The Long, Tangled Road Of Twice Upon A Time
The latest issue of Animation Blast (#9) has a terrific in-depth article by Taylor Jessen about one of my favorite animated films, Twice Upon A Time. Pick up a copy and check it out!There's also a great appreciation of the film that he wrote for its twentieth anniversary in 2004. I couldn't have said it better myself:
To a twelve-year-old, the means of fetishizing Twice Upon a Time was simple: They were animated characters. They were swearing. Cartoons simply did not do such things. That's why you stayed up late to watch Heavy Metal, in case you watched it again recently and wondered what in hell you ever saw in it. It's also why ten-year-olds want to rent The Matrix. Nothing really changes; all these films share one totem, one solemn pilaster, one worshipful pose. To the 'tweener, the too-young-for-admittance, they elicit the magic sentence: I am not supposed to be watching this.Ironically, I prefer the saltier PG version of the film (which none of the filmmakers like at all). I think the language is a funny contrast to the expectations that the medium holds - or at least, did hold in 1984, when I saw a videotaped copy of one of the HBO broadcasts. I don't know if the film would ever be a blockbuster, but I do think it was way ahead of its time in terms of its sensibilities - remember, this was long before South Park, or The Simpsons, or anything on Cartoon Network or Adult Swim. Features like The Secret Of NIMH, The Last Unicorn, and The Fox And The Hound were more the norm.
I'd love to see a Criterion Collection version of this film, with commentary, cut songs and footage, art galleries, and a great DVD transfer of both versions! There's really nothing else in animation like it, and I'd love to see it preserved properly. If you agree, drop Jon Mulvaney a line and politely pester him about it!
Labels: animation blast, article, taylor jessen, twice upon a time
posted by Jeff Pidgeon at
7:10 PM
8 Comments:
How wonderful to see this film has such an appreciative audience. I was one of the sad souls who saw the HBO version, then aquired a (bootleg) copy only to find out it had been edited. Still, it's a fun film and still has one of the best-named bad guy from any movie...Synonomous Botch!
I still have a third generation dub of the HBO version. Looks terrible, but I couldn't bring myself to buy the laserdisc!
Here's what I just dropped in Criterion's suggestion box:
An animated film way ahead of its time, with its own legendary story of the rocky road to cult status. Neither version (yes, there are two!) has had a decent video transfer. What could be better for a Criterion title?
Thanks! That's far better than what I wrote, but I did suggest it, too, as well as forwarding links to the articles.
I've actually got the laserdisc - bought it off ebay back when the massive LD sell-off was going on...
Has this version been edited? I've not seen it in some time, and never saw it on HBO, so I don't know what would be missing...
The laserdisc/home video cut is technically a third cut - I think Korty wanted to go back to the G-rated version, but I guess they didn't have it any more. As a result, they cut as much of the language out as they could - so I think it's two or three bad words away from the G version.
And, believe it or not, there's a FOURTH cut. When Cartoon Network broadcast TUT on 9/12/1998, they must have had access to the PG version, because what they broadcast was a unique re-edit whose language rated a "G" but whose running time ran longer than the home version by a few crucial seconds.
In the Cartoon Network cut, all the bad language is, of course, gone (it's Cartoon Network, after all). However some of the jump cuts that are present on the home video versions (one in the middle of "Out on my Own", one in the "Sic 'em, Ratty!" sequence near the end) have been fixed, the video having been reinstated with alternate audio. Thus the bad language has been ducked while a few lost seconds of animation have been restored.
TUT on Criterion? That would be a little bit of heaven! In the mean time, I have passed a copy of my article in "Animation Blast" to George Feltenstein, Ronnee Sass, and George Parker at Warner Home Video. That team has shepherded WHV to some truly wonderful DVD reissues of classic Warner film properties. So when it comes to the definitive "Twice Upon a Time" DVD reissue, the shortest distance between some historically-minded curators and the cans with the TUT negative may be George, George, and Ronnee.
Then again, TUT may no longer be in their department. During the latest Warner Bros. Chat at Home Theater Forum (archived at http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=5803) the studio representative said “[TUT] is handled through Theatrical catalog group”. A January 8 article in Hollywood Reporter sez a gentleman named Jeff Baker is Warner senior VP and general manager of theatrical catalog. Looks like I might need to send Mr. Baker a copy of “Animation Blast”...
Hey Jeff, I interviewed Taylor about the latest on the film on my blog, The Ward-O-Matic:
Twice Upon A Time: The Movie That Time Forgot (part 1)
The 2nd Part will feature art director Harley Jessup. Look for that soon! I'm hoping that the more we talk about the film, the better chance that WHV or Warner Theatrical (whoever we should talk to) will see just how important it is to get this film out there on DVD!
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