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Twice Upon A Time – The greatest animated film you’ve never heard of

Twiceuponatime
I first saw Twice Upon a Time when a 2nd generation video tape was pulled from the secret vault of a Disney animator. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it at the time. Disney had just released The Lion King, and the two films were about as different in form as I could imagine. But over time, and upon subsequent viewings, the film really grew on me.

Now Ward Jenkins has embarked on a multi-part examination of the 1983 film and puts the film in its historical context. Jenkins also interviews writer Taylor Jessens. You can see parts, if not all of the film, out on Google Video (and other locations). Warner Brothers owns the rights to the film, and there are no plans to release it on DVD right now. If you’re lucky enough to walk by and see a copy of the 1993 VHS release of Twice Upon a Time on the shelf, buy it. You’ll be glad you did.

3 thoughts on “Twice Upon A Time – The greatest animated film you’ve never heard of”

  1. John,

    Andrew and I would watch this film OVER and OVER again when it was on HBO (prolly around 1984). I was thrilled when I saw it referenced in a George Lucas coffee table book about ILM. It was groundbreaking animation and a wonderful story.

    I do wish it would be released on DVD.

  2. Early in 1983, tickets to attend a preview screening of “Twice Upon A Time” at San Francisco’s (now defunct) Northpoint Theatre were distributed to Marin County (CA) school kids. Once the crowd was seated and settled, it was announced that “Twice Upon A Time” was, in fact, not going to be screened. The presenters apologized for this change of plans, and told us that we would instead be seeing a different picture that was also nearing completion… Then they showed us the still-unfinished “Return of the Jedi.”

    No one seemed to mind very much.

    Afterwards, audience response survey sheets were distributed to the crowd to get reactions about scenes and characters.

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