Once Upon a Time (1973)

A Masterpiece!

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

ONCE UPON A TIME is a West German fairytale compilation heavily indebted to the Walt Disney classics of old. It suffers from a real cheapness in terms of look and tone, with crude animation throughout and animated characters who are more than a little unpleasant. The version I saw, available for showing on Amazon Prime, suffered from having a typically blunt American dub job which took away any nuance that might have once existed. The plot is original but a bizarre mix of the most famous fairy tales of old, with elements of the Cinderella story popping up regularly.

Hi. I am absolutely in love with this movie. It was a huge part of my childhood, and I spent most of my time growing up watching it. I probably still have it all memorized! We'll make it snow! We'll make it snow! I have been desperately seeking a copy for over 5 years. Until recently I haven't been able to find anything on it. Unfortunately I don't understand enough German even to go through the Amazon German site to purchase the copy that they have. I was hoping that someone could make a copy of theirs and let me purchase it. I am planning to have a child soon, and I would love for this movie to be a part of his childhood too.

I still get the chills only from singing that line from the song. This is an old cartoon from 1976, kind of a cinderella tale. Maria, her farther, mr Bottle and their dog Bello Blue live in a small quiet town in wealth. One day a fake fortune teller and her horrible daughter arrives to town trying to earn some money by "reading peoples fortune" by looking at their hands. The old lady (more of a hag) reacts when seeing the shiny new coin Maria's father gives her. She forces herself on him and marries him. The hag and her daughter Mary-Lou are both awful, they treat Maria lika a slave and spends all of mr Bottles money. One day however Mary-Lou is taking a swim the a lake in a forrest nearby and she has brought Maria with her as personal assistance. While Maria is crying after been hit by Mary-Lou a prince approaches and he totally falls for this beautiful girl. He says to Maria that's he's just a poor hunter and sings this song for her and gives her a garnet stone necklace. Mary-Lou comes along and scares him off. The prince announces that he wants to get married and that the girl with the garnet stone necklace is the one. Mary-Lou takes notice of Marias necklace and throws it into a well. They both fall into the well and enters a new world. In this world the girls are put to a few tests cause they both claim that the necklace belongs to each and one of them. Maria passes all the tests as the good human beeing she is. Gets the prince and the story ends happily as these stories should. Wonderful movie, I have it on VHS not the greatest quality but it doesn't matter to me, I love it.

I first saw this movie on KTLA's Family Film Festival around 1980. I loved it! I managed to see it a few more times up until the mid-80's and continued to enjoy it each time. Basically, it's Cinderella meets Alice in Wonderland. In order to marry her one true love, Maria must journey down a well into a magic country to retrieve a magical amethyst necklace, which is how the prince will recognize her. In the meantime, her wicked stepsister is also after the necklace and causes all sorts of trouble for Maria. The characters they meet in the well are quirky and fun. The fairy tale element is strong but not sappy. I also like the songs and music. But, Maria's dog Blue (who actually is blue!) is the character I truly miss the most. He's just so darn cute! I only hope the video comes out of moratorium someday. Overall, I give this movie five stars, but at least one of those is for pure sentimental value.