100th anniversary.
And MovieWeb.com put together the impossible task
of ranking the 30 best animated characters of Disney's history.
Wow.
And there's been more that's come out.
I think since this list.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So there's always going to be honorable mentions.
And I think we can get some of those in if we have time at the end.
But we'll kind of just start at the bottom here.
Work our way up.
All right.
Sounds good.
And at number 20 on the list, Snow White.
Snow White from Snow White in the seventh.
Wow.
One of the originals.
Yeah.
She is the originals.
She was of the full length movie.
The first full length animated movie.
Snow White in 1937.
Wow.
Wow.
That was a long time ago.
That was a surprise.
She's that low actually.
Me too.
I was very surprised.
I was very surprised to see that one low.
Yeah.
Number 19.
Judy Hopps from Zootopia.
Yes.
It's a fun character.
Jenny, what was her name?
Oh, yeah.
Oh, I can't remember.
She was also on the live action one that we used to watch all the time.
About all of the fairy tales.
What's the point of time?
What's the point of time?
Oh, that's right.
Yeah.
That actress that played Snow White.
Yes, she played Snow White.
Jennifer Goodwin.
That's it.
Jennifer Goodwin.
Yeah.
She voices that character.
Yes.
Yeah, Jason Bateman and that one too.
Those two were so good together.
Big, big fun.
It makes you wonder if they were actually ever in studio together
when they recorded those voices.
Oh, yeah.
That's a good question.
I don't know how much they do that anymore.
Yeah.
They don't do that a lot.
You see, I think it's about 15.
Moana from Moana.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
She had fun characters.
Yeah.
When this is being written, they didn't have the sequel out.
No.
The sequel is right around the corner.
Yeah, that's right stays.
That's pretty cool.
And that's a character I've seen a lot of the little kids love.
Yes.
A lot of the kids I've loved.
Yes.
She's become very popular.
Yes.
Number 17.
Oh, gosh.
Oh, now I'm really surprised.
This is a low on this list.
Jim and he crank it from Pinocchio.
17.
That's pretty low.
I know there's a lot of characters.
I don't want to start.
Come on.
That's like the Disney theme song.
Yes, it is.
It was upon a star.
Yeah.
I was going to say it was just the movie.
That's one thing.
But I mean, they used him quite a bit.
Yes, they do.
It's a hard work and actor.
And the fact that he played, he's the conscience of that movie.
Yeah.
And so, yeah, he should be way higher.
Who did the voice of Jim?
I don't remember his name off the top of my head.
But he, I mean, that is one of my favorite of all Disney songs.
It's right up there.
The way he sings it too.
Oh, it's gorgeous.
I love that song.
It's such a great, well done one.
Yeah.
Cliff Edwards, the original voice of Jim.
Cliff Edwards, okay.
Yeah.
Cliff Edwards, as what I'm seeing here.
Yeah.
Eddie Carroll also looks like did a Eddie Carroll voice to Jim.
He cranked it for 37 years.
Oh, wow.
From 73 until his passing in 2010.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
And man, those guys stand those roles forever.
Oh, my gosh.
You want to know who the most recent or one of the most recent and currently doing the voice
from whenever you can?
Yep.
Joseph Gordon Levit.
Really?
Wow.
I did not know.
It's pretty cool.
That's pretty cool.
Yeah.
He said he tried to paint homage to the original voice while also bringing his own take to the
role.
Yeah.
But I'm a big fan of his.
And I just knew that's really a great choice.
Yes.
That's a great choice.
A great actor.
That should be like one of the top five.
Yes.
Yes.
I agree.
I agree.
Yeah.
And next on our list after that is a Milan for Milan.
Yeah.
It's understandable.
Yeah.
Really a groundbreaking character.
A lot of ways.
Yes.
Now, not as far fetched or not as crazy to see these kind of things.
But I think when Milan came out, it was still right around that time where we were still kind
of getting to this place.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That finally have a female character that wasn't relying on a quote-unquote man to save her.
And even the song that she sings about who is this girl I see, you know, who am I?
And what is my place in this world?
That was a groundbreaking character.
One of the things I challenge a lot of my young writers with is something that I was challenged
with at a young age too as a male writer that our teachers really made us do.
Like, okay, right for two, right to female characters.
Now write them and it has nothing to do with their boyfriend or husband or a man or anything
like that.
Just write them.
And that was actually, I had never, and I was like 1920 when this happened.
I did not realize how much growing I needed to do because I had never had anybody lay that
out for me like that.
That's really hard.
And I think Milan does that a bit.
There is certainly some stuff about her, certainly the sexism of a nation culture at times
and some of those things.
But it's a show about a person trying to find themselves and so many other things that
I think is so relatable.
And I believe she was the first non-European or white Disney princess.
I think that could be correct.
Yeah.
I think that's right.
Yeah.
Hades from Hercules comes in at number 15.
Oh gosh.
I had never actually seen this.
I just saw this this past year.
Oh really?
Yes.
James Woods, right?
Yes.
He does a very good job with that.
Very slick.
Yeah.
Kind of.
And it's perfect for that character.
I have heard that for years.
How great he was in that role.
I did not realize.
I actually think people might have over undersold it.
It is quintessential like some of his best work isn't that good.
It is really good.
And Danny DeVito also extremely good at that.
Oh my gosh.
She's hilarious of that movie.
It's another fun one.
Yep.
At number 14, the pumpkin king.
Jack Skeleton from a nightmare before Christmas.
That's James top five.
Absolutely.
Technically isn't a cartoon character.
That really kind of throws me off a little.
Yeah.
That's true.
Yeah.
That's true.
They did stop action animation.
Stop motion animation for that movie.
It took them years.
They did.
It really did.
It took a long time.
Yep.
At number 13, Minnie Mouse.
Down at 13?
That's insane.
I'm sorry.
This list is insane.
This list is insane.
Jimny Cricket was one thing.
But Minnie Mouse being that low on those.
No.
Mickey and Minnie should be one and two.
Come on.
Absolutely.
It all started with a mouse.
Disney even said that.
Walt Disney said that.
It all started with a mouse.
It had that phrase being there.
Right.
It not have her in the top five.
Right.
I don't know how that happens.
But I have to give a.
No, first name escapes me now.
The voice of Minnie.
She's been doing it.
For so many years.
And.
Shoot.
Because she also does some voices on the Simpsons.
She does Martin.
A couple of the kids.
Some of the boys on the Simpsons.
It's right on the tip of my tongue.
I know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
She was.
She was married to the former voice of Mickey.
Yep.
Wayne Allwine.
Yep.
Why?
Caitlin Roebrock.
Russie Taylor.
Russie Taylor.
Russie Taylor.
That's the one.
Yeah.
That's the one.
Yeah.
She did.
And maybe she's retired now.
But she did Benny.
For so, so many years.
And like I said, she was married to Mickey.
Which is so romantic.
Yeah.
I mean, that was just her.
By the way, Beth.
Did you get an autograph from Mr. Allwine at one point?
Did you?
When I was working at the Animal Kingdom had just opened.
They came into the restaurant that I was working with.
Some characters.
And I had made an off-handed joke that I, you know, I had asked Mickey who was the character
there.
I'm like, you know, I was a dollar short in my check this week or something like that.
Next thing I know, there's this dollar bill that comes backstage to me signed by.
Oh my god.
That's sorry.
Sorry, you missed this.
Yeah.
Oh, great.
Oh, that's fine.
I still have that at home.
She is.
I kept that one.
That's awesome.
And now I should frame that one and put that aside.
It might be something to frame.
That might be something to frame.
Yeah.
A Rapunzel comes up at number 12 from Tangled at number 11.
Baboo from the jungle.
Oh, yeah.
Blue.
Blue.
Blue.
Yeah.
The great little Harris.
I love Phil Harris.
Some of the best songs in Disney history.
Yes.
And one of the, I mean, again, another one of those ones where it could have been, I'm surprised.
It's at 11.
It's right there.
But it's hard to imagine how to talk to a character.
And number 10, Cinderella.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I am really impressed at how many of the quote unquote, princesses.
I mean, they're all called princesses, the Disney princess.
But how many of these are the female characters throughout the years.
Yeah.
And we've seen, you know, the newer ones, Moana and Mulan.
And of course, the classic Snow White and Cinderella.
Yeah.
It's really interesting to see how far we've come to.
Yeah.
From what kind of roles these characters played back in the day.
And now, what are they doing now?
Now they're the heroes, the heroines, right?
They're, uh, Moana is the one that's, that's doing the thing.
And then you've got Mulan doing all the cheetos in her movie.
So, yeah.
Well, it's really interesting.
You know, I certainly have taken my shots at Walt Disney at times.
But one thing that I will always give him credit for is how, uh, in tune he was with his audience.
And, and thinking ahead on his audience.
And, man, they have kept that spirit going.
Where they see trends before they happen.
They get on things before they happen.
Oh, for everybody that tries to give, you know, oh, they're parroting or they're pandering or anything like that.
No, they were already doing this.
Yeah.
You just caught up now.
Yeah.
Disney is way ahead.
And not just in, uh, you know, in the way that they create these things and everything.
But in getting to, hey, you know, we haven't done this.
Let's do this in some of that and everything.
It's been really impressive to see.
And a lot of that is, uh, them kind of, you know, just had browning out culture watch.
Exactly.
Hey, we took care of the, the, this, you know, particular type of kid.
What about these other kids that would like to watch this stuff and envision themselves on the screen and as these characters?
Exactly.
And that comes into play with number nine with Aladdin.
Yes.
The genie comes in at number nine on Aladdin.
Okay.
The play it's, I mean, the movie itself is, again, one of these times where you have a Disney princess that does not look like the other Disney princess.
And right.
A lot of that, the setting, the characters, the feisty.
I can do it myself kind of character.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And she was, I think about it.
She was one of the first that did like, yeah, like, oh, I'll save you Aladdin.
She's like, now, thanks.
I'm good, you know?
We'll go through a couple of these quick to get to the top five.
Melissa Fent from Sleeping Beauty at number eight.
Wonderful villain.
Yes.
Stitch from Lilo and Stitch at number seven.
Yeah.
It's a fun one.
That's a fun, pretty high.
Way too high.
It's just too high.
Tinkerbell at number six from Peter.
Oh, that's a good one.
She should have been in the top five.
Yeah.
She just missed it.
Just missed it.
I think one that might have pushed her out of there is Elsa from Frozen at number five.
That's a little understandable.
Totally makes sense.
As far as modern classes go, Frozen became one of the modern class quick.
It was a phenomenon.
Yeah.
We can't let it go.
Oh, no.
Oh, man.
At number four.
We need up.
Yeah.
We need up.
What's not originally a Disney character?
Neither was Cinderella.
That's true.
Neither was Snow White.
It was Disney's interpretation of somebody else's work.
That's true.
I do feel like they should have stuck to that though.
Did the actual Disney created characters?
I think that had been a really cool list.
Yeah.
But this is a fun list.
Yeah.
This has been fun.
Who doesn't like Winnie the Pooh?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Come seriously.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's just crazy.
Classic.
Number three.
Goofy.
Yep.
Had to be up there.
Yep.
Had to be up there.
I'm mad.
I'm a goofy guy.
Yeah.
He's my favorite.
I love my goofy.
And more ways than once.
I have modeled my entire life after him.
And his philosophies.
And we're working with him.
We are.
We are.
I'm trying for almost 15 years now.
I wouldn't have thought of it.
But as soon as I saw this list, I'm like, oh, yeah.
Definitely.
That's a top five.
And that kind of sneakily.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like when you talk about it, and you talk about it,
or think of Disney without thinking of Goofy.
Yep.
And number two.
Donald Duck.
Of course.
Yeah.
Donald Duck.
Donald Duck.
It's really cool to see, actually.
You know, that of all these years and stuff.
It's not, it's not surprising to see some of these characters.
But Donald's character was not necessarily built for marketing.
No.
To promote in everything.
And yet somehow this character is just so adored and so loved.
All right.
While also kind of he can also be the bad guy in stuff.
Yeah.
He's kind of an entang-
He wasn't originally, but he became an antagonist to Mickey.
Yes.
In some ways.
Yeah.
In a lot of ways.
Yeah.
He was always the one.
He was always jealous of Mickey and all of what he got to do.
He wanted his own attention, right?
Yeah.
You know, he wanted people to look at me.
I'm not as bad as you think.
You know, it was always so much fun to see him get flustered.
Yes.
And yes.
Yes.
Yes.
He's probably for my money.
He's the funniest of all the original Disney or of the Disney created characters.
Because he's the one that had all the bad stuff.
Yeah.
And that's funny.
He just could not catch a break.
No.
And at number one on the list, Pluto.
No.
No.
It's Mickey Mouse.
Of course, it's Mickey Mouse at number one.
All right.
There is a character that I think that should be on that list that's not.
And it's a newer character from Encanto, Luisa.
Oh, yes.
And part of it is, you know, Disney, when they did all of their marketing for it.
And they did all of their merchandising for it.
They really focused on the girly girl Isabella.
Yeah.
And they were pleasant.
I was pleasantly surprised and not surprised in a way.
Luisa.
Because young girls and women want this strong role model.
And that's what she was.
And she showed the pressure.
You know, women are under societal pressure and expectations of how we are supposed to act and behave.
She claimed that and then still was true to who she was.
There's a lot of great ones out there.
That's a great mention.
Yeah.
I kind of wish they would have divided this up though.
Yeah.
Because I would like more of the more classic characters to find out where they would be.
Like you said, you know, Daisy and all these other ones, but I get it.
You know, it's an old company.
I've been around forever.
And they've got lots of characters.
I get 100 years of characters.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's a tough job.
Yeah.
And you go ahead and have fun with this ranking list and rank them where you like to as well.
And thank you so much for joining us.
Everybody bet.
Thanks so much for hanging out with us.
That's always a joy.
Thank you.
That's a lot of fun.
Great work everybody.
It is.
And don't forget to get your tickets for hate mail.
Everybody coming up Friday and Saturday, 7 o'clock at the Los Kent studio theater, directors,
showcase.
Yeah.
And these two fabulous people will be on stage.
So you're not going to want to miss it.
And that is going to wrap up.
Director's Cut for tonight.
So long, everyone.