Storytelling Saga

Ali shares a quick Courage the Cowardly Dog story called "Warm Whisper." This episode is dedicated in loving memory to the series' head writer, David Steven Cohen.

Ali discusses Disney's first feature-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).

Ali commemorates the 20th anniversary of Avatar: The Last Airbender by reflecting on what the show means to her, sharing a few silly memories based on what little she saw of it back when it was originally airing, as well as why she's always loved Kataang from the very beginning. Additionally, she expresses her infinite excitement for the new upcoming animated projects from Avatar Studios, including the limited series, Avatar: Seven Havens, and the first theatrical movie featuring the Gaang as young adults titled Aang: The Last Airbender. She also shares her love for the cast of the live-action Netflix adaptation of the series. To close out the episode, she shares a mushy Kataang story she wrote called "An Air of Certainty." "Will you go penguin sledding with me?"

Ali discusses Wicked: Part I, the long-awaited movie adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, Wicked, directed by Jon M. Chu and starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande-Butera as Elphaba and Glinda. "I hope you're happy, my friend."

Ali discusses three more Nicktoon Christmas specials: "When Santas Collide" (ChalkZone), "Have Yourself A Thornberry Little Christmas" (The Wild Thornberrys) and "A Rocket X-Mas" (Rocket Power).

Ali discusses the uplifting and incredibly emotional Pixar movie, Up, directed by Pete Docter.

Ali recaps her experience attending LA Comic Con for her third year in a row, sharing fun tidbits from panels featuring the cast of Rick and Morty and Avatar: The Last Airbender, as well as industry insights from other panelists about writing for animation, post-production, sound editing, and more. She also shares about meeting the voice actor behind the beloved Cabbage Merchant, James Sie, and almost missing the opportunity (but thankfully it worked out) to meet the voice of Aang, the Avatar himself, Zach Tyler Eisen.

Ali discusses the shredding Nicktoon, Rocket Power, created by Arlene Klasky and Gábor Csupó. Come along for the ride as she highlights all the ways this sports-centric series resonates with her now compared to when she watched it as a kid, namely all the sweet sibling moments between Otto and Reggie, the many hilarious lines from Twister stemming from his naive nature, the relatability of Sam aka Squid, Raymundo as an amazing dad and Tito as a wonderful fatherly figure, and much more, including what she thinks the four friends' careers would be and a whole bunch of details she didn't remember about the show—other than the iconic term, "shoobies," and the celebratory handshake, "Woogity, woogity, woogity, woogity!"

Ali discusses the profound animated movie that capped off the Disney Renaissance era, Tarzan.

Ali discusses the moving Disney renaissance era animated film, Pocahontas.

Ali discusses Inside Out 2 written by Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein and directed by Kelsey Mann.

Ali interviews writer, director, and producer, Craig Shemin, who shares about his work with The Jim Henson Company and various Muppets projects, including his two books, Sam and Friends: The Story of Jim Henson's First Television Show and The Muppets Character Encyclopedia. He also shares about his experience on other shows he wrote for including The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss and Courage the Cowardly Dog, plus his personal favorite piece of Muppets memorabilia and much more!

Ali interviews actor and puppeteer, Jayden Libran, who shares about his work on various projects that include The Happytime Murders, Helluva Boss, Beavis and Butt-Head, Class Acts, and much more!

Ali discusses the sequel series to Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra, coming in hot with a few nitpicky narrative criticisms before delving into all the ways this series resonates with its darker and more mature themes, unique villains with a unifying characteristic, Korra's strength as the protagonist and how she stands out from Aang as the avatar, and much more, including her thoughts on each of the romances culminating in a (potentially) hot take. "I'm [on a podcast], you gotta deal with it!"

Ali interviews actor and writer, Evan Marshall, who shares about his play, The AllStore, along with other projects pertaining to theater and film.

Ali recaps her experience attending Collect-A-Con Los Angeles, highlighting fun panels featuring beloved franchises including Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and more!

Ali discusses the documentary series, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV. Listen at your own discretion.

Ali interviews illustrator and graphic designer, Michael Harring, whose projects include directing the movie, The Mountain, The River and The Road, illustrating the book, Magoo and His Magic Poo, developing a monster-themed collection called Wayward Ghouls, and much more.

Ali interviews co-creators of the comic book series, "Bobo & J-5: Journey to the Planet Pie!," Joseph Bricker (writer) and John Charles Bricker (illustrator).

Ali interviews Ashlee Wyatt, creator of the comic strip, "Fleaboy & Weasel."

Ali interviews actress, writer, and producer, Georgie Leahy, who shares about co-producing her first movie, Bosco, creative influences which notably includes Britney Spears, her move to LA and experience of being a muse, working with Brandon Rogers, voicing Stella on Helluva Boss, and many more fascinating stories!

Ali interviews rapper, actor, and podcaster, Tenn Buick, who shares about his first gig when he got to LA, his process for creating a rap, why authenticity is more important than virality when it comes to putting out content, personal favorite moments from his podcast, All Grown Up (SYKE!), favorite things from the '90s, and a whole lot more!

Ali interviews co-creators of the "Ducks" newspaper comic about two ducks named Dan and Dave, Nathaniel Foster (writer) and Lia Kim (artist).

Ali recaps her experience attending Pasadena Comic Con, including meeting awesome people like Melanie Chartoff (Didi Pickles), David Kaufman (Danny Phantom), and lots of talented indie artists. Plus, chatting more with Susanne Blakeslee and working up the nerve to ask Butch Hartman that Cosmo & Wanda question (listen to the Toon Con episode for context).

Ali recaps her second year attending LA Comic Con, highlighting awesome panels for The Office, Johnny Bravo, and much more!

Ali interviews Howie Ronay, author of Magoo and His Magic Poo.

Ali and returning guest, Stacey, discuss the long-awaited Good Burger sequel, Good Burger 2, written by Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert and directed by Phil Traill. They chat about favorite comedy bits, cameos, and Easter eggs, classic lines from the first movie, iconic All That characters, their love of Kenan & Kel, the comedic chemistry between Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell from the '90s to today, hopes for a Good Burger 3, and more. 'Cause we're all dudes, hey!

Ali interviews author, Marcie Colleen, whose books include Super Happy Party Bears, Survivor Tree, and many more!

Ali discusses three Cartoon Network Christmas specials: "Twas the Fight Before Christmas" (The Powerpuff Girls), "Ed, Edd n Eddy's Jingle Jingle Jangle" (Ed, Edd n Eddy) and "Operation: N.A.U.G.H.T.Y." (Codename: Kids Next Door).

Ali discusses three more Nicktoon Christmas specials: "An 'Even Steven' Holiday Special" (As Told By Ginger), "Christmas Every Day!" (The Fairly OddParents) and "Holly Jolly Jimmy" (The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius).

Ali recaps her experience meeting some of the Helluva Boss cast at Anime Pasadena.

Ali recaps her experience at Toon Con, including meeting awesome people like Rikki Simons (GIR), Bob West (Barney), Peter Kelamis (Rolf), and more, watching a fun panel with the cast of The Fairly OddParents and two more with legendary Disney artists and actors, and finally, working up the nerve to ask Susanne Blakeslee and Daran Norris an intimate question about Cosmo & Wanda.

Ali interviews art director and background painter, Andy Clark, who shares about his experience on many shows such as Dexter's Laboratory, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Angry Beavers, ChalkZone, Seth MacFarlane's canceled The Flintstones project, and more. He also provides a lot of valuable insight about the current state of the animation industry and offers pertinent career and life advice.

Ali interviews musician and composer, Pat Irwin, who shares about the process of composing for television and movies, in particular his work on Rocko's Modern Life and Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling among other projects. He also shares about memorable moments performing with his bands, music classes he currently teaches, the value of music as part of humanity, and more.

Ali discusses the critically-acclaimed series, Ted Lasso, developed by Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt and Joe Kelly.

Ali interviews musician, composer, and singer/songwriter, Nick Balaban, who shares about his musical influences, creative process, working on Blue's Clues, memorable performances, and more!

Ali binged all of The Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder, so enjoy more of her random thoughts on this fever dream of a series.

Ali gives her visceral, unfiltered reaction to watching an episode of The Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder reboot in this special bonus episode. It's a weird one, folks.

Ali discusses all things The Fairly OddParents, diving into “School's Out! The Musical," the uniqueness of the franchise, a whole bunch of classic quotes from the original run of the show (seriously, this episode is mostly quotes), why the early relationship dynamic between Cosmo & Wanda is the absolute cutest (which inadvertently leads to wondering something...), the adorableness that is baby Poof, and a quick FOP story called "A Kiss and a Tie (But Not in That Order)."

Are you ready? Ali and returning guest, Stacey, discuss the Zoey 101 sequel movie, Zoey 102, written by Monica Sherer and Madeline Whitby and directed by Nancy Hower. They discuss initial reactions, favorite laugh-out-loud and heartfelt moments, thoughts on the glow-ups of all the original characters, and much more, including gushing over Todd (even despite the big reveal at the end), reminiscing about some classic moments from Zoey 101, parallels with the iCarly revival, and still holding out hope for a Ned's Declassified reboot.

Ali discusses all things Creddie from season 3 of the iCarly revival.

Ali discusses the Barbie movie directed by Greta Gerwig.

Ali discusses Judy Blume's pivotal coming-of-age novel and its wonderful film adaptation written and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

Ali interviews writer, illustrator, and storyboard artist, Heather Martinez, who shares about her work on SpongeBob SquarePants, My Life as a Teenage Robot, The Fairly OddParents, The Replacements, and more!

Ali discusses the latest Pixar movie, Elemental, written by John Hoberg, Kat Likkel, and Brenda Hsueh and directed by Peter Sohn.

Ali interviews storyboard artist, writer, and director, Jay Lender, who shares about working on Hey Arnold! and SpongeBob SquarePants, making his movie, They're Watching, illustrating the children's book, Poopy McPooFace In: The Perilous Journey, and much more!

Ali discusses the portrayal of writers on screen, citing shows such as 30 Rock, Hacks, BoJack Horseman, New Girl, Seinfeld, Party Down, and the short-lived Hulu series, Reboot, all the while sharing advice about the writing process.

Ali interviews comedian and the voice of Chaz on Helluva Boss, Eric Schwartz, who shares about his comedic and musical influences, putting himself out there on stage, his new special, Delivery, the popularity of Chaz, advice for artists, and more. It's Chaz time!

Ali discusses The Super Mario Bros. Movie written by Matthew Fogel and directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic. Afterward, she shares a post-movie short story she wrote called “A Heartfelt Quest.” Let's-a go!

Ali celebrates the 200th episode of the podcast by sharing all about her experience attending her first-ever fan convention, LA Comic Con!

Ali discusses the TV movie, CatDog and the Great Parent Mystery, written by Steven Banks, Robert Lamoreaux, and Victor Wilson for the wacky Nicktoon, CatDog, created by Peter Hannan. Hi Ho Diggety!