Twice Upon a Time (1983 film)
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- For the 1953 film of the same name, see Twice Upon a Time (1953 film).
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| Twice Upon a Time | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | John Korty Charles Swenson |
| Produced by | Bill Couturié George Lucas (Executive producer) |
| Written by | John Korty Charles Swenson Suella Kennedy Bill Couturié |
| Starring | Lorenzo Music Julie Payne James Cranna Hamilton Camp Marshall Efron Judith Kahan Kampmann |
| Music by | Ken Melville Dawn Atkinson |
| Editing by | Jennifer Gallagher |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. The Ladd Company |
| Release date(s) | August 5th, 1983 |
| Running time | 75 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Twice Upon a Time is a 1983 animated movie directed by John Korty and Charles Swenson. This film had a bizzare history in terms of release and editing, But it was named one of the most important films in the history of stop-motion animation. This was also the first animated film George Lucas produced.
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[edit] Cast
- Lorenzo Music - Ralph, the All-Purpose Animal
- Judith Kahan (credited as Judith Kahan Kampmann) - The Fairy Godmother
- Marshall Efron - Synonamess Botch
- James Cranna - Rod Rescueman, Scuzzbopper, Frivoli Foreman
- Julie Payne - Flora Fauna
- Hamilton Camp - Greensleeves
- Paul Frees - Narrator, Chief of State, Judges and Bailiff
[edit] Plot
Twice Upon a Time is an action-adventure-fantasy-comedy about two oddballs who are so eager to be heroes that they do something very wrong in trying to do something right. One of the two would-be heroes is Ralph, the all-purpose animal. He's a nice guy -- a friendly, dog-like animal who wears glasses, and has the special (yet unmastered) ability to transform into any creature he wishes to be. Mum, Ralph's prankster sidekick, is a trim fellow in a black suit who speaks in special effects and loves mischief and magic and a good time. Their relationship is the opposite of human and dogs: Mum is happy-go-lucky, Ralph is a worrier. Together they are funny, lovable dupes who have recently been exiled from Frivoli, Home of Sweet Dreams.
Frivoli bakes sweet dreams, The Murkworks hammers out nightmares, and the harried people who receive these two very different kinds of dreams are called the "Rushers of Din".
Greensleeves (affectionately known as "Greenie") is in charge of delivering sweet dreams to the sleeping Rushers of Din with his helpers, the Figs (Figmen of Imagination). But the paunchy and raunchy Synonamess Botch, maniacal ruler of the Murkworks Nightmare Factory wants to foil Greenie's efforts and increase his own production of nightmares, to the point where the Rushers are subjected to non-stop nightmares. Botch uses his vultures - who deliver the nightmares - to kidnap the Figs and Greensleeves.
Botch also cons the innocent Ralph and Mum into freezing time in Din by releasing the Magic Mainspring from the Cosmic Clock, telling them that it's the humane thing to do. The naive "heroes" soon find out that stopping time was a big mistake. Their Fairy Godmother twinkles in to spell it out in her Bronx accent that they have been tricked. Ralph and Mum must now find the Spring before Botch's menacing vulture minions can drop thousands and thousands of so-called "Nightmare Bombs" on Din, preparing for world-wide misery when Botch starts time again.
Ralph and Mumford join forces with Flora Fauna, a true flower and aspiring movie star, who is the heroes' heart throb, as well as Greensleeves' niece, and Rod Rescueman, a recent graduate (D-average) from Superhero School. They free Greensleeves and the Figs and attempt to stop Botch before he can start time back up and activate the bombs simultaneously - with a button he calls "The Big Red One."
Together they foil Botch's plan and defeat both he and his henchmen: Ibor, the half-gorilla, half-robot who responds to Botch's commands with old, cliched television clips, and Ratatooie, Botch's pet rat/armadillo who has a voracious appetite for garbage and an inscrutable passion for bowling balls. Scuzzbopper, Botch's Head Screamwriter, turns coat to help the heroes. Eventually, Ralph and Mum become true heroes and restore cosmic balance.
[edit] Release
The studio that was distributing, The Ladd Company, was about to go bankrupt at that point and had a choice of either putting Twice Upon a Time into limited release or worldwide release. They also had the same problem with The Right Stuff. Since Twice Upon a Time was animated, it was put into limited release and failed at the box-office. The Right Stuff also suffered the same fate when it premiered worldwide and caused The Ladd Company to die out. Still today, it has created a cult following, it is accepted by movie fans and kids alike with its witty humor and catchy dialogue.
[edit] Alternate Versions
There were many different versions of this movie, due to the fact that the producers could only hire improvisation comedians.
In one version, where Greensleves is not kidnapped by Botch's vultures, Ralph and Mumford stop by a bar, before seeing the Fairy Godmother, and meet Greensleves. He tells the boys to get that spring, after they tell him that they released it. Later, after the spring escapes the vultures, he meets Greeenie and tries to get him to put him back in the cosmic clock. At this point, the vultures swoop in and kidnap the spring and Greensleves.
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 delevered 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, HBO dropped the film after only three showings.
Two months later, Showtime acquired the film, but the version they got was a Korty-approved version. Interestingly enough, this version had the complete scene of "Out on My Own" as well as the uncut final reel of the film.
In 1991, the film was finally released to videocassette and laserdisc (but not letterboxed or CAV or with the alternate audio available on an additional track).
Apparently, John Korty won the battle, as the version released is very cleaned-up and a bit shorter in certain scenes. The basic story is there, but with the original scenes and dialogue altered, this version is incomplete in its final presentation. To date, the film has yet to see any form of DVD release, But Warner Home Video is planning a DVD release.
[edit] The Uncut Version
The following list of changes is compiled of testimonials from those who saw the original, "adult" version of the film. Note that the only actor called in to change his dialogue was Marshall Efron (Synomess Botch). There are a few scenes that were cut out as well.
In the opening monologue where Botch is pep-talking the minions, the voice-over originally was very raunchy and was set up to anger them and provoke them into action.
In the bathroom scene, Botch's dialogue suggests he finds something in his navel and eats it, rather than simply singing in the tub, as is heard in the edited version.
In the scene where Botch is watching Ralph and Mumford, some dialogue has been edited out.
When Botch is ranting about Scuzzy's novel, there are several lines of dialogue that have been edited out.
The scene where Ralph and Mumford are chasing the spring through the now-frozen Din is considerably longer, and is followed by where Botch is watching the proceedings on Ibor's screen. Ralph comes into shot (obviously talking to himself) and mutters: "Gee, I hope Mr. Botch won't be pissed." To which Botch replies: "Pissed?! BOY, am I pissed!" Ibor then flashes a shot on his screen from some 50's show where a man says: "Well, gosh, they were cute." We then see a wide shot of a bowling alley where Rattatooie is rolling up on the ball return (being knocked silly by hitting the other bowling balls). Botch mutters back at Ibor: "'Cute'? They make me sick. Botch doesn't seem to notice that it's Ratty as he picks him up and bowls him towards his make-shift pins. As he bowls, Botch continues talking saying: "It's time to... Strike!"
When Botch notifies his minions that the spring is on the loose, some of the dialogue has been changed.
Originally, after Botch gets the spring, Ibor shows Fonzie going "Hey!" The edited version changed the dialogue, and lost the point of having Fonzie make his classic line. The only reason why is that Korty wanted to avoid a possible lawsuit[citation needed].
The film remains the same up the scene where Scuzzbopper finishes his novel. Botch tosses it out the window and Scuzzy walks, dejectedly, back downstairs. The original didn't fade to black as he goes down the stairs. This has been done to cover up the voice-over of Botch muttering the word, "asshole," towards Scuzzy.
In the climax, after Scuzzy rolls a bowling ball to Ratty, Botch exclaims "Oh, shit!", and runs into a secret panel followed by Ralph and Mumford. Scuzzy runs after them, trying to stop them. He calls out, "Don't go in there alone!", but it is too late and the secret panel has closed with them inside. Scuzzy looks at the camera and exclaims, "Oh, no!"
