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| language = English
| budget = $3 million<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58153-TWICE-UPONATIME|title = AFI|Catalog}}</ref>
| gross = $5,000
}}
'''''Twice Upon a Time''''' is a 1983 American [[Animated film|animated]] [[adventure film|adventure]] [[Fantasy film|fantasy]] [[comedy film]] co-directed by [[John Korty]] and [[Charles Swenson]] from a screenplay by Korty, Swenson, Suella Kennedy, and [[Bill Couturié]].<ref>[https://www.allmovie.com/movie/twice-upon-a-time-v51306 AllMovie]</ref> The first animated film produced by [[George Lucas]], it uses a form of [[cutout animation]] which the filmmakers called "Lumage", involving prefabricated
The film features [[Improvisational comedy|improvised dialogue]] and a visual blend of live-action, traditional 2D-animation and [[stop motion|stop-motion]].
==Plot==
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Ralph and Mumford find nightmare bombs scattered in an office, ready to be set off by Botch once starts time again. Mumford accidentally detonates a bomb and the two are trapped in a nightmare in which they are nearly killed by office supplies. When they are finally freed from the nightmare, the Fairy Godmother transports them back to Frivoli, suggests that they give up after all the mistakes they've made, and fires them from the hero business. This further strengthens Ralph and Mumford's resolve to do right. Meanwhile, Rod "rescues" Flora from the Murkworks and attempts to get a kiss from her. She tries to escape from his floating apartment in the sky and falls, landing on a mechanical serpent that attempts to stop Ralph and Mumford from reaching the Murkworks. The trio and Rod storm their way in with the help of Scuzzbopper, Botch's former nightmare screenwriter, who decides to aid them after Botch cruelly discards his recently completed "Great Amurkian Novel."
Rod and Flora rescue Greenie and the Figs, but have to contend with Ibor. Rod tries to save Flora again but fails, and Flora destroys the robot herself. At the same time, Botch has his head vulture Rudy fly the spring back to Din as the final phase of his plan. When Ralph, Mumford, and Scuzzbopper enter Botch's office, he has his pet rat attack them but Scuzzbopper tricks it into chasing a bowling ball out a window. Botch retreats to a control room housing his master nightmare bomb button, "The Big Red One", with Ralph and Mumford chasing after him. Ralph finally manages to control his shapeshifting to get through Botch's arsenal of booby traps and flies into the control room, while Mumford struggles through the traps and into the barrel of Botch's cannon. Ralph, in the form of a fly, tricks Botch into pressing The Big Red One, detonating all
Scuzzbopper, Flora, and Rod assume command of the Murkworks, with Flora giving a parting kiss to Ralph and Mumford for helping to save Greenie. As the two heroes leave, the Fairy Godmother congratulates them and allows them to keep their last dime as a symbol of good luck. The spring returns to the Cosmic Clock of its own will, and restarts the flow of time, but at a pace where the Rushers can enjoy their lives.
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* [[Paul Frees]] as Narrator / Chef of State / Judges / Bailiff
* [[Judith Kahan|Judith Kahan Kampmann]] as The Fairy Godmother ("F.G.M.")
* Mumford as Himself.
==Production==
John Korty developed the "Lumage" animation process, a type of modular animation in which
==Release==
The studio producing ''Twice Upon a Time'', [[The Ladd Company]], was nearing bankruptcy and had a choice of either putting the movie into limited release or worldwide release, facing a similar difficulty with ''[[The Right Stuff (film)|The Right Stuff]]''. The Ladd Company decided to release ''Twice Upon a Time'' into a limited release, and there were few early screenings of the film. Both this film and ''The Right Stuff'' failed at the box office, causing The Ladd Company to shut down years later in 2007, especially with this film grossing only five thousand dollars against its $3 million budget, making it one of the biggest box office bombs in animation and cinema history.
=== Home media and television ===
==Alternate versions==▼
A few years later, ''Twice Upon a Time'' was shown by [[HBO]]. However, the version that HBO received and showed was the version with the profanity. When Korty found out, he immediately contacted HBO, threatening legal action if this version was aired again. After three showings, HBO suspended broadcasts of the film until supplied with a new family-friendly cut from Korty. This new cut filled-out the remaining showings of ''Twice Upon a Time'' scheduled that month, prompting complaints of "censored" movies being shown on HBO. Following these complaints, HBO chose to never air the film again on their service.<ref>Damsel in distress currently on fire (20 years later, ''Twice Upon a Time'' still burns), [http://home.earthlink.net/~ironybread/20yrs.htm Taylor Jessen], Retrieved on April 10, 2008</ref> Two months later, [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]] and over-the-air pay television service Spectrum acquired rights to show the film, but only the Korty-approved version. This version had the complete scene of "Out on My Own" as well as the uncut final reel of the film absent from the later home video version.▼
There were many different versions of this movie because the producers could only hire [[Improvisational comedy|improvisational comedians]].▼
In 1991, the film was released on [[Videotape|videocassette]] and [[laserdisc]]. This release contains John Korty's intended family-friendly cut, with some scenes roughly trimmed short to remove profanity that was still present. Years later, Amazon made the film temporarily available for rental download via [[Amazon Unbox]]. Now, the film is unavailable there, citing licensing restrictions.<ref>{{cite web
In one version, Greensleeves is not kidnapped at the beginning. Ralph and Mumford release and lose the spring, then stop by a bar where they meet Greensleeves, who urges the boys to get the spring. Later, the spring escapes the vultures and finds its way to Greenie, who is then asked to put the spring back in the cosmic clock. At this point, the vultures swoop in and capture Greensleeves and the spring.▼
Its cult status boosted when the film began to be shared on viral video sites. Perhaps in response to the lack of official support for the film, several bootleg copies of the original, uncut version were available via torrents. The film aired on the [[Disney Channel]] as part of its "Magical World of Disney" movie block in 1997, it also aired as part of [[Cartoon Network]]'s Cartoon Theatre on September 12, 1998. It has also been shown early mornings on [[Turner Classic Movies]], first on February 1, 2015 as part of the channel's TCM Underground block, and again on May 20, 2019.<ref>{{cite web |title=TCM Full Schedule-Turner Classic Movies |url=http://www.tcm.com/schedule/index.html?tz=CST&sdate=2019-05-19
Another version of the movie included Synonamess Botch swearing throughout the film. From the outset, director [[John Korty]] did not want to use the dialogue of the original script, but actor Marshall Efron thought his lines were perfect and played up the raunchier aspects of his character. Some lines were selected by producer [[Bill Couturié]] as he felt it would help the film appeal to older audiences.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2015/10/dvd-review-twice-upon-a-time-122568/|title=DVD Review: 'Twice Upon a Time'|last=Ehrbar|first=Greg|date=2015-10-08|website=IndieWire|language=en|access-date=2019-04-20}}</ref> Korty was unaware of this until opening night and was angry about how Marshall Efron's lines were delivered from the script.<ref>[https://366weirdmovies.com/list-candidate-twice-upon-a-time-1983/ 366 Weird Movies]</ref> Most theaters that showed the film also played the version with the profanity instead of reprinting it with the family friendly cut. Although the censored version was not rated, the version with the profanity was given a PG rating.▼
The film was released in a Special Edition DVD on September 29, 2015 through [[Warner Archive]]. The DVD contained both cuts, an [[audio commentary]] with John Korty and selected crew members (including [[Henry Selick]]), and the [[Trailer (promotion)|original theatrical trailer]]
▲A few years later, ''Twice Upon a Time'' was shown by [[HBO]]. However, the version that HBO received and showed was the version with the profanity. When Korty found out, he immediately contacted HBO, threatening legal action if this version was aired again. After three showings, HBO suspended broadcasts of the film until supplied with a new family-friendly cut from Korty. This new cut filled-out the remaining showings of ''Twice Upon a Time'' scheduled that month, prompting complaints of "censored" movies being shown on HBO. Following these complaints, HBO chose to never air the film again on their service.<ref>Damsel in distress currently on fire (20 years later, ''Twice Upon a Time'' still burns), [http://home.earthlink.net/~ironybread/20yrs.htm Taylor Jessen], Retrieved on April 10, 2008</ref> Two months later, [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]] and over-the-air pay television service Spectrum acquired rights to show the film, but only the Korty-approved version. This version had the complete scene of "Out on My Own" as well as the uncut final reel of the film absent from the later home video version.
▲==Alternate versions==
▲In 1991, the film was released on [[Videotape|videocassette]] and [[laserdisc]]. This release contains John Korty's intended family-friendly cut, with some scenes roughly trimmed short to remove profanity that was still present. Years later, Amazon made the film temporarily available for rental download via [[Amazon Unbox]]. Now the film is unavailable there, citing licensing restrictions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000SW16A8|title=Amazon.com: Twice Upon a Time: Lorenzo Music, Marshall Efron, James Cranna, Julie Payne|website=Amazon |access-date=7 December 2015}}</ref>
▲There were many different versions of this movie because the producers could only hire [[Improvisational comedy|improvisational comedians]].
▲In one version, Greensleeves is not kidnapped at the beginning. Ralph and Mumford release and lose the spring, then stop by a bar where they meet Greensleeves, who urges the boys to get the spring. Later, the spring escapes the vultures and finds its way to Greenie, who is then asked to put the spring back in the cosmic clock. At this point, the vultures swoop in and capture Greensleeves and the spring.
▲Its cult status boosted when the film began to be shared on viral video sites. Perhaps in response to the lack of official support for the film, several bootleg copies of the original, uncut version were available via torrents. The film aired on the [[Disney Channel]] as part of its "Magical World of Disney" movie block in 1997, it also aired as part of [[Cartoon Network]]'s Cartoon Theatre on September 12, 1998. It has also been shown early mornings on [[Turner Classic Movies]], first on February 1, 2015 as part of the channel's TCM Underground block, and again on May 20, 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tcm.com/schedule/index.html?tz=CST&sdate=2019-05-19|title=TCM Full Schedule-Turner Classic Movies|access-date=25 May 2019}}</ref>
▲Another version of the movie included Synonamess Botch swearing throughout the film. From the outset, director [[John Korty]] did not want to use the dialogue of the original script, but actor Marshall Efron thought his lines were perfect and played up the raunchier aspects of his character. Some lines were selected by producer [[Bill Couturié]] as he felt it would help the film appeal to older audiences.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2015/10/dvd-review-twice-upon-a-time-122568/|title=DVD Review: 'Twice Upon a Time'|last=Ehrbar|first=Greg|date=2015-10-08|website=IndieWire|language=en|access-date=2019-04-20}}</ref> Korty was unaware of this until opening night and was angry about how Marshall Efron's lines were delivered from the script.<ref>[https://366weirdmovies.com/list-candidate-twice-upon-a-time-1983/ 366 Weird Movies]</ref> Most theaters that showed the film also played the version with the profanity instead of reprinting it with the family friendly cut. Although the censored version was not rated, the version with the profanity was given a PG rating.
▲The film was released in a Special Edition DVD on September 29, 2015 through [[Warner Archive]]. The DVD contained both cuts, an audio commentary with John Korty and selected crew members (including [[Henry Selick]]), and the original theatrical trailer & tv spots.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cartoonbrew.com/dvd/john-kortys-twice-upon-a-time-coming-to-home-video-exclusive-109606.html|title=Exclusive: John Korty's ''Twice Upon A Time'' Coming To Home Video|work=Cartoon Brew|date=26 February 2015|access-date=7 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014Q67MJU/|title=Amazon.com: Twice Upon A Time: John Korty, Charles Swenson: Movies & TV|website=Amazon |date=29 September 2015|access-date=7 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|pqCRgiHHvB4|''Twice Upon a Time'' trailer (4x3) – warnerarchive}}</ref>
==Soundtrack==
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* {{Official website|http://lucasfilm.com/twice-upon-a-time}}
* {{IMDb title|id=0086489}}
* {{
* [http://wardomatic.blogspot.com/2007/09/twice-upon-time-movie-that-time-forgot.html ''Twice Upon a Time'': The Movie Time Forgot (Part 1)] – Interview with writer and animation historian Taylor Jessen.
* [http://wardomatic.blogspot.com/2007/09/twice-upon-time-movie-that-time-forgot_27.html ''Twice Upon a Time'': The Movie Time Forgot (Part 2)] – Interview with art director [[Harley Jessup]].
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[[Category:1983 films]]
[[Category:1983 animated films]]
[[Category:1983 children's films]]
[[Category:1980s children's animated films]]
[[Category:1980s children's fantasy films]]
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