Twice Upon A Time

Twice Upon A Time is an extraordinary animated film about Dreams and Nightmares. Not just the ones we find in our deepest sleep, but those in our everyday life. Good vs. Bad...Power vs. Empowerment...Control vs. Community...Surrender vs. Hope. This is a tale for children and adults alike. The writing is dark, but keeps extraordinary humor nearby to armor against the darkness of a nightmare. The kids will love the slapstick humor and the adults will love the cultural references woven into the story. Maybe not for the youngest of children, because of the battle to send nightmare bombs throughout the world and hold it's citizens in the grip of a perpetual nightmare. But, our heroes persist and conquer the evildoer with humanity, love, and humor. I would recommend this to children (who do not have a history with nightmares), parents who want to watch a great, adventurous fairy tale with their kids, and adults who have retained their childlike wonder about the world. It is an underrated classic directed by the great John Korty and Charles Swenson and produced by the master teller of good vs. evil...George Lucas. Buy it, rent it, watch it. It will leave you with a smile.

The DVD was delivered fast. It had no damage. I watched the movie the night I got and it worked perfectly

My parents got HBO in 1982. It was around this time I saw T.U.A.T., and was shocked at the humor and yes, prolific cursing throughout. My 11-year old brain loved Botch, Flora and Rod Rescue-man. Thing is, I only saw it once. Next time I watched, all the foul language was gone, and I was called a liar, mocked by friends and snarky video store employees for years. I can’t communicate my happiness enough at the release of this gem!

The only reason I'm giving this disc a 4-star review is because it will not play on my DVD/CD-R CDRW drive on my computer. This disk is in fact a DVDR, which is a partially supported format on DVD drives the world over--read that as my computer's DVD drive will sometimes play a DVDR disk, but not always, and there's no pattern as to why or why not. The film itself is as irreverent as I remember it all those years ago on HBO. And seeing it in its entirety, and comparing it with the intended cut and the VHS version I still have, I must say that slightly racy humor does add some punch (not much) to the dialogue. Beyond that, the film is decent enough for a night's viewing with family, friends or a date. My only real gripe is that the animation, by virtue of it being tissue paper photographed on a back lit light box, isn't smoother than it was. The rough quality adds a kind of edge to the story telling and humor. However, nowadays if this film were shot it would be all computer generated, but done so to maintain the visual feel of the original footage, which might help better deliver some of the sight gags. And this is important because there are parts in the film where the viewer is really left high and dry as to what actually is going on in the film. The narrative of the film gets lost in some zany sequences that require you to go back and review whatever it is you saw. Otherwise you'll be able to grasp the full story the first time around, even if you are somewhat at a loss as to what just happened in specific scenes. Cute, funny, irreverent, whimsical, and otherwise fun, "Twice Upon a Time", to me, describes what the Bay Area film scene and artistic culture was about way back in the late 70s and early 80s. I remember those times with some fondness. I actually met one of the actors in the live action sequences in this film, and of course having lived in the Bay Area, visited both San Francisco and Six Flags Great America on many occasion (Great America was owned by Warner Brothers at the time, and their marquis cartoon characters were Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the rest, all of whom are absent from the live action sequences of Twice Upon a Time for obvious reasons), it was a pleasure to see various locations that I had visited as a boy or young man; the San Francisco metro bus, Great America (now Six Flags), Ocean Beach, and, I discovered, the Berkeley Post Office (Robin, I think I understand why you sent me there some years back). But, back to the movie; what's really amazing is the fact that the story was a conglomeration of writing efforts, and it uses some really basic themes to get across a story of fighting a tyrant with twisted "dreams" (to coin a phrase) of world domination. Even so, one does get tired of the same story of would-be-dictator gets put down by unlikely heroes. Truth be told, historically, that's actually never happened, but we love the underdogs, so we root for them and the story ... regardless of how inaccurate it is in terms of a real life lesson. I saw this film many times, read about the hype regarding the films legal issues, read the article in Animation blast about the production and everything else, seen and read various posts on various websites. My opinion on the controversy? Big deal. I like the film, and am glad it finally hit the home video market in an appropriate DVD format. I'm just sorry that it's a DVDR because my computer won't read it. Oh well. Get a copy and give it a shot. Enjoy.

This is such a truly special film. I was thoroughly haunted by it when it aired on Cartoon Network in '98, and into my 20's I obsessively googled some variation of "crazy animation nightmare bombs" trying to find it. I'm so, so grateful to have it now. It is very much a masterpiece in its own right. Utterly unique. A lot of people mention this but I'll say it again, the DVD has two audio tracks labeled as such: Theatrical Version: This is the version altered to contain some raunchier jokes, light profanity, still PG. This played in theaters and on HBO Director's Original Version: This is the director's (John Korty's) original cut, which does not include the raunchier stuff. This is the version played on Cartoon Network and the VHS. Korty explains that they were contractually obligated to make a family film, so that's the version he went out to create and he did a simply wonderful job of it. Charles Swenson, his collaborator, was worried that the film wouldn't do well with kids, so he had the actors come back and do some bonus dialogue to gear it towards adults. Both are fantastic.

Ralph the all-purpose animal and Mumford the no purpose nothing of the land of nice dreams face off against the sinister Synonymous Botch the kind of 3rd shift manager of nightmares and Scuzzbopper his frustrated aspiring writer assistant, in a classic for younger and older kids alike. I always wondered what happened to this movie. With all the other garbage that's been recycled from the 80s and remarketed, this has kind of been swept under the rug. It was hillarious at the time, it seems like it would transfer well today too. Definitely worth a rental. I wanted to buy it for my kids but the original VHS tapes (there have been no DVD transfers ) are going for anywhere from $50-130 based on the condition of the tape. I guess the film has kind of a cult following. Probably some people who read this are saying "no $hi+" Anyway, lot's of fun, check it out.

What a glorious occasion, my alltime favorite comedy EVER has finally been released - and with both versions included! I've loved this film since I saw it on HBO back in 1983. Its use of transparent-paper Lumage technique (in before South Park's cardboard cutout irreverence), its anachronistic brand of humor in approach to Campbellian stereotypes (decades before Shrek tried the same), the memorable characters on display, and the fantastic songs by Maureen McDonald and score from Dawn Atkison and Ken Melville (with the London Symphony Orchestra no less - where's that CD soundtrack??) make for a unforgetable experience that I've enjoyed more than twice upon a time. This is John Korty (Who Are the Debolts?) and Charles Swenson's (Dirty Duck) best, and it gave David Fincher his start. Don't miss this! Warning: some parts may require partial nudity...

I grew up with this recorded on a VHS tape, I was surprised that I was able to find a DVD version. I was very happy to share the experience with my children. It was delivered without issues or damage.

In my opinion this is one of those movies that never gets old. I had an old VHS copy of the one version and I do not know how many times I have watched it. It is a fantastic quirky movie, with a surprisingly good soundtrack and some excellent voice work. I tend to err on the side of the "tame" version because that is the one I have seen the most, and having both versions at my fingertips just makes me so much happier. I just wish I had had this on DVD so many years before. And, keep an eye on Mumford.

Very surreal, but full of funny characters and an interesting story line. A really unique film by George Lucas (from his earlier days). Safe for kids, and tame enough for grandma's taste. Both heroes and villains are bumbling. CUTE in the truest sense of the word!

It arrived in prestine condition. One of my favourite animation instructors worked on this film, (Kaj Pindal), so it has brought back many fond memories.

This film was billed as something extraordinary, revolutionary even. But I didn't find it all that wonderful. Interesting, yes, but I'll be passing it on.

Item arrived quickly and as described.