113. Howard the Duck (Listener Choice!)

Load Bearing Beams

We held a Listener Choice Lottery, and the winning selection was 1986’s Howard the Duck, brought to us courtesy of Smash Trivia John. So we dive in—beak first—to unpack the history of this notorious disaster of a movie. Then we go through the movie itself, excruciatingly thoroughly, to figure out if this movie is too sexy or not sexy enough. Plus, a lot of talk about '80s weirdos and how they're not so different from us, when you think about it. And we try to get to the bottom of what exactly this movie is saying.

Next week: We visit Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes (2001) with our friend, returning guest Cinematic Joshua

Watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/c3i2sKcFp7Y

Time stamps:

00:01:00 — Why are we covering Howard the Duck on our podcast?

00:06:31 — Pre-movie predictions

00:17:34 — History segment: A history of Howard the Duck in comics and the production and disastrous reception of the movie, as shepherded by executive producer George Lucas, writer/director Willard Huyck, and writer/producer Gloria Katz

00:30:21 — In-depth movie discussion

01:30:01 — Final thoughts and star ratings

Artwork by Laci Roth.

Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or YouTube (https://bit.ly/3MbU6tC).

Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode:

“Winston-Salem” - https://youtu.be/-acMutUf8IM

“Snake Drama” - https://youtu.be/xrzz8_2Mqkg

“The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - https://youtu.be/k7wlxTGGEIQ

Source:

“‘Howard the Duck:’ The Oral History” by Caseen Gaines | Decider, 2016 - https://dcdr.me/3Wk8BBs

“‘Howard the Duck’ Turns 35: Stars Revisit Notorious Bomb Amid New Fervor for Marvel Character” by Ryan Parker | The Hollywood Reporter, 2021 - https://bit.ly/3xYxw3u

“The Disastrous History of Howard the Duck” by Yesterworld Entertainment | YouTube, 2023 - https://youtu.be/qCvoXrCwrhs

“George Lucas: A Life” by Brian Jay Jones — https://amzn.to/47xTVk3

“Marvel Comics: The Untold Story” by Sean Howe — https://amzn.to/3w2aeJu