Latest / The Art of Costume Podcast / The Witches (1990)

Transcript

The Witches (1990) · The Art of Costume Podcast

0:06
Hello and welcome to the Arctic Costume Podcast.
0:08
I'm Elsa Joy Glass. And I'm the grand High witch,
0:12
Spencer Williams. Hi, Spencer.
0:15
Hey, good to see you. Happy spooky greetings.
0:19
Dark greetings. Dark greetings from the East
0:23
Coast. Which a lot of spooky
0:26
shenanigans happens on the East Coast I'm starting to realize.
0:30
But thankfully, in today's episode, we have left the
0:34
American shores. Yeah, that's true.
0:38
We are talking about one of my absolute favorite Halloween
0:42
films, which I'm very excited I got to.
0:44
Sheriff Elizabeth. We're talking about the witches.
0:49
Elizabeth, what did you think? I was so excited to watch this.
0:54
I didn't the witches was not on my radar till they did the
0:59
remake with Anne Hathaway a few years ago.
1:02
But we went back to the OG, the 1990 Witches with Angelica
1:07
Houston and I got to say I love how we just keep watching just
1:15
insane things that like don't make sense but are perfect.
1:22
Oh, that's perfect. I mean, it's based on a book by
1:25
Roald Dahl, so it's already like in Kooky Land.
1:29
Yes, it like it was just so wild and it's a children's film.
1:35
It's a. Children's film, but it's still
1:37
kind of spooky, honestly. It is still very spooky,
1:40
especially because Jim Henson did a lot of the special effects
1:44
for this film, so you know it's at least going to be a little
1:48
bit of that Dark Crystal scary. Let's dive into it.
1:53
Why don't I give us a little summary and then we could talk
1:56
about all these fun costumes. The Witches from 1990 was
2:00
directed by Nicholas Rogue, and it's based on a book by Roald
2:05
Dahl. While staying at a hotel in
2:08
England with his grandmother, Luke inadvertently spies on the
2:13
convention of witches. The Grand High Witch reveals a
2:17
plan to turn all children into mice through a magical formula.
2:21
When they find out Luke has overheard the witches, the
2:24
witches then test the formula on him.
2:27
Now Luke, who is a mouse, must fight back against the witches.
2:32
And that is the witches it is. Charming.
2:36
Go watch it. I was in preparing for this
2:39
episode, which by the way, there's not a lot of costume
2:42
facts actually there. I say 0 costume facts, but there
2:47
are a lot of fun behind the scenes facts.
2:48
And one of them was that, you know, they continuously tested
2:52
this film with younger audiences and we're finding that like
2:55
every time it was too scary for kids.
2:58
So there's been multiple versions of this film where
3:00
they've had to change the ending.
3:02
They had to take out some questionable dark stuff, you
3:06
know, so much to a point where that Roald Dahl actually was not
3:09
thrilled with it because he was like, hey, what happened to my
3:12
dark stuff? And they were kind of like.
3:15
We made a we made a children's film.
3:19
I love that. Let's dive into the witches and
3:23
let's meet our costume designer, Merritt Allen.
3:28
You will know her work from Florence Nightingale.
3:32
Little Shop of Horrors Classic. Such a classic.
3:39
Mermaids. The Secret Garden.
3:42
Misses Doubtfire. Eyes Wide Shut, Hulk, Brokeback
3:51
Mountain and Levy and Rose, for which she received an Oscar
3:57
nomination and a BAFTA win. She unfortunately passed away in
4:04
2007 but. Talk about a legacy though it.
4:09
Was such a legacy like just between Little Shop of Horrors
4:13
and this is Doubtfire and Brokeback Mountain like the the
4:16
three of those, That is like a wild showing of just how
4:22
talented she was. Oh, and I love Mermaids with
4:26
Sharon Winona Ryder. That is a great film also.
4:29
I mean, yeah, so many good ones. I would love to talk about
4:32
Little Shop of Horrors on a podcast one day.
4:35
I. Know we should.
4:37
Well, as if there's a lot to talk about with this film.
4:40
So I think we should take a little break and when we come
4:42
back, we're going to head to this hotel that's chock full of
4:47
just nice ladies who want to protect children and do
4:51
everything they can to make sure they live good lives.
4:56
I can't wait. Hi, I'm Dan who does all the
5:03
magic behind the scenes. I wanted to say thank you.
5:06
And if you want to support the show even farther, go to
5:09
tpublic.com/user slash the Art of Costume where you can buy a
5:15
couple variations of our logo on T-shirts, mugs and stickers.
5:21
Also, be sure to leave a like comment and subscribe.
5:25
And if you're an audio listener, leave us a five star review and
5:28
Apple podcast. Now back to the show.
5:36
Elizabeth, It's time to check in to the hotel and talk about our
5:40
favorite characters from the witches and I.
5:44
There's a character I knew that you would connect with instantly
5:49
and that is Helga, played by May Zetterling, who I affectionately
5:53
called Grandma because that is the name.
5:56
I thought her name was Grandma. Honestly Elizabeth, you and
6:01
Grandma somehow just have such an affinity I can't really
6:04
explain it. She's giving coleslaw Grandma
6:06
but also Van Helsing at the same time.
6:10
Absolutely, she. Will shoot you dead if you're a
6:13
witch and smoke a cigar after. Oh, yeah, Like the way I want to
6:18
be this grandmother, if I ever have a grandchild, she is just
6:23
like, like she is just like, there's just a strong energy of
6:27
like, I grew up during the war. I can handle anything.
6:34
It just radiates off her the entire time.
6:37
Grandma's got money. Grandma has Nordic coastal
6:40
grandmother vibes. Like she has got the most
6:47
fabulous sweaters with these just like cozy floral prints.
6:52
Oh, that like floral shawl she wears?
6:55
Oh. Yes, yes, her nightwear, she has
6:58
like perfectly draped like knit tops.
7:02
They're not sweatshirts, they're just like these perfectly like
7:05
proportioned cozy knit tops. She's got jewelry, beautiful
7:12
jewelry, just like always like earrings, necklace, bracelet,
7:16
ring. Yes, we're coordinated and she's
7:20
just like I'm smoking my cigar. I don't care if it's bad for me.
7:25
Pairing it with the cigar is what gets me.
7:27
It's just like, she's just such a badass and she walks around
7:32
for her bag, which, like, you know, typically you're like, oh,
7:36
an elderly woman with a bag. Like, that's her bag.
7:38
She's like Mary Poppins. Bag.
7:40
It's a Mary Poppins bag, but she also kind of carries it around
7:43
like a weapon too, you know, like the way she grabs it.
7:46
Like she's like, I'll kill you with this.
7:48
She's ready. Her friend was kidnapped and
7:52
slowly murdered through portraiture when she was a
7:56
child. Her.
7:57
Friend was put in a painting and Helga has not let go of that.
8:03
She's ready. She hates witches.
8:05
She was talking about her finger to get revenge.
8:09
Yeah, just it makes her blood boiled so much so like her, her
8:13
grandson's just trying to have a nice night in.
8:14
She's like, let me tell you about these motherfucking
8:17
witches. And I love, like, the quick
8:21
scene with his parents, who are clearly like, Grandma, were you
8:24
talking about the witches again? Yeah.
8:30
And she was like, no, not at all.
8:33
They are real, Luke. That's so true and if I ever see
8:40
a witch on this street it is on site.
8:43
He was shooting dead. Yes, so crazy.
8:47
Thankfully, Luke is not like most children and he does listen
8:51
to his grandma. Yeah, no, Luke is actually a
8:54
prepared prepare child, played by Jason Fisher.
8:59
In terms of costumes. I mean, he runs around in a
9:02
hoodie most of the time. Yeah, so there's not really much
9:05
to talk about. But, you know, I thought he was
9:07
such a great child actor, you know, like he, he really gives a
9:12
great performance. He's very sweet, very kind.
9:15
Not he never steps over the line of like, being like too
9:18
immature. He was actually quite mature for
9:20
his age and does great voice actor work, by the way.
9:25
Yes. When?
9:25
He's the little the mouse, absolutely.
9:28
Luke the mouse convincing I. Thought he.
9:31
Could be a real mouse. Yes I do love that he is just
9:35
the stereotypical child of like the 80s.
9:39
Yeah. Just like sneakers, jeans,
9:42
T-shirt, hoodie, go and play. Yeah, and it's like a vibrant
9:48
yellow hoodie. Yeah.
9:51
But we can talk about the witches in this film, starting
9:55
with, I believe IMDb called her like the witch in black or the
10:00
lady in black. So there's this moment.
10:02
Luke just moved. You know, he's in his new home.
10:06
He's in a tree house at grandma's house or a park.
10:10
And this lady walks up who looks like she's in like a gothic punk
10:18
band with the beret. So punk.
10:20
So punk. I mean, it's very Vivian
10:23
Westwood. It's it's so cool and she walks
10:27
up and it's saying Luke does what the Pearsons did not do in
10:31
Salem. What like we talked about last
10:33
week, he immediately is like that is a witch if I ever.
10:37
Did see one, yeah. This small child was like, hold
10:40
up, there's a witch here? Why is this well put together
10:45
lady talking to me offering me chocolate and snakes like?
10:49
Yeah. Please leave, yeah.
10:51
Please leave. She looks really cool.
10:54
I love her costume. It's very the detailing on it,
10:58
it's very unusual. It's kind of sticks out in like
11:02
a really fantastic way. Absolutely would like 100% add
11:07
this to my wardrobe if I could. Yeah, yeah.
11:11
It's very cool. It's very like kind of New York
11:14
City, a little bit like New York City in the late 80s.
11:19
It's, you know, it's all that. All right.
11:23
Are you ready to talk about Miss Ernst, AKA the Grand High Witch,
11:28
played by the one the only the Divine Angelica Houston.
11:33
Yes. Wild.
11:35
Wild I I mean I get chills every time she makes her entrance so.
11:41
Great. It's so great.
11:43
She has this accent that I think might live in my mind forever
11:51
and she just walks in with like this huge.
11:54
Like some of the details in this movie are so 80s, but I'm like,
11:58
it's so perfect because she's got this like huge floral like
12:02
capelet dress paired with just like gigantic fastener.
12:09
And I'm like, I love the hat cuz like it has a little like knit
12:13
veil and I'm like really no one thought she was up to no good
12:17
like. Well what she has going for her
12:20
is that everyone in this hotel seems to be a witch at this
12:23
moment cuz they're coming in for the convention.
12:25
That's true. They're covering their tracks.
12:28
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is as we were talking
12:31
about during the break, they represent the Society of like
12:34
defending children or whatever, which is hilarious.
12:38
Excellent writing. I love her first.
12:42
She only has like 2 costumes in the film if we're being real.
12:45
And her first one is the entrance look.
12:47
And to me it's just very much as like a tea high society look.
12:52
She's clearly like yes, the woman of high society, you know,
12:56
this is her space. But then it has like a darkness
13:00
to it though. Like she couldn't help but
13:03
include like her dark purple, which is like really her thing
13:06
is black and purple. So she's trying to give off this
13:10
like floral personality, very bubbly, approachable, but she's
13:15
just, she can't help it. She has great witchy style and
13:18
she knows she could get away with it.
13:20
That's the difference. That is absolutely the
13:23
difference. I one thing I did read about on
13:26
screenrant.com there's an article that would include a lot
13:30
of behind the scenes facts about the witches.
13:33
Angelica Houston is an icon but she was not the first person
13:37
considered. They actually considered a lot
13:39
of people, but I notice as only icons in the place of Grand High
13:45
Witch, they were thinking they were considering Helen Mirren,
13:49
Sigourney Weaver, Linda Blair, Jodie Foster, Liza Minnelli and
13:55
Cher. Oh my gosh, Can you imagine,
13:59
Cher? That would be absolutely let's.
14:04
Say all of these women are ledges right here.
14:06
I think the only other acceptable casting of the Grand
14:11
High Witch would have been Cher. I gotta say I would pay stupid
14:15
money for a Liza Minnelli version because that would be
14:18
absolute batshit crazy because it wouldn't make any sense and I
14:22
would love that for myself. True.
14:23
But actually, it seems that Roald Dahl actually approved of
14:27
Angeka Houston's casting. So that was kind of like the
14:31
stamp of approval. And it was said that Angeka
14:34
Houston, who was dating, of course, Jack Nicholson at the
14:38
time, you know, famously were together for a long time.
14:41
He would send flowers all the time to her on the set.
14:45
And then of course, Jack Nicholson was in Witches of
14:48
Eastwick. So they have a thing for witchy,
14:51
campy 80s nineties films. Yes.
14:56
Good times. I could look at her costume
14:59
forever, but let's actually step into the banquet hall for all of
15:03
our witches. And I love this part when we see
15:07
all of the ladies gather in the hall because it's just such a
15:11
time capsule, you know? This film came out in 1990, but
15:16
you could tell that this film was not designed in 1990 because
15:21
it is very 9 to 5. Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, Jane
15:26
Fonda, like all these like corporates, lady dresses,
15:34
pantsuits, or you know, like little dresses, the crazy wigs,
15:40
the jewelry, the shoulder pads. It's a lot.
15:43
It's so funny to me. I I feel like Merritt was like,
15:47
OK, we are coming to the end of a decade, let me create this
15:52
film to pay homage to. Yes.
15:56
The 80s and let me just, I'm like, I wonder if she just put
16:00
like all her favorite looks of the 80s.
16:04
Oh yeah, it looks like a clothing rack was rolled in and
16:07
it's a ladies pick a dress pick any dress.
16:12
It's so much fun. What's also fun is like there's
16:17
this just like this movie is so wild.
16:20
It's a thing that like the witches are just like ugly and
16:24
like wear itchy wigs. So they're all bald and with
16:29
like scratch Marks and they're like really, because they're all
16:33
dressed up like this is a big deal.
16:35
The Grand High Witch has come. Oh yeah.
16:37
I mean, we saw how she got out of the car, so you got to dress
16:40
up a little bit. Yeah, and then they're all just
16:43
like scratch marks bald and but it's like I just like take off
16:48
your shoes, take off your wigs. Hilarious.
16:53
It's. So good.
16:55
And one thing I noticed this time watching, which I hadn't
16:58
noticed before, but you know, there's a lot of people in that
17:02
scene. There's a lot of actors and
17:04
actresses. So if you notice and the back
17:07
rows, there's actually a lot of men.
17:10
Oh my God, that's funny. Yeah, there's a lot of men in
17:15
the scene. And I, I want to read a little
17:18
bit about that because I thought that was an interesting choice.
17:21
And basically what I learned from that Screen Rant article is
17:24
that, you know, a lot of these women, the witches, they had to
17:29
be in other scenes, like the famous like dinner scene where
17:32
they all turn into rats or mice. So they didn't have that many.
17:38
They only had so many people, so they actually used a lot of
17:42
like, men extras to kind of like fill in the room and also seemed
17:47
like it required less prosthetics.
17:51
Well, yeah, because they're like, you know, they're trying
17:55
to make a lot of these women look a little bit more masculine
17:58
and not as attractive. So they wield them, these men
18:01
and were like. Here you go.
18:05
Which is wild. I'm sure the prosthetic budget
18:10
on this must have been wild. Yeah, I'm sure they were like,
18:13
let's just get some bald dudes like.
18:15
Yeah, let's take some. Pressure off that budget.
18:19
Oh man, can imagine that room when all the bald men walked in
18:22
together and they all looked nature and like oh OK, like they
18:25
were definitely looking for something in particular.
18:30
Absolutely. Oh my gosh, it's it's such a
18:34
great scene, especially because of Angelica Houston just going
18:39
wild. Just going wild.
18:42
I actually wanted to ask Daniel, can you just play the just five
18:46
to 10 seconds from her reveal when she has everyone close the
18:49
door. Hit it, Daniel.
18:55
You may remove your shoe you. May remove.
19:02
Your beaks. So doors, I say locked and
19:06
bolded. Locked and bolded.
19:31
Elizabeth, That is probably one of my favorite scenes of all
19:35
time. I could watch it, actually.
19:36
I have watched it over and over and over.
19:39
The removing of the shoes, the wigs, her accent, her body
19:43
movement. It's just I wish I could be a
19:46
family on a wall watching the scene happen.
19:49
Right. And I love because she doesn't
19:51
get changed again ever. And this is her costume for the
19:54
rest of the film. And it's like she has this
20:00
really like sleek modern for the 80s little black dress on, but
20:08
with this like Shaw slash train that she's able to like pull up
20:16
and like it looks like a little shrug or it looks it looks like
20:19
a little shawl. And it like it has this
20:21
beautiful like purple color to it to just like give that little
20:26
bit of like witchy vibes. It's so cool.
20:30
So like when I pitched this movie to Elizabeth literally a
20:33
year ago because I rewatched The Witches and I was like, this was
20:37
the movie that I was like, I want to do a season of.
20:39
The Witch was actually this movie.
20:42
I had thought there were more costumes until I rewatched a few
20:45
the other night, but then I realized no, it's because she
20:47
takes the same costume and just alters it throughout.
20:50
The film. She picks up the train and, you
20:53
know, now it's like a cloak because she puts it over her
20:56
head a little bit. Or now she rested over her
20:58
shoulders. Now it's a shawl.
21:00
It's really cool that this one dress is able to do so much.
21:05
And then at times you can't see it at all.
21:06
So it just kind of looks like this sleek black dress that's,
21:10
you know, kind of reminiscent to Morticia Adams a little bit.
21:13
So. But obviously a lot of, you
21:16
know, quite revealing too. But so is Morticia Adams.
21:19
It's I love how she puts the accessories over her black
21:24
gloves too. That's just such a flex I would
21:29
say. Yes.
21:31
Also at La Comic Con, Angelica Houston was there doing singings
21:35
during mine and Elizabeth's panel and I was low key kind of
21:39
like, what are we doing here? We should be singing Angelica
21:43
Houston, but it will happen. Was a bit was a bit worried I
21:47
would lose Spencer to Angelica Houston.
21:53
Oh I I want to include this photo this.
21:55
Is such a great photo. I found like A1 random promo
22:00
photo of Angelica Houston from The Witches I.
22:05
It is so perfect. I don't know where this photo
22:08
was used, but it's like this random sky blue backdrop with
22:12
clouds and she's just working this costume.
22:15
She's giving off every angle. And again, you get to see the
22:19
train kind of like go up behind her as this big hood.
22:22
It's fascinating. So I we're going to post it on
22:24
our Instagram for sure because it's a crazy photo.
22:28
Yeah, no. Go to the Art of Costume pod on
22:30
Instagram. It'll be there.
22:32
It'll be there. And it'll be on our YouTube, by
22:35
the way, to all these images will be on our YouTube.
22:38
But of course, and Chucka Houston didn't get the skate by
22:42
of just this one dress that it was very hot and sexy.
22:48
She also had to do something that required a lot of work.
22:50
So there's a little bit of a pay off.
22:52
Elizabeth, we were talking about the Grand High Witches
22:57
transformation, should I say, or what she looks like without the
23:00
mask and the, well, she keeps the dress on, actually, it's
23:04
just no mask. Yeah, this was unexpected.
23:12
I'm so surprised. I didn't know till we were
23:15
watching this that it was like a Jim Henson production, and that
23:19
makes so much sense when you see her prosthetics.
23:23
I just knew I was like, there, there.
23:25
There has to be a story behind this look, and there definitely
23:29
was that same article, Screen Rant, that said it took Angelica
23:33
Houston's make up took six to seven hours to apply and an
23:37
additional five to six hours to remove.
23:41
That is a long time. And that article went on to say
23:46
that, you know, obviously Angelica Houston was initially
23:49
hesitant about doing roles in general that required make up to
23:54
this level. And she was very jaka Houston
23:57
has a schedule and she wants to stick to it and she does not
24:00
want to be in his chair. So I don't know who convinced
24:03
her, but the prosthetics comprise of a full face mask, a
24:08
back hump, mechanized claws, a waned collarbone, plus a large
24:15
snout during her mouse transformation, of course.
24:18
So they did not cheap out on a prosthetic, she said.
24:22
I mean, they said she's going to get the full experience.
24:25
Worth it. Worth it.
24:28
This is disgusting. This is like scary like I was
24:33
unsettled when this happened. Yeah, I was unsettled too.
24:36
I think what's even more unsettling is when she has when
24:39
she puts on the wig first. So seeing this look with the wig
24:45
like, is also scary. And also just seeing her hunched
24:48
over in that, you know, costume we were just raving about 10
24:52
seconds ago. Yeah, with the witch hunched
24:56
over in it is also disturbing. It is.
24:59
It absolutely is. It's like, so I'm like, no
25:01
wonder they had to do a million edits of this because this is
25:04
just like, not for children, Yeah.
25:07
It's very disturbing, especially when they're chasing around like
25:11
the rats and they step on that one and like it's guts explode
25:15
everywhere. I like jumped on the couch next
25:17
to you. I was not ready for that.
25:21
Which leads me to the kitchen transformation scene when all
25:26
the witches start becoming rats. It's just so disturbing.
25:31
It is and also like what really gets me is like the green smoke
25:35
everywhere. Yeah.
25:37
It's like that is the finishing touch it.
25:41
It's so disgusting and then the like the actual like the like
25:44
mouse rat like faces. Oh, yeah, it's, it's very scary.
25:49
And then, and then we have to talk about this one character
25:54
that was making you and I laugh quite a bit.
25:57
Just his rat transformation was so disturbing.
26:00
We're talking about Bruno Jenkins, of course.
26:03
Poor Bruno it. Makes me so sad every time I see
26:07
him. Oh dear.
26:09
We're looking at pictures on YouTube and it just, it makes me
26:13
want to turn the page. Yeah, poor Bruno.
26:17
You know what he like gets through everything with like a
26:20
really good attitude though. Yeah, he, he does.
26:24
He does have a very good attitude, Him and Luke, they
26:27
both become rats. And they're like, you know,
26:29
Bruno Jenkins is like, well, do you have, like, roasted peanuts
26:33
up at your cool grandma's house? And he's like, grandma probably
26:37
has more than that for you, Bruno, For being real.
26:40
Yeah. Grandma's going to make sure
26:42
we're taking care of, even if your parents won't.
26:45
And that leads us to the end of The Witches.
26:48
It's kind of a short episode this week, but like we said, not
26:51
a lot of costume facts, but we just had to talk about it.
26:54
Elizabeth, what did you think of the ending of The Witches I?
26:57
Liked it. I, I did not enjoy the idea of
27:00
him staying a rat forever. It was just like a little too
27:05
sad, especially when like the grandma's there at night just
27:09
thinking about how her life has gone so wrong.
27:12
She's lost her son, her daughter-in-law, her grandson's
27:16
a rat now. And I'm just like, her bestie
27:19
was killed by witches. Like I was like, this woman has
27:23
gone through too much. Yeah, that last shot of her like
27:28
in her bed sleeping next to her grandson who is now a rat is
27:32
kind of depressing actually. Quite a bit of people agreed.
27:38
A few. I learned in that Screen Rant
27:40
article that there were actually 2 endings that they tested out
27:43
and one was where Luke stayed a rat forever.
27:48
And because that's how it ends in the book, actually.
27:52
So. I'm actually quite partial to
27:54
that ending. I just thought it was such a
27:56
sinister, dark film. I'm like, sure, let him.
27:59
He seemed happy as a rat, but the film director was like, I
28:05
don't know, this is a bit dark. So they went with him, turned
28:08
back into a human child, and guess who that pissed off?
28:13
1 Roald Dahl was not thrilled to the point where he actually
28:17
wanted at one point to take his name off the project and even
28:21
threatened to do a like anti PR you know, approach to this film
28:28
basically. That's.
28:30
Wild shooting it down, but I guess he had a change of heart.
28:33
I don't really know, You know, I'm not a Roald Dahl ologist,
28:37
but that is what the streets are telling me.
28:39
I mean, like, I understand the moral of the story.
28:43
Like for children, it's like, you know, sometimes things
28:45
happen in life. Mm Hmm.
28:47
And like, you're going to be changed and there's never going
28:49
to be any going back, but like, you can still make the best of
28:52
it. Yeah, like, I do think that's
28:54
like the moral of the story. And probably like if he had
29:00
stayed a rat or a mouse or whatever he was.
29:06
I so like, I understand, like him not wanting to lose the
29:09
moral of that story, but also like, dude, the film's got to
29:12
make money. I also love that this is the
29:16
same guy who does Charlie and the Chocolate Factory where
29:18
these kids are literally abused in this factory.
29:21
Right. So funny.
29:26
Well, Elizabeth, time to get down to serious business.
29:28
Serious business only on Art of Costume podcast.
29:31
Yeah, very. This is my serious voice.
29:33
What was your stitch rating for the witches?
29:37
I think I got to give it a three.
29:40
Dang, I was not expecting that. I would have liked some more
29:45
explanation about things. Why do the witches hate children
29:51
so much? At first I thought it was going
29:53
to be a like. That's how they keep their like
29:55
youthful appearance like in so many of the witchy things we
30:01
have watched. And no, they just despise
30:05
children and think they smell bad.
30:09
And just like generally, what's the witch's deal?
30:14
You're sounding more and more like Grandma.
30:17
Yeah. Where do you get off witches?
30:22
Literally. But then like the acting, the
30:26
costume, the prosthetics, like that just all worked.
30:31
And it's, it's just, it's a, it's a great film.
30:34
Well, for me, I actually was debating giving my first of five
30:40
stitch rating, but I'm not I'm not.
30:44
But it got dangerously close. I'm going to land on a 4.5
30:51
because I think this is a near perfect film.
30:55
I think it's hilarious, I think it's campy.
30:58
I think visually it has a visual language that makes sense and
31:03
works really well together. I think the acting is over the
31:06
top and fantastic. Angelica Houston, so on and so
31:09
forth. I love the darkness of it.
31:12
I loved squashing the children as rats.
31:15
I think that's hilarious. I actually feel like I don't
31:18
like the painting idea and that to me, I was like ramp.
31:21
It could have been darker. And I was like, oh, snakes and.
31:25
These children live out their lives in paintings and are
31:28
forced to watch the world around them without being able to
31:31
interact. That's pretty freaking dark,
31:35
Spencer. Darker which leads me to my
31:39
point why I'm giving it 4.5. I did not like the ending and I
31:45
prefer the book ending. So for that I'm going to do a
31:48
4.5 because I would have liked to see Luke live out his life as
31:52
a rat. Just before grandmother has to
31:57
bury him in a shoe box in the backyard.
32:00
My gosh the part where he literally says how long do mice
32:04
live anyways grandma and she doesn't answer she's like next
32:07
question please I really play her favorite game.
32:14
Yes, hit it, Daniel. The one costume to rule them
32:21
all. Elizabeth, I feel like this week
32:27
is kind of ridiculous when it comes to the one costume to rule
32:30
them all, because we really have two options.
32:33
I know, I'm aware. Well, you made a trying case for
32:40
Viking grandma. I did, I did.
32:44
And like, don't get me wrong, Viking grandma slaps, but Viking
32:49
grandma is not Angelica Houston. So my one costume to rule them
32:56
all, really my like one hat to rule them all is the fascinator.
33:03
Angelica Houston shows up to the party and I I love the color
33:09
like the whole like black and purple thing she's got going
33:14
Lovely. I like that.
33:16
The hat you can't. It's like there's no shape to
33:18
that hat. It just is a shape.
33:21
I I think it's just like wonderfully weird.
33:24
And then like it's the same thing as in Salem where it's
33:27
like, how can you not tell this woman is a witch?
33:29
She has a veil over her face and like she says she's here to help
33:34
the children, but like. Let's be real.
33:38
Does this look look like she's here to help the children?
33:41
No. Well, I have to go with her
33:47
other costume, which is the one that she is able to, the
33:51
multifunctional costume that could turn into a shawl, a Cape,
33:54
a robe, a train, whatever you want.
33:57
I just, I feel like that first moment where she stands up on
34:01
stage and she does her pose. You see like model Angelica
34:05
Houston, like the Halston model come to life in that moment, and
34:10
she just works that dress. I feel like Merritt Allen
34:14
designed this dress knowing that Anjaca Houston was going to like
34:17
really work it for her character and give it all of its angles.
34:21
It has so much like movement to it.
34:23
It's perfect. Like I would not be surprised if
34:27
this movie had a pretty small budget.
34:31
So Merritt was probably thinking like Oh my gosh, she needs like
34:35
this high end look. I'll bet the original script
34:40
called for her to have like multiple changes throughout the
34:43
day, yeah? One for dinner, one for like
34:46
coming inside, one for the convention for sure.
34:50
Absolutely. And Merit really just like put
34:54
out all the stops and just was a creative genius when she came up
34:59
with this. Yeah, how can we make like our
35:01
one punch really count? Yes.
35:06
Elizabeth and that is the witches.
35:08
I've been very much excited for this episode for like a whole
35:12
year now and it was well worth the wait.
35:15
I had a lot of fun. Very worth it.
35:18
But we are not done with the Season of the Witch quite yet.
35:22
But before we tell you what we have next, don't forget to
35:25
e-mail us at theartofcostume@gmail.com.
35:27
Tell us what your one costume rule them all is.
35:30
And don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube so you could watch
35:34
and see all of these brilliant costumes on your TV screen as we
35:38
talk about them. It's a lot of fun.
35:40
And next week, Spencer, what are we watching?
35:45
Next week we have a new witch to the scene that we have to get
35:49
into, but I dare to say has become quite iconic in her short
35:54
time with us so far. We're going to be watching the
35:58
series currently on Disney Plus. I believe there's still might be
36:02
an episode or two by the time you hear this.
36:05
Agatha All Along, featuring the one and only Kathryn Hahn, who
36:09
plays Agatha Harkness. Elizabeth, have you started a
36:12
show yet? I have started it.
36:14
I stopped because I'm like, I need these episodes to build up
36:18
a bit because I'm like, I know I'm gonna just like.
36:22
Burn through them. I feel like I'm hoarding them up
36:25
like, like little specialty candies, yeah.
36:31
Like salted peanuts. Yeah, I love the show.
36:36
And I'm very excited to say that we'll be joined by a special
36:39
guest, costume designer Daniel Salon, who I got to hang out
36:44
with at the premiere for this series.
36:45
And he'll be here to chat with Elizabeth and I about these
36:49
great costumes. I can't wait, Elizabeth.
36:52
Seasons of the witch. I hope it never ends.
36:54
But we only got one more episode and it's making me quite sad.
36:58
Same. Everyone have a spooky week?
37:02
Bye bye.