Big White Elephants

Director and Choreographer Rob Marshall once said, ”The thing about movie musicals is that there have been some brilliant ones, but when they’re bad, they’re really bad - big white elephants.” On this podcast, Grace and Scott discuss a range of Movie Musicals, from classics to DCOMs and everything in between to analyze what makes them work or why they’re Big White Elephants!

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Episodes

Thursday Jan 22, 2026

On episode 28, Grace and Scott travel to 80s Japan to witness the rise and fall of two singers who aren't brothers (but actually maybe they are?) in Makota Tezuka's cult classic The Legend Of The Stardust Brothers (1985)
Connect with us on Instagram @bigwhiteelephantspod and send emails or voicemails to bigwhiteelephantspod@gmail.com so we can share them on future episodes!

27. Teen Spirit (2018)

Thursday Jan 15, 2026

Thursday Jan 15, 2026

On Episode 27, Grace and Scott travel to the Isle Of Wight, douse themselves in pink and blue lighting, and join a singing competition to discuss the Elle Fanning vehicle Teen Spirit (2018)
Plus, we catch up on the Golden Globes and highlight the wins in the Best Musial categories!
Connect with us on Instagram @bigwhiteelephantspod and send emails or voicemails to bigwhiteelephantspod@gmail.com so we can share them on future episodes!

Thursday Jan 08, 2026

On Episode 26, Grace and Scott are joined by Austin-based film critic Alejandra Martinez to practice abstinence, defy religious persecution, and shake with the ecstasy of devotion while discussing Mona Fastvold's The Testament Of Ann Lee (2025)
You can follow Alejandra on letterboxd and social media @mtzxale
Connect with us on Instagram @bigwhiteelephantspod and send emails or voicemails to bigwhiteelephantspod@gmail.com so we can share them on future episodes!

Thursday Jan 01, 2026

What Team? WILD CATS! What Team? WILD CATS! What Team? WILD CATS! WILD CATS, GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME
We're celebrating the new year with the start of something new. Bopping to the top with our conversation on Kenny Ortega's cultural phenomenon of a Disney Channel Original Movie, High School Musical. Grace and Scott are joined by Katie to get their heads in the game and stick to the status quo. Or wait, no. We're breaking free!
Connect with us on Instagram @bigwhiteelephantspod and send emails or voicemails to bigwhiteelephantspod@gmail.com so we can share them on future episodes!
 

24. White Christmas (1955)

Thursday Dec 25, 2025

Thursday Dec 25, 2025

Merry Christmas from your Big White Elephant friends! To celebrate, we went back to 1955 with some of our old army buddies to fall in love, put on a show, and reminisce about the good old days of Minstrel Shows. Wait...that's not right! Anyway, we get into all that and more while discussing Michael Curtiz's White Christmas (1955)
Connect with us on Instagram @bigwhiteelephantspod and send emails or voicemails to bigwhiteelephantspod@gmail.com so we can share them on future episodes!

23. Spirited (2022)

Thursday Dec 18, 2025

Thursday Dec 18, 2025

Who haunts the haunters? Can we ever really be redeemed for our sins? Does a movie musical work if the main characters are bad at singing? These questions and more are raised by Sean Anders's Spirited (2022) and on episode 23, Grace and Scott dig into all of it, including suggesting some new casting!
Plus, we talk about the hit new film Ella McCay, in theaters now
Connect with us on Instagram @bigwhiteelephantspod and send emails or voicemails to bigwhiteelephantspod@gmail.com so we can share them on future episodes!

22. 42nd Street

Thursday Dec 11, 2025

Thursday Dec 11, 2025

Put your tap shoes on and make sure you've got a sugar daddy because for Episode 22 Grace and Scott and shuffling off to Buffalo to talk about 1933's 42nd Street, directed by Lloyd Bacon with musical numbers staged and directed by Busby Berkeley.
Connect with us on Instagram @bigwhiteelephantspod and send emails or voicemails to bigwhiteelephantspod@gmail.com so we can share them on future episodes!

21. Moulin Rouge! (2001)

Thursday Dec 04, 2025

Thursday Dec 04, 2025

One woman dares to speak her mind and the pitchforks come out! After Grace's brave 1-star first time log of Moulin Rouge! on November 17th, her friends and community turned on her. Big White Elephants decided it was time get to the bottom of it. Is Baz Luhrmann's 2001 movie musical a brilliant post-modernist piece of maximalist romanticism with incredible production design and a love story for the ages or is it an insufferable over-edited slog of nonsense with cheap musical interpolations and singing voices of questionable quality? Maybe it's both! 
Where do you stand?
Connect with us on Instagram @bigwhiteelephantspod and send emails or voicemails to bigwhiteelephantspod@gmail.com so we can share them on future episodes!

20. Wicked: For Good (2025)

Thursday Nov 27, 2025

Thursday Nov 27, 2025

For our 20th episode, Grace and Scott round out Emerald City Month with one last trip to Oz. This time they put on their sex cardigans, free the flying monkeys, and look into many reflective surfaces for Jon M. Chu's follow up to Wicked (2024), Wicked: For Good (2025).
Connect with us on Instagram @bigwhiteelephantspod and send emails or voicemails to bigwhiteelephantspod@gmail.com so we can share them on future episodes!
A teaser for next week's episode

19. Wicked (2024) with Sammy

Thursday Nov 20, 2025

Thursday Nov 20, 2025

Good news, she's dead! Emerald City Month continues with Grace and Scott being joined by Sammy to talk about Jon M. Chu's Wicked Part 1 (2024). Fascism against animals, Emerald Cities, and backlighting, oh my! We get into our histories with the stage musical and how we think this adaptation handles the material
Tune in next week for our discussion of Wicked: For Good (2025)
Connect with us on Instagram @bigwhiteelephantspod and send emails or voicemails to bigwhiteelephantspod@gmail.com so we can share them on future episodes!

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