Animation nostalgia, argued the long way around.
Old School Lane revisits animated films, TV shows, and franchise side roads with a relaxed, memory-driven rhythm. Its conversations move from plot recap to production context to verdict, often using studio history and adjacent pop culture as the real map.
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Old School Lane is a fan-led review and interview feed with a strong pull toward animation, nostalgic franchises, and family entertainment history. Patricia and Aaron appear across the recent episodes as the steady conversational center. Their style is loose but informed. A topic rarely stays only on plot. A discussion of the DiC Entertainment Super Mario Bros. cartoons becomes a look at parody, dated celebrity guest spots, spaghetti-sauce jokes, and why older Mario adaptations may feel thin beside modern games. A Pixar episode on Hoppers turns into a broader argument about original storytelling, sequel fatigue, Cars 2, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, and the value of creative pressure. The show likes context first. Verdicts arrive after a lot of circling, comparing, and remembering. That can make the pacing feel roomy, but it also gives the conversations a lived-in quality. The speakers are willing to be blunt when a movie does not work for them. They are also willing to look for possibilities inside messy material, as in the disagreement over We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story. Recent coverage moves between old live-action oddities, 1980s and 1990s animation culture, modern Disney and Pixar releases, DreamWorks remakes, and streaming-era revivals such as She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. The show also folds in channel updates, lost recordings, illness delays, backup episodes, and future coverage plans, so the listener can feel the project being made in real time. Interview installments shift the format without losing the homegrown tone, including a Halloween conversation with Peter Gaffney tied to the 30th anniversary of All Real Monsters. Old School Lane is strongest for people who enjoy hearing fans think aloud through why something landed, failed, aged strangely, or deserves another look. It is less polished than a tightly edited criticism show. That is part of the identity. The pleasure is in the digressions, the comparisons, and the sense that each episode is one more chapter in a long-running animation conversation.
Made for: For animation fans who like conversational reviews with history, side comparisons, and patient franchise context. It especially suits listeners drawn to Nickelodeon, Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, 1980s fantasy, and odd adaptation history.
What sets it apart: The show stands apart by treating nostalgic titles as part of a wider studio and franchise timeline, not just as isolated reviews. Its handmade updates, recurring callbacks, and occasional interviews give it the feel of an ongoing fan archive.
The official podcast site for Old School Lane where we talk about movies, TV shows, video games, and everything else in between. In addition, we interview special guests from actors, actresses, authors, show creators, online content creators, and more.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Old School Lane revisits animation and screen adaptations through candid debate, production detail and close attention to what survives childhood nostalgia.
Aaron and Patricia treat screen history as an ongoing conversation, moving between animated series, family films and adaptations with an eye for what changed in translation. Their discussions of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, the DiC Entertainment Super Mario Bros.
Mario's spaghetti-sauce version of Mad Max is the kind of detail Aaron and Patricia want you to question.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A Mario revisit that is strongest when it treats the first Super Mario Bros. movie as an event and lets the old cartoons stay weird.
Patricia and Aaron open a Mario-themed month by revisiting the Deke Entertainment cartoons ahead of the Super Mario Galaxy movie coming out in April.
Aaron and Patricia use Hoppers to weigh Pixar's return to original storytelling.
PixMix uses Hoppers 2026 to ask whether Pixar is finding its way back to original storytelling after sequels that have drawn uneven reactions.
A return visit that keeps testing the movie's logic against its own odd charm.
Old School Lane Casual Chats returns to We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story with Patricia and Aaron revisiting an old Amblimation discussion and noting the listener interest that helped bring the movie back into view.
A fond, detail-rich look at Masters of the Universe's cosmic key, pink Cadillac, and Earthbound oddities.
Masters of the Universe (1987) comes across here as a brisk case study in what happens when a He-Man adventure trades cosmic scale for an Earthbound detour.
A nostalgic She-Ra comparison finds its best energy in Catra, a casting surprise, and one missing song.
DreamMachine frames its She-Ra stop as a pause from the unfinished DreamWorks Dragons run, then uses it to compare She-Ra and the Princesses of Power with the 1980s She-Ra: Princess of Power.
A loose, warm conversation about the work behind familiar shows, with Carmen Sandiego as its anchor.
Patricia guides a relaxed conversation with performers and makers through Spider-Man, Mad, Total Panic, Doug, and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, keeping Carmen as the warm point of return.
A loose, funny return to Will McRobb, where Polaris, battle scars, and Mr. Tasty keep the nostalgia specific.
Old School Lame's return visit with Will McRobb turns anniversaries into a useful way back into The Adventures of Pete and Pete, Kablam!, and the creative memory around both shows.
Fast Batman banter with deep cartoon memory.
Every Simpsons joke gets its footnotes.
Springfield rewatched, argued, and rewritten.
Patricia interviews Will McRobb, co-creator of The Adventures of Pete and Pete, marking his return after 10 years.
Patricia and Aaron Mehta discuss the 1989 animated film Happily Ever After by Filmation, exploring its context during Disney's VHS release era and connections to other princess movies.
Patricia and Aaron discuss their initial skepticism and eventual interest in the 2025 Netflix/Sony Pictures animated film K-Pop Demon Hunters, which has become the most-watched movie in Netflix history.
Patricia hosts Kevin Shinick and Greg Lee, former hosts of different Carmen Sandiego game shows, on Old School Lane Casual Chats.
This episode discusses Stingray as the beginning of Super Mario Nation's reputation, exploring its place in Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's puppet television series chronology.
Patricia and Aaron kick off a Mario-themed month by revisiting animated Mario adaptations in honor of the Super Mario Galaxy movie.
["On PixMix, Aaron and Patricia review Hoppers 2026 as Pixar's return to original storytelling after a stretch of sequels.
Patricia and Aaron come back to We're Back a Dinosaur Story.
Patricia and Aaron revisit Masters of the Universe (1987) because a new Masters of the Universe film is due in June 2026.
The hosts explain delays in their planned Zootopia 2 review episode due to personal emergencies, illness, and technical issues.
Aaron and Patricia compare She-Ra and the Princesses of Power with the 1980s She-Ra Princess of Power, the 2002 He-Man reboot, and the Netflix 2018 series.
This episode discusses DreamWorks' surprising decision to release a live-action remake of 'How to Train Your Dragon' in 2025, comparing it to Disney's strategies and historical context.
This episode features an interview with Peter Gaffney, co-creator of the 1994 Nickelodeon animated series All Real Monsters, celebrating its 30th anniversary on Halloween.