'Once Upon a Forest'
A colorful ad campaign and lack of competition will ensure Fox's animated kid pic a decent opening ''ramble, '' but the thin plot line, ho-hum characters and unexciting animation of ''Once Upon a Forest'' will stifle good word of mouth.
Billed as a project from the creator of ''An American Tail, '' the Hanna-Barbera and David Kirschner concoction of cartoon cliches and environmental awareness will leave most audiences longing for more ambitious and memorable animated classics of the past.
On one level an expensive advertisement for toys and ancillary products, ''Once Upon a Forest'' is part of the never-ending downside to Hollywood's desire to make wholesome family entertainment. While the story is a tad more ambitious conceptwise, its characters and visual style are whipped down to baby food consistency.
The thoroughly forgettable plot involves the quest by three woodland creatures for healing herbs needed to save their friend overcome by poison gas released when a tanker truck overturns near idyllic Dapplewood. Abigail the wood mouse, Edgar the mole and Russell the hedgehog receive instructions from professorial Cornelius the badger, who conducts school-like rambles in the meadows, invents flying machines and warns them to ''avoid the humans.''
Encounters with a nasty owl (that may upset tiny tots), rumbling tractors and a totally gratuitous fowl funeral (stereotypically presented as a gospel music performance) fail to light up the screen. Only a climactic jaunt in Cornelius' ''flapper-wing-a-ma-thing'' delivers a thrill and a chill.
Utilizing a consortium of animation companies, from Wales to Latin America and the Far East, director Charles Grosvenor fails to achieve a fresh or engaging style. James Horner's score is likewise run-of-the-mill.
Monsieur Phantom himself, Michael Crawford, and Ben Vereen are no big help with the largely humorless dialogue and simplistic songs. Bottom line: Only a handful of laughs were registered at a kid-packed preview screening. Not a good sign.
ONCE UPON A FOREST
20th Century Fox
A Hanna-Barbera Production
Produced in association with HTV Cymru/Wales
Director Charles Grosvenor
Producers David Kirschner, Jerry Mills
Executive producers William Hanna, Paul Gertz
Writers Mark Young, Kelly Ward
Story Rae Lambert
Music James Horner
Casting Mike Fenton, Judy Taylor, Allison Cowitt
Animation director Dave Michener
Art director Carol Holman Grosvenor
Supervising film editor Pat A. Foley
Color/stereo
Voices: Michael Crawford, Ben Vereen, Ellen Blain, Ben Gregory, Page Gosney, Elizabeth Moss
Running time -- 68 minutes
MPAA Rating: G
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
Billed as a project from the creator of ''An American Tail, '' the Hanna-Barbera and David Kirschner concoction of cartoon cliches and environmental awareness will leave most audiences longing for more ambitious and memorable animated classics of the past.
On one level an expensive advertisement for toys and ancillary products, ''Once Upon a Forest'' is part of the never-ending downside to Hollywood's desire to make wholesome family entertainment. While the story is a tad more ambitious conceptwise, its characters and visual style are whipped down to baby food consistency.
The thoroughly forgettable plot involves the quest by three woodland creatures for healing herbs needed to save their friend overcome by poison gas released when a tanker truck overturns near idyllic Dapplewood. Abigail the wood mouse, Edgar the mole and Russell the hedgehog receive instructions from professorial Cornelius the badger, who conducts school-like rambles in the meadows, invents flying machines and warns them to ''avoid the humans.''
Encounters with a nasty owl (that may upset tiny tots), rumbling tractors and a totally gratuitous fowl funeral (stereotypically presented as a gospel music performance) fail to light up the screen. Only a climactic jaunt in Cornelius' ''flapper-wing-a-ma-thing'' delivers a thrill and a chill.
Utilizing a consortium of animation companies, from Wales to Latin America and the Far East, director Charles Grosvenor fails to achieve a fresh or engaging style. James Horner's score is likewise run-of-the-mill.
Monsieur Phantom himself, Michael Crawford, and Ben Vereen are no big help with the largely humorless dialogue and simplistic songs. Bottom line: Only a handful of laughs were registered at a kid-packed preview screening. Not a good sign.
ONCE UPON A FOREST
20th Century Fox
A Hanna-Barbera Production
Produced in association with HTV Cymru/Wales
Director Charles Grosvenor
Producers David Kirschner, Jerry Mills
Executive producers William Hanna, Paul Gertz
Writers Mark Young, Kelly Ward
Story Rae Lambert
Music James Horner
Casting Mike Fenton, Judy Taylor, Allison Cowitt
Animation director Dave Michener
Art director Carol Holman Grosvenor
Supervising film editor Pat A. Foley
Color/stereo
Voices: Michael Crawford, Ben Vereen, Ellen Blain, Ben Gregory, Page Gosney, Elizabeth Moss
Running time -- 68 minutes
MPAA Rating: G
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 6/18/1993
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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