mouseknightstudios

[mouseknightstudios]

It’s time to move it, move it to our final episode of Season 4, because we watched all three Madagascar films in a row and we have a lot to say about it! This Dreamworks franchise started with the 2005 film that introduced us to Alex, Marty, Gloria, and Melman. The series subsequently took us from New York City to the titular island, to Africa, and eventually all across Europe! Jino watched the first movie countless times as a kid until he got sick of it, but returns with a newfound appreciation. Michael was surprised by how much detail was put into constructing the jokes, including very niche references to The Twilight Zone! Victoria just loves those penguins. Tune in to hear our thoughts on Madagascar as a queer allegory, unionizing monkeys, and the funniest animated bit we’ve ever seen.

Thank you for joining us for Season 4. We’ll be taking a little break, but stay tuned for more episodes soon!

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Also available wherever you listen to podcasts!

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Hosted by Michael Keane, Jino Jang, Victoria Cheng

Produced by MouseKnight Studios

[mouseknightstudios]

Get ready for a Whale of a Wash because we’re swimming with the fish today in the 2004 Dreamworks classic: Shark Tale! Joining us is Nikki Spina, here to tell us all the easter eggs we missed and provide some important animation industry context to this movie. Michael and Jino thought they’d never watch this movie all the way through, but here they are. Victoria enjoyed rewatching this film with fresh eyes and was surprised by some of the deeper themes and metaphors it dives into. Tune in to hear our thoughts on breaking out of the cycle of poverty, the implications of a sushi restaurant in this world, and Angelina Jolie Fish.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Also available wherever you listen to podcasts!

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Hosted by Michael Keane, Jino Jang, Victoria Cheng

Featuring Nikki Spina

Produced by MouseKnight Studios

[mouseknightstudios]

Ghost InSpectors is headed to ✨Apulia Web Fest✨ in the Fiction Podcasts category! Thank you so much to Apulia for selecting us and congrats to all the other selections! 🙌

[mouseknightstudios]

Cowabunga dudes! This week we’re diving into the sewer to meet the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles of crime-fighting fame! After watching the live-action 1990 film and animated 2007 film, we’re running at full Turtle Power! Jino grew up reading the original comic books, and offers unique insights on the tone, lore, and development of the brand to a very Turtle-poor Michael. Meanwhile, Victoria relives the fraternal drama and sheer aura-farming all over the 2007 animated feature. So grab some pizza and join us as we discuss the pitfalls of freelancing, making "sharpness" your key villain trait, and the Turtles' rat dad...or is he their dad who just looks like a rat??

Listen now on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Also available wherever you listen to podcasts!

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Hosted by Michael Keane, Jino Jang, Victoria Cheng

Produced by MouseKnight Studios

[mouseknightstudios]

Don’t you miss being a kid in the summer? The Penderwick siblings sure know how to take advantage of the season, running around with a soccer ball and breaking expensive garden vases. The first book in this series by Jeanne Birdsall perfectly captures the simple joys, but also high-stakes drama, of summer vacation. Jino loved The Penderwicks as a kid, but didn’t even know there were four other books until after college! Victoria was excited to see all the Little Women parallels, which was a primary inspiration for these books (check out last week’s episode!). And Michael appreciated the way that each sister had their own rich inner worlds and philosophies on life mirrored in the prose. Tune in to hear our thoughts on generational conflicts, soccer player alter egos, and the most boy to ever boy.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Also available wherever you listen to podcasts!

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Hosted by Michael Keane, Jino Jang, Victoria Cheng

Produced by MouseKnight Studios

[mouseknightstudios]

Brush up on your 1860s slang, because today we’re revisiting an American classic! Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is a novel that’s inspired generations of writers and sparked numerous adaptations. Victoria has read the book from cover to cover at least five times now, with a deep love for the March Sisters and a 2017 PBS Masterpiece adaptation. Michael and Jino enjoyed the 2019 film directed by Greta Gerwig, but this is their first time reading the source material! Michael enjoyed Alcott’s character work and shares what real-life inspirations were behind some of the book’s events. Meanwhile, Jino questions whether the book’s ending felt true to Jo’s character. Tune in to hear our thoughts on pickled limes, Laurie’s Byronic alter-ego, and book morality!

Listen now on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Also available wherever you listen to podcasts!

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Hosted by Michael Keane, Jino Jang, Victoria Cheng

Produced by MouseKnight Studios

[mouseknightstudios]

Look up, and you may see a city in the Northern Lights! We’re so excited to be joined once again by Isabella Miller for this deep dive into The Golden Compass, the first book in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series. This was a childhood favorite for Victoria and Isabella, and a brand new journey for Jino and Michael to embark on. In this first book, we searched for answers to the series’ greatest question: what is Dust and is it bad? Did we learn the answer? You’ll have to listen to find out! Tune in to also hear our thoughts on armored bear society, Mrs. Coulter’s unique relationship with her daemon, and how the real treasure was the friends we made along the way (except for that one we lost - yikes!).

Listen now on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Also available wherever you listen to podcasts!

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Hosted by Michael Keane, Jino Jang, Victoria Cheng

Featuring Isabella Miller

Produced by MouseKnight Studios

[mouseknightstudios]

This week I also wrote about @mouseknightstudios' Ghost InSpectors - a seven-part series which follows two ghostly private inspectors, as they try to solve the mysteries behind the unfinished business keeping their spirits tethered to our world.

[mouseknightstudios]

Hold onto your hats and get ready to move with Howl’s Moving Castle! We’re revisiting a collective favorite today in this 2004 animated Studio Ghibli film. No matter how many times we’ve watched it, there’s still a new way to interpret the film’s message. Victoria felt seen in the character of Old Lady Sophie, with some additional insights from the original book by Diana Wynne Jones. Michael loved the eccentric magic memorabilia and aesthetics of the film, but felt that redheads were dealt an unfair card during Howl’s infamous breakdown. Meanwhile, Jino thought he would understand the plot more as an adult, but still found it a bit nebulous on this rewatch. Tune in to hear our thoughts on the film’s take on inner beauty and confidence, Howl’s best hair color, and the benefits of turning into a bird.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Also available wherever you listen to podcasts!

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Hosted by Michael Keane, Jino Jang, Victoria Cheng

Produced by MouseKnight Studios

[mouseknightstudios]

A lovely review of the series, thank you as always!

@mouseknightstudios' Ghost InSpectors isn't your typical ghost story. Launched on Halloween last year, the story follows two spectral private investigators, as they try to unravel the mysteries keeping them tethered to the mortal plane.

[mouseknightstudios]

Let’s get down to business! Today, we’re talking about the 1998 Disney animated film, Mulan, whose songs could always quickly get kids hyped up. This is a particularly personal episode, as both Jino and Michael were involved in theatrical performances based on Mulan - who would’ve thought! Victoria unfortunately had no such stage experiences, but she similarly grew up loving the movie, as well as learning about the original Ballad of Mulan. Tune in to hear our thoughts on delicious food eaten (or not eaten?) in the film, Mushu piggy banks, and setting a new bar for how to be a man.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Also available wherever you listen to podcasts!

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Hosted by Michael Keane, Jino Jang, Victoria Cheng

Produced by MouseKnight Studios

[mouseknightstudios]

Thank you for the kind words!! We hope that any Before the Tone fans that check out the show have a great time listening :)

And for our listeners, please check out Before the Tone! The atmospheric sound design is lovely and the mystery is very intriguing. We can't wait to find out what happens next!

Spotlight: Ghost InSpectors

Today, we are happy to share the first episode of Ghost InSpectors from @mouseknightstudios! Come, listen to private investigators and best friends Ned and Mulligan try to solve their own deaths and catch a serial killer as ghosts! The show is funny and well-sound designed with central friendships, ghost shenanigans, and a cat!

[mouseknightstudios]

Yes!! It's so sweet when pets are part of productions. 🥺 I wanted a plot-relevant cat in Ghost InSpectors from the start, but knowing that my cat Luna could voice the character reassured me that we could pull it off. Luna is really vocal and expressive so I knew it wouldn't be too difficult to record her meows/other cat sounds

Cutest fiction podcast phenomena IMO is when people invent an in-universe animal for their own pet to voice, either because they're deeply fond of said pet or because said pet is so fond of them that it's easier to give an in-universe reason for the noise than it is to try to remove it.

[mouseknightstudios]

Are you curious what it’s like to edit and sound design an audio drama? In our final behind-the-scenes episode, we’re talking about our post-production process for Ghost InSpectors. Creating a fully designed story can be as intimidating as it is rewarding, but with practice (and this podcast!) you too can master the art of making funny little sounds that go “whoosh!” Along the way we’ll tell stories from the recording booth and discuss our favorite scenes to edit. Tune in for timing tips, getting started on your first sound design project, and the real reason why we decided the ghosts should have footsteps!

Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Other Podcast Platforms

Ghost InSpectors is a full cast supernatural mystery audio drama about friendship, ghost shenanigans, and moving on. Created by Victoria Cheng. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

[mouseknightstudios]

Honk! Did you understand that? If not, maybe you just have to spend more time listening to geese. Today we are journeying to the kingdom of Bayern with Princess Ani in Shannon Hale’s “The Goose Girl”, a truly wonderful and comforting read. As a big fan of fairy tale retellings, Victoria read all the Books of Bayern as a kid. Upon re-reading The Goose Girl, she was reminded once again of how the author’s beautiful prose made her stop to appreciate the weight of the words. Jino was impressed by the well defined magic system of the series, and Michael loved how Ani’s character arc was tied to her discovery of new magic languages. Tune in to hear our thoughts on a talking horse subverting animal sidekick tropes, an ex-lady-in-waiting becoming a class traitor, and a prince adopting a goose through marriage.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Also available wherever you listen to podcasts!

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Hosted by Michael Keane, Jino Jang, Victoria Cheng

Produced by MouseKnight Studios

[mouseknightstudios]

For a story told only through audio, music can be one of the most crucial elements of the soundscape. We were so fortunate to be able to work with Robert Mai for Ghost InSpectors; he not only composed the super catchy theme song, but also several key character themes and high-action scores for important moments in the show. And this certainly isn’t the first time that Robert’s worked in audio dramas – you might have heard his music in shows like Wynonna Earp: Tales from Purgatory and We’re Alive: Descendants. So we’re so excited to be talking to Robert today about how he’s honed his process over the years, his biggest musical inspirations, and favorite pieces from Ghost InSpectors!

Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Other Podcast Platforms

Ghost InSpectors is a full cast supernatural mystery audio drama about friendship, ghost shenanigans, and moving on. Created by Victoria Cheng. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

[mouseknightstudios]

This episode is about to be yoicks because we’re talking about The Guardians of Ga’hoole! If you read this series as a kid, then you must know a lot about owls, including all the unique vocabulary of this owl society created by the talented Kathryn Lasky (make sure you don’t go yeep!). For this episode, we read the first two books - The Capture and The Journey, where we follow Soren and his friends as they search for the Guardians of legend. Michael read many of these books and had no idea how much lore he had stored in his brain until revisiting the world. Jino was particularly fascinated by the concept of owls baking and metalworking, but having no furniture. Victoria was mostly startled by how many similarities The Capture had to Severance. Tune in to hear our thoughts on brainwashing through moonblinking, going to owl school, and our next hit show: Downton Snakey!

Listen now on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Also available wherever you listen to podcasts!

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Hosted by Michael Keane, Jino Jang, Victoria Cheng

Produced by MouseKnight Studios