Verbal Diorama Verbal Diorama

I don't usually re-release old episodes, however the revival of X-Men: The Animated Series as X-Men '97 on Disney+ has been a tremendous success, not only with fans, but also critics. The show has been praised for revitalising the MCU, and being the template on which Marvel need to move forward with on future projects.
X-Men '97 has been made with so much love for the original series, as well as the comic books; updating the animation, but keeping the same characters we know and love, and even some of the original cast of X-Men: The Animated Series. With the X-Men '97 season one finale just around the corner, let's go back into how that original, ground-breaking animated series came about...
Halloween 2022 was the 30th anniversary of the airing of Night of the Sentinels Part 1, the pilot episode of X-Men: The Animated Series, with Night of the Sentinels Part 2 airing a week later.
Fox Kids CEO Margaret Loesch's original plan to launch an X-Men animated series had failed in 1989, but a couple of years later she was adamant she would get the X-Men on the small screen. The series itself was a risky move, but debuting with a story about the Sentinels was even more risky. And Stan Lee wasn't as involved as you might think!
Episode originally released on 10th November 2022.
Mentioned in this episode:
From the Archive

Release the Kraken! Twice!
Clash of the Titans had been an idea since the late 1950s, with writer Beverley Cross writing a treatment in 1969 called Perseus and the Gorgon's Head. At the time, producer Charles H. Schneer and legendary animator Ray Harryhausen were working on other films, and so what became Clash of the Titans would have to wait until 1977 to start pre-production.
It would eventually release in 1981 and include not only one of Harryhausen's most memorable creatures, Medusa, but also signal the beginning of the end of his career. Clash of the Titans would be his final film, in part thanks to a scathing review.
Clash of the Titans would inevitably be remade one day, and that remake fell to Louis Leterrier, and new writers Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, using an original script by Travis Beacham based on Cross' original script.
Updated to modern audiences' needs for big budgets, big-name actors and huge CG spectacle, Warner Bros would notice the huge 3D revolution started by James Cameron's Avatar, and decided to convert Clash of the Titans to 3D in post-production...
I would love to hear your thoughts on Clash of the Titans (1981) & Clash of the Titans (2010) !
CONTACT....
Twitter @verbaldiorama Instagram @verbaldiorama Facebook @verbaldiorama Letterboxd @verbaldiorama Email verbaldiorama [at] gmail [dot] com Website verbaldiorama.com
SUPPORT VERBAL DIORAMA....
Give this podcast a five-star Rate & Review
Join the Patreon | Send a Tip | Buy Merch
ABOUT VERBAL DIORAMA
Verbal Diorama is hosted, produced, edited, researched, recorded and marketed by me, Em | This podcast is hosted by Captivate, try it yourself for free.
Theme Music: Verbal Diorama Theme Song. Music by Chloe Enticott - Compositions by Chloe. Lyrics by Chloe Enticott (and me!) Production by Ellis Powell-Bevan of Ewenique Studio
Patrons: Simon E, Sade, Claudia, Simon B, Laurel, Derek, Vern, Cat, Andy, Mike, Griff, Luke, Michael, Scott, Brendan, Lisa, Sam, Will, Jack, Dave, Chris, Stuart, Nicholas, Zo, Kev, Pete, Heather, Danny, Aly, Stu, Brett, Philip, Michele, Xenos, Sean, Ryno and Russell!

64 years ago, The Flintstones became the first ever animated prime time sitcom in the US, and 30 years ago, the live-action film was released.
A live action adaptation of The Flintstones first came about in 1985, but it wouldn't be 'til Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment acquired the rights in 1992 that the project started moving forward, but by that point eight writers had already had a crack at the script...
Once Spielberg, and mega fan director Brian Levant, got involved, many more writers would have a pass, but only three would ever be credited for their work after the Writer's Guild of America got involved.
Credit to the team of writers behind The Flintstones...
Steven E. de SouzaDaniel GoldinJoshua GoldinPeter Martin WortmannRobert ConteMitch MarkowitzJeffrey RenoRon OsbourneMichael J. WilsonJim JenneweinTom S. ParkerGary RossAl AidekmanCindy BegelLloyd GarverDavid SilvermanStephen SustarsicNancy SteenNeil ThompsonBrian LevantRob DamesLenny RippsFred Fox Jr.Dava SavelLon DiamondDavid RichardsonRoy TeicherRichard GurmanMichael J. DigaetanoRuth BennettLowell GanzBabaloo Mandel
That's 32 writers. 29 of which never received credit.
This movie has incredible production design, set design, costumes, puppet work and casting. It does not deserve to be as derided as it is. Let's celebrate The Flintstones! Yabba dabba doo!
I would love to hear your thoughts on The Flintstones (1994) !
CONTACT....
Twitter @verbaldiorama Instagram @verbaldiorama Facebook @verbaldiorama Letterboxd @verbaldiorama Email verbaldiorama [at] gmail [dot] com Website verbaldiorama.com
SUPPORT VERBAL DIORAMA....
Give this podcast a five-star Rate & Review
Join the Patreon | Send a Tip | Buy Merch
ABOUT VERBAL DIORAMA
Verbal Diorama is hosted, produced, edited, researched, recorded and marketed by me, Em | This podcast is hosted by Captivate, try it yourself for free.
Theme Music: Verbal Diorama Theme Song. Music by Chloe Enticott - Compositions by Chloe. Lyrics by Chloe Enticott (and me!) Production by Ellis Powell-Bevan of Ewenique Studio
Patrons: Simon E, Sade, Claudia, Simon B, Laurel, Derek, Vern, Cat, Andy, Mike, Griff, Luke, Michael, Scott, Brendan, Lisa, Sam, Will, Jack, Dave, Chris, Stuart, Nicholas, Zo, Kev, Pete, Heather, Danny, Aly, Stu, Brett, Philip, Michele, Xenos, Sean, Ryno and Russell!

The history and legacy of Shakespeare in Love is long-winded and complicated, but how is it that a movie can be wholly and completely tarnished by one man?
I don't know. It's a mystery.
From its beginnings as a project for Universal starring Julia Roberts, to it being shut down after spending $6 million and losing Julia Roberts, to being resurrected in the worst possible way by actual real-life villain Harvey Weinstein; the story of Shakespeare in Love has comedy, romance and tragedy, just like an actual Shakespeare play.
Nowadays its mostly known as being the "unworthy" winner of the Best Picture Academy Award in 1999, beating Saving Private Ryan, in an unprecedented marketing and bad-mouthing campaign that changed awards season.
Was Saving Private Ryan really "robbed" of its Best Picture Oscar? Or were more Academy voters just charmed by a period romantic comedy than a war epic that year? I guess we'll never truly know the answer, other than it ends as stories must when love's denied; with tears and a journey.
I would love to hear your thoughts on Shakespeare in Love !
CONTACT....
Twitter @verbaldiorama Instagram @verbaldiorama Facebook @verbaldiorama Letterboxd @verbaldiorama Email verbaldiorama [at] gmail [dot] com Website verbaldiorama.com
SUPPORT VERBAL DIORAMA....
Give this podcast a five-star Rate & Review
Join the Patreon | Send a Tip | Buy Merch
ABOUT VERBAL DIORAMA
Verbal Diorama is hosted, produced, edited, researched, recorded and marketed by me, Em | This podcast is hosted by Captivate, try it yourself for free.
Theme Music: Verbal Diorama Theme Song. Music by Chloe Enticott - Compositions by Chloe. Lyrics by Chloe Enticott (and me!) Production by Ellis Powell-Bevan of Ewenique Studio
Patrons: Simon E, Sade, Claudia, Simon B, Laurel, Derek, Vern, Cat, Andy, Mike, Griff, Luke, Michael, Scott, Brendan, Lisa, Sam, Will, Jack, Dave, Chris, Stuart, Nicholas, Zo, Kev, Pete, Heather, Danny, Aly, Stu, Brett, Philip, Michele, Xenos, Sean, Ryno and BRAND-NEW PATRON Russell!

After making The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, Stephen Sommers wanted to make a small movie; no monsters, no action, no visual effects, just something simple, but then he started thinking about all the Universal monster movies he loved as a child, and came up with a collective story of three monsters, connected by one man - Van Helsing - but not the Abraham Van Helsing you knew....
Gabriel Van Helsing would be serving alongside Dracula with the Knights of the Holy Order before having to kill him. He would ask for his memories to be removed to purge himself of his sins, and end up walking the Earth for 400 years with no memories and end up at the Vatican. Hugh Jackman, fresh from playing Wolverine in X-Men, would be Van Helsing, and when Universal realised what they had, thoughts of a franchise appeared in front of them...
It would be Universal's Dark Universe, before Universal's Dark Universe....
I would love to hear your thoughts on Van Helsing (2004) !
CONTACT....
Twitter @verbaldiorama Instagram @verbaldiorama Facebook @verbaldiorama Letterboxd @verbaldiorama Email verbaldiorama [at] gmail [dot] com Website verbaldiorama.com
SUPPORT VERBAL DIORAMA....
Give this podcast a five-star Rate & Review
Join the Patreon | Send a Tip | Buy Merch
ABOUT VERBAL DIORAMA
Verbal Diorama is hosted, produced, edited, researched, recorded and marketed by me, Em | This podcast is hosted by Captivate, try it yourself for free.
Theme Music: Verbal Diorama Theme Song. Music by Chloe Enticott - Compositions by Chloe. Lyrics by Chloe Enticott (and me!) Production by Ellis Powell-Bevan of Ewenique Studio
Patrons: Simon E, Sade, Claudia, Simon B, Laurel, Derek, Vern, Cat, Andy, Mike, Griff, Luke, Michael, Scott, Brendan, Lisa, Sam, Will, Jack, Dave, Chris, Stuart, Nicholas, Zo, Kev, Pete, Heather, Danny, Aly, Stu, Brett, Philip, Michele, Xenos, Sean and Ryno!

Great Scott, it’s the 250th episode! Where we’re going, we don’t need roads, and if my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're going to get the history and legacy of Back to the Future! It's a story of how Romancing the Stone, Coca-Cola's takeover of Columbia and Double Indemnity came together to make Back to the Future a possibility.
Back in the days when Ronald Reagan, the actor! was president and you needed a nuclear reaction to generation 1.21 jigowatts of electricity to power a DeLorean, a young man called Calvin Klein changed the course of his own personal history by going back to 1955, meeting his parents and technically then accidentally dating his own mother; jeopardising his future in the process.
I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet, but your kids are gonna love it. It’s your density to listen. So, make like a tree, and get outta here.... pop your 1980's headphones on, turn up the volume and listen to this!
I would love to hear your thoughts on Back to the Future ! THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT FOR 250 EPISODES!
CONTACT....
Twitter @verbaldiorama Instagram @verbaldiorama Facebook @verbaldiorama Letterboxd @verbaldiorama Email verbaldiorama [at] gmail [dot] com Website verbaldiorama.com
SUPPORT VERBAL DIORAMA....
Give this podcast a five-star Rate & Review
Join the Patreon | Send a Tip | Buy Merch
ABOUT VERBAL DIORAMA
Verbal Diorama is hosted, produced, edited, researched, recorded and marketed by me, Em | This podcast is hosted by Captivate, try it yourself for free.
Theme Music: Verbal Diorama Theme Song. Music by Chloe Enticott - Compositions by Chloe. Lyrics by Chloe Enticott (and me!) Production by Ellis Powell-Bevan of Ewenique Studio
Patrons: Simon E, Sade, Claudia, Simon B, Laurel, Derek, Vern, Cat, Andy, Mike, Griff, Luke, Michael, Scott, Brendan, Lisa, Sam, Will, Jack, Dave, Chris, Stuart, Nicholas, Zo, Kev, Pete, Heather, Danny, Aly, Stu, Brett, Philip, Michele, Xenos and Sean!