TWICE UPON A TIME on TCM Underground, 1/30 w/THE 5,000 FINGERS OF DR. T

 

For fans of animation and/or of the obscure, this 'lost' Lucasfilm gem will be shown as part of Turner Classic Movies' TCM Underground series late Saturday night, January 31 - this has had a rabid cult following since it was made over 30 years ago and promptly was buried with only rare clandestine screenings every now and then, and broadcasts on HBO in the 80's and the occasional rare screening like on Cartoon Network.

TUAT was intended as family-friendly entertainment, done in a process ("Lumage" - basically cut-out animation with translucent materials) that gave it a look different than most of the animation that was being done at the time. The dialog was voiced by members of an improvisational comedy group, The Committee, and the result was a sophisticated work that had the wordplay of a Jay Ward cartoon and the look of nothing else at the time.

Of course, kids hated it... well, it certainly went over their heads in test screenings. And a decision to to spice things up with language and some inneundo pretty much doomed this from any kind of release at the time. Although that didn't stop it from gradually accumulating an audience from the chosen few who actually saw it and who got it. (And a split over which version is the 'original' amongst those few.)

I was lucky enough to see this at SFSU in the early 90's when an errant flyer caught my eye - since then, the movie's hard to find. It's on laserdisc, for those who were stubborn enough to keep their players, and was on VHS, but you can expect to pay big sums of cash if you happen to find someone selling a copy.  You can also find it on YouTube, usually the last resort for the obscure and unreleased (and which is the 'adult' version, with some fan-edit tinkering done at the end).  

 

However, if you've never seen this before, I'd recommend setting the DVR to catch it... those of you with kids, maybe you can watch it with them when they get tired of watching FROZEN for the 5834th time, although kids will probably like the visuals, most of the humor will be over their heads -- that will keep the parents invested, along with the visuals, as most if not all family entertainment should do, instead of just acting as a babysitter for the brats.

I've deliberately avoided story details... after all, you must have some expectations of discovery if you've read this far. If you're the type that needs some incentive, there's plenty of plot descriptions out there as close as your search engine. But here's a fun fact: TWICE UPON A TIME was a nexus of talent - involved in the production were people like Henry Selick (THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, CORALINE), Harley Jessup (Pixar) and a young David Fincher (GONE GIRL, SEVEN) just starting out his career. Also animator Brian Narcelle might be better known as Doolittle from the film DARK STAR.

Also paired with TWICE UPON A TIME is the Dr. Seuss musical THE 5,000 FINGERS OF DR. T, so make sure there's plenty of room on that DVR!



Twice Upon A Time (trailer) from Cinefamily on Vimeo.

Cult Animation: TWICE UPON A TIME and THE THIEF AND THE COBBLER

Take a look at this clip from YouTube:




If you're going, "WTF?!", settle in and watch all 8 segments. You won't be sorry.
Chances are you've never even heard of this film... or, if you're one of the obsessive few who remember some press about this in the early 80's, you haven't seen it.

This is one of the great 'lost' films of the 80's, particularly strange since it is a Lucasfilm Production; one of those projects that Lucas wanted to champion -- well, so much for that.
The history of the film has been detailed in print, and has been touched upon in the blog world and websites; what it boils down to is that what was envisioned by some to be a family film got made into something a bit edgier -- and being neither fish or fowl, the film fell between the cracks, with those being lucky enough to see it left to wonder if it really existed.

I got to catch one 'clandestine' screening at the UCSF campus in the early 1990's - had no idea that it had been broadcast on HBO several times before being pulled. And now, thanks to YouTube, this is the version you're now able to see.

Although it seems that this would be perfect DVD fodder - most of the people involved in the production have gone on to bigger things, like Henry Selick and David Fincher; most of the humor would be better received - it's sort of like the twisted progeny of Jay Ward, and its opening scene has been homaged by Tim Burton in BATMAN RETURNS; and most of all, it's produced by GEORGE LUCAS. But that's not a guarantee of anything - though it deserves a better presentation, this may be the main way people finally discover this film.

Another lost animation classic also up on the 'Tube is THE THIEF AND THE COBBLER, in a 'Recobbled' Cut. The legendary project by animator Richard Williams, it was years in production and finally taken away from him and finished up in an inferior version called ARABIAN KNIGHTS in the 90's. The Recobbled Cut is a fan-made project, which attempts to present the film as close to Williams' intent as possible, including pencil tests of unfinished sequences and original voice tracks. Obsessives kept this alive via websites and blogs; it's worth an hour and a half of your time to watch -- and then wonder how Disney never gets sued over films like, say ALADDIN.