Once Upon a Forest (1993)

Why so much hype?

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

'Once Upon a Forest' is so much an eco-toon that in the end we would expect for the lead character to turn to the camera, take his hat off and plead for our help to save the environment. This would be just about the only politically correct element that isn't on display here.Like 'Ferngully', 'Once Upon a Forest' spells out the same message – forest creatures are good and man and his destructive fumes and bulldozers are bad. The message is spelled out in this movie in these terms: the fuzzy woodland heroes are herbal vegetarians and man is a meat-eating source of environmental apathy.The creatures in the film are called Furlings and they live in a tiny woodland looked over by the wise old Uncle Cornelius who informs the youngsters of a time when man destroyed the woodlands with heavy machinery in his mad pursuit of progress. Low and behold – no sooner does unc spin that tale then a tanker truck hits a glass bottle in the road (tossed out of the car by a drunk driver) and spill deadly fumes into their homes.Just to drive the message home the fumes kill a few of the Furling parents in a scene I found profoundly disturbing to the movie's target audience. The children Furlings have to set out on an adventure to find rare plants that will save the Furlings who are now comatose.And so we're off on one of those familiar adventures where the kids get into one scrape after another at the hands of the human's environmental hatred. Nothing bad happens to any of them – that much is obvious – but that's strange considering that a few of the characters in the toxic spill are allowed to die.The characters in the movie aren't terribly memorable, they are just a conglomeration of characters from countless other films of the same level. They speak in their respective character traits and are given dialogue that never breaks away from the pattern of the furthering of the plot.'Once Upon a Forest' isn't exactly a jarring experience especially after having been recently dazzled by the imaginative power of 'My Neighbor Totoro' and 'Mononoke Hime'. This is a movie in which the filmmmakers were afraid to try anything bold because they didn't want to go over the audience's head – they didn't think that kids had the ability to accept anything new. I only saw the film a few days ago but I am having trouble remembering much about it. It's been six years since I saw 'Mononoke' or 'Totoro' and I remember them in vivid detail.

After I grew up in the 90s, I watched some of my favorite childhood stuff (The Lion King, The Swan Princess, etc.), but I never heard of this film before although it did came out before I was born the following year. Years later, at elementary school, I watched it with some of my friends at class and I think it was pretty good. OK, it's not as excellent as some of Disney's great films, but I think this is completely underrated for a children's film.Sure, there are some moments that could easily frighten younger kids and the fact that it could've been a little bit longer, but these two flaws are easily overcomed by it's beautiful animation and some great characters. Abigail, Russell, Edgar, and Michelle are likable furlings and some of the minor characters are fine. Cornelius, however, is by far my favorite character thanks to Michael Crawford's excellent voice work. In fact, the voice acting is pretty good for a non-Disney film released in the 90s. The musical songs aren't the best, but they're tolerable enough to listen to especially (Please Wake Up sung by Michael Crawford).Overall, Once Upon A Forest may be flawed, but I think that this is completely underrated and I think people would give this a chance. Besides, I didn't understand all the hatred it had on rottentomatoes.

I personally think that Once Upon a Forest is an underrated gem. I mean this is one of the few animations that had me weeping buckets at the end, and I am a 17 year old schoolgirl. My only complaint is that at 68 minutes long, it is a little too short, but putting that discrepancy aside what you have is a beautiful, poignant film. The animation is stunning with beautiful backgrounds and excellent character animation, and I absolutely loved the songs by James Horner. Please Wake up, had me in tears,(the only other song in an animation that did that to me was Somewhere Out There from American Tail) and I know the vocals were a bit shaky but that can be forgiven as that is such an emotional song to sing, and it did say in the trivia that Michael Crawford found it very difficult not to be moved by the song. He's Gone/He's Back is an upbeat gospel song that provides the funniest moments in the film, and Once Upon a Time is so lovely with sublime vocals by Florence Warner Jones. The characters are a delight, particularly the wise Cornelius, and the three furling friends are very well done, with enthusiastic voice work from all involved. Both Ferngully and this were heavily criticised on release for being too preachy, but to me, both are wonderful overlooked films. Whereas Once Upon a Forest has slightly better songs(as I really liked the ones in FernGully) and better character development, one of FernGully's main merits is the villain Hexxus who terrified me when I was 9, and Tim Curry is one of the gods of voice acing and made Hexxus as chilling as people remember him. Once Upon a Forest has a number of enemies portrayed, like the yellow dragons, the owl and the gas, and I must say they were very well done. In conclusion, a beautiful underrated movie, and my main advice to those who haven't seen it, have a box of tissues beside you as this is bound to bing you tears. 9/10 Bethany Cox.

OK, I'll say this now, this is one of the best animated films I've ever seen in my life. The question I have to ask is, WHY IS IT SO HARD TO FIND FILMS LIKE THIS? It has all kinds of stuff that makes an animation good, drama, a laugh or two, and peril. Why does everyone give this classic a 4 to 0 out of 10?!!!? That being said, this is basically an eco-toon, in which a poison is leaked into the village of Dapplewood, and it's up to 3 little "furlings" to find a flower to cure their sick friend, whose parents were tragically killed by the gas. Lots of people say that his makes humans look like the villain, they've obviously never saw the ending. This FernGully/Secret Of NIMH classic gets two thumbs up from me.