TWICE UPON A TIME (1983) - On DVD From Warner Archive

[AndyDursin]

Loved this George Lucas produced film -- which was worked on by Tim Burton, David Fincher and others -- but it's sad Warner ISN'T releasing it on Blu-Ray.

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/dvd/john-kor ... 09606.html

[Jedbu]

I remember watching it on HBO when I was in college and I thought it was hysterically funny. When they showed it again I had friends over to watch it and they loved it, too...then it disappeared. I had an ad slick that our college film bookers got before it came out and it intrigued me enough that when it finally showed up on cable (after never hearing of it playing a theater) I was amazed how terrific it was. Years later I found a video store that had the "adult" version on a DVD-R and the manager made me a copy, which I have treasured. Now that Warner Archive is finally doing a legit release, maybe if enough people purchase it there will be a Blu-Ray release, but for now just having something better then the bootleg I have is reason enough to be grateful.

[AndyDursin]

My review from this week's column:

An inventive animated comic fantasy whose attitude was years ahead of its time, John Korty’s TWICE UPON A TIME (***½, 74 mins., 1983, PG) at last comes to DVD courtesy of the Warner Archive. This first release of the picture since a laserdisc over 20 years ago will hopefully enable a whole new audience to discover its offbeat charms.

Korty’s film follows a pair of misfits – one of whom is voiced by “Garfield”’s Lorenzo Music – as they try and stop the villainous “Synomaess Botch” from sending nightmares to the “Rushers of Din,” who look quite a bit like human beings (live-action B&W inserts that enable Korty and his animators to mix animation with photographic backdrops). With a 75-minute running time, Korty and writers Charles Swenson, Suela Kennedy and Bill Couturie mix up wacky humor with unusual art direction courtesy of their animation technique, “Lumage,” which looks like paper-cut outs running about but has an interesting appearance all its own. With future talents like Henry Selick and David Fincher having worked on the film, there’s no question the visuals are a main draw, yet the irreverent fairy-tale humor was also prescient. Some of the biggest laughs, in fact, come courtesy of the movie’s connection with executive producer George Lucas, as one of Botch’s henchmen runs around with a television set, speaking only in dialogue snippets from the likes of “Star Wars” and “Happy Days.”

I had never viewed “Twice Upon a Time” until Warner’s laserdisc release, which debuted when I was in high school. At the time, I thought I had stumbled into a major discovery and screened the movie to many friends, none of whom had ever heard of it. Regrettably, “Twice” seemed to go back into hibernation afterwards, never even generating a DVD edition until this Warner Archive presentation.

The disc includes two different audio tracks which have been the cause of much misinformation amongst the film’s fanbase. When “Twice” ran on HBO in the early ‘80s, it contained a PG-rated audio track with some profanity – however, Warner’s later home video release offered a “family friendly” version that most assumed (incorrectly) was cleaned up for a G rating and was therefore “censored.” As it turns out, director Korty’s “G” rated track was the original intent all along, and the PG rated dialogue (also used in its brief theatrical run) was a later attempt by producer Bill Couturie to appeal, at the last minute, to an older audience after the producers grew nervous following poor test screenings.

Warner’s Archive gives you the ability to choose from either mix, but frankly, there’s no reason to watch the film with its PG rating and scattered four-letter words, as they add nothing to the picture and seem shoehorned in (it should be noted the film was also edited somewhat differently at the time also, though the Archive DVD does not include any deleted or alternate material).

The 16:9 (1.85) transfer displays a print that’s battered a bit at times – perhaps the reason there’s regrettably no Blu-Ray release – while the stereo audio on both mixes contains an appealing score with songs performed by Maureen McDonald (her brother, Michael, co-composed her tracks) and Bruce Hornsby. The trailer and a new commentary with members of the production team make for a must-view for animation fans and sci-fi/fantasy buffs of the early ‘80s.