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Archives and Archivists in Pop Culture

POP ARCHIVES

Johedy Kladivo - Archivist of Cipal

Johedy Kladivo - Archivist of Cipal

Forspoken, Square Enix

The Last Lett From Your Lover

The Last Lett From Your Lover

StudioCanal, 2021

Art by James Ryman

Art by James Ryman

Magic the Gathering

Johedy Kladivo - Archivist of Cipal

Johedy Kladivo - Archivist of Cipal

Forspoken, Square Enix

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WELCOME TO POP ARCHIVES...

Where the name of the game is discussing and showcasing the depiction of archives and archivists in movies, television, comic books, cartoons, video games, and the like.

Like any professional, having a visual reference for what I do goes a long way in helping people understand the importance and necessity of my work. Unfortunately, archivists and archives rarely get the time and attention required for those on the outside to truly grasp the breadth and scope of the archival profession.

So, in order to aid in this particular aspect of archival outreach, I thought I’d combine my life’s work with my life’s hobby and see how the two mesh.

Archives on TV: The Venture Bros., "Twenty Years to Midnight"

Samantha Cross

Nov 13, 2021
2 min

Archives on TV: The Venture Bros., "Twenty Years to Midnight"

This is going to be a quick one as I'm in the middle of a project at the real archives I work at that will be taking up most of my time...

Archives on TV: Marvel's What If...?

Samantha Cross

Oct 18, 2021
5 min

Archives on TV: Marvel's What If...?

What if the hero turned into the villain? What if a misguided decision led to the end of the world? What if an archives held the key to...

Archives in Anime: The Mystic Archives of Dantalian

Samantha Cross

Jun 7, 2021
5 min

Archives in Anime: The Mystic Archives of Dantalian

I'll be honest, I put a lot more work into this article than I thought I'd have to, but that's what happens when you try to analyze an...

Are They An Archivist?: Raven Inkwell

Samantha Cross

May 31, 2021
3 min

Are They An Archivist?: Raven Inkwell

One of the problems with a long-running animated television franchise is there are times when a character is introduced for one purpose,...

Archives on TV: Amphibia, "Trip to the Archives"

Samantha Cross

May 24, 2021
4 min

Archives on TV: Amphibia, "Trip to the Archives"

I'm not the first archivist to tackle this episode of Disney's Amphibia, see Wading Through the Cultural Stacks. I held off because I...

Archives on TV: The Smurfs, "Archives of Evil"

Samantha Cross

May 17, 2021
3 min

Archives on TV: The Smurfs, "Archives of Evil"

As I've reminded myself constantly, there are just some things you can't unsee. It goes double for me because my brain likes to absorb...

Archives on TV: Codename: Kids Next Door,"Operation A.R.C.H.I.V.E."

Samantha Cross

Mar 11, 2021
4 min

Archives on TV: Codename: Kids Next Door,"Operation A.R.C.H.I.V.E."

Ancient Recorded Children's History Is Very Enlightening If you'd like to watch the segment, it's free to view on YouTube! I'll admit,...

Archives on TV: Be Cool Scooby-Doo, "Silver Scream"

Samantha Cross

Sep 21, 2020
3 min

Archives on TV: Be Cool Scooby-Doo, "Silver Scream"

In my formative years as a child raised by television, I was in the right age group to see re-runs of pretty much the entire catalogue of...

Archives on TV: The Simpsons, "Sideshow Bob Roberts"

Samantha Cross

Aug 14, 2020
3 min

Archives on TV: The Simpsons, "Sideshow Bob Roberts"

It's an election year and, wouldn't you know it, The Simpsons has an episode from its first Golden Era - 1994, to be exact - that is...

Archives on TV: The Simpsons, "Lisa the Iconoclast"

Samantha Cross

Oct 28, 2019
3 min

Archives on TV: The Simpsons, "Lisa the Iconoclast"

Author's Note: For Cara in celebration of a decade of friendship. What even the hell?! If there was one show that was appointment...

Archives on TV: Hilda, "The Tide Mice"

Samantha Cross

Sep 16, 2019
2 min

Archives on TV: Hilda, "The Tide Mice"

You know how when there are people in your life who're struggling in one way or another and you want to help them so you find a secret...

Archives on TV: Castlevania, "Shadow Battles"

Samantha Cross

Aug 26, 2019
3 min

Archives on TV: Castlevania, "Shadow Battles"

[Spoiler Alert for Netflix's Castlevania!!] The history and lore of Castlevania is something of which I have zero knowledge. If I have...

Archives on TV: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, "Reunion"

Samantha Cross

Aug 19, 2019
2 min

Archives on TV: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, "Reunion"

This might be a stretch for some because it sounded like a stretch to me when I first considered this episode of She-Ra, but screw it....

Archivist Spotlight: Wan Shi Tong

Samantha Cross

Apr 12, 2019
3 min

Archivist Spotlight: Wan Shi Tong

As #NationalLibraryWeek comes to a close, I thought I'd take the opportunity to put the spotlight on one of my favorite...

Archives in the Movies: Zootopia

Samantha Cross

Feb 17, 2019
3 min

Archives in the Movies: Zootopia

I'll admit, since my nephew became a constant in my life there have been quite a few movies on rotation and Zootopia is one of them. That...

Archives on TV: Justice League, "Legends"

Samantha Cross

Feb 9, 2019
3 min

Archives on TV: Justice League, "Legends"

Like many of my generation, one of my first introductions to the Justice League was through the animated series that aired from 2001 to...

Archivist Spotlight: Galra Archivist

Samantha Cross

Oct 15, 2018
2 min

Archivist Spotlight: Galra Archivist

It's a short one this week, but hey, they can't all be long, drawn out examinations of the deeper meaning behind the appearance of an...

Archives on TV: Star vs the Forces of Evil, "Total Eclipsa the Moon"

Samantha Cross

Sep 18, 2018
2 min

Archives on TV: Star vs the Forces of Evil, "Total Eclipsa the Moon"

There's so much stuff here, it's impossible to find anything. Unless you know where to look. - Eclipsa Quick Facts: Season 3, Episode 15b...

Archivist Spotlight: Emily Quackfaster

Samantha Cross

Sep 18, 2018
2 min

Archivist Spotlight: Emily Quackfaster

The recently reimagined DuckTales has gone to great lengths to update and modernize its main characters in order to differentiate them...

Archives on TV: Futurama, “Lethal Inspection”

Samantha Cross

Sep 18, 2018
1 min

Archives on TV: Futurama, “Lethal Inspection”

Bender: But [inspector] five’s the one we want. Maybe if I kick the asses of inspector two plus inspector three… Hermes: Addition never...

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