The film is about a trio of "Furlings" – the story's term for young anthropomorphic mammals – 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
A wood mouse named Abigail, a mole named Edgar, a hedgehog named Russell and a young badger named Michelle all live in a place called Dapplewood. They are all students of Michelle's uncle, Cornelius. One day, Cornelius takes the four of them on a 'ramble' in the woods nearby where they come across a road. Russell is almost run over by a car and a glass bottle is tossed out of the window. It breaks and a part of it is left upright, jagged and sharp. Not long after, a gas truck, with Poison Gas stickers on the tank, comes down the road. It's tire is punctured by the piece of broken bottle and the ensuing blowout causes the truck to skid off the road and slide down to the bottom of the hill. The tank of Poison Gas is ruptured in the process and begins leaking into the forest, instantly affecting the foliage. The driver, seeing the gas leak, hurries off to get help.
After a mishap with a rowboat Cornelius had surprised the children with, Cornelius realizes that something bad is happening in the wood. Michelle panics and runs toward her home, crying out for her parents. Desperate to find them, she fails to heed warnings from the others and runs into her home, unknowingly breathing in the deadly gas fumes within. Abigail risks her own life and runs into the house. She is able to pull Michelle, who was rendered comatose by the gas, out of the house. Unfortunately, she is unable to save Michelle's parents (who had already succumbed to the gas by that time). The four children seek refuge at Cornelius' house after they find their homes abandoned and their families gone. Cornelius gravely tells them of his past encounter with humans, when he was forced to flee with his sister and leave his parents behind. He then tells them that, unlike him, they have a chance to save Michelle. They need to collect Lungwort and Eyebright, herbs that will help with the damage done by the gas. Because the gas destroyed the plants nearby, Cornelius tells them they will have to journey beyond Dapplewood and bring back the herbs before the moon is full in two days' time.
Their first night they catch the attention of a ravenous one-eyed barn owl after Abigail recklessly leads them over an open field. He briefly captures Abigail but she escapes his nest using Cornelius' magnifying glass to frighten him, and they manage to find a safe place to hole up. Edgar berates Abigail for her recklessness. She admits her mistake and apologizes to them, thanking them for saving her. After realizing that that their food and supplies were lost running from the owl, they assure themselves they will be all right, as they each possess the skills to fix the problem. In the early morning, hoping to find someone who can guide them to the meadow, they encounter a flock of religious Wrens preparing to bid farewell to Bosworth, a young Wren child who has gotten his feet stuck in an oil puddle. Recognizing that they are holding a funeral for him, Edgar stops the ceremony and devises a plan to free him. They are successful and join in the song of celebration that breaks out.
Afterward, the Wrens depart to go celebrate. Phineas, the leader of the Wrens, lingers behind and asks them to stay. They decline and ask about the meadow. Phineas tells them that it lies beyond the Land of the Yellow Dragons. The 'Land' is revealed be a construction site and the 'Yellow Dragons' are construction vehicles. The three of them manage to avoid the vehicles moving around and jump down a sewer grate to safety. Moments later they are swept down the pipe by rushing water and emerge in a pond at the end. They decide to walk up a nearby hill to get their bearings and discover the meadow. After getting the attention of the locals Abigail meets Willy, a tough but sensible Vole who has a crush on Abigail the moment he lays eyes on her. Edgar stands up to an arrogant bully of a squirrel named Waggs, who keeps insulting Michelle, and they easily find a field full of Eyebright. Waggs taunts them as he points out the lone sprig of Lungwort high up on a treacherous looking cliff. Trying to think of a plan, Russell finds the designs for Cornelius' flying machine and they decide to build it for real. After a successful takeoff, Abigail volunteers to climb out on the wing to grab the herb as they pass. She loses her balance, and Edgar overcomes his fears to save her as she is about to lose her grip on the wing. Despairing for a moment, seeing the Lungwort missing from the cliff, they re relieved when Edgar finds it caught on the wing. With no time to say goodbye, they fly off toward home, leaving a cheering crowd and a pouting Waggs behind.
Passing into a storm cloud on their way back, they are buffeted by wind and rain and make a crash landing in the woods below. Edgar soon realizes that they have made it back to Dapplewood, and they hurry to Cornelius and give him the herbs. Moments later, they hear noises from outside and see humans out the window. Thinking they mean harm, all of them escape through the back door. Edgar gets separated from the group. He loses his coat, his hat and his glasses and gets caught in an old animal trap. When one of the workers finds him, Cornelius and his friends are surprised when he frees Edgar and releases him. Cornelius watches in amazement as the man does something he never thought he'd see: he stomps on the trap, destroying it. Then the human puts it in a sack and leaves with his friends, declaring the area clean.
Michelle is given the remedy, and she appears unresponsive the next day. After single tear shed by Cornelius falls on her, she revives to their delight. Cornelius then sees the Flapper-Wing-a-Ma-Thing and is amazed by how the three of them have matured over the last several days. The Dapplewood residents, who had fled the area to escape the gas, return. Abigail, Edgar and Russell are reunited with their families. Cornelius sadly acknowledges that Michelle's parents cannot come back and assures Michelle that he will do his best for her, in their absence. Michelle asks if things will ever be the same again. Cornelius assures her that if they all work to save their home as hard her friends did to save her, Dapplewood can be restored to its former glory.
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 headstrong 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. This was Benji‘s last film before his death.
Paige Gosney as Russell, a young hedgehog and the doer of the furlings.
Elisabeth Moss as Michelle, Cornelius' 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 from Oakdale who takes a liking to Abigail.
Charlie Adler as Waggs, an inconsiderate squirrel from Oakdale who acts hostile towards the Furlings when they arrive.
Rickey D'Shon Collins as Bosworth, a young wren who is saved from a puddle of oil by the Furlings.
Once Upon a Forest was conceived as early as 1989, when the head of graphic design at ITV Cymru Wales (at the time known as Harlech Television, HTV), 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 starMichael 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 The Dallas Morning News' Philip Wuntch a month later on the diversity of the film's production services: "Disney has great animators, and the studio has them locked up for years and years. We got the best worldwide animators available from Sweden [actually Denmark], Asia, Argentina, Spain and England [actually Canada]".[3] Work on the animation was in the hands of Wang Film Productions in Taiwan; Lapiz Azul Animation and Matias Marcos Animation of Spain;[5] the Jaime Diaz Studio of Argentina; Denmark's A. Film; Phoenix Animation Studios in Toronto, Canada; and The Hollywood Cartoon Company. Mark Swanson Productions did computer animation for the "Yellow Dragons" and the Flapper-Wing-a-Ma-Thing.[6]
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).
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.[9] The soundtrack, released by Fox Records, has been out of print since its publisher went out of business in the mid-1990s.[10]
The Miami Herald took note of the film's potential competition with Universal Studios' already-established summer hit, Jurassic Park; the tabloid wrote that it did not have a chance to compete against the former despite calling Once Upon a Forest a "delightful family film".[11] Ultimately, Once Upon a Forest did poorly in theaters: after opening with $2.2 million at 1,487 venues, it made $6.5 million at the North American box office, just over half its budget.[3][12] The film holds a 22% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 23 reviews. The critical consensus reads: "Inert animation and generically chipper characters rob Once Upon a Forest of any personality despite its well-intentioned message and critter appeal for very young children".[13]
Fox Video's original VHS and laserdisc issue of the film, released on September 21, 1993, proved successful on the home video market for several months.[3][6] On October 28, 2002, it premiered on DVD, also available on VHS in the UK with the content presented in fullscreen and widescreen formats.[6][14] The original trailer was included as the only extra on the Australian Region 4 version.[15]
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 Turner Publishing and distributed by Andrews McMeel, a month prior to the film's release (ISBN1-878-68587-2).
The multimedia company Sanctuary Woods also released a MS-DOSpoint-and-clickadventure game based on the film, on CD-ROM and floppy disk for IBM computers; Beth Agnew served as its adapter.[17] Many elements of the game stayed faithful to the original source material.[18][19] None of the original voice actors reprised their roles as the voice acting was recorded in Canada.
