Geoffrey’s Junebug teammate, member of the comedy band The Whiskey Mountain Way, and audio engineer for Golden Age Radio, Kate Hardly joins us to talk about a movie that scarred her as a child and gave a friend of hers lasting PTSD: The Adventures of Mark Twain!
Image Description: A still from The Adventures of Mark Twain, in which a terrifying mask (that vaguely resembles Mark Twain) on a stick hovers in empty space above / in front of an armored, headless body, whose hand is holding a cigar.
Here’s the … not exactly a summary … that Kate sent us before rewatching:
“I am terrified at the prospect of rewatching The Adventures of Mark Twain. This feature length film from 1985 is a bad trip made entirely out of clay. I remember having a very uncomfortable feeling while watching it, as if the television was connected to something unholy and I were it's unwilling victim. In fact, I had repressed all memory of having seen it until a friend confided in me about their resulting PTSD. Then it came flooding back. The movie was real.
I think it was Christmas. It was late in the day, perhaps even night. The adults were making merry and my cousins and I were left alone with a television to keep us occupied. Little did they know that tv had a black box connected straight to hell. Or maybe I was alone at home when I saw it? Perhaps this movie reached out and found me many times. I really don't remember the details, only that it felt wrong. The message it gave was this: You don't matter. Your life does not matter. God cannot save you from a painful, meaningless existence and an excruciating death, after which no one will mourn you. If you tell an adult what you've seen here they will not believe you. They'll call you a liar and punish you for it. This is our secret. Keep it, or else terrible things will happen. But none of it will matter.
There's also Mark Twain, who maybe kidnapps Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher. They used to be real children but now they're trapped in the clay world. Huck, too. There is a trippy checkered floor that is also evil.
Ok, now that I've told you everything I can remember I'm going to look for a clip of this thing....
Oh. My. God.
I have to call my therapist.”
Was Kate right? Yes! But also she missed a good deal of the plot, so we have a pretty wild journey through this, the first Claymation animated feature, and the one which gave Claymation its name!
We also learn that Geoffrey has actually watched a live production of Starlight Express in London(!!!), and talk a bunch about fanfiction, including the post-apocalyptic science fiction story Julia wrote based on the children’s bedtime classic, Goodnight Moon. You can read “Goodnight Room” on the Hugo award-winning fanfiction database, Archive of Our Own, if you are so inclined.
We are all fans of stop motion animation in all its forms, whether they are claymation or not. One recent stop motion artist we enjoy is Andrea Love, who uses wool.
Of course we also talk a bunch about Mark Twain’s work, art in general, horrifying racist characters, and existentialism. You know, the usual. Anyway, check out Kate’s music and stuff!
If you’re having fun listening to us, please tell your friends about us! Subscribe to our newsletter at thisiswhywerelikethis.substack.com for free, or pay $5/month to get access to two bonus paid episodes each month! We’re also on Patreon if that’s your jam! Rate and review us! follow us on Twitter where we’re @thisiswhy_pod! And, of course, you can always drop us a note at at thisiswhywerelikethis@gmail.com.
The Adventures of Mark Twain with Kate Hardly