Once upon a time
in a dream-factory called Hollywood, a filmmaker named John Korty had
a new kind of animation he called “Lumage” He decided to use his
process to make a feature-length feel-good fairy tale for the busy,
busy people of the real world. John Korty gathered a bunch of very
talented people who worked long and hard and lovingly handcrafted the
movie “Twice Upon Time”. But when they released their movie
into the real world for all those busy people, the people were so
busy that no one noticed. The movie disappeared down a black hole.
That's it. Notice
the story doesn't have an ending yet. There's no third act. It's
Act II that's so frustrating and tantalizing, all these years in
limbo in which varying edits keep resurfacing to tease the hopes of
its cult followers only to disappear again.
Twice Upon a time
concerns three realms and a nefarious scheme. Greensleeves, in the
land of sunny Frivoli, writes sweet, peaceful dreams for the
nocturnal relief of the harried citizens (Rushers) of the real world
(Din). These dreams he disburses with the help of the Figmen of the
Imagination. Meanwhile in Murkworks, Synonamess Botch plans to stop
time in Din long enough to cover the real world with nightmare bombs.
If he can set them all off simultaneously, everyone in Din will be
plunged into a worldwide nightmare. To safeguard the plan, Botch kidnaps Greensleeves and
his Figmen..
“It was a time
of desperate need for heroes – any kind of heroes.” Any kind of
heroes are exactly the kind that step up. Aspiring actress and niece
of Greensleeves Flora Fauna sets out to find her uncle with the help
of Ralph, a shape-shifting all-purpose animal, and Ralph's
Chaplinesque silent partner Mumford. Aid is given along the way by
FGM, a Fairy God Mother, Brooklynese in accent and temperament, whose
wings flit about independently of her body. Help also comes from Rod
Rescueman, a fledgling superhero (“I'm on my learner's permit.”)
looking for the obligatory amorous rewards of saving damsels.
Two things set
Twice apart, one of them being the look of the movie.. Lumage is a
process that involves photographing translucent and opaque cutout
material on a light table, resulting in stronger contrasts, richer
colors, and unusual textures. Murkworks in particular boasts a
complex art design that engages the eyes, very Gothic with its
stained glass windows and gargantuan architecture – all contoured
mosaics of harsh lines and dark spaces. Compare that to the bright
watercolor splashes of Frivoli, where singing happy cows ride swings
to the creamery every morning and all news is good news. Din, on
the other hand, is animated using layered b&w photographs of real
people in a real city. When the nightmare bombs explode they unleash
an amazing billowing smoke effect, and I've no idea how that was
achieved. They herald an onslaught of homicidal office supplies –
dancing scissors , crocodile-jawed staplers and the like.
The other unique
thing about Twice is the improvisational nature of the vocal
performances. A mostly unknown cast was hired some of them having
worked on exec. producer George Lucas' THX-1138. Playing Ralph was
Lorenzo Music, best known as the voice of Garfield, Peter Venckman of
The Real Ghostbusters, and Rhoda's doorman Carlton. Paul Frees (of
Rocky and Bullwinkle fame) has a few small roles as well as providing
a brief intro narration. While there was a script, the free-wheeling
style of the production in general encouraged the actors to ad lib,
resulting in a cartoon that's more in-the-moment than the polished,
well-rehearsed works of Disney or Pixar.
The film also
looks forward to Shrek with a self-reflexive side, a direct swipe at
Hollywood. After Botch tricks our heroes into trusting him, Flora
remains in his castle with the promise of entree to acting in film.
Seems Botch has his own studio, a veritable “dream factory” where
he stages horror films to become the stuff of his bombs. He is the
epitome of the Hollywood studio executive and the bane of every
artist, at one point throwing out unread the life's work of his own
head writer Scuzzbopper. Botch's assistant is a robot with a gorilla
body and a TV set for a head, that regurgitates sound bytes for
communication.
Ironically, the
real life production of this fantasy became a fairy tale itself.
It's the story of the two brothers who become enemies.
The films two
producers, John Korty and Bill Couterie, had diverging visions of how
the film should play. Korty wanted a movie that children could
comfortably watch with their parents while Couterie wanted a slightly
earthier version. Sources on the 'net differ as to how the two
edits came about: some say it was the ad-libbing, others that it was
Couteirie's script that contained the profanities. Either way, one
wonders where Korty was during all this.
At the time of
release, The Ladd Company was going under and made a strategic call:
throw the last of their fiances behind The Right Stuff, or support
Twice Upon Time. Twice lost. Thus it had a token PR campaign
stressing Lucas' involvement and a limited release. When it was
finally seen by a wider audience, it was on HBO...but to Korty's
dismay it was the Couterie version salted with adult language that
Korty had never given approval to. He threatened to sue, and HBO
removed the movie after only three airings.
When the film
resurfaced later (on Showtime and then on home video), it was Korty's
edit. He had expurgated the salty language and also removed a number
of scenes. No explanation has been given for the missing sequences.
Additionally, every video release has been in the standard ratio
format rather than the film's OAR.
In short, there
has developed a bitterness between the movie's fans and it's
creator, John Korty. The version that fans are wanting, the one
that is beloved of them, is the one that repulses Korty. So what we
end up with is a standoff which Korty seems to have no interest in
resolving. One can hardly blame him for being protective of his
baby. Still, it's worse than unfortunate – it's keeping the film
itself in a cage undiscovered.
I've wanted to see
this movie ever since I was a kid, and now I have thanks to Turner
Classic Movies. The version they aired is a compromise between
Korty's and Couterie's, with some but not all of the swearing
excised and all of the scenes otherwise intact. It's the only edit
I've seen, so perhaps I'm unfit to deem it an acceptable
compromise...I can say little more than that I found it instantly
endearing. You Tube has the more profane opening speech by Botch,
and while it's perfectly in keeping with his character I can see why
Korty finds it too strong for the overall film. On the other hand,
there's another instance of swearing which vitally adds to the film,
and harms it by its removal. Botch, having dumped Scuzzbopper's
“Great Amurkian Novel” out the window, breaks his head writer's
spirit and sets the stage for his own downfall. As Scuzz walks out
of view, we hear the heartbroken way he intones “asshole”, and it
comes out of the blue (the more so for the excision of most of
Botch's earlier profanity, to Korty's credit). It's a necessary
character development which the film's finale hinges on and it's also
wonderfully funny, especially in it's honesty as attested to by those
who first saw it as children – it resonated with them.
I've now had my
second chance with this movie – my twice upon a time. It's long
since time for Twice to have its own.
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