Summary
Overview
The How Did This Get Made podcast team takes on 'Oogie Loves in The Big Balloon Adventure,' a 2012 children's film shot in Michigan. Hosts Paul Scheer, Jason Mantzoukas, and June Diane Raphael dissect this $60 million musical featuring puppets on a quest to find five golden balloons for a pillow's birthday party. The live Detroit audience shares their strong reactions to this notorious box office bomb that holds the record for lowest opening weekend gross for a film in over 2,000 theaters.
Opening Discussion: The Oogie Loves Experience
The hosts introduce the film shot in Farmington Hills and Holland, Michigan, immediately diving into their polarized reactions. Paul admits he didn't mind it due to their high tolerance for bad content, while Jason describes it as a 'stone-cold nightmare' that took him over four hours to watch. The discussion reveals the film's interactive elements designed to get children out of their seats, which the hosts find deeply troubling as a theater experience.
- The film was shot in Farmington Hills and Holland, Michigan, which Paul jokingly blames Detroit for
- Jason compares the experience to Jacob's Ladder, suggesting he died in Houston and this is his nightmare
- The movie is 88 minutes long but felt like 4+ hours to watch
- The film instructs children to get out of their seats and be loud during the movie
" You brought this on yourselves. So when Detroit asks why, we say, because you. "
" This is my Jacob's Ladder scenario. I died in Houston. This is my nightmare. These are the final firings of the synapses of my mind creating this fever dream before us. "
The Disturbing Puppet Characters and Design
The hosts examine the unsettling appearance of the puppet characters Gooby, Zoozy, and Toofy, noting their glassy-eyed expressions and limited mouth movements despite being made in 2012. They discuss how the puppets live in an uncanny valley that makes them deeply uncomfortable to watch, comparing them unfavorably to other puppet characters and questioning the technical execution given the film's surprisingly high budget.
- The puppet mouths barely move despite 2012 technology allowing for better articulation
- All three main characters have 'Oogie' in their names, with unclear naming conventions
- The characters are supposedly a band but this is never fully developed in the plot
- A young character's pants fall down repeatedly throughout the film, which deeply concerns the hosts
" This movie did for me was open my mind and my eyes to how great puppets can be. Because these puppets look glassy-eyed and sleepy. They look like murder puppets. "
" I feel like this movie is creating Manchurian candidate children. I feel like this is instilling post-hypnotic suggestion in kids. "
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