Once Upon a Forest
Once Upon a Forest | |
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Directed by | Charles Grosvenor |
Written by |
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Story by | Rae Lambert |
Based on | A Furling's Story[1] by Rae Lambert |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Edited by | Pat A. Foley |
Music by | James Horner |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | 20th Century Fox[2] |
Release dates |
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Running time | 70 minutes[2] |
Countries | |
Language | English |
Budget | $13–16 million[3][2] |
Box office | $6.6 million (US) |
Once Upon a Forest is a 1993
The film is about a trio of "Furlings" – the story's term for animal children – who go on an expedition to cure their poisoned friend. The film's environmental theme divided critics at the time of its release, along with the animation and story. The film grossed $6.6 million in the US against a budget of $13–16 million.
Plot
In the forest of Dapplewood, a quartet of "Furlings" –
After facing numerous dangers, such as escaping a hungry barn owl, aiding a flock of religious wrens and encountering intimidating construction vehicles that the wrens refer to as "yellow dragons", the Furlings make it to a meadow where the herbs they need are in the field of Oakdale. There, they meet two of the local inhabitants – Willy, a tough but sensible vole who grows a liking for Abigail, and Waggs, an inconsiderate squirrel who acts hostile towards the Furlings. After acquiring an eyebright, they discover that a lone lungwort is on a giant cliff inaccessible by foot. Russell suggests they use Cornelius' invention, the Flapper-Wing-a-Ma-Thing, to get to the lungwort.
The Furlings manage to get a hold of the lungwort after a dangerous flight up the cliff, then steer the Flapper-Wing-a-Ma-Thing back for Dapplewood. They crash-land back in the forest after a storm and bring the herbs to Cornelius. A group of humans appear and the quartet, thinking the humans mean them harm, escape through the backdoor of Cornelius' house. Edgar gets separated from the group and gets caught in an old trap. When one of the workers finds him, the animals are surprised when he frees Edgar and destroys the trap, revealing that the men are disposing of the gas. The group, especially Cornelius, now see the good in humankind.
Once Michelle is given the remedy, she appears unresponsive the next day, but she eventually recovers from her condition when a single tear from Cornelius falls on her. Cornelius then sees the Flapper-Wing-a-Ma-Thing and is amazed by the Furlings' independence as their families and many of Dapplewood's inhabitants arrive, the latter of whom explain that they fled to safer places for survival against the gas as they reunite with their children. After Cornelius becomes Michelle's caretaker with her parents deceased, Michelle asks her uncle if anything will ever be the same again, but Cornelius assures her that it will if they all work diligently in Dapplewood's restoration, just like the Furlings did to save Michelle.
Cast
- Michael Crawford as Cornelius, a badger who is Michelle's uncle and the teacher of the Furlings. Crawford also acts as the film's narrator.
- Ellen Blain as Abigail, a sweet and brave wood mouse and the leader of the Furlings.
- Florence Warner as the adult Abigail (segment "Once Upon A Time With Me") / The Balladeer (as Florence Warner Jones)
- Benji Gregory as Edgar, a young mole and the planner of the furlings.
- Paige Gosney as Russell, a young hedgehog and the doer of the furlings.
- Elisabeth Moss as Michelle, Cornelius' maternal niece who becomes comatose after inhaling poisonous gas.
- Ben Vereen as Phineas, the leader of a flock of religious wrens.
- Will Estes as Willy, a young and tough but sensible vole who grows a liking for Abigail.
- Charlie Adler as Waggs, an inconsiderate squirrel who acts hostile towards the Furlings.
- Rickey D'Shon Collins as Bosworth, a young wren who is on the verge of death after becoming stuck a puddle of oil, but he is soon saved by the Furlings.
- Don Reed as a marshbird
- Robert David Hall as the driver of the tank truck that released its stored poisonous gas upon Dapplewood.
- Paul Eiding as Abigail's father
- Janet Waldo as Edgar's mother
- Susan Silo as Russell's mother
- Angel Harper as Bosworth's mother
- Benjamin Kimball Smith as Russell's brother
- Haven Hartman as Russell's sister
Production
Once Upon a Forest was conceived as early as 1989, when the head of graphic design at ITV Cymru Wales, Rae Lambert, devised an environmental tale entitled A Furling's Story as a pitch to the American cartoon studio Hanna-Barbera (owned by Turner Broadcasting since 1991), along with partner Mike Young. Thanks to screenwriters Mark Young and Kelly Ward, the project started as a made-for-TV film with The Endangered as its new name.[3]
At the suggestion of Liz Kirschner, the wife of the film's producer, The Phantom of the Opera's Broadway star Michael Crawford was chosen to play Cornelius. Members of South Central Los Angeles' First Baptist Church were chosen to voice the chorus accompanying the preacher bird Phineas (voiced by Ben Vereen). While filming the live-action references, the crew "was thrilled beyond [...] expectations [as the chorus] started flipping their arms and moving their tambourines", as Kirschner recalled.[3]
William Hanna, co-founder and chairman of Hanna-Barbera was in charge of the film's production as its executive producer. William told to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in May 1993 that it was the "finest feature production [we have] ever done", and was happy that the studio accepted his proposal.[3]
Kirscher spoke to
Because of time constraints and budget limitations, over ten minutes were cut from the film before its release. One of the deleted scenes featured the voice of Glenn Close, whose character was removed entirely from the final storyline.[3][6] At around the same time, the studio temporarily changed the working title of The Endangered to the less-ominous Beyond the Yellow Dragons, for fear audiences would find the former title too sensitive for a children's film.
The film's advertising at the time promised a new masterpiece "from the creator of An American Tail". The creator in question was David Kirschner, who served as Tail's executive producer, and actually did create the characters and the story of the film, but ReelViews' James Berardinelli and the Times Union of Albany found it misleading, hoping instead for the likes of Don Bluth or Steven Spielberg.[7][8]
Hanna-Barbera's feature production unit created to produce this film and Jetsons: The Movie (1990), which also carried an environmental theme, was spun off into another unit under parent company Turner Entertainment, Turner Feature Animation, which produced The Pagemaster and Cats Don't Dance. David Kirschner remained as head of the division. No further theatrical animated films were produced by Hanna-Barbera itself (it would license live-action film adaptations of The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo before being dissolved in 2001).
DiC's feature production unit created to produce this film and Here Come the Littles (1985), was spun off into another unit under parent company Walt Disney, No further theatrical animated films were produced by DIC itself (Disney would license a live-action film adaptation of Inspector Gadget before being dissolved in 2008).
Release and reception
Once Upon a Forest was nominated for an
Music
Once Upon a Forest: Original Soundtrack Album | |
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Fox Records |
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | link |
Movie Music UK | link |
The score for Once Upon a Forest was one of several that composer James Horner wrote for animated films of the late '80s and early '90s. Three songs were written for it: "Please Wake Up", "He's Gone/He's Back", and the closing credits track, "Once Upon a Time with Me". The songs were performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, with contributions from Ben Vereen and Michael Crawford.[15] The soundtrack, released by Fox Records, has been out of print since its publisher went out of business in the mid-1990s.[16]
Songs
Original songs performed in the film include:
No. | Title | Performer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Please Wake Up" | Andrae Crouch Singers | |
3. | "Once Upon a Time with Me" | Florence Warner Jones |
Merchandise
Once Upon a Forest was adapted into book form by Elizabeth Isele, with illustrations by Carol Holman Grosvenor, the film's production designer. The tie-in was issued by
The multimedia company
See also
- List of works produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions
- Lists of animated feature films
- List of American films of 1993
- FernGully: The Last Rainforest, another animated film released by Fox with an environmental theme
References
- ISBN 1-55652-591-5.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Once Upon a Forest (1993)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Beck (2005), p. 184.
- ISBN 978-0-8160-6600-1.
- ^ Jury page Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine at ANIMACOR 2005. Retrieved March 27, 2007. (NB: Content is a machine translation from original Spanish Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine.)
- ^ a b c d The Once Upon a Forest Page Archived 2006-07-13 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 6, 2006.
- ^ Once Upon a Forest at ReelViews. Retrieved March 23, 2007.
- ^ Once Upon a Forest Just Politically Correct (1993, June 18). The Times Union of Albany. Retrieved March 23, 2007.
- ^ Once Upon a Forest Will Enchant Wee Ones (1993, June 19). The Miami Herald. Retrieved March 23, 2007.
- ^ Once Upon a Forest at Box Office Mojo
- ^ "Once Upon a Forest". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
- ^ The film is the coming attraction (2005, February 19). Oakland Tribune. Retrieved March 21, 2007.
- ^ DVD.net: Once Upon a Forest Archived 2007-09-02 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
- ^ "21st Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners (1993)". Annie Awards. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
- ^ Once Upon a Forest - James Horner | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic, retrieved 2021-05-01
- ^ Once Upon a Forest Archived 2007-06-13 at the Wayback Machine at Movie Music U.K. Retrieved March 23, 2007.
- ^ Profile for Beth Agnew Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine at WritersNet. Retrieved March 27, 2007.
- ^ Once Upon a Forest Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine at CD-ROM Access. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
- ^ Sheldon (2004), p. 164.