Howard the Duck (1986)

Episode 113 (May 3, 2024)

We recently 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.

Time stamps:
00:04:32 — Why are we covering Howard the Duck on our podcast?
00:07:04 — Pre-movie predictions
00:17:07 — 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
00:37:23 — In-depth movie discussion
01:29:11 — 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:

“Your Ambition” – https://youtu.be/ZHudVTCkrQY

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

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

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

Sources:
“‘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

Enjoy some clips from the episode!

Would Howard the Duck's arrival on Earth be international news, preempting all live television programming? We discuss. pic.twitter.com/t4YgGf9a7T
— Load Bearing Beams (@LoadBearingPod) May 5, 2024

Don't tell George Lucas about this awesome Phil Tippett stop motion monster in Howard the Duck. If he finds out he might go back and replace it with CGI. pic.twitter.com/H6oCVSmDmx
— Load Bearing Beams (@LoadBearingPod) May 4, 2024

One of the hosts of this show found Howard the Duck especially disturbing in that Howard himself is a sexually adventurous giant baby from space. (The other host liked that part of it.) pic.twitter.com/9k6EnFyzTw
— Load Bearing Beams (@LoadBearingPod) May 3, 2024