This is one extremely near and dear to my heart. I welcome my friend and fellow library person Jenni Schofield to talk about storytelling, fantasy, magic, and history through a discussion of one of our favorite movies of all time: Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (2006). We go long about fairytales, how children are the future, the Spanish Civil War 101 (making Jenni dig out her knowledge from her degree in Spanish), Doug Jones, colors, the serendipitous discovery of stories, and more. I think this is the longest episode to date and the time flew by. We could’ve chatted for another 2 hours!

This episode was recorded at the end of August 2026, hence the summer/Dolly Parton talk (RIP). If you’re in the Seattle area, consider supporting Scarecrow Video!

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00:00-24:30- Intro / Jenni’s Take on Summer Movies / Guillermo del Toro Life & Film

24:30-41:00 -Brief Synopsis / Short Overview of the Spanish Civil War / Our Pan’s Labyrinth History

41:00- 1:32:00- The Fawn / Archetypes, Fairy Tales and Magical Realism / Themes of Disobedience and Belief / The GDT Color Palette / The End

1:32:00- 1:53:00- Double Feature Ideas / Celebration of Analog Media / Outro

Please note, timestamps are estimates.

References:

* Commentary and Featurettes on Pan’s Labyrinth blu-ray

* Criterion visits Guillermo del Toro Welcome to Bleak House on YouTube (the house is mentioned by Chloe)

* How the Spanish Civil War Became Europe’s Battlefield– The Great Courses (used by Jenni)

* Pan person: Guillermo del Toro talks to Mark Kermode about Pan’s Labyrinth, June 25, 2020 (originally printed December 2006), BFI

* Scarecrow Video in Seattle (mentioned by Jenni)

* Silvia Moreno-Garcia (mentioned by Jenni)

* Visitations podcast- Guillermo del Toro– Part 1 of 2 (mentioned by Chloe)

* Listen to Jenni’s episode on Suspiria (2018)!

* Listen to Chloe’s episode on Director’s Club about all of the films of Guillermo del Toro!

Find Us:

* Follow Jenni’s Letterboxd.

* Follow Chloe’s Letterboxd and Instagram.

* Find other great film pods on the Now Playing Network.

The sound/clips used in this episode are from the trailer and film of Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), plus Criterion’s Guillermo del Toro Welcome to Bleak House and The Office clip, used for educational purposes.

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