New World Witchery – Episode 31
Witches and magical practitioners in movies and television.
(complete shownotes at http://www.newworldwitchery.com)
3 thoughts on “Episode 31 – Watching the Witches”
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New World Witchery – The Search for American Traditional Witchcraft
A show about magic and witchcraft in North America
New World Witchery - The Search for American Traditional Witchcraft 
As usual, I enjoyed the show. I love the movie talk and I thought I could add a little bit to the discussion. Another Disney movie that featured magic both positively AND negatively was The Sword in the Stone (1963). Merlin was a very positive character and regularly used magic throughout the movie to teach Arthur. On the other hand Mad Madame Mim was a crazy old witch who was clearly not a positive character. Anyway, it was one of my favorite childhood movies. The other Disney movie I was surprised that you passed over was The Princess and the Frog. It prominently features bayou style voodoo. With your inclination towards “roots, stones, and bones” you might want to check it out. It certainly shows the conjurer, Dr. Facilier, in a sinister light, but the Bayou Witch Mama Odie is very positive and loveable. Check out the short documentary on youtube…
Keep up the good work guys!
Capricornus
Hello,
I am loving the show and I am getting caught up right now. I do have one question, though. I know you are fans of Buffy, but did it bother you in season one (I think) when the professor used the Malleus Malificarum as a source book against witches? I really had a serious problem with this part of the show and was taken out of the stories completely because of this. I borrowed season one and never finished it. I wasn’t angry at the show, but I thought this was going a little far. I just wanted to get your thoughts on this.
Thank you.
Robert.
Hi Robert,
I don’t remember that episode specifically, but I definitely can sympathize with that sentiment. I wind up drawing a pretty strong distinction between the fantasy and reality of the show, and I just have to remember that they’re not always going to be right about their occult info (especially in those first seasons). I don’t think they really knew what to do with sympathetic witches until season 3 or so with the episode “Gingerbread.” But the MM definitely has some bad baggage with it, so I can see why it might have turned you off. I’m no Buffy-vangelist, just someone who likes the show, but I can see where it is flawed in ways like this, too. At any rate, thanks for bringing it up, since I’m sure others probably wonder why we gush about Buffy so much when it clearly misses the mark in some ways.
All the best!
-Cory