The Children's Literature Podcast
Hosted by TQ Townsend and Chloë Townsend
I’ve got another piece in Film Threat, this time musing on whether or not a sequel to the 1985 film The Goonies could even work. Has the world changed too much? Is it possible (or smart) to bring back the original cast? And do today’s kids even act like those from 40 years ago?
“Goonies 2 Won’t Work . . . Unless” Published in Film Threat on February 17, 2025.
Happy Valentine’s Day! Children’s Literature isn’t usually about romance, but there are some great — and not so great — couples that have made an impression on me over the years. They can teach kids a lot about what a good relationship should (or shouldn’t) be! Find out which romances I think are Good, Bad, and Ugly. Also, you’ll hear that co-host Chloë is deepening her appreciation for Enid Blyton books, an author most Americans are unfamiliar with but clearly has a lot to offer middle grades readers!
What are YOUR favorite couples in children’s books? Which romantic moments made you laugh, cry, or cringe?
The Dog Man book series by Dav Pilkey is DUMB. It’s IMMATURE. And so is the new movie adaptation. And those are COMPLIMENTS!! Find out how accurately the comics were adapted to the screen, with input from the 11, 10, 8, and 4 year old experts who came with me to the theater.
Apologies for the background noise in this episode — emergency repairs are going on at my house and that’s just how things had to be. I wanted to get this review out in a timely manner to tell parents that this is well worth the expense of a trip to the theater.
When I was a kid of course I had heard of Shakespeare, but I didn’t think much about it . . . until I saw a scene from Henry V performed in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Introducing classic art to kids is easier than you think — it just needs to happen in small, interesting, digestible moments that tempts young readers to discover more. Find out how Star Trek set me on a path to live long and prosper with the works of William Shakespeare.
Netflix has a very poor record when it comes to adapting works of classic literature. Instead of coming up with original stories, the streaming giant tends to pick off the skin of beloved characters and use them to act out modern day political and social issues. It’s frustrating to prejudge a show that doesn’t even have a script or a cast yet, but at this point the pattern has been repeated so many times that it’s hard for me not to believe that another bucket of slop is on the way.
Back when I was a teenager, Film Threat was a zine that was obligatory reading for anyone who wanted to be in the know about movies. Teenage me is doing backflips, because I’m delighted to say that I’ve got an article printed over there. Unfortunately my topic isn’t quite so happy. I’ve covered which historic film sites were saved, damaged, and lost in the terrible fires that recently hit Los Angeles. It’s really important to document these losses, because that will be the only way some of these places will ever be remembered.
Check out my article here:
Famous Film Sites Lost to the Los Angeles Fires
Archive Copy: “Famous Film Sites Lost to the Los Angeles Fires” by T.Q. Townsend, published in Film Threat on January 27, 2025.
The scale of the fires that have scorched Los Angeles is overwhelming. Thousands of structures have been destroyed or damaged, including sites that were part of Hollywood film history. Lives and buildings lost can be counted, but it is harder to quantify the cultural damage of the Palisades and Eaton Fires. Some sites important to movie history came dangerously close to going up in smoke, and others are lost forever.
What Survived
The Palisades fire spread rapidly, but firefighters were able to curb it before it reached the intersection of Mulholland Highway and Las Virgenes Road, sparing famous film sites such as King Gillette Ranch and Malibu Creek Park. This area has been a popular filming location as far back as 1919 when the Mary Pickford film Daddy-Long-Legs was shot at Malibu Creek’s Rock Pool. Planet of the Apes (1968), Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), and Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) were filmed at multiple locations in Malibu Creek. Because this area was saved, fans will still be able to find one of the cages from Beneath the Planet of the Apes sitting alongside Cage Creek Trail. Hikers will also still be able to visit the old M*A*S*H* set after a pleasant walk through sagebrush-covered hills serenaded by Malibu’s famous feral parakeets.
The Eaton fire crept within inches of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, whose projects have inspired filmmakers for decades. It is not possible to overstate the influence that the space program has had on writers, artists, and filmmakers, and any damage to JPL would have been a loss not just for science but also for the arts. Any film or television show that makes mention of space probes, planetary rovers, or deep space exploration owes something to this facility. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) was centered on JPL’s Voyager Program, a project which is still running today after more than fifty years, and Ridley Scott’s film adaptation of The Martian (2015) was shot extensively on location at JPL. The Eaton Fire was halted before it could consume the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is great news for fans of both science and science fiction.
What Didn’t
Western film history has taken two severe losses. In the Palisades, the Will Rogers House has been destroyed. Rogers was one of the first movie cowboys and is still considered the greatest trick roper of all time. Rogers wrote many of the title cards for his silent films, and his legendary wit crossed over perfectly to the “talkies,” and he was the first to utter the sort of one-line quip that is now common in comedy and action films. His Palisades ranch was where he did much of his writing. Rogers’ estate was given to the people of California by his widow and, for 80 years, has been a public park, with his home sitting at the heart of a network of hiking trails and recreational land. The site was used as a filming location for many films, including Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) and The Parent Trap (1998). While the Will Rogers House will never welcome visitors again, hikers and filmmakers will hopefully one day return to this site.
Several schools have been damaged or destroyed by the fires, most notably Palisades Charter High School. Nicknamed “Pali” by locals, this school was an excellent example of mid-century California school architecture with its red brickwork, green courtyards, and gently zig-zagged rooflines. The neighborhood around the school is close to the beach and major film studios, making it popular with parents who work in film and television. Unsurprisingly, Palisades Charter High School has a lengthy list of alumni who are second-, third-, and even fourth-generation film professionals. About half of the campus remains, so hopefully, films including Carrie (1976), Crazy/Beautiful (2001), and Freaky Friday (2003) will not be the last to be shot at this location.
The Topanga Ranch Motel stood as a cheerful landmark along the Pacific Coast Highway for nearly 100 years before it was consumed by the Palisades Fire. The sight of it always brought instant nostalgia for the tiny beach shacks that used to be sprinkled along the coastline before they were steadily replaced by view-blocking McMansions. As one of the last surviving examples of bungalow-style motel architecture, this site was featured in many films and TV shows, including Mannix (1967-1975) and Blue City (1986). Publishing magnate William Randolph Hurst constructed the motel in 1929, and over the years, its cheerful red and white bungalows housed the construction workers who built the Pacific Coast Highway, writers in search of a quiet place to finish a script, and families who wanted to enjoy the soft white sand of Malibu’s shores.
For Angelenos, the Topanga Ranch Motel was always a welcome sight, preserving a glimpse of Los Angeles as it was when the movie industry was just getting started. The motel survived a demolition attempt by developers in the 1980s, and California State Parks acquired the property in 2001. The motel sat derelict for 20 years, but the plans to renovate and reopen it as a piece of living history will now never come to be. Film fans will never again see the Topanga Ranch Motel on the highway that winds from the Palisades to Camarillo unless they put on some old episodes of Remington Steele.
Twenty-five miles to the northeast of the Palisades, the Zane Grey Estate in Altadena was destroyed by the Eaton Fire. Built in 1907, it was a magnificent Mediterranean Revival-style mansion offering views north toward the rugged foothills and south toward the Arroyo Seco. Grey was one of the creators of the genre of Western novels, and he founded his own movie production company to bring his stories to the screen. Grey was not only one of the first authors to see his novels turned into films but also one of the first to be disgusted by the liberties filmmakers took with his stories and characters. Many of the tropes in Westerns began with Grey’s books and films, and his home, where so many stories and scripts were penned, is a loss to film history. The irony is that the Zane Grey Estate had been constructed out of concrete in order to be fireproof, as its first owner was a survivor of the deadly Iroquois Theater Fire that happened in Chicago in 1903.
Neil Gaiman is one of the most widely read and influential authors of the present day, and he’s written a lot of children’s books. So what should parents, teachers, librarians, and book lovers do with his books now that several women have made similar — and very serious — accusations against him? How can we use this situation as a case study of when it is and isn’t possible to separate works of art from their creators?
My heart is breaking for my hometown. First of all for the lives lost, then for the homes and livelihoods lost, but I am also very sad for the damage and threat to the cultural landmarks of Los Angeles. We won’t know the full damage for some time, but here’s a first look at the irreplaceable culture being wiped out by the fires.
So far the Zane Grey estate in Altadena has been destroyed. Grey was the home of one of the creators of the genre of Westerns, and his home was a beautiful Spanish revival mansion. Also gone is the Will Rogers ranch house in the Pacific Palisades, which was a beloved California State Park property that served as the starting point for many hiking trails. Luckily the Getty Villa and Getty Center are safe as of the time of recording, thanks to the careful construction of the buildings and the vigilance of staff. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which has inspired too many science fiction authors to count, is also safe for the moment.
Many other beloved and inspirational places have been lost, though, such as Christmas Tree Lane and the Bunny Museum. And many famous film sites in the Malibu hills are lost or under threat. Landmarks are a huge part of why Los Angeles is such a special place, and it’s terrible to lose so many of them. This is an unusual episode of the show but I had to take a moment to mourn the loss of important literary sites in these terrible fires.
Have you made a New Year’s Resolution? I stopped making them, oddly enough, because I go to the gym a lot and accidentally noticed a few things about goal setting and motivation. Many of you may have a goal to write a children’s book, and I think that’s great. That’s why I’ve decided to make amateur and independent authors the theme for the show this year.
I think everyone has stories to tell. But like those who join a gym every January and then quit in frustration by February, aspiring authors can sabotage themselves by not having a clear goal in mind or a realistic, enjoyable way to attain it. I want to do what I can this year to help all of us become the best storytellers we can be by inviting experienced writers and editors on to talk about how to avoid amateur mistakes and how to develop writing skills in a disciplined, enjoyable, sustainable way. I also hope to encourage writers to give up the all-or-nothing mentality that makes them think that writing must bring fame and fortune or it isn’t worthwhile. I think quite the opposite. All stories have value, especially when they deepen our relationships with friends and family.
At the beginning of the year, I made predictions about films based on children’s books that would come out in 2024. Was I right? Was I wrong? And what’s coming up in 2025? (AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!)
This episode managed to get published somehow despite