Estradiol Illusions

Ian Thomas Malone

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Entertainment & LGBTQ Issues show hosted by Ian Thomas Malone (@ianthomasmalone)

31 MAR

The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town

We are back in the Rankin/Bass cinematic universe for their only stop-motion Easter special. A loose sequel to Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, the Easter version is pretty much running on fumes right from the start. Did you ever wonder why we eat jelly beans and wear nice clothes for Easter? Have you ever stopped to appreciate a hard-boiled egg? If so, you might want to check out this complete mess of a holiday narrative. Ian's newsletter, covering politics and LGBTQ issues: https://ianthomasmalone.substack.com/

41 min
10/12/2025

Frosty's Winter Wonderland

We are back in the Rankin/Bass cinematic universe for the first Frosty sequel, Frosty's Winter Wonderland. Essentially just a riff on Bride of Frankenstein, the special has next to no plot. Jack Frost makes his first Rankin/Bass appearance, decidedly at odds with his next two appearances in Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July and Jack Frost, but when has Rankin/Bass ever cared about continuity? Ian tries to make sense of the chaos. This will be our final holiday episode for 2025! Be sure to check out all our other holiday episodes. Happy Holidays everyone!

31 min
09/12/2025

Cricket on the Hearth

We are back in the Rankin/Bass cinematic universe with the Cricket on the Hearth. One of the earliest specials in their canon, Cricket is a bit of a mess. The animation is somewhat solid, but the characters are a bunch of morons and the music is awful. What else is new? This special is pretty awful and should be avoided by everyone other than Rankin/Bass completionists. No wonder it's taken us this long to cover it! Watch at your own risk.

41 min
08/12/2025

Frosty the Snowman

We're back in the Rankin/Bass cinematic universe. Ian covers the classic Frosty the Snowman, the most normal of the hand-drawn animated holiday specials. Ian unpacks Professor Hinkle's villainy, and the beauty of Frosty's existential musings. Hinkle's tracking abilities don't make a lot of sense, but at least we have a Santa Claus who isn't completely worthless for once.

39 min
04/12/2025

The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold

Ever wonder what a St. Patrick's Day special would look like if it suddenly became a Christmas show? The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold is easily the worst stop-motion Rankin/Bass Christmas special, twenty-four minutes of nonsense with practically no redeeming qualities. Ian does not recommend this show at all, but we at Estradiol Illusions are nothing if not Rankin/Bass completionists. Watch this garbage at your own risk! We tried to do it justice on the pod. We're sorry that any of this exists.

44 min
02/12/2025

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Our Christmas coverage begins! Ian revisits the 1964 special Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer for an episode that's more stylistically in line with our Rankin/Bass episodes than the first one we did in 2020. Ian still has a lot of complex feelings about this special, namely it's Axis of Awful (Santa, Donner, and Coach Comet). It's definitely problematic, but there's a reason people love this one so much. Be sure to check out all of EI's Rankin/Bass holiday episodes. EI's original Rudolph episode: https://ianthomasmalone.podbean.com/e/rudolph-a-transgender-perspective/ Ian's original Rudolph article: https://ianthomasmalone.com/2017/12/a-transgender-perspective-on-rudolph-the-red-nosed-reindeer/

48 min
29/10/2025

Mad Monster Party?

We are back, not only with our first episode of the year, but in our beloved Rankin/Bass cinematic universe. ITM covers the bizarre Halloween film Mad Monster Party?which features plenty of classic monsters, an horror icon Boris Karloff himself. Did Mad Monster Party? succeed where Universal's Dark Universe fails? Maybe not. Does this film have plenty of non-sequiturs that make no sense and cheap, borderline offensive humor? Of course. ITM also addresses the pod's long hiatus and is very excited for the return of Christmas programming in a few weeks.

52 min
13/12/2024

The Snowman

Our holiday coverage continues with an ITM personal favorite, and not just because she bore a resemblance to the boy as a young child. The Snowman is a beautifully animated special that tugs at all the right heartstrings. Ian unpacks her relationship to the special and its themes. Note: Ian spends the first five minutes talking about EI's 200th episode milestone. Listeners looking just for Snowman are recommended to skip the first few minutes. Happy holidays everyone!

26 min

Entertainment & LGBTQ Issues show hosted by Ian Thomas Malone (@ianthomasmalone)

Creator

Ian Thomas Malone
Years Active

2019 - 2026
Episodes

200
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© Copyright 2021 All rights reserved.
Show Website

Estradiol Illusions