Twice Upon a Time (1983)

Twice Upon a Time is a 1983 American animated fantasy comedy film directed by John Korty and Charles Swenson. It is the first animated film produced by George Lucas. The film uses a form of cutout animation which the filmmakers called "Lumage", involving prefabricated cut-out plastic pieces that the animators moved on a light table. The film features improvised dialogue and a visual blend of live-action, traditional 2D-animation and stop motion.

Plot
The land of Frivoli is where dreams are made, and the land of Din is where they are taken to for delivery to the sleeping Rushers, via the jolly old man Greensleeves and his helpers the Figs. They have an evil counterpart in Synonamess Botch, who runs the nightmare factory known as the Murkworks and sends vultures out to deliver nightmares to Rushers. (Frivoli, the Murkworks, and the residents of both are animated via illuminated cut-outs while Din is Deliberately Monochrome live-action. Rushers are what we know as humans.) Now Botch launches a master plan: He has Greensleeves and company kidnapped, and then tricks innocent fools Ralph (an "all-purpose animal", so called for his shapeshifting abilities, voiced by Lorenzo Music) and Mumford (a Charlie Chaplin-esque mime) into stealing the spring of Din's Cosmic Clock for him. They do and this stops time in Din — at a moment when everyone is awake. Botch will send the vultures there to drop powerful nightmares everywhere, then restart the clock and detonate them, which will trap all the Rushers in waking nightmares...forever. It's up to Ralph, Mum, Greensleeves's niece/aspiring actress Flora Fauna, inept superhero Rod Rescueman, and a harried Fairy Godmother to put things to rights before it's too late.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) A very unique animation style that makes a majority of the characters seem more like paper cut-outs than actual animation. It also gives the movie a kinda stained glass-vibe to it. And while it may not be for everybody, the animation still does it's job in making the movie stand out from most other ones, especially at the time that it was made. As the film uses a form of cutout animation which the filmmakers called "Lumage", involving prefabricated cut-out plastic pieces that the animators moved on a light table. The characters designs and backgrounds for the film are also very creative. Not to mention how the film is also a combination of live-action and animation, similar to other features like Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Mary Poppins (which only causes the film's already unique medium form to stand out all the more).
 * 2) Great voice acting due to having a plethora of talented actors (even though most of them aren't particularly well-known, but they still absolutely nail it, and that also actually manages to become another one of the movie's many strengths) like Lorenzo Music as Ralph the All-Purpose Animal (who's famous for being the voice of Garfield, as well as playing Peter Venkman from The Real Ghostbusters, Florist from The Jetsons, Sgt. Dunder from TaleSpin, Teensy from Pound Puppies, and Tummi Gummi from Adventures of the Gummi Bears), Julie Payne as Flora Fauna (who also plays Dr. Liz Wilson from Garfield, Dr. Anne Kramer from Real Life (1979), and Pearl from Cruel but Necessary), Marshall Efron as Synonamess Botch, Hamilton Camp as Greensleeves (who also plays Greedy/Harmony Smurf from The Smurfs, Turk Tarpit from The Flinestones, King Jean-Claude from Adventures of the Gummi Bears, Mountie/Chief Beetlebreath from Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, and Li'l Brother Bear from Yogi's Great Escape), James Cranna as Rod Rescueman/Scuzzbopper/Frivoli Foreman (who also plays Ron from Mrs. Doubtfire and the Announcer from THX 1138), Paul Frees as Narrator/Chef of State/Judges/Bailiff (who also plays Mabruk/the cat from The Last Unicorn and most of the Rankin/Bass stop-motion Christmas specials), and Judith Kahan (credited as Judith Kahan Kampmann) as The Fairy Godmother (who also plays Elaine Felton from Analyze This and Ginger Livingston from All's Fair).
 * 3) * The ironic part is, unlike most animated films (especially nowadays), the cast consists of actors who mainly specialize in improvisation rather than outright celebrities. And the fact that they literally just made up their dialogue as they went along and that it still managed to turn out so good is no short of remarkable. It also gives the film's already pretty good story (as shall be discussed in further detail in a later point) a much more unique sense of direction, in a film that's already oozing with things that make it so unique.
 * 4) The film's story about a group of unlikely heroes going on a quest to release time from a frozen state is a pretty interesting one. Roadtrip stories about heroes embarking on a quest to save their world from evil have been done myraid times before, yes. But what makes this movie stand out all the more is how unique it simply is. From it's animation style, to it's characters, to it's comedy, almost everything in the movie apart from it's general plot template still make the film stand out when compared to many others.
 * 5) Tons of funny moments like Ralph's first impression of the Cosmic Clock with him saying "This might take a while. In fact, this might take... a lot of whiles.", The Fairy Godmother's dry delivery while pretending to be a "damsel in distress, currently on fire.", and Rod introducing himself to Ralph and Mum. And as previously mentioned in the previous point, the movie's sense of comedy is very unique from those of most other animated movies, as well as movies in general.
 * 6) The cast are all very memorable and have very distinct and unique personalities (e.g., Ralph, the All-Purpose Animal, Flora Fauna, Synonamess Botch, Greensleeves, Rod Rescueman, Scuzzbopper, Frivoli Foreman, Bailiff). Which was something that wasn't too common at the time that the movie was produced.
 * 7) The songs are pretty enjoyable. As the soundtrack features several songs performed by Maureen McDonald written by Tom Ferguson, her brother Michael and her. Also included is one song performed by Bruce Hornsby written by his brother John and him, as well as one track performed by Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra.
 * 8) The film has a pair of life lessons in it, those being that A: Everyone deserves a second chance, and B: Slow down, and enjoy the world around you. And like the best media featuring life lessons, they aren't stuffed down the audience's throat, but rather included in the movie as part of the overall story.
 * 9) A great ending with Scuzzbopper, Flora, and Rod assuming command of the Murkworks, and Flora giving a parting kiss to Ralph and Mumford for helping to save Greenie. And as the two heroes left, the Fairy Godmother congratulates them and allows them to keep their last dime as a symbol of good luck. The spring returns to the Cosmic Clock of its own will, and restarts the flow of time, but at a pace where the Rushers can enjoy their lives.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The animation, while nonetheless great, can still take a little bit of getting used to.
 * 2) The overall plot is kinda generic, as previously mentioned, due to how many times similar kinds of stories have been made before.

Reception
Twice Upon a Time barely received much overall attention upon it's release due to it only being given a limited release by The Ladd Company. But both films bombed at the box office, resulting in both The Ladd Company and Cordy Films shutting down as a result. Very little critics gave reviews of the film and there was very little audience for the feature. As a result, Twice Upon a Time was left with no platform and only resurfaced in a limited amount of TV screenings and home releases for the next few decades.

However, decades after the film's initial release, it began to gain more recognition by audiences and began to gain a cult following. As of 2021, the film holds a 7/10 on IMDb and 3.5/5 on Letterboxd.

Trivia

 * David Fincher was only 17 when he did the film's visual effects. He's responsible for some of the opening shots of the Murkworks.
 * Much of the animation work was done at director John Korty's house.
 * Bud Cort was originally cast as Ralph the All-Purpose Animal and apparently recorded some dialogue for the film.
 * There were at least two versions of the movie: one with adult language and one with PG-rated language. From the outset, John Korty didn't want to use the dialogue of the original script, but Marshall Efron thought his lines were perfect and played up the raunchier aspects of his character. Some lines were selected by Bill Couturié. Korty was unaware of this until opening night and was very angry about how Marshall Efron's lines were delivered from the script. Years later, Twice Upon a Time was shown by HBO. However, the version that HBO received and showed was the version that Couturié liked. When Korty found out, he immediately contacted HBO, threatening legal action if this version was aired again. So, after only three showings, HBO suspended broadcasts of the film until supplied with a new cut from Korty.

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