Once Upon a Forest (1993)

good back-story, and good acting

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

'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.

This movie is for kids and for adults...I enjoyed this movie just like any other recent cartoon or so called animated movies. In simple words "Great entertaining" movie.I had a doubt in my mind before i play this movie just because the year it was released and seems like very much childish movie but this movie has got something for everyone. Simple charterers and simple story just with these things the movie done the best it could. I am happy that I bought DVD of this movie..All money is worth :) Don't think twice to rent this movie or download, u won't be disappointed.My IMDb Rating : 6/10Suitable for : PGCheers Unitedcba @Movie is my life@

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.

I wish movies like these were still made.Usually, animated movies like these don't find my favor, neither do I remember them very long. However, there's something about this one that somehow touches my heart. I first saw this video when I was about 8 years old, maybe a little older, 10 at the most. Years later, My younger brother, about 9, wanted to watch this video. I was 16 then, and at first, I had no interest in watching the movie. But then I remembered watching it years ago, and thought, oh, what the heck, I'm not doing anything today. So I watched it. Things that I paid no attention to when I was young I now watched closely. The introduction, transitions, quality of the video, the story, and reality of the video and characters. Even though this video is over 15 years old, it still had exceptionally good quality for a VHS tape. The characters are so real, you like them instantly. When I say real, I mean being able to tell the difference between a male and a female mouse, badger, and other critters that were in this movie. The young furlings start out as typical kids, mischievous and selfish. This leads to a few minor consequences. Eventually, they realize the danger and the reality of the real world out there, for example, the road. Now, I could get picky and say the car, tanker truck, "Yellow Dragons", and the humans did not look very realistic, but hey! This video isn't based on those things, so why judge the movie by that?When Michelle falls sick, the other young furlings realize the need to work together, get along, share, obey rules, and never give up. The songs, especially "Please Wake Up" were very touching, and even brought tears to my eyes. I liked how the furlings learned to respect their elders, so to speak, such as Uncle Cornelias, who was very wise. They balanced to movie very well with suspense and action.The end brought tears to my eyes once again, as it was very touching. It is an animated film and yet it brings out the reality of life. The only few things I would have done differently are these:1. If I was uncle Cornelius, I would have been much more upset with the furlings after they did foolish things, especially, when it ruins long periods of work. 2. It would have been nice to see Abigail with Willy again, since they liked each other. I thought for sure he would return to the picture towards the end, but never saw him. 3. It was really sad to leave Michelle without a Mommy or Daddy.Those are the only things I would have done differently. Like I said, I wish Fox still made good movies like this one. The new animated movies have much better graphics, but the stories usually aren't the greatest, and they tend to add humor and content that isn't really appropriate for children.